And the underwings of a common blue that DKG found this morning in Lambrok Meadow.
BIRD STRIKE
A lucky speckled wood that just got away at the cost of a more than half of one of its four wings.
The picture is by DKG
Big Butterfly Count
Yesterday was the first day of the Big Butterfly Count. Here are some of the park’s butterflies to encourage you to sign up.
Southwick Country Park’s BUTTERFLIES 2019 list
The day’s wanderings
by Ian Bushell
There was a Common Blue butterfly just emerged in the old pond at the end of Lambrok Meadow and, after a long chase, I got a picture of a female Southern Hawker (see above) near the carved Wheel close to the Picnic area.
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We disapprove highly of anthropomorphism but have to admit that DKG has named this frequently photographed squirrel Cyril.
Willow warbler
A willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) seen and photographed by DKG yesterday morning.
Continue readingBlue tailed damselfly
A new species of Odonata for our lists: a blue tailed damselfly (Ischnura elegans) spotted and photographed near the Dog Pond by Ian Bushell.
Continue reading “Blue tailed damselfly”
Tattered butterflies
The first meadow brown butterflies hatch at the end of May and by now, the middle of July, some are beginning to look really tattered.
Continue readingCommon roach
A new species of fish found in the Lambrok: a common roach (Rutilus rutilus).
Continue reading “Common roach”big butterfly count
Every year since 2010, Butterfly Conservation has conducted a survey of the country’s butterflies using thousands of volunteer citizen scientists. Last year over 100,000 volunteers took part.
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This extraordinary creature is the nymph of a speckled bush cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima). It is an inadvertent portrait: the photographer was focusing on the flowers of the common vetch and only found the bush cricket when the picture was enlarged for detail.
More tiny creatures here:
Whitethroat
A common whitethroat (Sylvia communis), seen, identified and photographed by DKG near the Lambrok this week. This is probably either a female or a juvenile; the male is more distinctively coloured.
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Blatant vandalism
Caught in the act, a grey squirrel stripping bark from a willow tree near the footbridge into Village Green; spotted, photographed and chased away by Ian Bushell
Continue readingPeacock butterflies
Four nests of peacock caterpillars have been photographed in the park this year and we hope there are more. Those caterpillars will be pupating soon and we will begin to see the new adults this month.
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Six-spot burnet moth
Six-spot burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae) seen in Village Green. The adults feed on the nectar of the thistles and knapweed that grow there. They lay their eggs on the caterpillar’s food plant, birdsfoot trefoil, among the grass.
![birdsfoot trefoil by Horia Varlen [CC BY 2.0]](https://southwickcountrypark.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/birdsfoot-trefoil-by-horia-varlen-cc-by-2.0.jpg?w=736)
Ruddy darter?
This is, without doubt, a picture of a ruddy darter (Sympetrum sanguineum). We rarely use as a headline any pictures that have not been taken in the park but this one was taken in Chemnitz, Germany by Jörg Hempel and has been downloaded from Wikimedia Creative Commons
Click here to find out whyTen wood pigeon facts
ONE: Wood pigeons are the most numerous large bird in Britain with an estimated 5 million breeding pairs.
Click here for more
Damsel fly or dragonfly?
It is easiest to tell the difference between the two when they are at rest; then a damselfly’s wings are folded along its body while a dragonfly’s wings are outspread, held at right angles to its body.
Continue readingFantastic Mrs Fox
No, we haven’t seen an arctic fox in the park; that would be silly. Instead, here is the irresistible story of a record-breaking journey undertaken by an arctic fox, which demonstrates the resilience and adaptability of all the vulpine species, our common red fox included. It also raises questions, pertinent to everybody, about the effects of the frighteningly rapid loss of arctic ice.
A broad bodied chaser
A male broad bodied chaser at the Dog Pond, seen and photographed by Ian Bushell last week.
Continue readingCitizen science
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s hedgehog citizen science campaign begins today. They are asking volunteer citizen scientists to record and report hedgehog sightings and to monitor their behaviour and activity.
Continue reading “Citizen science”Mail from DKG
” Took these early this morning whilst the butterflies were still resting. A Gatekeeper and one other which may be a Meadow Brown or may not. There were so many of them in The Triangle near the picnic area.”
Continue reading “Mail from DKG”
Help birds through the heatwave
The temperature has soared this weekend and the RSPB has asked people to help their local bird populations through the heat wave with a supply of clean, fresh water in a place safe from predators.
Continue readingThree magpies
A picture of three magpies by DKG
.….. and a small skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris), which is number sixteen on our list.
Image: Creative Commons
