Saturday 29 May 2021

Butterfly Hunting on the Local Patch

 Finally, for the first day this year I was out in just a tee shirt.  Marvellous and a glorious day to be out; the temperature reached 20+C in the afternoon.  THings are really beginning to grow up now and the Dead Wood looks positively lush with trees coming into full leaf and a froth of cow parsley lining the paths.  I had already heard the scratchy song of whitethroat and delighted in the bubbling flute-like song of a garden warbler, which, typical of this species, refused to show itself.

There were a few more butterflies on the wing today, maily whites with a few tortoiseshells and peacocks all looking very worn now.

  • Orange tip 1 female and 4 males
  • Large White 5
  • Small White 7
  • Green-Veined White 1
  • Peacock 3
  • Small Tortoiseshell 3
I also came across a huge swarm of bees close to the allotments, where, presumably, there are hives.

There are more flowers about now and it was good to see birdsfoot trefoil flowering in the disturbed ground where the horses have been grazing as it is the food plant for common Blue catterpillars. Notable species included:

  • Cow parsley
  • Red Campion
  • Speedwell
  • Buttercups
  • White Dead Nettle
  • Red Clover
  • Birdsfoot trefoil
  • Pignut
  • Tufted Vetch
  • Herb Bennet
  • Cut leaved Cranesbill
Birds seen included:
  • Blackbird
  • Magpie
  • House Sparrow
  • Swallow
  • Starling
  • Crow
  • Wood Pigeon
  • Linnet
  • Chaffinch
  • Blue Tit
  • Great Tit
  • Garden Warbler
  • Robin
  • Mistle Thrush
  • Whitethroat
  • Goldfinch
To view large, please click on an image.
Birdsfoot trefoil
Birdsfoot trefoil
Dandelion
Green-Veined White
Red Campion
Small White
Small White
Cow Parsley lines the Dead Wood paths

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