Thursday, 12 Jun 2025
Not seen since 5th April one of the resident Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) swooped low enough near me that I was able to get a decent photo with just a 135 mm lens. A second wave of Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) butterflies seems to be starting, and there were also large numbers of Speckled Wood (Pararge […]
Wednesday, 11 Jun 2025
On a heavily overcast and quite breezy morning I saw literally one butterfly, a Marbled White. Other insects added to the year’s tally were Marbled Orchard Tortrix (Hedya nubiferana) and a Running Crab Spider (Philodromus albidus) on Hemp-agrimony. On some holly near the prison, I noted the presence of the Holly Leaf Miner (Phytomyza ilicis) as […]
Monday, 9 Jun 2025
Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) butterflies are starting to appear, while it was yet another good day for other insects. New sightings were 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), Common Marble moth (Celypha lacunana), a leaf-curling sac spider (Clubiona lutescens), Variable Tenthredo (Tenthredo livida) and a Lauxaniid fly (Minettia inusta). On a large stand of as yet non-flowering […]
Wednesday, 4 Jun 2025
Several Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) calling this morning but still no clear sighting. It was a very good day for insects with lots of new additions – Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius), Yellow-lined Plant Bug (Deraeocoris flavilinea), Small Green Pot Beetle (Cryptocephalus hypochaeridis), Meadow Tortrix (Grapholita compositella) moth, Yellow-legged Mining Bee (Andrena flavipes?), Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) and Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis […]
Monday, 2 Jun 2025
Heard a Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) calling this morning but couldn’t locate it. Lots of glimpses of something flitting around the treetops but no clear view. The insects were a lot easier to see and I added some new ones with Green Oak Tortrix (Tortrix viridana) moth, Wilke’s Mining Bee (Andrena wilkella) and a hoverfly, Banded Thintail […]
Friday, 30 May 2025
A much better day weatherwise today, and with that two new additions to the Down’s butterfly list for the season – Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) and Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina insularis). Other insects photographed were Mint Moth (Pyrausta aurata), Dimorphic Strider (Macrophya montana) sawfly, Violet Black-legged Robberfly (Dioctria atricapilla) and Large Spearhorn (Chrysotoxum cautum) hoverfly. […]
Thursday, 29 May 2025
Another of those very windy days that was good for exercise and not much else, though I did manage to get a photo of a Tortrix moth, possibly the Plum Tortrix (Hedya pruniana). […]
Saturday, 24 May 2025
Insects added today are the Marbled White Spot (Protodeltote pygarga) moth, a hoverfly, the Sun Fly (Helophilus pendulus), the Patchwork Leafcutter Bee (Megachile centuncularis), the Common Tachinid fly (Tachina fera) and the sawfly Broad-striped Rhogogaster (Rhogogaster scalaris). A good morning for slugs too. However, if I thought insect ID was difficult then slug ID I can forget about. […]
Saturday, 17 May 2025
Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni), Small Blue (Cupido minimus) and Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) butterflies are still around in good numbers. The Common Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) continues to support a wide variety of insects, with all of these seen within a few metres of each other – Cinquefoil Strider (Macrophya annulata), Flecked Strider (Macrophya blanda), Red-thighed Macrophya […]
Wednesday, 7 May 2025
Three more new insect sightings today – Small Yellow Underwing (Panemeria tenebrata) moth, Four-spotted Oak Bug (Dryophilocoris flavoquadrimaculatus) and Wayward Sawfly (Tenthredo temula). I also discovered the larval case of a Coleophora moth on the underside of an English Oak leaf, so possibly C. flavipennella the Yellow Oak Case-bearer moth. The oak trees are definitely […]
Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Latest addition to the butterfly list is Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages), while I saw my first ever Common Heath (Ematurga atomaria) and Muslin moths (Diaphora mendica). A shield bug seen on hawthorn blossom turned out not to be a Hawthorn Shield Bug but rather a Common Green Shield Bug (Palomena prasina). Yesterday I saw only […]
Saturday, 12 April 2025
Little to add to yesterday but I have seen the first European Peacock butterfly (Aglais io) of the year as well as the first Dark-edged Bee-fly (Bombylius major). One of the gorse bushes that is almost in full bloom hosted a swarm of small moths that certainly belong to the genus Cydia, most likely the […]