Tuesday, 22 April 2025
What a difference 5 days makes. The trees on the Downs have all leafed and the visual impact of all that greenery is quite stunning. While the trees may be looking very different there is little to add on the wildflower front, with a just few Common Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) and […]
Friday, 11 April 2025
A few more butterfly species around today, with one sighting each of Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria), Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) and Small White (Pieris rapae). Sighting of the day, however, after 11 years of walking on Banstead Downs was my first Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvae). It was seen in an area that I know supports […]
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
Despite that first flurry of butterflies two weeks ago there are still no great numbers of butterflies about, but large numbers of Sarcophaga sp. flesh flies have now appeared. Latest flower to appear is Cowslip (Primula veris) widely regarded as one of the heralds of spring. Indeed the ‘veris’ in its scientific name means ‘of […]
Saturday, 5 April 2025
Although another warm and bright cloudless day today there was a very strong wind keeping insect sightings to a bare minimum. I did notice the first hoverflies of the season but as they were not landing for any length of time was unable to identify them. One gorse bush in full bloom hosted a few […]
Thursday, 20 March 2025
During the past 3 weeks or so I have watched the spring flowers coming into bloom on my regular walks into Sutton town centre. First were the crocuses, followed by the daffodils. Then the first of the wildflowers, Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) the earliest flowering member of the buttercup family, a day or two before […]