Archie and Dads day out bug hunting - by Archie Kerr age 6

On a day off school on Wednesday me and my Dad went bug hunting at Windsor Park. The weather was really, REALLY sunny and we were hoping it would bring the bugs out. We took bug pots, a net, my lunchbox full of snacks just incase I was hungry, a camera and MORE bug pots.


The first thing we caught was a beetle that I saw and my Dad potted it. It was running and hiding under the dirt. My Dad thinks this Harpalus affinis:

I was looking for Ladybirds on a shrub and I saw a type of fly that I did not know and Dad caught it in a pot, interestingly it is a Snipe Fly (Dad says its Rhagio tringarius):

Funnily, Dad went running through the grass to catch a yellow moth and he said its a Yellow Shell:

I know that bugs love nettles so we checked there and suddenly a Damselfly flew by and Dad caught it in the net because it was flying. Here it is:

Dad found and took a photo of a beetle and here it is below. It is a Green Dock beetle:

Suddenly a Red Kite came out of nowhere and flew over our heads and Dad quickly as a flash took a photo:

We went back to the car so we could try a different area of Windsor park and by the car, we found a Red Admiral:

a 7-spot ladybird:

a Nettle Tap moth:

and another beetle that is called a Soldier beetle just like a human soldier except its a bug instead. Dad said its called Cantharis rustica:

 
In the new spot the first thing we found was this caterpillar but we don't know what it is yet?

I found these pretty flowers and Dad isn't very good at ID'ing flowers but I looked through the wild flowers book and I think these are called Greater Stitchwort and Bitter-vetch:

There were lots of these micro moths in the grass and micros are tricky to ID but my Dad said they were called Glyphipterix thrasonella:

Does anyone know what bird this feather fell off of during its flight? Because we're not 100% sure:

This is me running on the grass trying to catch a butterfly to ID. I had to run really fast and a long way to catch it and on the second swipe I caught it!

It was a Speckled Wood:

We found some Large Skippers as well. They looked very fresh:

I also caught this Cranefly in my net, it was very bright coloured and it was bright orange:

Look at the size of the legs on this beetle, it has been doing lots of exercise! Dad said it's a Swollen-thighed Beetle:

This is me holding a Meadow Brown butterfly and that was my favourite part of the day, I loved it and I wish I can do it again soon!

Thank you for reading my first ever blog, I really hope you enjoyed it.

By Archie.