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 […]
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 […]
Sunday, 14 Sep 2025
Exactly 2 weeks since my last walk on the Downs. My wife and I have been away for a while. What a difference in 2 weeks. Summer is gone and with it most of the insects. I walked for an hour, much needed exercise after the short holiday, and my tally of insects was – […]
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 […]