Early this morning I found one of the Orange-tip butterfly caterpillars had 'escaped' it's 'enclosure'. I found it in the other Orange-tips enclosure. Not sure how it got there, may be I had them too close together, and it must have happened overnight as they were both safely on their own before I went to bed.
This species of butterfly have caterpillars that are prone to cannibalism, which is one of the reasons they lay their eggs singularly rather than in clusters like Small Tortoiseshell. So I was a little concerned that one of my OT caterpillars may have eaten the other.....
but it hadn't...….the other OT caterpillar has shrunk in size a little, bent itself into an almost half circle, and attached itself to a stem by minute silky threads.....
It has started the next stage in its life.....pupating into a chrysalis. I have no idea how long this process takes, so am taking photos every few hours to record any changes. Once it has formed into a proper chrysalis, it will look very different.
Watch this space....
Also early this morning (6am to be precise) the local male Muntjac that frequents the field behind the back garden, was near enough for me to get some photos. The poor old boy has not only got a huge abcess on its hind leg, but it has also now lost one of its small antlers. I hadn't seen him for a couple of days so despite his odd appearance now, I'm glad to see him back.
I did wonder if he'd been in a fight but apparently buck muntjac shed their antlers in April-May, and they grow back over the summer. And despite his obvious sore leg, he walks fine and is eating well. As I have mentioned in a previous blog post, I have consulted a wildlife rescue about him and have agreed that catching the muntjac would cause him more stress than necessary as this stage.
Yesterday evening I spent a while watching the fox cubs in the top corner of the field. They are losing the 'grey' fur they were born with, and are starting to look like proper miniature foxes now. I saw all four, which was a relief as the previous couple of evenings I had only seen two cubs. One of them is a lot braver and more inquisitive than the others, and last night he even followed the vixen a little way across the field. She didn't chase him off, so maybe she is encouraging them to start making longer journeys away from the den. In a couple of the photos below, you can see the brave cub and vixen further towards the middle of the field and the remaining cubs in the top corner, playing without a care in the world, and seemingly not even noticing one of their siblings has wandered off....
Play time......
Just after I took the below photo, the cubs all disappeared back in the direction of the den. I didn't hear the vixen make any noise, but she must be communicating with the cubs somehow to tell them to 'go back'.
Again, my photos are dreadful. I have tried all three of my telephoto lenses now, and the distance is just too much plus the sun sets in that corner so often I am taking photos into the light, which does not help at all. But if the cubs start wandering nearer to the back gardens, I might be able to get some better pics in the future.
Again, watch this space....
I have also had an email from the UKBMS (UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme) advising us volunteers that we can resume our butterfly recording at our chosen sites, with obvious social distancing plans in place. My 'patch' is Cranford Park, so I will be doing a few hours recording there one day this week.
Keep well everyone and stay safe
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