Disused quarries often flood after a while, and our local one is often good for damselflies and dragonflies. It was a bit windy today, and although I saw some Blue-tailed damsels, I couldn't get a picture.
The quarry has its own micro-climate, and is home to a few species that I don't find anywhere else on my patch.
This Mayfly is one of the Baetidae, probably from the Cloeon or Procloeon families, which prefer still water to running water:
Mouse-ear Hawkweed - Pilosella officinarum - is usually associated with limestone, which is where I normally see it, but the quarry's upper levels are covered with them:
Ox-eye daisy is fairly widespread, but it's always earlier where the sun heats up the rock:
Male specimens of the micromoth Cydia ulicetania can be seen flying over Gorse (the host plant) during daylight:
The females are more nocturnal.
2 comments:
Nice pictures. Those 'dandelion-like' little yellow flowers are so confusing, aren't they - there are so many of them.
Oh yes, we have Hawkbits, Hawksbeards, Hawkweeds, Sow Thistles, Catsears, and then Dandelions. Add in the fact that there are around 250 different Dandelions.....
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