Prionus coriarius

Tanner or Sawyer Beetle, Prionus coriarius

What a beast! This huge beetle - one of the UK's largest - was on the outside of a building at The Lodge for at least a couple of days. It's shown roughly life-size in this photo, or perhaps a bit smaller...

There's not a huge amount of information about them on the web
but there is a distribution map (not sure how complete it is)

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Gardens

This is the old swimming pool I keep going on about...

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Flower-power

To use a cliche, the gardens at The Lodge are a riot of colour at the moment. Because they're all organic (and peat-free), there are loads of insects everywhere you look, which in turn is great for birds, of course.

Silhouette of Azure Damselfly

Garden Chafer, Phyllopertha horticola

Ants and aphids

These shots were all taken before 9am. I was hoping for some slightly less frisky dragon- and damselflies, but most weren't out at that time. I know that lunchtime is too late, so the optimum time must be around 10am...

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Woodwalton Fen NNR

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Andalucia: Day Three

Melodious Warbler

Marbled White?

 

Clouded Yellow

Rock Bunting

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Stonechat

Three days, more than 400 photos, 139 bird species and umpteen plants and insects...

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece