Friday 31st August 2018

Butterfly Species: Comma (1) Green Veined White (1) Large White (1) Meadow Brown (1) Red Admiral (1) Small White (3) Speckled Wood (2)

Red Admiral - Midford 31-08-2018
The last day of August and a quiet day along the path. The weather was pleasant with broken cloud and spells of warm sunshine (20c). There are now very few butterflies to be seen along the path. The most common species today was Small White. They could still be seen fluttering along the embankments when the sun shone.

As I entered the Devonshire Tunnel a solitary Peacock butterfly was flying gently into the tunnel ahead of me. These butterflies, along with several other 'Vanessid' species hibernate in the adult stage. This made me wonder just how many of our overwintering butterflies have already entered hibernation despite the warm conditions and how they would fare over the winter.


The Buddleja bushes were still showing some flowers and this is where I met a freshly emerged Red Admiral. These are primarily a migrant species, heading here every year via the continent. Over the last few years there has been growing evidence that they too manage to hibernate the British winter. Last winter was cold and long for hibernating butterflies and its been no surprise to me that Red Admirals have been few and far between this year.

Elderberries - Near Midford 31-08-2018
What was very noticeable was the abundance of fruiting trees and shrubs lining the path. Blackberries, Elderberries, Sloes, Hawthorne Berries were weighing down their branches. I recalled cycling along the path during the spring and seeing the flowers. How quickly the spring and summer have passed.

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