The Two Tunnels Nature Blog

 Species:  Brimstone (8) Comma (3) Holly Blue (5) Orange Tip (5) Peacock (15) Brimstone on Bluebell - Horsecombe Vale 28-04-2023 The day was fine with the sun shining between periods of cloud. The temperature was a tad warmer than my last visit at 14c. I cycled out to Midford to start my survey and it was there I saw several of the eight Brimstone butterflies I would see that day. Spring flowers were more evident despite the cool temperatures during April. As I cycled back past Midford Station, I caught sight of a Brimstone feeding off the bluebells that line the path at this time of the year. (See top). Violets - Tucking Mill 28-04-2023 Making my way back towards Tucking Mill, I stopped to see if there was any activity on the grassy embankment. Violets were beginning to show through the grass, but there were no butterflies and few other insects.  Further along the top of the embankment, the reptile mat revealed two Slow Worms. I have become to expect to see at least one ...

Species: Brimstone (4) Comma (2) Orange Tip (2) Peacock (5) Speckled Wood (2) Orange Tip - Midford 18-04-2023 A morning walk on the 18th April saw me descending down into the valley from Combe Down. It was a cloudy day with sunny spells and a keen north-easterly breeze. The temperatures this April were still low and the weather unsettled. The morning of the 18th saw temperatures of around 12/13c. Peacock - Horsecombe Vale 18-04-2023 Horsecombe Vale was my first destination. A Peacock flew past me and settled on a Ramson leaf. Comma - Tucking Mill 18-04-2023 On my way back up the slope to the cycle path, a Comma was sunning itself on a patch of dry grass. As I approached the derelict Midford Station I noticed two Speckled Wood Butterflies circling around before disappearing into the vegetation. Orange Tip - Midford 18-04-2023 By now it was cloudy and cool but I did manage to spot an Orange Tip butterfly perched on a twig and being bounced around in the breeze. It had its wings open in ...

Species: Brimstone (7) Peacock (5) Small White (1) Peacock - Tucking Mill 07-04-2023 A rather disappointing trip on the 7th April with just three butterfly species seen. I arrived  around 2.15pm in sunny conditions with the temperature around (13c)  Slow worm - Tucking Mill 07-04-2023 I rode rode out towards Midford stopping at the grassy embankment. I checked the old reptile mat and sure enough, an adult Slow worm was hidden away underneath. Brimstone butterflies could be seen along the path past Midford station. The bright yellow males were very active and none were prepared to stop for a photo! Wood Anemone - Tucking Mill 07-04-2023 I headed back towards Tucking Mill and parked my bike for a walked around the lake.  As I took the path up towards the woods, a Small White butterfly fluttered by along with another Brimstone. The path through the woods leads on through the grassy fields that lie to the east of the Combe Down tunnel entrance. Just one Peacock butterfly was ...

Species: Brimstone (4) Comma (1) Peacock (2) Small Tortoiseshell (1) Comma - Tucking Mill 04-04-2023 It was a cool morning after a frosty night for this trip down to Tucking Mill. I walked down steps from Combe Down and then down the slope towards Horsecombe Vale. I saw no butterflies until I got to the far end of the valley were I saw a Small Tortoiseshell.  Dark-edged Bee-fly - Horsecombe Vale 04-04-2023 I worked my way back along the valley. The sun was getting to work and I saw my first bee fly of the year. As it settled I could see it was a Dark-edged Bee-fly. A little further along a Peacock butterfly could be seen flying through the trees.  Embankment - Tucking Mill 04-04-2023 I walked to the cycle path and headed up onto the grassy embankment that adjoins the fields owned by Wessex Water. The fields are known to harbour a number of interesting species and is maintained by the utility company to encourage wildlife.  The embankment side of the fence is not maintain...

Species : Comma (2) Comma - Tucking Mill 25-03-2023 On the 25th March I made my first foray along the path between Tucking Mill and Midford. The weather conditions weren't perfect for butterflies, with the temperature reaching just 12c and weak sunshine due to high cloud. Grass embankment - Tucking Mill 25-03-2023 Over the winter period, I was amongst a group of Sustrans volunteers who helped clear a grassy embankment near Tucking Mill. The embankment adjoins two fields which are managed by Wessex Water and are known to harbour several rare invertebrates. This work removed several years worth of dead plant material to reveal the small plants and flowers growing below. Dog Violet - Tucking Mill 25-03-2023 This work seems to be having the desired affect with a number of early spring flowers beginning to bloom, including Dog Violets. Woodpecker holes - Tucking Mill 25-03-2023 I decided to go and inspect the larger fields to the north of  Tucking Mill lake. As I walked through the wood...

Common Blue - Tucking Mill, September 2022 The summer of 2022 will be remembered for the intense heatwave which much of the country experienced in mid July. Indeed, there was much fine weather to enjoy through most of the Spring, Summer and Autumn.  Butterflies had a good year and my species list for this location in 2022 was twenty-eight (See list at the foot of this post) Since 2018 I have recorded a total of thirty-one species on or near the cycle route between the Combe Down tunnel and Wellow. Below is an account of the more memorable moments of 2022 Green Hairstreak - Tucking Mill, April 2022 Green Hairstreak - This is a butterfly I first recorded in 2018. I saw just one perched on Bramble in Horsecombe Vale, a largely wooded valley to the west of the cycle-path. During April , May and June I recorded and total of six in two new locations in the valley. Possibly a good year for Green Hairstreak, or maybe I am getting better at spotting them! Five-spot Burnet moth - Tucking M...

Species: Clouded Yellow (1) Nuthatch - Tucking Mill 13-11-2022 Another, unseasonably warm and sunny Sunday tempted me out to Tucking Mill one last time. I had spotted a late Red Admiral butterfly on a morning dog walk a few days earlier, so with the temperature rising to around 16c, I wanted to see if there were any butterflies flying in this location. Kestrel- Tucking Mill 13-11-2022 I headed out to the embankment that rises up towards the fields owned by Wessex Water. As I set off, I caught a glimpse of a dark coloured butterfly out of the corner of my eye before it disappeared from sight. I think this was a Peacock, but couldn't be sure enough to record it as such. The fields were quiet as they were on my previous visit back in October. A Kestrel flew swiftly and silently over the field and into the woodland. Common Darter - Tucking Mill 13-11-2022 I left my bike and walked up through a quiet and autumnal Horsecombe Vale, before finally climbing the hill to the fields where I s...

Species: Common Blue (2) Common Blue - Tucking Mill 02-10-2022 It's been a year of record temperatures across most of the country and here in Bath the start of October was particularly mild by historic benchmarks. A sunny and warm Sunday was enough to tempt me out for what I thought would be my final butterfly survey of the year. Muntjac Deer - Tucking Mill 02-10-2022 I headed out towards the embankment that adjoin the fields owned by Wessex Water. This is normally busy with insects through the summer, but today it was eerily quiet. Through a gap in the trees, I could see a Muntjac deer was grazing at the edge of the woods oblivious to my presence.  Common Darter Dragonfly- Tucking Mill 02-10-2022 My next stop was Horsecombe Vale, a wooded valley with a brook meandering through the middle. No butterflies here either, but a Common Darter Dragonfly whirred past me to settle on a bramble leaf. My last stop of the day was the fields above the cycle path. After a while I located two Co...

Species: Brown Argus (2) Common Blue (4) Meadow Brown (1) Small Copper (1) Hummingbird Hawkmoth (1) Hummingbird Hawkmoth - Tucking Mill 10-09-2022 I always start my recording when I reach the Tucking Mill Viaduct. This is pretty much a central point of the 1km square that I like to survey. Today was no different, as I paused here to retrieve my camera from the rucksack. The weather was rather cloudy and the temperature around 20c.  As I slowly walked towards the far end of the viaduct, I noticed the unmistakeable blur of a rapidly moving Hummingbird Hawkmoth. It had been a good year for this little migratory moth and I had seen quite a few through the summer in different parts of the south of England, but this was the very first time I had seen it here. Common Blue - Tucking Mill 10-09-2022 The cloudy conditions didn't improve as I made my way out towards Midford. As a result I decided to return, leave my bike and head up towards the dry, grassland fields. Common Blue - Tucking Mil...