Rising from the dead

This field maple tree up near the viewpoint was damaged by strimmers a couple of years ago.  It hung on to life as best it could but the recent long spell of dry weather finished it off.

Or so I thought.  Since the rain has come I've noticed several new shoots coming up from the roots.  S it is not dead after all.  

It's a sort of natural coppicing.

 

Pyrausta

 This micro moth Pyrausta purpuralis is also known as the Common Purple and Gold.  One was drifting around the marjoram in my garden but I couldn't get a decent photo so  thanks to 'dreamstime' for this image. 

They are very small but quite brightly coloured with yellow patches on dark brown wings.

The caterpillars feed on mint or thyme and can also go for lemon balm or marjoram.

They are on the wing in two broods: from May to June and from July to August.

Bittersweet

 

Bittersweet or Woody Nightshade is an inconspicuous plant scrambling over other plants for support.  It has small but exotic-looking flowers, followed by bright red berries, which are at their most poisonous when unripe and green.

There is a record of one death of a nine-year-old child in 1948 but there is little danger of serious poisoning.  Most children seem to be immune, although occasionally eating the berries can lead to tummy upsets and drowsiness.

As usual it is better to show them the plant and educate them rather than trying to eradicate it.

Forest School

Only one family at a time under current restrictions.

 

Territorial behaviour

 Today in my garden, two butterflies spent over a minute flying round and round each other in a whirling ball of wings.  When they stopped and one of them perched for a rest, I saw that they were speckled woods.  The males of this species are renowned for trying to scare rivals off their territory in this way.

Photo: Alan Watts

Also today I thought there seemed to be more birdsong: coal tits, blue tits and especially robins.  Now this is the time of year when male and female robins cease co-operating to raise nestlings and prepare for winter rivalry.  The song is a way of staking out territory.

Photo: Nadya Webster

Ragwort pull

 Started back with our twice-a-month work mornings on Sunday.  We usually meet on the Second Sunday and the Fourth Wednesday of each month (SS & FW).  So the next one will be Wednesday 26th August.

On Sunday we cleared out all the ragwort we could find.  Although it is a good nectar plant and the foodplant for the cinnabar moth caterpillars, we remove it before it seeds into neighbouring farm fields.

We were careful not to mistakenly pull up any St John's Wort (pronounced 'wert' not 'wart'), which flowers at about the same time.

The Ragwort flowers are like yellow daisies while the StJW flowers are like a cluster of five-pointed stars.

GREEN-VEINED WHITE

This is another white butterfly, distinguishable by the row of small black triangles at the end of the veins on the forewing, rather than a large black tip to the wing found on the large white butterfly.  The triangles show up best on the left wing tip in the photo on the left below.

In the photo on the right you can just see the attractive markings on the underside of the left wing.

These 'green veins' are what give it its name and can be clearly seen when the butterfly is at rest, thought it does help as camouflage when the butterfly sits on a hogweed.

All photos by Alan (flutterby) Watts

LARGE WHITE BUTTERFLY

One of our most noticeable butterflies, especially if you are growing cabbages, broccoli, kale or nasturtiums.

They have black tips on their forewings.  The male only has one small spot on the hindwing but the female has an additional four spots on the forewings.

The small white is very similar and errrm smaller!

THE GATEKEEPER

This butterfly gets its name because it likes to sunbathe in farm gateways which are often sunny because the vegetation is kept low by passing livestock and machinery.

There are lots about at the moment.

They are faster fliers and more orange than the meadow brown, especially the females.   The males have a darker patch on their forewings.

You can also distinguish them from the meadow brown by the TWO white dots in the black eye-spot on the forewings, and several WHITE dots on the underside of the hindwings - if you can get close enough before they fly away laughing.