Cranford Park on a sunny Saturday

Yesterday I was at the park to do my UKBMS butterfly transect. A healthy seven species of butterfly were recorded, about average for this time of year but I was hoping to see eight or nine. 

Butterflies recorded 13/06/20

Small Skipper

Large White

Small White

Comma

Speckled Wood

Meadow Brown

Small Heath

A total of 35 butterflies were counted during the 90 minute transect. 

Thistle flowers are just starting to open and one of the wild buddleias by the M4 wall is already in flower. The same one (the dark purple) is always the first to bloom every year. With all these new nectar rich plants coming into flower, my next butterfly recording session should produce higher numbers of both counts and species. 

Small Skipper

Small Heath

 I'm really pleased the Small Heaths are doing well. I generally only find them in one corner of the park, and the last couple of seasons have produced low numbers, so to see five yesterday was a good indicator that the population is picking up a bit. Their 'patch' is within the cattle paddock, so we are monitoring if the cattle grazing is having an effect on their numbers. 

The Commas were also very noticeable and in good numbers. These butterflies are one of the ones that have two flushes per year. The ones seen today are likely to be the offspring of the ones seen in early spring. They were all very fresh looking....

On the other hand the Speckled Woods are now starting to look past their best. This individual looks like it's been a victim of a bird attack, it even has missing scales as well as chunks taken out of its lower wing...

There are 59 species of butterfly species that breed in the UK. 31 species have been recorded in Middlesex and 26 of the 31 can be seen at Cranford Park. For an area that is surrounded by the M4, A312 and Heathrow airport, that is not a bad number at all ! 

The small perfectly formed bright yellow buttercups are a good source of food for many insects, and it's well worth having a look at them closely....

Thick-legged Flower Beetle

Hoverfly - Platycheirus sp.

Nettle patches are another great source of food for many critters, including the caterpillars of the Peacock butterfly. Yesterday I was lucky enough to find two stages of the gregarious caterpillars. 

The eggs are laid in large batches on the underside of nettle leaves. When they hatch the caterpillars spin a large web of silk and feed on the young nettle leaves within the web. The ones below are probably just a day old....

and these larger ones are probably about a week old....

When they have gorged themselves on nettles, they will start to spread out, each one looking for a suitable place to start the next stage of its life - pupation. 

Ladybirds are also easy to find now on scrubby areas. I found three stages of a ladybird - larva, pupa and adult yesterday, all in one small area at the back of the stable blocks.

larva

pupa

pupa - they often go up on end as a deterrent to predators

recently emerged adult, still yellow and colouring up

fully coloured adult

Despite the water in the wildlife pond in front of the Information Centre being quite low, it is still full of happy critters. The oxeye daisies around the pond had several of these stunning beetles on them. They are commonly known as Black and Yellow Longhorn beetles (aka Rutpela maculata) and this pair were very busy making the next generation. They were so vigorous in doing this that the whole of the flower head was moving from side to side...

and further down in the vegetation I found a pair of Dock Bugs doing exactly the same thing....

As well as the usual Common Blue and Blue-tipped damselflies, I spotted this beauty.....

It is a female Banded Demoiselle, and I will be really chuffed if it chooses our wildlife pond to lay its eggs this season.....

I've seen males along the River Crane, but its the first time I've seen this species at the pond. Fingers crossed we can add this species to our ever growing list. 

Despite the heavy rain recently, the water was very clear and I was able to watch several water snails doing what they do best.....cleaning up the pond in their own particular way...

The undergrowth at the side of the pond has always been rich in birdlife. Wrens often nest there and the pond attracts a lot of birds looking for a drink. I've seen Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and Goldfinches using the pond, but I wasn't expecting to see this lovely bird....

It's a female Blackcap and I'm guessing she has a nest nearby. The photos aren't too clear as she kept tucked away in the darker parts of the scrubby area...

Deep down on the pond edge and amongst the leafy iris leaves I spotted this wonderful creation...

I have had it identified as the excuvia of a Southern Hawker. Hawkers are another species of the odonata family, along with Chasers and Darters and Demoiselles. 

The nymph would have spent the last two years of its life at the bottom of the pond, eating and growing bigger and bigger. Eventually it crawls up a suitable leaf or reed, and from this weird looking 'shell' an adult Southern Hawker will emerge....

This is great news as it means when the pond was first re-constructed in 2018, a Southern Hawker laid its eggs in that pond that year ! 

In the Memorial garden I spotted a pair of ears....

a young rabbit !

and it was so intent on chewing the fresh new grass that I managed to get within a few feet of it....

To finish of todays blog post, here are two of my favourite views of the park. They change so dramatically each season and I like the new growth of early summer...

The Avenue which stretches from near Frogs Ditch to the main part of the Haha wall - said to be haunted 

Bluebell Dell - this old log is favourite of both mine and Sheila Perry. It used to be a very comfortable log but is finally disintegrating as nature intended. I've watched nesting Green Woodpeckers and Great Spotted Woodpeckers from this log and found my first ever Stinkhorn fungus by sitting there and looking around. This view is from the scrubby corner of Cranford Park looking into the woods. 

I ended up being at the park for much longer than anticipated, about six hours in all, but every moment was spent bathing in the new life and growth that early summer brings. 

It was also lovely to catch up with two of the regular park visitors, Sheila first and then Max with the adorable Audrey. All in all, a very satisfying visit to my favourite place.