Tuesday 29 July 2014

Big Butterfly Count 2.

As Sunday was yet again a warm and sunny day I decided to walk over to Gooseman's Field (The Horse Field) behind Scartho Village for another butterfly count.  Although only over the fence from Saturday's count there were far more meadow browns than gatekeepers.  Small skippers were also to be found on the field along with carpets of birds foot trefoil and common centaury.  When the council were creating the nearby woodland cemetery they shifted all the spoil from grave digging onto the fields to form a huge bank reminiscent of a 'tatie grave' (if you are from Lincolnshire!) .  This now has a thick cover of bindweed and thistles which are a great attraction for the butterflies and the whole area is covered in thistledown.  I had hoped to find common blues on the meadow, especially with the prominence of trefoil but sadly they still seem to be thin on the ground.

One unexpected bonus of today was the exceptionally good views of the Red Arrows and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.  Scartho seemed to be the regrouping point for the aircraft as they performed at the Cleethorpes Airshow.

Pleasing observations over recent days included the buzzard soaring over our garden and being harassed by herring gulls and also the good view of a stoat whilst out cycling.

To view large, please click on an image.
Common Centaury
Hogweed
Meadow Brown
Meadow Brown
Meadow Brown
Meadow Brown
Small Skipper
Small Skipper
Thistledown
Thistledown
Lancaster
Red Arrows

No comments:

Post a Comment