Wednesday, 20 July 2011

Mill Hill Chalkhills & Steyning Wall with snakes

Comma on Ragwort
to view slideshow click here, then choose Fullscreen (top right)
The skies were blue yesterday so I rushed off to Mill Hill to complete this week’s butterfly transect while the good weather lasted. Unfortunately it became dull when I arrived so I recorded record low numbers. When I finished the sun shone fiercely to demonstrate who was in charge. I managed these records: 1 Brimstone, 3 Chalkhill Blue, 6 Gatekeeper, 3 Meadow Brown, 1 Peacock, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Small Heath, 1 Common blue. I also saw my first Six-spot Burnet moth of the season.
view from Mill Hill
Six-spot Burnet moth on Knapweed
Gatekeeper
Brimstone
Brimstone in flight
Brimstone
Chalkhill Blue
Chalkhill Blue
Gatekeeper in flight
aberrant Gatekeeper
female Chalkhill Blue
male Chalkhill Blue
Peacock
Common Blue
Common Blue
Common Blue
I decided to visit Steyning Rifle Range on the way back as I haven’t been for months. It turned into a fruitful visit as I found a Wall butterfly by the gate at the top of the hill. This will be a second brood butterfly - the first occurs in May/June. It sat on the dry backed earth and every time another butterfly flew by it attacked the intruder and returned to its spot. As I wandered round the hill I came across tarpaulin rectangles laid down to by ecologists to attract reptiles. Under these I found a lizard and two juvenile snakes – an adder and a grass snake. I also saw two other snakes slithering off when I disturbed them. One slithered over the grass so I assume it was using the tall grass as a cushion to bask on. Of course I replaced the pieces of tarpaulin exactly as I found them. Butterflies seen on the walk: Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Heath, Brimstone, Common Blue, Large White, Marbled white, Comma, Wall.
Gatekeeper
female Large Skipper
juvenile Adder
Large White
Ragwort
Peacock on Ragwort
Peacock
Wall
Wall
juvenile Grass Snake
Gatekeeper
bee!
Small Skipper in flight
Small Skipper
Meadow Brown
Common Self-heal, Prunella vulgaris
Common Restharrow, Ononis repens
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2 comments:

  1. Seppi20 July 2011 at 14:18

    Hi Colin, as always I admire the brilliance of your pics. To name a few of the most eye-catching ones (in my opinion): the Six-spot Burnet moth, the Comma and the Peacock on Ragwort. The colours are outstanding!

    Seppi

    ReplyDelete
  2. Colin20 July 2011 at 14:33

    Thanks for your kind comments Seppi, while the sun briefly shined the butterflies performed and I managed some interesting shots. I agree that the ragwort is a wonderful background, though gardeners hate it as an uncontrollable weed.

    ReplyDelete

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