A very overcast day and I was out much earlier than usual so not too much activity.

Despite the conditions I did find one new insect on a bramble stem, the Tarnished Plant Bug (Lygus pratensis) and another on a sycamore leaf, a mosquito, a Culex sp., possibly the Southern House Mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus?).

Also photographed was a final instar nymph of the Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus).

At this stage of the summer, while there will still be some wildflowers yet to appear, attention is turning to the development of berries and nuts on the trees of the Downs. Photographed today were Sloe berries on the Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), the spiky cupules of the Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) enclosing the edible chestnuts and despite the ravages to their leaves by the Horse-chestnut Leaf Miner (Cameraria ohridella) larvae the cupules of the Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) enclosing the toxic ‘conkers’.

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