Flutter bys

The summer moves on and so do my wildlife interests. This blog features recent butterfly hunts in Crow Wood and on the chalk downs north of Sevenoaks. ...................................

A Marbled White at White Hill, near Sevenoaks

A Dark-green Fritillary, a chalk down specialist

A Chalkhill Blue, again at White Hill

         July is a really good month for butterflies with many species to be seen on the wing. This year has been quite a good one for them so far with not too much cold or extended wet weather In Crow Wood there are lots on the wing and I recently counted 13 different species on a visit. Its seems a particularly good year for Peacocks and Silver-washed Fritillaries and they like the Spear Thistles now in flower.
        White Admirals are not so numerous this summer and I have yet to get a decent photos of one for my 2020 records; it is hard to know why this might be but numbers are known to vary a lot from season to season. I had hoped to find a Purple Emperor again but have had no luck so far this year, I have only ever seen one once in the wood and that was in 2018 but I guess they must be around, just hard to spot as they are often feeding high in the oak trees.
        Different habitats feature different species and chalk downs attract a number of species that I would never find in Crow Wood, based as it is on clay and sandy soils. The local branch of the British Butterfly Conservation Society own and manage a small nature reserve on the downs near Shoreham, called White Hill,  and its a good place to see some chalk specialists. On the day I visited this week they were showing really well and, as the only person there, I had the whole place to myself..........just me and the butterflies!

These are some of the species seen in Crow Wood:

The Comma butterfly, spotted in Crow Wood. They are named after the white mark on the underside of the wings which looks like a comma.

A Silver-washed Fritillary in a rush as usual

A Large White feeding on Thistle

A Peacock butterfly in flight,  common in Crow Wood this year with counts of ten in one small area