Monday 7 September 2015

Adonis on Bonchurch Down.

With  the prospect of several days of settled sunny weather there was no better time to take a walk on Bonchurch Down  to see the Adonis Blue.It seems numbers are less than other years so counts are in tens rather than hundreds. Nevertheless it was a joy to see this most brilliant butterfly on the wing feeding on downland flowers and flying strongly on the Downs' slopes.That is,of course the males as they display those sky blue wings.The females are altogether different with brown wings,although sometimes they show variable amounts of blue.





Friday 4 September 2015

Sky Blue Adonis Blue.

A long overdue visit to Wheelers Bay at Bonchurch yesterday discovered  some late summer colour behind the revetment at the base of the cliffs.Several species of butterfly were feeding on the ample drifts of Red Valerian and other flowering plants. Among them, a single male Adonis Blue splendid in striking sky blue. August and September is the time of the Adonis Blue second emergence of the season on our downland,so this individual is some distance away from his usual habitat on Bonchurch Down.




Tuesday 1 September 2015

A Small White and a Small Yellow.

This Small White has fallen prey to a Crab Spider.There is just one species of this spider in the UK apparently belonging the genus Misumena. The spider has the ability to change colour from white,to pale green,and yellow.This allows the spider to match its background, as it sits motionless on a flower bloom awaiting a victim which it pounces on and grasps with its crab-like front legs.