holly blue, large white and orange tip
Butterfly count
Ian Bushell walking round the park with our Countryside Officer, Ali Rasey, spotted a large white, a male brimstone, two male orange tips, a speckled wood, a small tortoiseshell and a holly blue. That is four more species for our spotter’s list
small tortoiseshell. speckled wood, brimstone
Usually the butterfly population of the park is estimated by walking transects during the summer. This means regularly walking a set route through the park, on days of butterfly-friendly weather, and counting the number of species and individuals within a certain distance of that route.
Continue reading “Butterfly list”
Remember the peacock caterpillars that Ian found in the nettle beds between Simpson’s Field and the Arboretum?
On Wednesday, DKG and his macro lens took a close look at some of the park’s invertebrate inhabitants.
Click on any picture to enlarge it.
Our grateful thanks go to the park’s tenant farmer. He has done us proud.
On 21st of June, Hugh, Ian and Sarah G walked a regular transect through the park in order to survey the butterfly numbers.
A message from Ian B on Tuesday of last week:
“Had a walk around the park this afternoon and did a bit of a butterfly transect. The park is looking good. I saw 3 speckled woods, 7 small skippers and 43 meadow browns – the latter were in perfect condition as though they had just hatched – the majority of the meadow browns were in Village Green.”
Ian found and photographed this nest of peacock butterfly caterpillars on Tuesday.
This is the caterpillar of the drinker moth (Euthrix potatoria) so called because the caterpillar is believed to drink drops of dew on grass stems.
From Ian B:
“I photographed this small tortoiseshell nest this morning in Simpsons Field; there is a nettle bed on the right, about half way up the hard path from the entrance.”
