Wednesday, 10 Dec 2025
Damper and damper, even the leaf litter in the woodland is now distinctly soggy. I was only just onto the Downs today when I made my first discovery. Searching the underside of ivy leaves for anything of interest I found the pupa of a hoverfly (Syrphidae sp.) in plain sight on the upper surface of […]
Saturday, 6 Dec 2025
Leaf litter and dead branches and twigs seem to be the place to find things now. So, I found a fallen tree with a large piece of loose bark and gently prised it off wondering what I might find (I did put the bark back afterwards as carefully as possible). There was an immediate frenzied […]
Friday, 21 Nov 2025
Over a week since my last visit and what a change! The unseasonal warm weather is a thing of the past. We’ve had rain, strong winds, snow flurries and frost. The wind is now from the north-east and it is definitely more wintry than autumnal. There are still fungi to be found and […]
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 […]
Saturday, 1 Nov 2025
A lovely morning for a walk and I thought that’s all it might be until I turned over a bramble leaf and found two insects and a spider within inches of each over. They were a Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis), two adult Birch Catkin Bug (Kleidocerys resedae) and a well-camouflaged female Green Crab Spider (Diaea […]
Thursday, 30 Oct 2025
A very quiet day, not even many flies to be seen. Jays still very active. I concentrated on looking at the undersides of leaves of various tree species. Even that was not particularly rewarding today. On the underside of a Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) leaf I found the larval case of a Coleophora moth, possibly […]
Friday, 24 Oct 2025
There is a distinctly autumnal look to the Downs now. I encountered a large mixed bird foraging party this morning, comprising Great Tit, Blue Tit and Long-tailed Tit. Jays are still very conspicuous as they build up their winter nut stocks. Yet another new species for the Downs, having previously found it at […]
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 […]
Monday, 6 Oct 2025
It looks like ‘Fall’ has started. After some rain and very strong winds in the last few days the ground is becoming covered in leaves. It is a great time of year for spider webs too, as the low angle sun picks them out very well. By far the most common insect […]
Wednesday, 1 Oct 2025
It may be autumn but I can still add some new insects to the year list. This morning’s sighting was a soldier fly, the Twin-spot Centurion (Sargus bipunctatus). Other species photographed include the European Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus), which seems to be very abundant right now, and another Parent Bug (Elasmucha grisea), this one on a […]
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 […]
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. […]
Saturday, 27 Sep 2025
Exactly 2 butterflies today, both Speckled Wood. I added a new spider, the Common Sun-jumper (Heliophanus flavipes), on one of those nameless yellow composites. Two new galls were found on English Oak (Quercus robur) leaves, the Smooth Spangle Gall and Oyster Gall, caused by the agamic generation of the gall wasps Neuroterus albipes and Neuroterus […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]