Thursday 28 July 2016

Bramble False-feather

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:
Common Carpet, Epirrhoe alternata
Dull Four-spined Legionnaire, Chorisops tibialis
Enchanter's-nightshade, Circaea lutetiana
Enchanter's-nightshade
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.
Gatekeeper, Pyronia tithonus
Peacock, Inachis
Pearl Veneer, Agriphila straminella
Red Bug, Deraeocoris ruber
Silver-washed Fritillary, Argynnis paphia
Traveller's-joy, Clematis vitalba
Houghton Forest, July 23:
Gatekeeper ♂, Pyronia tithonus
Large Skipper ♂, Ochlodes sylvanus
Mirid bug, Plagiognathus arbustorum
Mirid bug, Plagiognathus arbustorum
Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta
Semaphore Fly, Poecilobothrus nobilitatus

Monday 25 July 2016

Sparrowhawk and a Turtle Dove


Sparrowhawk ♂, Accipiter nisus
On July 5th I met Mark at Chiddingfold Forest and saw White Admirals and a Turtle Dove which called from the top of a dead tree. On the way home I stopped at Houghton Forest where I found a Red Admiral larva.
  On July 6th Sue called me to the window where we watched a male Sparrowhawk plucking a bird on the paving below - wow!
Chiddingfold Forest:
unidentified bracket fungus

Common Spotted-orchids, Dactylorhiza fuchsii
Common Spotted-orchid
Common Woodlouse, Oniscus asellus
Creeping Cinquefoil, Potentilla reptans
Creeping Cinquefoil
Foxgloves, Digitalis purpurea
Ground beetle, Nebria species
Hard Rush, Juncus inflexus
Honeysuckle, Lonicera caprifolium
unidentified insect nest on grass stem
Large Skipper, Ochlodes sylvanus
Lesser Stitchwort, Stellaria graminea
Light Emerald moth, Campaea margaritata
Marbled White, Melanargia galathea
Marsh Thistle, Cirsium palustre
Meadow Brown ♂, Maniola jurtina
Musk Mallow, Malva moschata
Musk Mallow
Pearl Veneer, Agriphila straminella
Perforate St John's Wort, Hypericum perforatum
Pharaoh Ant, Monomorium pharaonis
Ringlet, Aphantopus hyperantus
Semaphore Fly, Poecilobothrus nobilitatus
Small Skipper, Thymelicus sylvestris
Small Tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae
Mark leads the way
Turtle Dove, Streptopelia turtur
unidentified wasp
White Admiral, Limenitis camilla
White Admiral
Wild rose, Rosa species
Wolf Spider ♀ with cocoon, Pardosa lugubris
Houghton Forest:
Common Earwig ♀, Forficula auricularia
Dark Strawberry Tortrix, Celypha lacunana
unidentified harvestman
Mirid bugs, Grypocoris stysi
Red Admiral larva, Vanessa atalanta
Brookfield Park, July 7:
Brookfield Park, Littlehampton
Black Horehound, Ballota nigra
Chicory, Cichorium intybus
Hedge Bindweed, Calystegia sepium
Pearl Veneer, Agriphila straminella
Rush Veneer, Nomophila noctuella