Explore the diverse flora and fauna on the Downs from season to season through personal observations and photographs

Tuesday, 23 Sep 2025

Stripe-backed Brusheye hoverfly on Common Buckthorn leaf

The temperature dipping, with the first single digit overnight temperature of the autumn. ZERO butterflies, but… Something much more interesting. I came across a huge Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae) colony, which was found because it straddled a path in one of the clearings making the entrances to the hundreds of nests more visible. A search […]