A change of pace today, and a mix of shots taken in the garden and out at Castle Hill (a local nature reserve which sits just inside the South Downs National Park). I'll start with the only bird shot in this entry, a meadow pipit perched on gorse (and for once, perhaps foolishly) I feel confident about the identification. This was taken at Castle Hill.
I had several sighting of buzzards, kestrels and (possibly) a peregrine, but none close enough to produce any useful images. On the other hand I did see plenty of butterflies, including two which I don't think I've featured previously. Both are small, and indeed include 'small' in their common names. First up is the small heath butterfly, which looks a little like a meadow brown, but is smaller and has a smudged greenish-brown lower wing.
The second is a more colourful butterfly, and somewhat more distinctive. It's a small copper, and there were several flitting over the meadow.
I also saw a day-flying moth which I have provisionally identified as a muslin ermine (a completely new on on me). Assuming the identification is correct, it's a female (due to the colour and that it was day-flying. The males are brownish in colour and only come out at night).
The final shot from Castle Hill is of a small colony of rabbits, included simply because I've never managed a dozen mammals in a single photo.
The final pictures are from the garden. The first is another new one for me, provisionally identified as a 'picture wing fly'. There are nearly 40 different varieties of these. It's a pretty and tiny little thing.
To close some shots of babies, but these aren't the fluffy ones of late. I think they're cute though. And they are exceedingly small, little more than tiny mobile flecks. These are spiderlings of the common garden spider (Araneus diadematus). 
Camera note: all the Castle Hill shots were taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The garden photos were taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.
gdare
30 Apr 2011Those spiders can grow really big :insane:
SittingFox
30 Apr 2011Well, I think spiderlings are cute, though I can imagine that some people may not! :bug:
Nice selection of flying things :up: Moth ID sends me into fits!
anonymous
30 Apr 2011Anonymous writes:
Ooh boy, I have to say, spiders terrify me and I can't find those spiderlings cute unfortunately. But they do serve a valuable function. (Not sure what though, other than scaring the @&*% out of me a couple of times a year :-).
Marilyn
Cynthia23
1 May 2011Like this post alot! As always, great photography! Yes, identifying moths … errrr!!! But, it's a great way to learn about them. But, really, there are a few for a year (here and there) I have been trying to decide: ok, which is it? ha hah ha!!
Have a great week, Words!
cakkleberrylane
2 May 2011Well, I don't have a great love of spiders either, I can't think about them without imagining them crawling all over me, but as far as spiders go, they are indeed cute.
cakkleberrylane
2 May 2011I guess it was!:bug: :bug:
Words
2 May 2011Darko, they sure can 😀 😀
Words
2 May 2011Lois, Hooray!! I think that was a grudging acceptance of spiderly cuteness! 😀
Words
2 May 2011😀
Words
2 May 2011Adele, I love the colour of the spiderlings. Such a shame they lose it as they get bigger. The moth description is my loose translation of various websites.
Words
2 May 2011Cynthia, thanks. There are just so may species of moth that it's almost impossible to be certain with some of them. At least this one was quite distinctive.
Words
2 May 2011Marilyn, the spiders do a great job keeping the fly population under control. It's definitely preferable if they stay in the garden though!