Tag Archives: Gunnersbury Triangle

Natural History, Natural Patterns, Nature Reserves

Gunnersbury Triangle Bug Day – Purple Hairstreak, Rove Beetle

Purple Hairstreak found in pond (worth a look at full size, click and see)
Bug Day pond dipping – water level alarmingly low
(Prob. Southern) Hawker Dragonfly Nymphs, Pond Snails. We also saw plenty of Ramshorn Snails, a flatworm, a leech, small diving beetles, damselfly nymphs, water fleas, Greater Water Boatmen (Backswimmers), young newts (with 4 legs and gills) and more.
Identifying Birch Catkin Bugs
Cream-Spot Ladybird
Devil’s Coach Horse (Ocypus olens) – a Rove Beetle (Staphylinidae), splendidly fast and wriggly
The magnificent Fibonacci spirals of a Teasel flowerhead
Urban Green-Veined White on Buddleia
Young Entomologist at Work
Natural History

Hot Summer Fun at Gunnersbury Triangle Open Day

Jane Robertshaw on arts’n’crafts stall, with exemplary headband
Young Smooth Newt (eft)  with feathery gills and 4 legs already
Jo on the raffle stall
One of the children caught a Smooth Newt
John Wells explaining a reed’s sheathing leaf base
Attaching a garland to a headband on the Arts and Crafts stall
Mayor of Hounslow Samia Chaudhary cutting the GT 2018 cake, Committee Chair Jan Hewlett looking on
Netty showing the Mayor around the reserve
Natural History, Nature Reserves

Moths at Gunnersbury Triangle

Angle Shades, named for the dark angled markings

Netty had a successful night with the moth trap.

Pyrausta purpuralis, a small but beautiful “micro” moth. And yes, it’s name means the purple one in Latin
Heart and Dart, one of 3 trapped (and released after ID). The name refers to the black markings
Rustic. We scratched our heads at its similarity to Uncertain (hah!) but it does seem to be the paler and less distinct species all the same.

 

Natural History, Nature Reserves

Gunnersbury Triangle Damselflies Egg-Laying Like There’s No Tomorrow!

Shimmer and sparkle: many pairs of ovipositing Azure Damselflies – seven seen here, there were at least fifteen pairs, not to mention …#
Large Red Damselfly (there were several pairs)
Male Bluetail Damselfly on a reed leaf: there were two males tussling, but no female as yet
Yellow and Orange ‘escaped’ Goldfish in GT pond. Perhaps people think ‘setting them free’ when moving house will be a good thing, but they devastate native pond life
Netty with jigsaw cutting out pond minibeasts
(24 May 2018) White-Lipped Land Snail
(27 May 2018) Flooded GT paths after thunderstorm – I never saw the water table THIS high
GT seasonal pond flooded over path, yes, that’s the main path on the right there
GT looking not its best after floods – car parts, bits of fence, railway sleepers, erosion scour, rubbish-filled silt …
Love of Nature, Nature Reserves

Charming Wooden Animal Trail at Gunnersbury Triangle

Wooden Animal Trail Camouflaged Smooth Newt

Netty found some dusty but very well-made wooden animals, complete with attachment rings, evidently designed for use on a Nature Trail. She repainted all of them and we hung them around the reserve. The camouflaged animals – the newt and the frog – seemed to ‘work’ the best. We hope the children will have fun going around with their parents to find them. One or two may be quite difficult!

It wasn’t all wooden animals. As it happens, we saw some of the real things, November or not.

Wooden Animal Trail Dragonfly

[Spoiler alert!] We went down to the pond to affix the Dragonfly, and spotted a small limp orange shape floating apparently lifeless at the surface…

Rescuing a drowning newt. We put it in one of the Anthill Meadow refugia (under a carpet mat), it seemed to be fine.

Then we started mowing the Ramp Meadow with its remarkably fine stand of Evening Primroses …

Mowing the Ramp Meadow, Evening Primroses and all

… and found a real frog, escaping the scythes and boots.

Plumply pregnant frog escaping the mowers’ boots and scythes to wriggle under the boundary fence of Ramp Meadow

The Forest School decorated Christmas Candles very gracefully.

Christmas Candles with fresh Holly, Ivy, and Yew