Ruggadon Middlepark

We went for a wander around a Devon Wildlife Trust nature reserve today: Ruggadon Middlepark (not an easy name to remember - I keep calling it middlewood). We hadn't been there before and had read on the DWT website that it had "an outstanding number of butterflies". It didn't disappoint. Today we saw:

small whites (might have been green-veined)
large whites
gatekeepers
meadow browns
ringlets
speckled woods
common blues
large skipper
small copper
comma
fritillaries (species unknown - see below for blurred photo taken in dark woodland!)

as well as a few different species of moth. Unfortunately we didn't spot any of the 4 species of hairstreak (I've only photographed the green in the past) or the other 3 species of skipper, but it was by no means a disappointing day.

Common blue:


6-spot burnet moth:

Small copper:



large skipper:

Unknown fritillary:

Every time you put your foot down several grasshoppers and crickets jumped up. This was our favourite - a long-winged conehead. I took about 30 photographs of her on the opposite side of a grass - she kept turning round and round as I tried to get a good view of her. Eventually she jumped and looked straight at me: