Slime mould and wall brown butterfly

The picture here is of a slime mould. This has been found on the grasses at various locations this week. Elizabeth at last managed to identify it as Mucilago crustacea. It was extremely soft and gelatinous and has since dried up considerably and is almost powdery in consistency. As you can imagine we have added this to our species list!

This morning Elizabeth and I measured out on the wet meadows for new bridges and boardwalks. Whilst there we saw this butterfly which is a Wall Brown. It was basking on the bare ground.

We also spotted Common Darter dragonflies which were laying eggs, Water Boatmen, which were everywhere in the ponds and the blue Froghopper which we now know is Cicadella viridis, but we still have no good photo to show you.