Today we visited a group of nature reserves near junction 29a of the M1 in the shadow of Bolsover Castle. There was not a lot of birdlife on view but plenty of wild flowers meant a lot of butterflies – comma, ringlet, meadow brown, gatekeeper and red admiral and one or two smaller examples that might have been moths. Many refused to settle but I managed to get couple of reasonable shots.

This comma has a distinctive ‘deckled’ edge to its wings and if you see the underwing (like a dried leaf) it has a small white mark shaped like a comma.

A ringlet butterfly.

This colourful dragonfly is a southern hawker. Zoom in on the picture to see the delicate tracery in the wings.