While we have had a lot of wet and windy weather recently, it only takes a bit of sun to bring the nature reserve alive. Delicate butterflies avoid the harsh weather but as soon as there is a sunny spell they are on the wing, vising flowers to replenish their energy store. There are many types of butterflies out and about from the familiar red admiral and small tortoise shell to smaller butterflies such as the small blue and speckled wood.
While the small blue butterfly is more of a Down land butterfly, there are many grass land flowers for them to visit here.
The speckled wood is brown in colour 
and the speckled pattern reflects its appearance in woodland where dappled sunlight shines through the canopy above.
The honey bees from the hive in the Linklater Pavilion are joined in their nectar gathering activities by buff tailed bumble bees, common brown carder bees as well as solitary bee species.
I spotted several solitary bees known as Nomada, they are also a type of cuckoo bee. Not because of the sound they make, but because they lay their eggs in the nest of other solitary bees. The developing larvae then eat the food and the larvae from the host solitary bee.
Nomada bees are quite common but you would be forgiven for mistaking them for wasps.
