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Showing posts from May, 2019

Tuesday 28th May 2019

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Butterfly Species: Holly Blue (1) Speckled Wood (1) Female Holly Blue - Tucking Mill 28-05-2019 Sometimes you can't win. I set off expecting to see plenty of butterflies given that the sun was out, and the temperature was around 16 degrees C. However, once I emerged from the tunnel at Tucking Mill the clouds had formed over the cycle path and there they stayed for my entire trip. Female Holly Blue (Underside) - Tucking Mill 28-05-2019 I saw just two butterflies on this trip. An ageing Holly blue and a speckled wood. The Holly blue is an interesting species. It has two broods a year, in spring and in later summer.  It can be seen almost anywhere in parks, gardens and in the countryside. It's easy to spot as it flies around shrubs and over trees unlike many other ‘blue’ species which are mainly grassland specialists that fly much lower to the ground. It’s caterpillar feeds on Holly blooms in the spring and Ivy blossom in the autumn. It's also known for its great ...

Radstock to Kilmersdon May 2019

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Butterfly Species: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Small White In addition to monitoring the butterfly populations along the cycle path near Tucking Mill and Midford, other volunteers are looking for butterflies along another stretch of the cycle path that runs between Radstock and Kilmersdon. 11th May 2019 In Rob's absence this count was carried out by Shona on the 11th of May. The temperature was quite cool at 16 degrees and it was both sunny and cloudy. However, she did manage to see several butterflies. Two male brimstones, three Orange Tips and one Small White. The Orange Tips consisted of two males and one female. 22nd May 2019 Rob Ladd was out on the cycle path between Radstock and Kilmersdon again today. The weather was rather cloudy with some sunny intervals and there was light breeze with the temperature around 19 degrees. Rob manage to see two Small White one Orange tip and two Brimstones. Intriguingly he also mentioned seeing one small, brown/orange butterfly on ...

Tuesday 21st May 2019

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Butterfly Species: Grizzled Skipper (1) Dingy Skipper (1) Common Blue (2) Speckled Wood (1) Brimstone (2) Speckled Wood - Midford 21-05-2019 It was a reasonably warm, bright, sunny day as I set off down the cycle path for my weekly butterfly count. The cloud was broken, and the sun was out, although for early May it was still quite cool. The temperature was hovering around 18 degrees Celsius. At the Tucking Mill section of the cycle path I once again saw the two ‘Skipper’ butterfly species I had seen on my previous this trip. The Grizzled Skipper I first saw on my last trip along the cycle path. This is a new species for me this year. I have seen a number of these butterflies on and around the cycle path in the area around the path, but this is only the second time I have seen it on the embankments here. Alas, they were too quick to photograph this time! As I cycled further along the path, I note that the brambles growing along the edge are now starting to come into bloom...

Monday 13th May 2019

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Butterfly Species: Brimstone (5) Grizzled Skipper (1) Dingy Skipper (2) Orange Tip (1) Holly Blue (2) Speckled Wood (1) Green-veined White (1) Dingy Skipper - Tucking Mill - 13-05-2019 A nice sunny day, temperatures reaching 17c and plenty of butterflies in flight! A much better day than my last trip. Today, I took the Two Tunnels route as usual, and cycled (and walked) out to the Wellow Trekking Centre. On returning, I paused at the Tucking Mill viaduct and took a walk along the footpaths away from the cycle-path. More of that later. Grizzled Skipper - Tucking Mill 13-05-2019 All the usual species were to be seen, plus one new one, The Grizzled Skipper! I have seen this species already this year close to the cycle-path, but not actually on the cycle-path. It was busying itself at the top of the embankment at Tucking Mill along with two Dingy Skippers. Both these species seem much more abundant this year. I have seen them both in several locations around the Tucking Mi...

Saturday 4th May 2019

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Butterfly Species: Orange Tip (3) Speckled Wood (2) A quiet trip along the cycle-way today with only two species identified. The weather, although sunny, came with a brisk northerly breeze which kept the temperature down to around 12c. This is 'marginal' temperature wise for butterflies to fly. This time last year I recorded 38 butterflies and eight different species. The temperature then was 19c which explains much of the difference! Towards the Wellow end of the path I came across a patch of flowering Garlic Mustard. This is the principal foodplant of the Orange Tip Butterflies. Their (usually orange) eggs are easy to find just below the flower heads. Sadly I could not find a single one which is a little puzzling given the species has been flying in this location for at least a couple of weeks.