Friday, 22 May 2026
A much hotter day today, which even as I started my walk was already close to being the hottest day of the year. Much more sun than yesterday too, but still very windy. Butterfly sightings were few with the same species seen as yesterday, Brimstone, Speckled Wood, Brown Argus, Holly Blue and Common Blue. Like […]
Saturday, 16 May 2026
With weather conditions the same as yesterday I was again expecting to see very few insects on the wing. Unsurprisingly most were seen at rest on leaves. The total number of butterflies did not exceed 10, but 6 species were seen, 4 Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus), 2 Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), and one each of […]
Tuesday, 5 May 2026
A bit more sunshine today, so the butterflies are back, but not many. Just a handful of Brimstone, Speckled Wood, and Holly Blue, and one each of Green Hairstreak, Painted Lady, and Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages). Like yesterday, it was leaf searching that provided most of my photo opportunities from a variety of different plants. […]
Monday, 4 May 2026
A warm but very overcast day. Not a single butterfly seen in almost 3 hours. In fact not too much flying around at all, so it was a day for scanning leaves for insects at rest. I found lots of familiar bugs that I have been seeing for the past few weeks, Brassica Shieldbug, Forest […]
Wednesday, 29 Apr 2026
Warm, mostly sunny, but a very strong wind. So, I wasn’t expecting too many butterflies on the wing. Total numbers were down on two days ago, and Brimstone still dominates, with the rest almost all Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus), but for single Green-veined White (Pieris napi), Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) and Grizzled Skipper (no photo […]
Monday, 27 Apr 2026
The weather very much the same as my last walk on the Downs two days ago. Disappointingly still no increase in butterfly activity. Brimstone still dominate, with a supporting cast of Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria), Holly Blue and Green Hairstreak. I did get glimpses of what might have been one of the Skippers and an […]
Friday, 24 Apr 2026
On another cloudless, warm day the wind continues to blow, keeping down the butterfly sightings. Brimstone is still present in good numbers, supported by a few Speckled Wood and Holly Blue, and just single Peacock, Painted Lady and Green Hairstreak. It is the third time this month that I have seen the lone Common Buzzard […]
Wednesday, 22 Apr 2026
Not a cloud in the sky but quite windy. Despite the wind a better day for butterflies with dozens of Brimstone on the wing. Surprisingly the next most abundant, I stopped counting at 10, was Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi), along with 5 or 6 Holly Blue, a pair of Speckled Wood and a solitary Painted […]
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 […]
Tuesday, 14 Apr 2026
Butterfly numbers are increasing. Good variety today, too. Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) is still the dominant species, but several Peacock (Aglais io), Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) and Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) were seen, as well as single Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi), Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines) and a first of the season Small White (Pieris rapae). Doing my […]
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 […]
Saturday, 4 Apr 2026
The first day for quite a while that I have not been able to find anything new to report. So, I will have to be satisfied with posting images of species already recorded on the Downs, hopefully better than the first time. I got the day off to a start with a male Tawny Mining […]
Monday, 30 Mar 2026
A chill wind blowing again this morning, strong enough to make close-up photography quite challenging. Usually, individual leaves can be held reasonably steady to photograph whatever little creature happens to be the subject. Today, though, even a hand-held leaf was still shaking in the stronger gusts of wind. I did manage to get images of […]
Thursday, 26 Mar 2026
A sunny, but cold day. The March winds continue again limiting the number of butterflies on the wing. Total count was just 2, a second Orange Tip to add my first from three days ago and the first Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) of the season. Hoverflies were represented by a Variable Duskyface Fly (Melanostoma mellinum) […]
Friday, 20 Feb 2026
While photographing fungus on a fallen tree trunk, possibly Common Tarcrust (Diatrype stigma), I was aware of a small insect on the back of my hand. It wandered around quite happily, giving me plenty of time to get a good photo. It would seem to be a Cynipid gall wasp, most likely a Striped Pea Gall […]
Wednesday, 4 Feb 2026
Another of those days when I wished I had the 300 mm lens with me. A Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) perched in full view on a branch no more than 5 m away and let me stop and watch it for a good 15 seconds or so before flying off. In my last post I […]
Tuesday, 25 Nov 2025
It may be cold and underfoot conditions are getting somewhat soggy, but there is still much to be seen on the Downs. First find of the day on an almost completely defoliated oak sapling (the few remaining leaves confirmed the ID) were Oak Marble Galls. I missed out on seeing any of this type of […]
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 […]
Wednesday, 5 Nov 2025
Having seen my first Birch Catkin Bug (Kleidocerys resedae) of the year just 4 days ago I came across a cluster (what is the collective noun for a group of Birch Catkin Bugs?) of them this morning, again on a bramble. Found on leaf litter was a female wolf spider (family Lycosidae), possibly the species […]
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 […]