OK, and to end, one insect NOT on Hogweed, the Small China-Mark Moth, on a Reed. It and many others of its species were fluttering about the pond, where they mate and lay eggs in waterside vegetation. I was really pleased to get the camera so close to this attractive little insect.
Comma, Red Admiral, Small White, Meadow Brown, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood butterflies this week. A Cinnabar Moth, the first of the year, flew over the bank near a patch of Ragwort, the food plant of its caterpillars. Let’s hope she laid some eggs.
The first Bluetail Damselfly appeared today; Azure and Large Red Damselflies still about.
We had a lovely day down the reserve in the warm sunshine with a gentle breeze. We dug out an unwanted post with extreme use of pickaxe, crowbar and shovel, and thus refreshed did the butterfly transect. It found a Red Admiral, some Speckled Woods, wonder of wonders a Small Skipper (the second Skipper species this week), a Meadow Brown (not common here), and a Green-Veined White. Not a bad haul. And a lot of Peacock caterpillars, if those count!
