Wednesday 18th. July 2012

Following on from yesterday's post , the 3rd. and 4th. site visited , both up on the Downs proved to be quite productive . Starting with the reptiles , the combined numbers for both sites were , 52 Slow

Worms , just four here , but 7/8 were found huddled together , 6 Adders , that number consisting of

2 females ,

2 males ,

and 2 juveniles , both probably born about this time last year , and good to see they have made it through their first year . Not a sign of a Grass Snake . The ground vegetation is very lush with all the rain we have been getting , so many more specimens probably went unnoticed amongst it . The wild

flowers are also doing very well , with the likes of Vervain / Verbena officinalis , one of my

favourites coming into flower , as well as Sainfoin / Onobrychis viciifolia , a member of the Pea family , looking at it's best just now . The Small Scabious , posted previously , has now been followed by it's larger relation Field Scabious / Knautia arvensis , both members of the Teasel

family , the larger species lacking the 'halo' that is sported by the smaller one . With Summer still to

arrive , the 'A' word , in the form of Autumn Gentian / Gentianella amarella is already in bud and will

be in flower soon . In the insect world , I came across quite a few Violet Ground Beetles / Carabus violaceus , and I must admit , I was pleased to see on Rob's / The Living Isle , post last night , that he

had identified this fly that I had also photographed because it looked strange as Sicus ferrugineus , which certainly saved me a lot of time digging , cheers Rob . Butterfly numbers improved dramatically on the two sites , most probably because they were more sheltered than the first two .
Meadow Browns as expected topped the list with 93 , but after a poor start earlier , Chalkhill Blues

came second with 72 , though most were sheltering down in the grass like this one . All but one were males , the single , pristine female was being chased wherever she went , and consequently I didn't manage to get a shot of her . Ringlet 52 , Marbled White 23 was the best number I've seen so far this

season , including another individual suffering from mites . Large White 2 , Small White 2 ,Small

Heath 8 , Small Skipper 18 , Large Skipper 1 , Gatekeeper 1 , and a particularly rustic looking Comma made up the full list . Two Foxes were seen , but both moved off before the camera could be lifted , as did two freshly emerged Common Darter dragonflies .
The delivery I was waiting for arrived just before lunch , but by then the wind was really strong , the sky grey , with showers arriving on a regular basis , and that was how it stayed .