Thursday, 16 Oct 2025
Another new species for me this morning on an Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) leaf, the Ash Whitefly (Siphoninus phillyreae). I located a single adult and puparia on the underside of a leaf. Several leaf mines and galls were photographed. These included the hairy galls of the Hairy Beech Gall Midge (Hartigiola annulipes) on Common Beech (Fagus […]
Friday, 17 Oct 2025
Another new insect this morning with a Banded Winter Gnat (Trichocera annulata). It belongs to the Diptera family Trichoceridae, the winter crane flies. However, it is neither a true crane fly nor a true gnat, the names given simply because of a superficial resemblance to members of the other two families. Otherwise it was a […]
Tuesday, 21 Oct 2025
We may be well into October but the new insects keep on coming. I use the term ‘insect’ loosely here, as the first new species today was a Long-horned Springtail (Pogonognathellus longicornis). The springtails were long regarded as insects but are now placed in a separate class. They are hexapods but not insects. Next was a […]
Wednesday, 22 Oct 2025
Jays, usually quite secretive birds that remain unobtrusive skulking around the canopies of oak trees, are much more prominent now and can be seen flying out in the open. They are busy preparing their winter food cache, predominantly acorns, but will also collect beech mast, hazelnuts and sweet chestnuts. There was another new fly added […]
Friday, 24 Oct 2025
There is a distinctly autumnal look to the Downs now. I encountered a large mixed bird foraging party this morning, comprising Great Tit, Blue Tit and Long-tailed Tit. Jays are still very conspicuous as they build up their winter nut stocks. Yet another new species for the Downs, having previously found it at […]
Tuesday, 28 Oct 2025
Leaves are getting yellower and the carpet of fallen leaves is getting thicker. Another bird foraging party today, but this time Goldcrest (Regulus regulus). Unfortunately, I needed my 300 mm lens as the 28 – 135 mm zoom was hopelessly inadequate. I’ll post the image anyway as it the first time I have […]
Thursday, 30 Oct 2025
A very quiet day, not even many flies to be seen. Jays still very active. I concentrated on looking at the undersides of leaves of various tree species. Even that was not particularly rewarding today. On the underside of a Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) leaf I found the larval case of a Coleophora moth, possibly […]
Sunday, 14 Sep 2025
Exactly 2 weeks since my last walk on the Downs. My wife and I have been away for a while. What a difference in 2 weeks. Summer is gone and with it most of the insects. I walked for an hour, much needed exercise after the short holiday, and my tally of insects was – […]
Friday, 19 Sep 2025
A last bit of summery weather today, with an almost cloudless sky and the temperature already pushing 20° by 10:00. The last few butterflies were on the wing with a good variety but not many of anything. A grand total of 3 Common Blue, 2 Small Copper, 1 Speckled Wood, 1 Meadow Brown and 1 […]
Saturday, 20 Sep 2025
Overcast and quite windy, neither great weather for insects nor photography. Nevertheless, I did manage a photo of another Parent Bug (Elasmucha grisea) on a birch leaf, this one presumably with no more parenting duties, or more likely a new adult that will now overwinter. There were a few distant butterflies about and another sighting […]
Tuesday, 23 Sep 2025
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 […]
Thursday, 25 Sep 2025
Butterfly numbers continue to be counted on one hand with 2 Small Copper, a single male Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus), a female Meadow Brown and a Speckled Wood making up today’s tally. A new insect, but not the greatest of photographs, is the White-footed Hoverfly (Platycheirus albimanus). Also photographed was a Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius). […]
Saturday, 27 Sep 2025
Exactly 2 butterflies today, both Speckled Wood. I added a new spider, the Common Sun-jumper (Heliophanus flavipes), on one of those nameless yellow composites. Two new galls were found on English Oak (Quercus robur) leaves, the Smooth Spangle Gall and Oyster Gall, caused by the agamic generation of the gall wasps Neuroterus albipes and Neuroterus […]
Monday, 29 Sep 2025
A very heavy dew this morning after an early mist. A distinct autumnal feel and look about the Downs today. The first patch of brambles I came to I watched for a few minutes as one of my favourite birds, a Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes), searched for insects, larvae or spiders. […]
Tuesday, 30 Sep 2025
Maybe the butterfly season is now officially closed. ZERO count this morning. With the area of the old sheep enclosure now accessible I decided to check out some of the trees in this area and added a few things to my lists. On a Common Hazel (Corylus avellana) leaf I found a leaf mine possibly […]
Friday, 1 Aug 2025
Good numbers of Brown Argus and Small Copper around this morning. Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown are increasing, and the large numbers of Chalkhill Blue are beginning to tail off. New insects for the summer were Long-legged Plant Bug (Phytocoris varipes), Alder Spittlebug (Aphrophora alni), Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) and Spotted Wolf Spider (Pardosa amentata), the latter […]
Saturday, 2 Aug 2025
New insects added today were Jersey Tiger (Euplagia quadripunctaria) moth, a possible Common Furrow Bee (Lasioglossum calceatum?) and Parent Bug (Elasmucha grisea). Latest photographs of already recorded species include a Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus) seen for the first time despite its name on Dock, Sun Fly (Helophilus pendulus) hoverfly (‘The Footballer’), a Common Wasp (Vespula […]
Sunday, 3 Aug 2025
Only one new insect today, one of those tricky to identify ichneumon wasps, a pimpline ichneumon which I believe might be Apechthis compunctor? After many sightings of nymphs earlier in the summer I have now seen an adult Speckled Bush-cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima). Other photographs included a female Hornet Mimic Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria), a male Kite-tailed […]
Wednesday, 6 Aug 2025
Two new insects today, a female Marjoram Wasp-Sawfly (Tenthredo thompsoni) and a Red Bartsia Bee (Melitta tricincta). These bees stay very close to the ground as their sole source of pollen is the Red Bartsia flowers. They also fly much faster than their bigger bumblebee cousins and more directly, so even trying to follow them […]
Friday, 8 Aug 2025
Latest insect added to the year list is the Rufous Grasshopper (Gomphocerippus rufus), several of which were seen at different spots on the Downs. This is apparently regarded as a nationally scarce species and is restricted mainly to chalk grasslands in the south-east of England. After staking out a promising patch of Red Bartsia where […]