I had a quick "scoot" around the garden this morning just to see what was about before I left for a family outing to Bigbury-on-Sea. The weather was bright and sunny, about the best day we have had for quite a while and there was a lot of activity around the flower bed. I was very excited to see a great example of Sericomyia silentis a Hornet imitator hoverfly. We last had one in the garden on the 26th Sepetember last year.
Out at Bigbury, when we eventually got there, there was a shortage of birds to be seen. A Kestrel was hovering above me and then made a kill. I could see it on a hillock below, only a few feet from some walkers. had I have been there it would have been a first class shot. It flew up and past me carrying it's prey, and I just missed out on a great photo.
I used my great little Bat Detector to listen for crickets and Grasshoppers and located a few which was, as usual great fun. The first is a Meadow Grasshopper – Chorthippus parallelus.
The second one is not so simple and I suspect it to be a Lesser Marsh Grasshopper – Chorthippus albomarginatus.

I also saw and this Painted Lady butterfly and noticed that the Butterfly Conservation UK are still asking for sightings to be reported and added to their interactive map. I have reported it and noted that my sighting is one of only 70 reported in the UK this month so far.