We had the pleasure of going on a free local butterfly walk last Sunday. Twenty plus years ago a group of volunteers in a nearby village were given permission by the landowner to restore the wildlife in a couple of scrubby unused fields. This is an ongoing project and they have now recorded 33 species of butterflies amongst many other insects. This in turn has brought back red listed birds including nightingales. We were there when they saw their first Spotted Flycatcher which caused great excitement. I was further back in the group, but was already happy with a Blood Veined moth sighting.
The walk leader warned us that with climate change we were well past the butterfly peak and that we shouldn't expect to see many varieties. That prediction seemed to be borne out by there mainly being Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns on the wing with a Purple Hairstreak flitting about high above our heads. The Purple Emperor is our biggest native butterfly and the big hitter. They aren't that common though and require a special habitat to thrive. The males like to hang around the tops of oaks.and the females lay their eggs in willows. They must be special as the Knepp Rewilding Project up the road from here leads three hour long Purple Emperor safaris costing £75. The season is over by now or so we thought until one lady with us thought she saw one flying up in the branches. Again I missed it which seemed to becoming the theme of the afternoon for me. Imagine my surprise then when I saw a whopping great butterfly pass by me at head level and land on a hedge. My hopes were fulfilled as it was a female. When you factor in that these usually stay above the tree line and aren't attracted to nectar we were incredibly lucky. They will land to feed, but despite their magnificence, their eating habits are revolting....this lot like to feast on dog faeces and rotting carcases. Thankfully this one was just resting. Photo quality not the best as she didn't stay long, but what a glimmer eh💜
Arilx
No comments:
Post a Comment