Thanks Philzoid, there are always quite a few hornets around at Bentley Wood (on the Hampshire / Wiltshire border) where I saw these and I saw quite a few more that afternoon but I have never seen them do this, it was very intriguing!

Thank you everyone, I definitely feel very honoured to have seen her - and I'm tempted to go back to the same spot tomorrow (weather permitting) to see if she's there again. Do Common Blues stay within a relatively small area or are they roamers?

Pippa

Pete,

Have added the photo to the group you sent the link for. I wish i had got a better shot but the cloud and wind (and my haste in all the excitement) meant it was rather a poor capture!

Pippa

Hi All, Happy to go with the concensus (although rather dissapointed I must admit!) but I wish i had managed to get a shot of the underside as it had no hint whatsoever of orange and was very much like a male Chalkhill. I managed to get three almost identical shots before it disspaeared through a fe...

Thanks Nick, Pete & Gary, I should have added to my post that I don't just want a lens for butterflies but also for the Goldfinches / Woodpeckers etc. I get in the garden (and for general wildlife photography). I don't want something too heavy and I don't have thousands to spend but I was wonder...

Hello, I am quite new to photography and just wanted to pick people's brains on which telephoto lens to buy. I have a Nikon D60 and currently have the standard lens it came with and a lovely 105mm VR Nikkor lens that was a Christmas present. I am having great fun with the macro lens for spring butte...

Someone has now got back to me on Wild About Britain to say it's a Hebrew Character Moth larvae, just in case anyone was curious!

Pippa

Hello,

Sorry for the poor photo but can anyone identify this for me? Seen at Martin Down, Hampshire and in flight I thought it was a Duke but as soon as it landed it looked like a moth as the antennae aren't clubbed.

Thanks,

Pippa

Thanks Gibster, I didn't really know much about Hornets so it's good to broaden my knowledge - they were just lying there and not really moving so I'm not sure if they were stinging each other or not but their faces were right up against one another (as you can see) so it was fasciniating to witness...

Hello,

I saw these two Hornets at Bentley Wood today on the path, they stayed together like this for a few minutes then one flew off followed by the other a short while later - does anyone know what they were up to? Fighting or mating or something else?

Thanks, Pippa

Hello,

Can anyone help with an ID for this tiny caterpillar seen in the grass at Abbotstone Down nr Alresford today?

Thanks,

Philippa