Gavin Vella

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Coal Spoil Inspiration

It would seem that timing is of the essence with yesterdays Coal Spoil Bio Course and todays introduction to a new site for Butterflies that just so happened to be a regenerated coal spoil site. My close friend Craig Constance has been speaking of his secret Butterfly spot for quite some time and we finally got around to going there today. I can't believe I had never been there before! It was such a great place for Butterflies, Dragonflies and Reptiles. It was so nice to see Dark Green Fritillaries is such large numbers, along with many other cool species like Marbled White, Essex Skipper, Grayling, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Gatekepper, Green-veined and many more. 
I even found what I thought was a new species of spider for me but I've asked local expert Mike Kilner and was reminded of the many varying colours / patterns of what turned out to be a Common Orb-weaver Spider. Still lots to learn! 

Dark Green Fritillary Mating

Dark Green Fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary 

Common Orb-weaver Spider eating 5 Spot Burnet Moth