Re: philm63
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 8:56 am
Cheers Peter. That seems to be right, I googled Water Mint and it looks like what I saw, thanks for that
Thu 16 August
Local patch – late morning to early afternoon
The weather continues unsettled, predominantly overcast and windy, some spells of rain but luckily not when I wanted to get out. It was cooler today so I delayed setting off till I had seen at least one butterfly pass through the garden. Even so, today some sections were excellent when the wind dropped, others were barren when the wind made it feel much cooler
Decided to do the whole circuit today but I may as well have skipped the first bit as I saw nothing at all in Prince of Wales Park. The first real interesting bit was a party of 5 Magpies harassing a low-altitude Buzzard as I approached The Copse. Here I had the occasional white and a Small Copper. These were starting to look a bit faded now. From there I went down onto The Bridleway. Started clocking up Walls down here, and in the dip at the bottom added Speckled Wood. Continued to Eldwick Reservoir adding more Walls to the count, plus a few more Speckled Woods, a Small Copper and the odd white
Above the reservoir a male Blackcap was scolding a perched Little Owl that decided it might as well move somewhere quieter
Retraced my steps back to Heights Lane, adding the odd photo
Then along Heights Lane more Walls, another Small Copper and the odd white
Down Walsh Lane and back towards home, by now most sections were devoid of butterflies as the weather had deteriorated and they had gone to ground
Considering about a third of the walk was unproductive due to the weather, I was very pleased with an end count of 19 Walls, a new day record for my patch. Some were showing wear and others damage, but always a delight to see
No outing at the weekend due to commitments, so the next time I get out looking will be next weekend, I expect things will be a lot different by then. Already the plethora of whites has gone, and more like what I would have expected this time of year with this weather. And worryingly still no sign of numbers of Peacock and Small Tortoiseshells, in fact no Peacocks at all since mid-July and only the odd Small Tort in the past two weeks.
Last year late summer was bad for these two locally, but Red admiral numbers compensated for them. This year I have only seen one Red Admiral also back in mid-July. I am hoping things will improve, for all three, before the end of the season
Phil
Thu 16 August
Local patch – late morning to early afternoon
The weather continues unsettled, predominantly overcast and windy, some spells of rain but luckily not when I wanted to get out. It was cooler today so I delayed setting off till I had seen at least one butterfly pass through the garden. Even so, today some sections were excellent when the wind dropped, others were barren when the wind made it feel much cooler
Decided to do the whole circuit today but I may as well have skipped the first bit as I saw nothing at all in Prince of Wales Park. The first real interesting bit was a party of 5 Magpies harassing a low-altitude Buzzard as I approached The Copse. Here I had the occasional white and a Small Copper. These were starting to look a bit faded now. From there I went down onto The Bridleway. Started clocking up Walls down here, and in the dip at the bottom added Speckled Wood. Continued to Eldwick Reservoir adding more Walls to the count, plus a few more Speckled Woods, a Small Copper and the odd white
Above the reservoir a male Blackcap was scolding a perched Little Owl that decided it might as well move somewhere quieter
Retraced my steps back to Heights Lane, adding the odd photo
Then along Heights Lane more Walls, another Small Copper and the odd white
Down Walsh Lane and back towards home, by now most sections were devoid of butterflies as the weather had deteriorated and they had gone to ground
Considering about a third of the walk was unproductive due to the weather, I was very pleased with an end count of 19 Walls, a new day record for my patch. Some were showing wear and others damage, but always a delight to see
No outing at the weekend due to commitments, so the next time I get out looking will be next weekend, I expect things will be a lot different by then. Already the plethora of whites has gone, and more like what I would have expected this time of year with this weather. And worryingly still no sign of numbers of Peacock and Small Tortoiseshells, in fact no Peacocks at all since mid-July and only the odd Small Tort in the past two weeks.
Last year late summer was bad for these two locally, but Red admiral numbers compensated for them. This year I have only seen one Red Admiral also back in mid-July. I am hoping things will improve, for all three, before the end of the season
Phil