Two Tunnels Butterfly Count

Butterfly Species: Small Tortoiseshell (2) Comma (8) Small White (2) Green-veined White (1) Large Skipper (8) Meadow Brown (30+) Marbled White (17) Ringlet (19+) Silver Washed Fritillary (2) White-letter Hairstreak (5+) Its a week since my last walk along the path and the weather is still fine and sunny with temperature reaching the high 20'sC. Last week was a high in butterfly numbers and the species list is lengthening as the summer progresses. Last week I spotted a number of Hairstreak butterflies high in an ash tree canopy, so this week I was primed with a pair of binoculars and a determination to pay more attention to the tree-tops! The stretch of path between the end of the Two Tunnels and Midford Station proved to be the most interesting once again. The Marbled Whites, Ringlets and Meadow Browns were seen in profusion massing around the Brambles as before. These were joined briefly by a single female Silver Washed Fritillary which glided along the path and into ...

Butterfly Species: Small Tortoiseshell (2) Speckled Wood (6) Small White (1) Large Skipper (8) Meadow Brown (31+) Painted Lady (1) Red Admiral (1) Small Skipper (1) Marbled White (31+) Ringlet (27+) My first walk along the path today for nearly three weeks. Poor weather and a holiday in Switzerland has kept me away and in my absence much has changed. A total of 102 butterflies counted on this trip but this doesn't do it justice! Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) 22-06-2018 Marbled Whites, Ringlets and Meadow Browns are numerous now. The Brambles are in flower and are alive with bees and butterflies. The flowers attract large numbers of Ringlet and Meadow Brown with an occasional Marbled White joining in. Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) 22-06-2018 With numbers of Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Marbled White so high I was forced to adopt a different strategy for counting these species. I selected a good vantage point and in the space of a minute I counted as man...

Butterfly Species: Orange Tip (1) Meadow Brown (1) Brimstone (1) Green-veined White (4) Large White (1) Speckled Wood (8) Large Skipper (2) Common Blue (3) Five-spot Burnet Moth A warm day with broken cloud and three new species were noted. The first Meadow brown of the year was spotted on the steep embankment near the Wellow end of the walk. Two fresh large Skippers were also spotted. A Five-spot Burnet was flying on the grassy embankment near Tucking Mill. The Silver Y Moth In another first, two Silver Y Moths made an appearance. The first was spotted nectaring on Valerian on the Midford Bridge.This is a migratory species that arrives from the continent in varying numbers each year. Further along the path past the Midford bridge, I visited the Buckthorn bush where Brimstone eggs were found on a previous walk. These are now small larvae. I also managed to find several Orange Tip larvae on Garlic Mustard plants along the same stretch of path.