A couple of nice August surprises at Cranford Park

I was at the park on Wednesday but not to do anything 'nature'. A few of us met up to have a toast for David, one of the founder members of the Cranford Park Friends, who sadly recently passed away. We shared our memories of him and the lovely Daphne told us all about how she first met him before the war by grudgingly knitting him a jumper plus many more wonderful stories including how he built their kitchen from scratch adding a bit each week when they could afford to buy more wood. The bespoke kitchen still stands to this day. 

There will be small everlasting memorial to David in the park by the end of this year. 

We had some great news this week too when it was officially announced that Cranford Country Park has been successful in its bid for National Heritage Lottery funding. There will obviously be more about what this means and what happens next when our brilliant Project Manager, Charmian Baker, is back from a very well earned break. Another very big key part of this bid was the part Bob Barton, the Friends secretary, played in all of this. And of course none of this would have been possible without all the free time our parks great volunteers gave up to conduct surveys, collect signatures and help fund raise and also big thanks to the background work from our contacts at Hillingdon Council. I am so proud to be a part of this and am really looking forward to seeing the new stage for Cranford Park develop. 

I was going to complete the weekly UKBMS transect at Cranford Park yesterday but I'm glad I chose not to as the park was one of the hottest recorded places in the UK with a whooping 37oC. Even if I had made it to the park with both bus routes E6 and 195 on diversion and some bus stops closed, I doubt if I would have made it around the park without melting ! So this afternoon I conducted the weekly count with some good and bad results but in much more manageable weather. 

The tally for todays 115 minute transect is....

01/08/20

Large White x 7

Small White x 1

Small Copper x 7

Holly Blue x 7

Red  Admiral x 3

Peacock x 2

Comma x 2

Speckled Wood x 10

Gatekeeper x 32

Meadow Brown x 11

Small Heath x 2

The bad news is that Meadow Browns numbers are still down. I cannot say for sure that lockdown caused this (as said in previous blogs there was more foot traffic in the park during lockdown) and I would need to see what counts I would get next July and August to do a proper comparison. Weather conditions could also be a factor. 

The good news is we have a second flush of Small Heaths. These little inconspicuous butterflies have two generations so we can see them in both May and August, but I rarely get a count of the second flush at Cranford Park as they don't often reach this stage. I always see them in one certain area within the Cattle Paddock so maybe the cows are doing their bit for this particular species of butterfly ? 

I was asked last Wednesday if there were any good 'butterfly' results at Cranford Park this season and I've got to admit we have had a bumper year for the dainty Small Copper. They have to be in the top three of my favourite butterfly and I have seen loads this season. 

Here come the photos …… 

Peacock on the buddleia by the M4 wall

Red Admiral on the buddleia by the M4 wall

Speckled Wood in Cranford Woods

Gatekeeper on bramble by the Cranford Lane entrance to the park

Holly Blue in the Secret Garden

Small Copper in the Cattle Paddock

Small Copper

Small Copper

Small Copper

Small Copper

Small Heath in the Cattle Paddock

The photo below is a closed wing of a Gatekeeper. The Small Heath above looks very similar but is much smaller and 'lighter' in colour. When a Small Heath flies low amongst the long grasses it's more a yellowy colour whereas the Gatekeeper below is larger and more orange-brown …. 

The white dots within the eye spots normally help with identification too. Gatekeepers generally have two white dots, and Meadow Browns and Small Heaths only have one, but as I proved in last weeks blog post, Meadow Browns sometimes have two white dots. Confused ? So am I !! There's nothing boring about the butterfly world ! 

Meadow Brown - a normal one with one white dot within the eye spot

A size comparison - a very worn Gatekeeper on the left and a Meadow Brown on the right.

In the Secret Gardens herb trough I found this lovely little Mint Moth, also called the Purple and Gold for obvious reasons  … 

Because of the bus diversions and closed bus stops I walked back into Hayes Town via the 'other side' of the woods. When I first used to visit the park many moons ago I always came to the park via the 'other side' and got one of my favourite ever photos from there (a Muntjac being stalked by a cat near the old Crane Pub) but I havent been that way for ages. The river is cleaner that side so I did hope I might see a Kingfisher but to no avail. I could hear a young Sparrowhawk calling but couldn't locate it. But there were plenty of Large White and Speckled Wood butterflies around and these nice Lords and Ladies along the path …. 

I was having a rest on a log when I got the feeling I was being watched …. 

Spot the fox ! It's only a youngster and this was the only (out of focus) photo I managed to get before it disappeared in the scrub. 

As always a really pleasant few hours at the park. Seen but not photographed were one of the juvenile Kestrels on the grassy paths within the meadow, two Red Kites soaring over the Cattle Paddock, two Grey Wagtails on the river by Cranford Lane and a very vocal Common Buzzard very low over Cranford Woods.