Insect Day at Maple Lodge NR

Today I was at one of my favourite places - Maple Lodge Nature Reserve - for Insect Day

 

My 'job' was to stay at Comma Corner - a well known place on the reserve - and point out any insects to the guided groups as they stopped at my 'station'

 

I had a lovely time talking about butterflies and ladybirds and beetles - and in between visits I had the corner all to myself and took loads of photos

 

The first butterfly I saw was a stunning female Brown Argus

 

 

I also had the below Large Skipper plus a Small Skipper later in the day

 

and as to be expected there were several Commas

 

Below is why they have their name - the distinctive white 'comma' mark on the underwing

 

There were also several Large Whites

 

and some of the other butterflies seen but not photographed included Meadow Brown - Green-veined White - Red Admiral - Small Tortoiseshell and Ringlet

 

But my most exciting find came very unexpectedly

I've been wanting to see a Marbled White this year - a butterfly that I don't get on my home patch of Cranford Park - so when I heard that there were four being seen at another part of the reserve I decided to risk leaving my 'station' for a few minutes - but my luck wasn't in and I couldn't find them in the reported area

I walked back to Comma Corner to continue my insect search and straight away saw a Marbled White on one of the thistles !! It was a very tatty individual with not only ragged wings but also a hole in one of it's upper wings

 

 

I was quite satisfied with my find until a couple of hours later when a very fresh intact Marbled White landed high up on the brambles - not so good for my macro lens but still nice to see in an area of the reserve that they don't usually get seen

 

 

Another nice find by Emily was this large Summer Chafer

 

 

The two critters below I am waiting for Martin Parr to identify as at least one of them we think is new to the reserve

 

 

The morning was good for hoverflies but after lunchtime it really was too warm for them - I have put the ids under the photos - all confirmed by Chris Sellen

 

Eristalis tena

Sphaerophoria scripta

Syritta pipiens

Eristalis species

Naturally at this time of year there were hundreds of damselflies - the below two are both Common Blue

 

 

Also at my 'station' there were a couple of Peacock butterfly caterpillars

 

 

and lots of Cinnabar moth caterpillars

 

There were also several Mirid bugs

 

I found eight 7-spot ladybirds

 



 

and two 14-spots

 

By the Puddingstone there was a nymph cricket but I haven't narrowed it down to species yet

 

 

Not much in the way of birds today except for overhead flybys from a tatty Common Buzzard and a Red Kite

 

 

I packed away my bits and pieces from Comma Corner at 4pm and made my way to spend the last hour in the Clubhouse Hide where I had my second unexpected surprise - a very nice large Grass Snake

 

 

The size alone tells me it is a female

 

So even though I was 'on duty' today it was a very enjoyable duty and one I look forward to each time Insect Day comes along

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fridays butterfly transect at Cranford Park

Yesterday (Friday) saw me at Cranford CP by 9am to hopefully catch up with the Bullfinches - but despite loitering nearby for over an hour I didn't see or hear any sign of them

 

As the temperature was looking to get fairly high I decided to complete the UKBMS transect whilst it was still quite cool - 19degrees is plenty comfortable for me when I'm carrying a rucksack along with my heavy macro lens camera and making notes on my clipboard

 

The butterfly transect was my highest count of the year so far;-

 

119 butterflies of 9 species seen during a 1hr 50min leisurely walk around the set route

 

The tally was:-

 

Large White x 6

Small Skipper x 13

Essex Skipper x 4

Large Skipper x 8

Red Admiral x 2

Comma x 1

Speckled Wood x 3

and the best counts -----

Meadow Brown x 59

Small Heath x 23

 

Cranford CP is becoming a well known site for its good numbers of the large Meadow Browns - the majority of yesterdays count were within the cattle paddock so it will be interesting to see if their numbers will get bigger or smaller next year

 

Small Heath are fairly widespread and common down south but around the Greater London area they can only be found in certain pockets - so to count 23 of the small little beauties was a bonus

 

Meadow Brown - female

Meadow Brown with complete wing closure so no eye spots to be seen

Small Heath - about half the size of the Meadow Brown but fairly similar in appearance - Small Heath fly very low to the ground and when they do stop to perch on a flower it very rarely opens its wings

Large Skipper - male

Small Skipper - male

As to be expected on a sunny June day there were a few hoverflies around - the only one that would pose long enoough for a photo was this fresh looking Myathropa florea - this common hoverfly is also known as the 'Batman' hover due to the distinctive batman shaped logo on the back of its thorax

 

 

Ragwort is springing up all over the park now and the Cinnabar caterpillars can be found if you look really closely at the flowers and buds - I managed to find one plant that showed the differences in sizes between newly hatched caterpillars and one that is about a week old

 

When they have gorged themselves and grown fat and long they will drop to the ground and bury themselves about 2-3 cms under the surface - there they will pupate and spend the winter and emerge as the stunning black and red day flying adult moths the following spring

 

Not too many ladybirds seen yesterday but I got the back end of a 7-spot as it went head first after aphids

 

At the back of the stable block someone had spilt a lot of seed (?) and it had enticed out a very young Grey Squirrel - this baby was a good third of a size smaller than an adult

 

The resident Kestrels young are due to fledge around early-mid July if previous records prove correct - the male was the only one seen on Friday and I'm hoping it is because the female is still attending the nestlings - as always the male had chosen one of the tree guards to perch upon which is a very favoured spot to look for prey - he caught a dragonfly whilst I watched him and instead of taking it to the nest he ate it himself

 

After the transect I went back to the Bullfinch area but even though I stayed there for another hour there was still no sign of either the male nor female - I'm not sure what this means but I will continue to monitor the area when I can

 

Bullfinches and more from Cranford Park

Every birder I know has a 'bogey' bird - it might be one they have not yet seen or one they cannot get a photo of - mine is the dumpy and rotund Bullfinch

 

I have seen them before but I can count my sightings on one hand and I only have two very bad record photos - so you can imagine my shock and happiness at not only finding them at Cranford Park but also accidentally finding their nest site

 

I've been watching this pair now since 21st May and it looks as if they've already fledged their first brood and are now working on hatching a second brood as I've observed over the last three days that they have been adding more twiggy material to the nest

 

I havent actually seen the nest and I wouldnt dream of even thinking about poking around in the evergreen shrub - but I may take a peek in winter when I know they will have definitely finished raising their young

 

As I mentioned in my last blog post trying to photograph them is hard work - but today I struck lucky

 

I was at the park early as that seems to be when they are most active and by sitting completly still on the bench under the huge Yew the birds eventually came to me

 

First was the female who was picking at some leaves just 12' away

 

 

The male decided to fly behind me and so the majority of my photos were then taken with him in heavy shade and didnt come out quite as well

 

But he did eventually move into the light and I managed another poor photo but at least one that shows his glorious rosy chest

 

I will check the site again on my next days off work

 

The resident churchyard Robins have four new fledglings that were scattered over the back of the area - they were all very noisy and squeaking for food from the parents

 

 

Somewhere at the front of the churchyard there's a Blackbird nest and both adults were acively taking food in for their youngsters

 

I didnt see too many butterflies this morning - it was a little cool and windy for them - but one tatty Comma did settle briefly for a photo

 

 

There were plenty of Thick-legged Flower Beetles (Oedemera nobilis) around - only the males have the swollen thighs

 

and just like Friday there were lots of Yellow and Black Longhorn Beetles to be seen

 

I didnt see any Harlequin ladybirds today but did find my first 14-spot and Orange ladybirds of the season

 

14-spot ladybird

Orange ladybird

Orange ladybird

I also spotted some Red-legged Shieldbugs by the M4 wall - the only place at Cranford Park that I have ever seen them - these little critters are only found on certain trees like oak or alder or hazel though they can be found on apple and cherry trees as well

 

 

It wasnt a good day for hoverflies either but I managed the below - identifications are under the photos and have been confirmed by Chris Sellen

 

Syrphus species - cannot narrow down any further

Sphaerophoria species

Syrphus species - cannot narrow down any further

the common Marmalade Fly

I dont normally bother taking photos of the churchyards other permanant resident - the Grey Squirrel - but this one just posed nicely for me

 

 

Another succesful visit to the park but still no sign of our Little Owls yet - maybe next week I'll get lucky again