The Two Tunnels Nature Blog

Species: Brimstone (6) Comma (1) Dingy Skipper (2) Green Hairstreak (2) Grizzled Skipper (4) Large White (1) Orange Tip (4) Peacock (8) Small Tortoiseshell (1) Small White (3) Speckled Wood (2) Green Hairstreak - Tucking Mill 24-04-2022 A nice, warm spring afternoon (17c) brought out a total of 11 species and 35 individuals for my trip today. My excursion started at around 2.15pm when I emerged from the Combe Down tunnel. I decided to cycle on to Midford and work my way back slowly.  I checked out the Buckthorn bushes where I saw a Brimstone butterfly laying eggs on the 15th April. No more eggs had been laid in the intervening days, not that I could find anyway.  Speckled Wood - Midford 24-04-2022 The clouds broke and the sun appeared, along with a yellow, male Brimstone and a Speckled Wood butterfly. I started counting!   As I started back to the Midford I paused to photograph one of several Cuckoo flowers growing by the side of the path. One complete with an Orange...

 Species: Brimstone (13) Comma (2) Orange Tip (6) Peacock (14) Small White (2) Speckled Wood (2) Brimstone butterfly laying eggs on Buckthorn - Midford 15-04-2022 The first really warm day of the year for my trip today. Good amounts of sunshine and a temperature of around 19c greeted me as I emerged from the Combe Down tunnel at 2pm. I headed off towards Midford without pausing for too long. I would return more slowly through the afternoon counting what I saw along the way.  The cycle path near Midford station The section of the path as I approached Midford Station was starting to come into its best, with a mixture of Bluebells, Wood Anemones and the yellow of Celandine mixing with an early sprinkle of  Wild Garlic (Ramsons).  Robin - Midford 15-04-2022 I paused at the bench near the derelict platform. Here a Robin paused also, to watch my every move before flying into the shrubbery that covers the steep embankment. A noisy outburst from it's hungry chicks followed ...

  Species: Comma (3) Orange Tip (1) Peacock (6) Small Tortoiseshell (2) Small tortoiseshell - Tucking Mill 24-03-2022 The sunny and warm spell of weather had continued for some days as I set off along the cycle-path for my first 'butterfly' trip of the year. I had visited the area on the 18th March when the weather conditions were far less favourable for butterflies. Today was different. The weather was fine and sunny with the temperature reaching around 17c. Comma - Midford 24-03-2022 I had seen butterflies before today. I had seen Brimstone, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies whilst out walking the dog. I hadn't up this point seen a Comma. This was to change as I paused on the path just south of Midford. A Comma found me, rather than the other way around. After flitting around near to where I stood, it settled for a while on my hand before flying off to sit above the path on an overhanging branch. Comma - Tucking Mill 24-03-2022 This Comma was one of three I saw...

Butterflies don't like the cold. As a rule of thumb, I don't expect to see many butterflies flying if the temperature is below 14c. There are of course exceptions. As the naturalist and Times Nature Notes writer Mathew Oates put it,  'Red Admiral will fly in a fridge' .  So it was no surprise to me that on this trip, I saw no butterflies. It was mid-afternoon when I set off and although the weather was fine, the temperature had eased back to around 12c. Despite this, there was a pleasant feel of Spring in the air and plenty of signs of what was coming. Slow worm - Tucking Mill 18-03-2022 I stopped first at a section of embankment a couple of hundred metres past the Tucking Mill viaduct. It was warm and sunny here and I noticed a piece of roofing felt had found its way onto the steep slope. I recognised it as a long lost 'reptile mat'.  These were used several years ago by one of the Sustrans ecologist as part of a reptile survey. I decided to move the mat off th...

It has been nearly four years since I started monitoring butterflies along the cycle-path between Tucking Mill and Midford. This stretch of the path crosses a variety of habitats including both woodland and grassland. A network of public footpaths either side of the path provides the opportunity to explore the surrounding area. The map below gives an approximation of the area I will typically cover through the summer months. This area is dominated by deciduous woodland, with a mixture of species including Oak, Ash, Field Maple, Hazel and Wych Elm of varying maturity. During the last couple of years the most frequent of these, Ash, has started showing the signs of Ash-Dieback disease.  Much of this woodland is owned by the utility company Wessex Water, who have started work removing some of the ailing trees. They justified this on safety grounds, given the public footpaths that cross this area and the danger these trees may pose as they die. This work will change the the woodland an...

Small Copper - Tucking Mill 11-09-21 2021 proved a frustrating year for me, having broken my ankle in mid-May, just as the 'season' was underway. I did however manage a species list of nineteen. Included in this list is the Grizzled and Dingy Skippers. Both these species have seen big declines in recent decades and are now of conservation concern. One butterfly NOT on this list this year is White-letter Hairstreak. This is probably due to the fact I was not able to visit the location during their peak flight season.  Species                                         Common name Aglais io                                         Peacock Aglais urticae                     Small Tortoise...

  Species: Meadow Brown (1) Small White (1) Speckled Wood (2) Common Darter Dragonfly - Tucking Mill 26-09-21 My last trip along the path this year was on the 26th September. Just three species of butterfly, and four individuals counted.  The weather was fine with broken cloud and a temperature of around 19c when I arrived by bike. It wasn't a butterfly that greeted me though, but a late dragonfly. A Common Darter perched on a fence post to bask in the sunshine. Meadow Brown - Tucking Mill 26-09-21 Away from the path itself, a faded female Meadow Brown was seen, wings wide open in a grassy area near the footpath. Devil's-bit scabious - Tucking Mill 26-09-21 As I headed back home it was interesting to see many Devil's Bit Scabious flowers still in Bloom. It tends to grow in the shadier parts of the landscape here but is quite plentiful in places. This is the main foodplant of the rare Marsh Fritillary butterfly which I have previously seen close to the cycle path. It's ...

Species:  Small Copper (1) Green-veined White (1) Painted Lady (1) Small Tortoiseshell (1) Red Admiral (3) Meadow Brown (1) Speckled Wood (2) Green-veined White - Midford 11-09-21 Another late afternoon visit on the 11th and fewer butterflies on the wing. The sun is lower in the sky now and the cycle path is much shadier than during a midsummer afternoon. The weather was fine though with the temperature hovering around 18c. Painted Lady - Midford 11-09-21 I decided to head towards the Buddleia bushes that grow on the viaduct at Midford. These shrubs usually attract butterflies, and at this time of day the viaduct is still in direct sunshine. This proved a good move as there were Green-veined Whites, Small Tortoiseshell and a fresh looking Painted Lady. Small Copper - Tucking Mill 11-09-21 Returning to Tucking Mill and departing from the cycle path, I headed for the grassy slopes that adjoin the path. Here I spotted a lone Small Copper. This is a species I only occasionally see even...

Species: Speckled Wood (1) Common Blue (3) Gatekeeper (2) Large White (1) Small White (1) Small Tortoiseshell (1) Peacock (3) Meadow Brown (8) Red Admiral (3) Comma (4) Brimstone (2) Silver-washed Fritillary (4) Common Blue - Tucking Mill 22-08-2021 A later afternoon cycle ride on the 22nd August resulted in a much longer list of species than previously. I counted 13 species and 33 individuals. The weather was fine, sunny and warm (20c) when I arrived at 3.15pm. I decided to check the cycle path between the end of the Combe Down tunnel and Midford, straying over the viaduct at Midford up to the start of the 'permissive' section of the route. Common Darter Dragonfly - Tucking Mill 22-08-2021 I also, as is often the case, detour off the the cycle path onto the footpaths that crisscross the surrounding countryside near Tucking Mill and Horsecombe Vale. My first encounter was not a butterfly but a dragonfly. A rather elderly, female Common darter. This would set a theme for the da...

Species: Peacock (1) Silver-washed Fritillary (4) Meadow Brown (7) Small White (1) Red Admiral (5) Comma (2) Green-veined White (2) Speckled Wood (7) Comma butterfly - Tucking Mill 14-08-2021 The weather was warm and sunny with broken cloud for my second run along the cycle-path to Tucking Mill. The temperature reached 22c that day. Red Admiral - Tucking Mill 14-08-2021 The Red Admiral must be mentioned as the 'star' butterfly that day. A total of 5 were to be seen at various points along and around the cycle-path, many in good condition. Sliver-washed Fritillary - Tucking Mill 14-08-2021 The Silver-washed Fritillary butterflies came in a close second. I saw four individuals on and around the cycle-path. Many are now in a faded and battered state and I am sad I missed there peak during my absence.

Butterfly species: Silver-washed Fritillary (1) Common Blue (1) Painted Lady (1) Peacock (1) Speckled Wood  Painted Lady - Midford 20-07-2021 Ready to venture out once more following my badly timed ankle injury back in May, I took a walk down to the railway path from Combe Down. The weather was rather warmer than the last time I saw this area, and the flora and fauna had moved on from spring to high summer. It was sunny and hot, the temperature was racing past 25c by 10.30am when I arrived. Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly - Tucking Mill 20-07-2021 My first encounter wasn't a butterfly, but nonetheless one of my favourite insects. A Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly fluttered by to perch high on a Sycamore leaf overhanging the path. Nice start! Six-spot Burnet moth - Tucking Mill 20-007-2021 Further along the path, a single Common Blue butterfly was nectaring on a flower at the top of the embankment.  At the same location there were a number of day-flying Burnet moths. These appea...