June, not unexpectedly, proved a very quiet month for birds, the one ‘highlight’ was our only Cuckoo of the year, recorded by a dog walker near the river.
Butterflies on the other hand, in numbers at least, were
quite exceptional. The area by the How Beck is looking superb with big stands of
valerian and meadow-rue…
In a village with much lifeless arable prairie these little
corners are all the more valuable. It was particularly good for skippers with a
count of 14 Large Skippers, by some way the highest count I have ever had in
the village…
I also added a new moth to the village list here, Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet Moth…
Some more excellent butterfly counts yesterday (despite the strong winds) where, on the short walk between the Christmas trees and this unused field along Myer’s Lane…
I totalled up more than 200 Whites (about a third were Large
Whites), 42 Meadow Browns, 22 Ringlets, 12 Red Admirals, 10 Small Tortoiseshell,
eight Comma including this one showing why they are so named…
And best of all, at least 12 White-letter Hairstreak. As my
wife said, it was like something out of Thomas Hardy.
Walking this morning after some overnight rain I saw at
least four groups of white butterflies ‘puddling’ for moisture including this
group of 14…
I finished off an excellent lepidopteral weekend with a Meal
Moth in our living room, a new species for the village (and one with
surprisingly few records in this part of Yorkshire)…
Please ignore the cobwebs!!
