Dor Beetle

The beetles were on the path as I walked to Woorgreens Lake in the Forest of Dean. 

I should have walked back to the car to pick up my macro lens but it would have been to carry so took some shots with the longer lens. 

This is just bigger than the size of my thumbnail with the most iridescent metallic blue underside. Like a scarab beetle the female fills her burrowed out tunnels with cattle, sheep and horse dung as a larder for her offspring. They fly day and night tho' usually in the evenings emerging from their burrows to hunt for dung. 

My Extra is a lovely female mandarin duck which shyly  swam out then hurried back under leaves when she saw me.