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 […]
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 […]
Tuesday, 21 Oct 2025
We may be well into October but the new insects keep on coming. I use the term ‘insect’ loosely here, as the first new species today was a Long-horned Springtail (Pogonognathellus longicornis). The springtails were long regarded as insects but are now placed in a separate class. They are hexapods but not insects. Next was a […]
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 […]
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 […]
Tuesday, 30 Sep 2025
Maybe the butterfly season is now officially closed. ZERO count this morning. With the area of the old sheep enclosure now accessible I decided to check out some of the trees in this area and added a few things to my lists. On a Common Hazel (Corylus avellana) leaf I found a leaf mine possibly […]
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 […]
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, 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 […]
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 […]
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). […]
Saturday, 2 Aug 2025
New insects added today were Jersey Tiger (Euplagia quadripunctaria) moth, a possible Common Furrow Bee (Lasioglossum calceatum?) and Parent Bug (Elasmucha grisea). Latest photographs of already recorded species include a Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus) seen for the first time despite its name on Dock, Sun Fly (Helophilus pendulus) hoverfly (a.k.a. ‘The Footballer’), a Common Wasp […]
Friday, 1 Aug 2025
Good numbers of Brown Argus and Small Copper around this morning. Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown are increasing, and the large numbers of Chalkhill Blue are beginning to tail off. New insects for the summer were Long-legged Plant Bug (Phytocoris varipes), Alder Spittlebug (Aphrophora alni), Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) and Spotted Wolf Spider (Pardosa amentata), the latter […]
Monday, 28 Jul 2025
Good numbers of Brown Argus present today, outnumbered by Small Copper, which are in much greater numbers than recent days. Insects added today were Tiger Ichneumon Wasp (Ichneumon xanthorius), a tiny (+/- 5 mm) Orthocentrus ichneumon wasp that landed on my watch strap, European Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus) and Kite-tailed Robberfly (Machimus atricapillus). Also photographed were […]
Sunday, 27 Jul 2025
A very overcast day and I was out much earlier than usual so not too much activity. Despite the conditions I did find one new insect on a bramble stem, the Tarnished Plant Bug (Lygus pratensis) and another on a sycamore leaf, a mosquito, a Culex sp., possibly the Southern House Mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus?). Also […]
Friday, 25 Jul 2025
Two days of heavy showers has seen a lush greenness return to the Downs. Chalk Hill Blue (Lysandra coridon) still predominates, but I have a first ever sighting anywhere of Purple Hairstreak (Favonius quercus). A rather worn specimen but still a Purple Hairstreak! Other new sightings were a female ichneumon wasp (Ichneumon suspiciosus?), a female Red […]
Tuesday, 22 Jul 2025
Chalkhill Blue is still present in amazingly large numbers. New sightings included Wavy-barred Sable (Pyrausta nigrata), Tortoise Shield Bug (Eurygaster testudinaria) final stage nymph and Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax). On an English Oak (Quercus robur) the galls of the Knopper Gall Wasp (Andricus quercuscalicis) were found, as well as the egg sacs of the Sputnik Spider […]
Monday, 21 Jul 2025
Some good heavy rain in the past 2 days but the ground has been so dry that all was soaked up leaving the paths only slightly damp. No muddy puddles anywhere. At least that awful straw colour of the grass is returning to green with much new growth stimulated by the rain. A week since […]