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| Bramble False-feather (10mm), Schreckensteinia festaliella |
On July 22 I visited Houghton Forest from Whiteways car park and saw worn Silver-washed Fritillaries, Red Admirals, Gatekeepers and Peacocks. Moths seen: Pearl Veneer, Common Carpet and a tiny new micro-moth (10mm), a Bramble False-feather (Schreckensteinia festaliella).
On the morning of 23rd I met Mark and we walked along the Littlehampton golf course path and saw Gatekeepers, Large Skippers, Red Admirals and Whites. Five other enthusiasts arrived, all hoping to see the White-letter Hairstreaks reported in the The One Show broadcast on 21st (the WLH section starts at 22:30), when naturalist Mike Dilger and presenter George McGavin enthused about the WLH sightings. We looked by the Wych Elm that was shown in the programme but the mighty flock they saw had long gone and not one WLH was seen by anyone along the length of the path. We sent one disappointed spotter, who had travelled from Berkshire to see the WLH as his 59th British butterfly, to a more reliable site - Hollingbury Park. I think GM’s comment in the programme that the site is "the best place in the UK to see the WLH" was misleading, I visit it regularly during the season and have positively identified just one WLH in each of the last two years though I appreciate that on the right day it can produce numbers.
Afterwards I visited Houghton Forest and saw Silver-washed Fritillaries, Gatekeepers, Large Skippers, Red Admirals and Whites.
On 24th I did my Mill Hill transect: Chalk Hill Blue 8, Red Admiral 6, Peacock 4, Marbled White 3, Gatekeeper 35, Meadow Brown 18, Whites 9.
Houghton Forest, July 22:
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| Common Carpet, Epirrhoe alternata |
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| Dull Four-spined Legionnaire, Chorisops tibialis |
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| Enchanter's-nightshade, Circaea lutetiana |
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| Enchanter's-nightshade |
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| European Yew, Taxus baccata |
showing the red arils, the fleshy fruit which is eaten by birds to disperse the seeds. The leaves and seeds are poisonous to most creatures
more info here.
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| Gatekeeper, Pyronia tithonus |
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| Peacock, Inachis |
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| Pearl Veneer, Agriphila straminella |
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| Red Bug, Deraeocoris ruber |
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| Silver-washed Fritillary, Argynnis paphia |
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| Traveller's-joy, Clematis vitalba |
Houghton Forest, July 23:
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| Gatekeeper ♂, Pyronia tithonus |
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| Large Skipper ♂, Ochlodes sylvanus |
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| Mirid bug, Plagiognathus arbustorum |
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| Mirid bug, Plagiognathus arbustorum |
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| Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta |
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| Semaphore Fly, Poecilobothrus nobilitatus |
