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A Scillonian Miscellany

Photographs of some of the butterflies, insects, moths and birds seen during a fortnight in June 2004

This page will take a few days to complete as there are still some moths awaiting indentification.

Here are some of the birds that we saw.

We were fortunate enough this year to see a few puffins, as usual out at sea and taking off as soon as the boat got too near. I would have liked to manage a short video clip of them in flight but they were far too quick for me.

The thrushes on the other hand were so friendly you could take close up photos of them without any trouble. So were the blackbirds, in fact whilst eating a sandwich on the beach one flew at the bread I was about to place in my mouth, they are becoming as bad as the seagulls!! The picture was taken using the macro lense!

On one of the beaches we sat on for a while we managed to place ourselves right near an oyster catcher's nest which we had not realised until it left the nest in some concern when someone else disturbed it. This meant I was able to take a picture of the nest with a solitary egg and also fairly good photos of the adult bird.

Another nest site which we managed to sit near, inadvertently I hasten to add was that of a ringed plover. When I stood up to do something or other it left the nest which enabled me to take another photo of the nest, later I took one of the adult sitting on the nest and also one of the odd display it makes to distract one from the eggs, playing injured. You will need to click on the pictures to see the detail.

Here are some of the beautiful butterflies

above: The small tortoiseshell, aglais urticae

below: small white, pieris rapae. Note its curled proboscis whilst resting.

above: A red admiral, vanessa atalanta, feeding.

below: a female common blue, polyommatus icarus.

The speckled wood, pararge aegeria. I have included both pictures to show the variations that occur in colour and markings.

The meadow brown, maniola jurtina, and unusually one has settled with the wings are open in the lower picture

There were all sorts of insects although I did not capture all of them on 'film'


musk beetle, aromia moschata	a rose chafer, cetonia aurata, probably my favourite, although it's near relative the cockchafer was not as one often dive bombed me whilst I was trying to look at moths of an evening!	oil beetle, meloe proscarabaeus, evidently this flightless beetle is named such because of the oily fluids they exude when alramed.	and of course every hottentot fig seems to have a bee busy within it.

The moths also were abundant, both day flying and those attracted to light

these may be added to as I have not identified all those that I photographed.


agapeta hamana	brown silver-line, petrophora chlorosata	clouded border, lomaspilis marginata	lime-speck pug, eupithecia centaureata	red twin-spot carpet, xanthorhoe spadiceari

magpie moth, albraxas grossulariata	small magpie, eurrhypara hortulala	small rivulet, perizoma alchemillata	riband wave ab. remutata idaea aversata ab. remutata	riband wave, idaea aversata


red-necked footman, atolmis rubricollis. It seemed appropriate that this seemed to be abundant in land owned by te Duchy of Cornwall.	The first thing that drew my attention to this day flying inconspicuous moth was the fact that when it flew it reveals a yellow abdomen, at rest it almost disappears.	There were swarms of this moth round many of what I think are Scots pines.


straw dot, rivula sericealis	six-spot burnet, zygaena filipendulae	the flame, axylia putris	the flame with wings unfolded	the gem, orthonama obstipata


Emmelina monodactyla	Monopis obviella	Endothenia gentianaenea

to see last years moths seen in August see Scilly Moths and for birds seen in August 2004 see Scilly Birds

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