July 2025

Second scorcher in a row. I even aborted my walk at 09:30 as it was a good 4-5 degrees hotter ...

We had 2 hours of rain yesterday morning but still need a lot more. On the butterfly front there were ...

Just for a change of scenery, I paid a visit today to the National Trust property of Polesden Lacey near ...

Heavily overcast and breezy morning so conditions not great for photography. Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) butterfly numbers increasing dramatically, probably the ...

An unexpected curtailment of this morning’s walk, but 30 minutes was enough for me to locate a 22-spotted ladybird (Psyllobora ...

As I mentioned on 1st July it is becoming a much more uncommon sight to see a Song Thush, but ...

Latest butterfly to appear and in good numbers is the Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus britanna), with other new insects in ...

What a start to my walk today! Just 3 minutes after setting foot on the Downs I realised that there ...

It is still the most prominent butterfly and today I found the female of a mating pair of Gatekeeper (Pyronia ...

The first Brown Argus (Aricia agestis) seen since 1st May – or maybe I’ve been writing them off as female ...

Some good heavy rain in the past 2 days but the ground has been so dry that all was soaked ...

Chalkhill Blue is still present in amazingly large numbers. New sightings included Wavy-barred Sable (Pyrausta nigrata), Tortoise Shield Bug (Eurygaster ...

Two days of heavy showers has seen a lush greenness return to the Downs. Chalk Hill Blue (Lysandra coridon) still ...

A very overcast day and I was out much earlier than usual so not too much activity. Despite the conditions ...

Good numbers of Brown Argus present today, outnumbered by Small Copper, which are in much greater numbers than recent days ...

Another very overcast morning after a few overnight rain showers, which didn’t stop me adding several new insects to the ...