Tuesday 27 August 2013

Butterflies and bees in the forest

The moth trap continues to pull in a good selection of moths with 95 moths of 24 species including 2 Black Arches, Pebble Hooktip, Bloodvein, 2 Light Emerald, Orange Swift and Early Thorn among the Straw Dots, Lesser Broad Bordered Yellow-underwings and Square-spot Rustics.

With the weather staying warm and bright we decided to go for a wander in the west side of Hemsted Forest. The carpark was nearly empty as we parked in a shady spot. Not expecting to see a great deal I didn't take my camera so these pics were taken on my iphone.
The area around the paths from the carpark were covered in piles of dog crap in various stages of decomposition - why can't people at least clear it out of the way?
There were a few bird noises with wren, willow warbler and green woodpecker but nothing much to see. The main ride has been cleared back in various places and this had allowed a variety of wild flowers to flourish. This, in turn, had lots of bees and several species of butterfly feeding on it, including Common Blue, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown and a very obliging Clouded Yellow. A really lovely sight to see. The ant hills were also very active.




As we walked I mused about the subtle differences between this conifer forest and those we were in in Finland recently. Both wee very quiet but our forest had flower banks along the rides and heather growing in big clumps, butterflies and an amazing number of dragonflies cruising around in groups. In Finland the understorey tends to be lower with mosses, lichens and rotting wood in the gaps. But the greatest difference, I think, is the atmosphere which is cleaner, fresher and very definitely remote. (and no dog walkers to pollute the pathways)


 

Sunday 25 August 2013

Summer catchup

Close after my trip to Dorset I had booked a trip to Finland for Wild Brown Bear with hopes for Wolf and Wolverine. Not a huge number of birds but flocks of Waxwings and Cranes were nice with Osprey and several Honey Buzzards being seen.
Over the last few weeks the moth trap has attracted quite a few moths, averaging between 70-80 most nights with a high of 125 on Friday. Most are normal but a few less usual ones for my trap, such as Spectacle, Orange swift, Lunar and Dusky Thorn and Oak and Pebble Hook-tips.Very few Yellow underwings seem to have been about, apart from Lesser Broad-bordered and last night the were 15 Flame shoulders and 24 Square-spot Rustics.



It does seem to have been a good year for butterflies, compared to the last few. We had 2 common blues which are very unusual, as well as both Whites, Speckled Wood, Small Torts and a Comma.
A visit to Dungeness yesterday was very wet but I did manage to see the juv cuckoo, 2 Pied Flycatchers, 4 Wheatears, several Willow Warblers and Whitethroats as well as 4/6 Whinchats and a couple of Stonechats.



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