Scorchio at Cranford Park

I completed the UKBMS butterfly transect yesterday on one of the hottest days of the year - I also walked it whilst the meadow was being mown so my numbers are well down on last week

 

18th July - 234 butterflies of 15 species

25th July - 179 butterflies of 12 species

 

Large White x 31

Small White x 5

Small Copper x 11

Common Blue x 23

Brown Argus x 5

Holly Blue x 6

Peacock x 1

Speckled Wood x 32

Gatekeeper x 39

Meadow Brown x 23

Small Heath x 2

Purple Hairstreak x 1

 

I spotted the Purple Hairstreak in the same location as the one I found on 18th July - again I could only see the one but I managed to fire off some photos this time - they're not great but they will do as record shots for now

 

Purple Hairstreak - record shot

Purple Hairstreak - record shot

Purple Hairstreak - record shot

and here are the best of the rest - ids under photos

 

Brown Argus

Brown Argus

 

Gatekeepers mating

Gatekeepers mating

 

Gatekeepers mating

 

male Common Blue

Small Heath

Small Heath

 

Large White

Small Copper

Small Copper

Small Copper

Holly Blue

Holly Blue

Speckled Wood

The meadow being cut attracted five Red Kites and one Common Buzzard - I tried hard to get them all in one picture but could only manage three

 

 

I've seen Kites and Buzzards do this before - sometimes when a field is being ploughed - I guess its because small prey may be flushed out or earthworms and other tasty critters exposed

 

The heat meant there weren't that many hoverflies around but I did find this beauty in some shady grass - its a female Chrysotoxum bicintum

 

 

There are still no signs of any juvenile Kestrels so I went back over my records to see the dates I had recorded for them appearing in the meadows

 

12th July 2013

4th July 2014

4th July 2015

17th July 2016

2nd July 2017

 

I am now fairly certain we will not see any at Cranford Park this year which is a real shame as they were so entertaining watching them learn how to hunt and hover

 

We desperately need a day of rain to help not only the grass but also the wildlife - it was very very quiet bird wise yesterday - the river level is low and the wildlife pond level is low

 

I'm leading a guided Butterfly Walk at Cranford Park on the 4th August - all ages welcome - meet at the Information Centre at 11am

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiger at Cranford CP

Firstly I have now amended yesterdays blog as I mis-identified one of the species of butterfly I saw - so yesterdays butterfly count was actually 15 species including the Brown Argus which I mistakenly called a Common Blue

 

I was back at the park again today but primarily to look for the kestrels - sadly still no sign of any juveniles and again only one brief sighting of the adult male as he flew towards the woods - I will check again next week

 

The 'girls' (our resident cattle) were mooching along one of the paths

 

 

Most of the brambles are already bearing fruit but where there were the odd flowers there were Gatekeeper butterflies - four in the photo below

 

I've not seen that many ladybirds this season and I can certainly say that Harlequin numbers are right down on previous years - but I did find a larva and pupa today

 

 

There is one particular hoverfly that I've been trying to photograph without success - the huge ugly Volucella zonaria - and again today it evaded me but instead I found something even more special

 

A beautiful Jersey Tiger moth

 

 

Nathalie Mahieu and myself found one in exactly the same area back on August 27th 2016 but it was quite high up in the buddleia and my photos weren't all that good - todays little beauty was at head level and allowed me to get very close

 

According to the Butterfly Conservation website this species is general found on the south coast with only a few records from the London area so I will submit my record to my UKBMS mentor

 

I may not have found the kestrels but I did find a tiger

Butterflies and more from Cranford CP

I had a very productive count on my UKBMS butterfly transect today - a total of 234 butterflies of 15 species during a 90 minute route walk - full tally count below

 

Small Skipper x 6

Essex Skipper x 2

Large Skipper x 3

Large White x 61

Small White x 17

Small Copper x 10

Common Blue x 4

Brown Argus x 2

Holly Blue x 4

Red Admiral x 6

Comma x 2

Speckled Wood x 13

Gatekeeper x 70

Meadow Brown x 34

and my shock find of the day - Purple Hairstreak x 1

 

The Purple Hairstreak was totally unexpected and a first for me at Cranford CP - normally these unassuming small butterflies are found high up in oak trees but this one was in the grass by some buddleia and by the time I had registered what it was the little beauty had flown along with any photo opportunity I nearly had

 

For the last two years I've seen White-letter Hairstreaks but up until today I haven't seen any at Cranford Park this season

 

Stand by for an overload of butterfly photos

 

Large White

Large White

Large White

 

Red Admiral

Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood

 

Comma

 

Small Skipper

Small Skipper

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper

 

Small Copper

Small Copper

tatty Small Copper

Small Coppers

Small Coppers

Small Coppers

 

Holly Blue

Holly Blue

Common Blue - male

Common Blue - male

Brown Argus

Common Blue

Brown Argus - male

Brown Argus - male

Common Blue - male

Common Blue - male

 

Gatekeeper - female

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper - male

 An added bonus was a solo sighting of a Six-spot Burnet

 

 

Before the heat got too much there was quite a bit of hover activity - my four below have had ids confirmed by Roger Morris and Graham Watkeys

 

These images just goes to show how varied the hoverfly species are

Volucella pellucens

Myathropa florea

Eristalis pertinax

Sphaerophoria scripta

 Another added critter bonus was this beautiful female Flower Beetle

 

 

There's a new strip of meadow flowers just before the car park - now it is in full bloom it is attracting a wide variety of insects

 

 

I didn't expect to see much in the way of birds today - most will be going through their moult or busy bringing up second broods

 

I heard the Kingfisher by the river calling twice but didn't spot it

 

Despite loitering by the oaks for a while I neither heard nor saw any Little Owls

 

There are still at least one pair of Skylarks nesting by the cattle enclosure

 

But the biggest surprise for me is that there are no signs of any juvenile Kestrels yet - In 2016 and 2017 I saw juveniles in the second week of July but not this year - I did catch a brief glimpse of the adult male today but that was all - hopefully they are just a little late this year and I'll have another recee next week