One week of wonderful wildlife

I was looking through the photographs and videos on my camera this evening and realised that I have experienced some wonderful wildlife sightings on the farm in the last week and wanted to share them. The remarkable thing is that I spend at least eight hours a day staring at a computer screen, so these sightings were mostly in the two or three hours I spend on the farm each day after work.

In order of appearance since Saturday 13th June, here are some highlights (please let me know if I get any of these identifications wrong):

Common blue female on birdsfoot trefoil in a second year flower rich plot (AB8 in countryside stewardship):

Small tortoiseshell butterfly on oxeye daisy, also on flower-rich countryside stewardship plot:

Six-spot burnet moth on birdsfoot trefoil:

Swollen thighed beetle (obviously!) Oedemera nobilis:

Male common blue on oxeye daisy:

Ladybird larva and aphids on knapweed:

"Jack go to bed at noon", aka meadow goat's-beard:

Moths! Emerald species, ermine, orange underwing:

Nicrophorus investigator, banded sexton beetle:

Spotted flycatcher:

Yellowhammer:

Treecreeper:

Roe deer in grass margin adjacent to herb and legume rich grass ley; big hedges and spring beans in the background:

Like them or loathe them, muntjac are always entertaining, interesting little deer:

House martins gathering mud for their nests:

Flower rich grassland established as part of countryside stewardship agreement in 2018:

Large skipper on oxeye daisy

"Spider" - I need to look this one up!

Stabiliser cows and calves enjoying some fresh grass:

Skylarks seem to have benefitted from the rotational paddock grazing system that my brother has set up in the last few years - some paddocks left undisturbed for 60 days, leaving plenty of time to rear broods with good cover from predators:

Cow dung brings dung beetles:

Tufted duck with 10 ducklings on an in-field pond protected by a vegetated buffer margin:

Peacock butterfly caterpillars on nettles:

Meadow grasshopper:

Putting up a homemade barn owl box with my dad and seven year old nephew (he took the photo!) on father's day, next to a wildflower meadow on which my brother, dad and I broadcast wildflower seeds by hand five years ago - most of the photos of invertebrates that I posted above are from that area:

I feel incredibly lucky and thankful that I have the opportunity to see and experience all of these wonderful things in the space of a single week! Happy father's day, dad, and thanks for sparking my interest in wildlife and farming!