Tuesday, 21 Apr 2026
Weather was similar to yesterday but gradually clouding over while I was out. Total butterfly count was 7, yet oddly there were 6 species seen. There were 2 Green-veined White (Pieris napi) and 1 each of Brimstone, Small White, Holly Blue, Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi) and a first of the season Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas). […]
Saturday, 18 Apr 2026
A warm, sunny day with little wind. Yet still no great numbers of butterflies, and still the usual suspects, Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni), Peacock (Aglais io), Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) and Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus). The Green Longhorn moth (Adela reaumurella) seemed to be out in even bigger numbers today and swarming again too. The Common Spindle (Euonymus […]
Thursday, 16 Apr 2026
A cloudy morning with intermittent showers, so I waited until after lunch to get onto the Downs. At least the sun was shining, but it was quite windy. Butterfly numbers well down on two days ago with just a few Brimstone and Speckled Wood about, and a single Peacock. Last year was a bumper year […]
Friday, 10 Apr 2026
A drop in temperature of 10°C overnight, and even though it was yet another bright day with very light winds the butterflies have disappeared again. My total for this morning was just 2, a single Speckled Wood and surprisingly my first Green-veined White (Pieris napi) of the season. I have noted a few aphids starting to […]
Thursday, 9 Apr 2026
Brimstone numbers down today, almost matched by Speckled Wood, these two by far the most dominant of the butterfly species. A bit more variety today, with 5 Peacock, 2 Orange Tip, 1 Comma, and first sightings of the season of just one each of Red Admiral and Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus). Still large numbers of […]
Tuesday, 7 Apr 2026
A beautiful, cloudless sunny day with only a light breeze. Heading for over 20°C and the hottest day of the year so far, and the first day that I have ventured out in short sleeves without a jacket or sweater. These conditions have brought out the butterflies again after 12 days absence, not that there […]
Thursday, 2 Apr 2026
Cooler again and a gusty wind. Largely overcast like yesterday, but what I missed in insects on the wing I made up in what I found on leaves. I began with an unidentified tiny (3.5mm) ‘looper’ or ‘inchworm’ caterpillar of the first larval stage, probably of a Geometer moth (family Geometridae), found on a newly […]
Monday, 23 Mar 2026
Just like two days ago butterflies were all but absent today, with my total seen only 2. However, these were 1 Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) and 1 Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines), with the latter being the first butterfly of the season from those species that overwintered in the pupal form. The Orange Tip chrysalis from which […]
Thursday, 19 Mar 2026
Yesterday’s warm weather and sunshine continued today, but while there were still a lot of Brimstone on the wing numbers were well down on yesterday. Like yesterday I added a single Comma, this one, though, in pristine condition, as well as 2 Peacock (Aglais io). That leaves only the Red Admiral of the overwintering butterflies […]
Wednesday, 12 Nov 2025
I mentioned unseasonal warm spells in my last post and that is exactly what we had today. Glorious sunshine and a maximum temperature of around 16°C. This brought out huge numbers of Common Wasp again, swarming all over any ivy that still had flowers. Speaking of flowers, surprisingly there are still a few Common Rock […]
Thursday, 30 Oct 2025
A very quiet day, not even many flies to be seen. Jays still very active. I concentrated on looking at the undersides of leaves of various tree species. Even that was not particularly rewarding today. On the underside of a Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) leaf I found the larval case of a Coleophora moth, possibly […]
Tuesday, 28 Oct 2025
Leaves are getting yellower and the carpet of fallen leaves is getting thicker. Another bird foraging party today, but this time Goldcrest (Regulus regulus). Unfortunately, I needed my 300 mm lens as the 28 – 135 mm zoom was hopelessly inadequate. I’ll post the image anyway as it the first time I have […]
Thursday, 16 Oct 2025
Another new species for me this morning on an Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) leaf, the Ash Whitefly (Siphoninus phillyreae). I located a single adult and puparia on the underside of a leaf. Several leaf mines and galls were photographed. These included the hairy galls of the Hairy Beech Gall Midge (Hartigiola annulipes) on Common Beech (Fagus […]
Wednesday, 15 Oct 2025
The day dawned looking much the same as yesterday. Since my objective today was to get better photos of the dogwood aphids in better light, I delayed my departure hoping for brighter weather later and was lucky to be able to set off in early afternoon with the sun occasionally breaking through. Back at the […]
Tuesday, 14 Oct 2025
I reached the Downs this morning with a song bouncing round in my head from the year I graduated from university – this will give away my age. I was hearing Maddie Prior singing the opening line from a 1973 Steeleye Span song, “One misty, moisty morning, when cloudy was the weather”. It just described […]
Sunday, 12 Oct 2025
It is becoming more difficult to find something new. I will turn my attention to the leaf mines that are becoming more prominent as leaves dry out and search for any aphids that produce new offspring during the autumn months. That said, first new insect today was a Lauxaniid fly, possibly Tricholauxania praeusta? I got […]
Saturday, 11 Oct 2025
Still managing to see some new insects. Today it is the Birch Shieldbug (Elasmostethus interstinctus) and it is my first ever sighting of this species. Other insect photos were of yet another variation to the spot pattern on a Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis), a late Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) on a still flowering Musk […]
Thursday, 9 Oct 2025
Common Banded Hoverfly (Syrphus ribesii) and Batman Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) are still the most numerous hoverflies, but I managed to pick out a Plain-faced Drone Fly (Eristalis arbustorum). Both Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) and Seven-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) are about in good numbers, particularly on sycamore and dogwood leaves. I also found a Cucumber Green […]
Monday, 6 Oct 2025
It looks like ‘Fall’ has started. After some rain and very strong winds in the last few days the ground is becoming covered in leaves. It is a great time of year for spider webs too, as the low angle sun picks them out very well. By far the most common insect […]
Wednesday, 1 Oct 2025
It may be autumn but I can still add some new insects to the year list. This morning’s sighting was a soldier fly, the Twin-spot Centurion (Sargus bipunctatus). Other species photographed include the European Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus), which seems to be very abundant right now, and another Parent Bug (Elasmucha grisea), this one on a […]