Red and white clover

We have both white and red clover at Filnore.  The red species here is a more vigorous plant.  You won't find it growing much in mown grass.

 Whereas white or Dutch clover can happily flower and spread in short grass 

- you should see my lawn -

.

and in long grass

Speckled Wood

Photo: Alan Watts

Alan says he has seen loads of these cheeky little brown butterflies recently in Filnore Woods.  The speckled wood with its 'cream-on-chocolate' wings likes dappled shade, so you can find it in woods, leafy lanes and even shady gardens.

The adult males either sunbathe on a leaf or patrol up and down a territory, looking for females and rival males.

Photo: Peter Eeles, Butterfly Conservation

The caterpillars feed on various grasses but are hard to find because they are green.  Adult speckled wood butterflies may get nectar from flowers but prefer aphid honeydew.  

It's another of those butterflies that are on the increase, both in abundance and distribution, so you can find it in most of England, Wales and Ireland and in an increasing number of places in Scotland.

Coppice re-growth - the constant spring

In winter we cut the hazel down to ground level but already it is growing back vigorously, sending up lots of new shoots. 

Oliver Rackham (famous dendrologist) called this ability of most broad-leaved trees to re-grow when cut down 'the constant spring'.  

Grassland management

 The paths are being cut regularly but we also wanted this area mown monthly.

So in came the heavy mob

And we hope we have now made it clear where the ROBOCUT machine should cut.

After much raking .. .. ..

Orange Tip

Only the male orange tip butterfly has those orange tips to his wings.  See him feeding on flowers of Herb Robert and Bramble in the photos below.

The female is all white and you might mistake here for one of the other white butterflies but both male and female have an attractive green and white mottled pattern on their hindwings, which distinguishes them from other species.

All photos by Alan Watts

You'll be lucky to see one now as they are spring flyers really.

We try to promote orange tips by encouraging cuckoo flower, a caterpillar foodplant.  
Jack-by-the-hedge is too. 

Time to make your elderflower cordial

Some of the elder flowerheads are enormous this year.  These were in the Valley Woodland at Filnore near post 9.

The individual flower petals are white but the little yellow anthers give it a creamy look

Type 'elderflower cordial' into google and open the bbcgoodfood website for an easy recipe.

Green-veined White

Alan Watts, our butterfly enthusiast, took these pics of green-veined white butterflies at Filnore Woods.  See how the green veins on the underside of the wings mimics the adjacent plant. 

You might think it was an ordinary white butterfly looked at from the topside, but if you can get close enough you can see that the tip of the veins at the edge of the wing thicken into dark triangles.  This one is feeding on dandelion nectar.

They have a rather fluttery flight compared to the small white and the large white, the scourge of cabbage growers.

Green-veined whites are doing well.  They are common all over Britain wherever there is lush, damp vegetation.

Speeding fine

This clump of sky-coloured speedwell flowers growing on a bank are the Germander Speedwell, which has larger flowers than most speedwells you find in your garden.   

Mullein Moth

This handsome caterpillar appeared in my garden eating our nice verbascum (or mullein) flowers.

Not strictly a Filnore Woods phenomenon but striking enough to earn a place on this blog.  It's one of the largest, most easily recognised caterpillars in Britain.  It doesn't hide or feed at night to avoid predators.  It boldly chomps away in broad daylight.

It wasn't alone.  There were about 30 of them on one plant and they stripped it of both leaves and flowers.  They will feed on Mullein (Verbascum) or Buddleia.  

Can you see four caterpillars in the photo below?

Three are easy to see but number four is peeping out from behind a narrow, vertical stem in the upper part of the picture.

When full size, up to 50mm long, the caterpillar drops to the ground and makes a pupa with a very hard shell.  It may wait three or up to five years before hatching out into the less conspicuous adult moth.

Photo: Rod Baker on 'naturespot'

Hogweed is back - and Hemlock

Now that the cow parsley has gone the Hogweed is the next umbellifer to come into flower.  It grows twice as tall.

Even taller is Hemlock, another umbellifer, but with much more delicate leaves and flowers.  (you won't confuse it with cow parsley or pignut, which are pretty well over by now)

The really clear distinguishing feature of Hemlock is the purple spotting on the stem.  

THIS PLANT IS POISONOUS and was famously used in the execution of Greek philosopher Socrates

Cockchafer beetle

The Cockchafer or May Bug is totally harmless to people despite its alarming appearance and size.  I found this one climbing up my leg as I knelt on the grass.  It was probably newly emerged from its three year life as a grub under ground.  As an adult it will only live about six weeks. 

Beneath those brown wing cases (elytra) there is a pair of powerful wings.  Adult cockchafers spend most of their time flying around tree tops, feeding on leaves and making love.

Although they are rather slow moving on the ground they are very good at climbing and hanging on as you can see below.  You can also see his cheery little face and the fringed antennae.  This helps cockchafers (and 'hen-chafers', I guess) find each  other by smell in the dark.

They are attracted to light, and if one flies in through your window it makes the most alarming noise - like a motor bike  - as it zooms round the room.  The white triangles on its side look like four exhaust pipes.

Marsh hoverfly - The Footballer

This colourful character is one of the marsh hoverflies.  It's scientific name is Helophilus which means marsh-lover.  It spends a lot of time sunbathing on foliage near water and so it is sometimes called the Sunfly. 

But in its colourful stripy jersey it is also known as The Footballer.  If you disturb it, it flies around with a loud buzz before settling back on another leaf.

Path clearing

In early April this path between posts 14 and 15 was not overgrown .. .. .. 

.. .. ..  but it was very muddy

By 22nd May it had dried out but the vegetation on either side was threatening to overwhelm it.

Along came our volunteers to cut back the encroaching plants

.. .. ..  and by the end of the morning we had a 5m wide path.

Here it is viewed in the opposite direction

The intention now is to construct a raised path in the middle of this broad highway so that next winter it is not so muddy.