Peacock
A newly hatched, pristine peacock butterfly photographed yesterday by Clive Knight.
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A purple hairstreak (Favonius quercus) seen on the edge of the reserve and photographed by Clive Knight.
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And a red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) from Ian Bushell.
Pieridae
Clive Knight has sent in beautiful photographs of two butterflies: a brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) and a large white (Pieris brassicae). Although both are members of the Pieridae family, they have significantly different life cycles.
Continue readingWhat IS this?
By Ian Bushell
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A lot of Lepidoptera
from Ian Bushell and Clive Knight
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[1] Blood vein moth [2] Meadow brown [3] Ringlet [4] Small heath [5] Painted lady [6] Small skipper.
Header Image: Comma by Ian Bushell
Six spot burnet moth
This is a six spot burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae), a dayflying nectar feeder. Regular volunteer, Clive Knight photographed it yesterday on the reserve’s plentiful, nectar-rich, tufted vetch.
Continue readingDrinker moth caterpillar
This is the caterpillar of the drinker moth (Euthrix potatoria), photographed in the reserve on Sunday. It is so named because the caterpillar is believed to drink drops of dew on grass stems.
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Small tortoiseshell
There are small tortoiseshell caterpillars (Aglais urticae) among the nettles by the path in Simpson’s Field. Take a careful look as you walk past.
Cinnabar moth
Cinnabar moths (Tyria jacobaeae) have been reported from the reserve in the past week.
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Spindle Ermine Moth
To improve the reserve as habitat and increase its biodiversity, the Friends have been planting trees for years: whips and saplings of many different species to thicken the hedges and copses.
Continue readingWorld record butterfly
Longest butterfly migration
We now know the painted lady (Vanessa cardui), seen in the reserve in the summers of 2019 and 2020, makes the longest migration of any butterfly: 9,000 miles from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle, almost double the journey made by the previous record holder, the famed monarch butterfly.
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Message from Ian
Speckled Wood, Peacocks, Orange Tip and Brimstone knocking about.
Continue reading “Butterfly season”Eight maids a-milking
Milkmaids is one of the many common names of Cardamine pratensis, a spring-flowering plant that loves our damp meadows and stream edges. In Wiltshire we know it more often as lady’s smock or, because it flowers when the cuckoo returns to Britain, as cuckoo flower.
Continue reading “Eight maids a-milking”Marsh fritillary
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is trying to buy habitat for the critically endangered marsh fritillary butterfly. Please, read their appeal and consider donating.
Continue reading “Marsh fritillary”Winter moths
The Winter moth (Operophtera brumata) is one of the few moth species that can cope with winter’s freezing temperatures in its adult stage. They are endothermic which means that they can produce heat internally by biochemical processes, just as warm-blooded creatures do.
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Disease resistant elm
We have precious elm saplings, resistant to Dutch elm disease, that will need to be planted out in the park soon.
Continue readingSpeckled wood
A late-season speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) photographed last week, basking in the sunshine on the edge of the copse between Sleeper Field and Sheep Field. They are creatures of such woodland edges, camouflaged by the dappled light.
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Garden tiger moth
by Ian Bushell
David Feather found the caterpillar of a Garden Tiger Moth in the heritage orchard.
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A Walk In The Park
by Ian Bushell
I had a quick wander round the park this afternoon to see what needs doing, to assess the ragwort situation in the fields, and look at the tree damage done by the wind. There were three Roe Deer under the Owl Oak in the Church Lane field across the Lambrok, where they are planning to build houses..
Continue readingButterfly transect
by Ian Bushell
Transect for August
Numbers and variety are a bit disappointing; a cold late-summer day.
The old filled-in pond at the end of Lambrok Meadow is where I saw the Common Blue among the Ragwort, Willow-herb, Spindle, Thistle, Rose, Bramble, Red and White clover .
Moth traps
On the evening of July 16th, Ian Bushell and lepidopterist, Hugo Brooke set up moth traps at the top of Village Green. You may have seen them and wondered what they were doing.
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Southwick Country Park
Recorder Ian Bushell
Date 21 July 2020
Start time 1420hrs Finish time 1615hrs
Temperature 23C; Cloud 70% Sunshine
Wind direction – westerly, light, odd gusts.
All fields now mown.
The Big Butterfly Count
The Big Butterfly Count began yesterday and will run until Sunday August 9th. Join in and help Butterfly Conservation monitor the health of Britain’s Lepidoptera. Spend just 15 minutes in the park, your garden, a field or wood, counting the common butterflies you see.
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Peacock
Remember all those peacock caterpillar netsts? They have metamorphosed into a shiny new generation of adult peacock butterflies.
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 