Showing posts with label Ox-eye. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ox-eye. Show all posts

Friday, 4 June 2010

Disused quarry

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.