Seal pup and a walk round Arundel WWT

Common Seal pup, Phoca vitulina

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

On July 25 I received a notification from British Divers Marine Life Rescue that a seal pup was reported at the beach at Angmering. I attended and found some lovely people were concerned about it and fortunately someone knew to phone BDMLR. I reported the condition to BDLMR - left eye injured,  and they said the RSPCA would attend. The feisty pup (one metre long) was wrapped by an experienced medic, a young lady who works for Wadars. She advised it was underweight and put it into a carry cage and we loaded  it onto the RSPCA vehicle. It was then taken to a specialist veterinary in Hastings. The pup is a Common Seal, possibly from Chichester Harbour where both British seal species breed. 
 On July 27 we visited Arundel WWT and saw Red Admirals, Peacocks, Whites, a Gatekeeper, a Dingy Footman, a Small Purple and Gold moth in the butterfly garden, a dead Snout moth in a spider's web in a hide and a Poplar Bent-wing mine on a Black Poplar leaf. A swallow appeared in the hide but I couldn't see the young in the nest.

Common Seal pup

Arundel WWT

Small Purple and Gold, Pyrausta aurata

Bird's-foot Trefoil, Lotus corniculatus

Black Poplar leaf, Populus nigra
with Poplar Bent-wing micro-moth mine, Phyllocnistis unipunctella 

Buff-Tailed Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris

Common Pond Skater, Gerris lacustris

Coot and cootling, Fulica atra

dead Snout, Hypena proboscidalis

Dingy Footman, Eilema griseola

Dingy Footman

Greater Burdock, Arctium lappa

Greater Burdock, Arctium lappa

Large-flowered Evening-primrose, Oenothera glazioviana

Marsh Mallow, Althaea officinalis

Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria

Peacock, Inachis io

Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta

Swallow, Hirundo rustica

Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare 

Tansy

Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum

Wild Marjoram, Origanum vulgare

Brown Hairstreaks and Walls

Brown Hairstreak ♂, Thecla betulae on grassland

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

On Sunday morning I met Mark Colvin at Steyning Downland. At 9:13am Mark spotted a male Brown Hairstreak land in a tree high up above the fenced area. It came down to the grassland and kept moving from grassy patch to grassy patch. Later I spotted one at the top of the hill in the trees. At 10:52 Mark saw a female on a one metre high prunus by the fence in the reserve area. It then flew to the grassland and moved from grassy area to grassy area. There were 4 Wall at the top of the hill, plus plenty of Gatekeepers, Comma, Large White, Peacocks, Red Admirals, Whites.

  Afterwards I did my Mill Hill transect: Essex Skipper, Brimstone, Small White 9, Chalkhill Blue 15, Red Admiral 4, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock 9, Marbled White, Gatekeeper 19, Meadow Brown 25, Small Heath 2. Moths: Common Purple and Gold, Wavy-barred Sable, Six-spot Burnet, Lesser Treble-bar, Small Fan-footed Wave, Cinnabar larvae.

the rifle range (from WW II)

first sighting of male Brown Hairstreak at 9:13

it then come down into the fenced area

Brown Hairstreak ♂ on grassland

Gatekeeper, Pyronia tithonus

Gatekeeper, ab. partimtransformis

Gatekeepers mating

Large White, Pieris brassicae ♀

Large White ♀

Turf Running-spider, Philodromus cespitum (a crab spider)

Wall ♀, Lasiommata megera

Wall ♀

Wall ♂, Lasiommata megera

Wall ♂

Wall ♂

Brown Hairstreak ♀, Thecla betulae, when first seen

she then flew to the grassland
proboscis on top of leaf

proboscis on under leaf

proboscis curled

showing abdomen

proboscis curled on top of leaf

moving along grass stem

proboscis uncurled

best shot of upperside showing female's orange flash

she moved to brambles

these 3 photos show the two galea, the parts of the proboscis

these links provide some info about the proboscis, and the way the two galea are joined by legulae to form the feeding tube:

http://www.butterflyfunfacts.com/butterfly-proboscis.php

http://www.asknature.org/strategy/36c34a8aaa1965360f5a6e1eb274ce5d

http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2011/08/09/rsif.2011.0392