Monday, 29 Sep 2025
A very heavy dew this morning after an early mist. A distinct autumnal feel and look about the Downs today. The first patch of brambles I came to I watched for a few minutes as one of my favourite birds, a Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes), searched for insects, larvae or spiders. […]
Thursday, 25 Sep 2025
Butterfly numbers continue to be counted on one hand with 2 Small Copper, a single male Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus), a female Meadow Brown and a Speckled Wood making up today’s tally. A new insect, but not the greatest of photographs, is the White-footed Hoverfly (Platycheirus albimanus). Also photographed was a Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius). […]
Tuesday, 23 Sep 2025
The temperature dipping, with the first single digit overnight temperature of the autumn. ZERO butterflies, but… Something much more interesting. I came across a huge Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae) colony, which was found because it straddled a path in one of the clearings making the entrances to the hundreds of nests more visible. A search […]
Saturday, 20 Sep 2025
Overcast and quite windy, neither great weather for insects nor photography. Nevertheless, I did manage a photo of another Parent Bug (Elasmucha grisea) on a birch leaf, this one presumably with no more parenting duties, or more likely a new adult that will now overwinter. There were a few distant butterflies about and another sighting […]
Friday, 19 Sep 2025
A last bit of summery weather today, with an almost cloudless sky and the temperature already pushing 20° by 10:00. The last few butterflies were on the wing with a good variety but not many of anything. A grand total of 3 Common Blue, 2 Small Copper, 1 Speckled Wood, 1 Meadow Brown and 1 […]
Saturday, 30 Aug 2025
A surprisingly large number of Small Copper still, which is by far the dominant butterfly, with a few Small White and Meadow Brown. New species added were a Sycamore Moth (Acronicta aceris) caterpillar, Diamond-back Marble (Eudemis profundana) moth, Oak Borer (Agrilus angustulus) beetle and Sallow Gall Midge (Iteomyia capreae) galls on Salix sp. leaf. […]
Thursday, 28 Aug 2025
Only Speckled Wood and Small Copper butterflies to be seen today. Some of the Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) took a liking to some rotting apples beneath a Crab Apple tree. New species added were a leafhopper (Arboridia ribauti) on a Wild Cherry leaf, a Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis) and a possible Banded Comb-Footed Spider […]
Wednesday, 27 Aug 2025
Butterfly numbers are dwindling. Just a few Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) and Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) to be seen. New insects were Large Tiphia (Tiphia femorata) wasp and a Lauxaniid fly, possibly Meiosimyza rorida. Nature note for the day I think most of us associate holly with Christmas, with wreaths and […]
Monday, 25 Aug 2025
Very few butterflies on the wing. A few Gatekeeper and Speckled Wood, a single Large White and some distant unidentified blues. The Common Sycamore Aphid that have been keeping tight formation in aestivation on the underside of sycamore leaves for the past few months have vanished. They will have dispersed and migrated to other sycamore […]
Saturday, 23 Aug 2025
There are two reliable locations for seeing the Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) dragonfly and I was fortunate to see it at both this morning. It is such a strong, fast flyer and rarely seems to settle anywhere that getting photos is extremely difficult. The larvae in the Buckthorn Bent-wing (Bucculatrix frangutella) leaf mines are now leaving […]
Friday, 22 Aug 2025
Two new insects today, a Mother of Pearl (Patania ruralis) moth and a Silver Birch Aphid (Euceraphis betulae), as well as leaf mines on a birch leaf caused by larvae of the Birch Tortrix (Epinotia immundana) moth and on oak leaves caused by larvae of the Oak Cloud (Acrocercops brongniardella) moth and a Stigmella sp. moth. […]
Thursday, 21 Aug 2025
Today I was invited to take part in a search with someone from Butterfly Conservation UK and from the Banstead Commons Conservators, looking for a rare moth species, the Surrey Midget (Phyllonorycter scabiosella). More specifically we were looking for the leaf mines caused by the larva of the moth on the basal leaves of Small […]
Tuesday, 19 Aug 2025
A migrating Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) spent a good part of the day searching for insects, spiders and worms from its perches on the fenceposts of the new sheep enclosure. I spent quite a while chasing it from post to post before finally getting a decent photo. I found leaf mines of the larva of […]
Sunday, 17 Aug 2025
New insects added were the caterpillar of the Fox Moth (Macrothylacia rubi) and a female Willow Emerald Damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis). This is my first species of damselfly recorded on the Downs and together with the Southern Hawker dragonfly only the second member of the Odontata. I discovered an Apple Leaf Miner moth (Lyonetia clerkella) leaf […]
Friday, 15 Aug 2025
New insect today another one of those very confusing ichneumon wasp males that all look very similar. My best guess on this one and it could be the most appropriate name for it in this case is Ichneumon confusor. On the upper surface of an English Oak leaf I came across what I believe to […]
Thursday, 14 Aug 2025
Butterfly numbers greatly reduced. Small Copper is now the dominant species. A few Brown Argus (Aricia agestis), Small White (Pieris rapae), Speckled Wood and Gatekeeper still present. New insects added were Large Rose Sawfly (Arge pagana) and an unexpected passenger on my shorts after walking along the edge of the sheep enclosure, a Castor Bean Tick […]
Tuesday, 12 Aug 2025 – Park Downs
Having been alerted to the presence of several Silver-spotted Skipper butterflies at Park Downs, another of the Banstead Commons Conservators properties, I decided to try my luck. I did find a single male and will restrict my post to images of the species not yet seen on Banstead Downs (with the exception of the hoverfly). […]
Monday, 11 Aug 2025
Butterfly numbers generally are dwindling, although Small Copper numbers have increased again. Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown still dominate, but there are still significant numbers of Chalkhill Blue, even though these are starting to look increasingly worn and tatty. The odd Speckled Wood, Red Admiral and Brimstone are still to be seen. There were no new […]
Sunday, 10 Aug 2025
Although I have seen it before, at Warnham Nature Reserve in West Sussex and on Park Downs only 2 miles from here, this morning I recorded European Hornet (Vespa crabro) on the Downs for the first time. Although I watched it darting round for a few minutes, it did not land anywhere so I was […]
Saturday, 9 Aug 2025
Another two insects added today with Acorn Weevil (Curculio glandium) and Wall Mason Wasp (Ancistrocerus parietum). I also added a female Kite-tailed Robberfly (Machimus atricapillus) and an adult Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina) to my image gallery. The purple fruits of the Common Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea), sometimes referred to as dogberries, are now ripening. They look […]