Late August at Castle Hill LNR, Newhaven

I did the week 22 walk on Sunday 27th in what for Castle Hill was uncharacteristically calm weather. This made for good butterfly conditions along the clifftops and there was much activity for the time of year. I counted 366 butterflies and moths of 13 and 12 species respectively. This is not a bad haul, but is lower than the same week in the previous two years, when over 400 were counted. Week 22 has usually been the final week of abundant activity at Castle Hill, so we might find a drop in numbers next week.

Straw Conch (Cochylimorpha straminea)

I don't want to get too carried away with excitement, but there has been something special happening this year for the Small Heath butterfly. I have been recording more than 130 at Rookery Hill in Bishopstone on some days recently and, on Sunday, I recorded nearly as many Small Heaths in one day (96) as we counted in the six years between 2011 and 2016 (113 in total during this period). Both Dave Harris and the County Lepidoptera Recorder, Colin Pratt, have commented that this butterfly appears to have recovered to its pre-decline 1970 population level. Let's hope it is sustained in the coming years. Isn't it wonderful to have a success story for once when considering the plight of so many other species?!!

Amongst the moths, I recorded our first Straw Conch (Cochylimorpha straminea) in seven years at the reserve and saw more of the Common Grass Veneer (Agriphila tristella) than we've ever counted before in a single day. This moth is having a good season and has been seen in good numbers everywhere recently. This distinctive moth, which has a pale streak running along the length of its wing, flies out of the grass ahead of you when you walk along country paths in the late summer and lands a few metres ahead, parallel with a grass stem.

Purple Loosestrife

Other items of interest include some purple loosestrife found growing by the 'old pond' (Dave tells me this is a new plant species for the reserve list) and some birds including a female Wheatear, two ravens and a sparrowhawk all along the clifftop.

Amongst the photos I've included is a shot of a hazy Seaford Bay. This haze is the infamous cloud that affected people later in the day on the beaches between Birling Gap and Hastings. When the weather is settled and sunny, an accumulation of pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen and other volatile compounds react with UV in strong sunlight to create ozone at low levels. This 'photochemical smog' causes severe irritation to eyes, nose and throat upon exposure. Air quality data measured at the Lullington Heath station on the same day showed a large spike in ozone levels. Thankfully those people at Newhaven's West Beach were not so affected.

Hopefully there will be no such hazards for Dave during week 23.

 

 

 

Low-level ozone at Seaford Head?

Late summer colour in the Wassail Glade at Castle Hill LNR

 

 25 species (13 butterfly, 12 moth); 366 individuals.

Large White (Pieris brassicae) 21

Small White (Pieris rapae) 68

Green-veined White (Pieris napi) 1

Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus) 2

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) 19

Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) 96 – highest numbers ever seen at CHLNR

Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) 65

Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) 1

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) 6

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) 1

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) 4

Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) 2

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) 25

Golden Pigmy (Stigmella aurella) leaf-mines on bramble

Bordered Carl (Coptotriche marginea) leaf-mines on bramble

Apple Leaf Miner (Lyonetia clerkella) leaf-mines on apple and cherry

Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana) 3

Straw Conch (Cochylimorpha straminea) 2 – first site record since 2010

Straw-barred Pearl (Pyrausta despicata) 10

Rusty-dot Pearl (Udea ferrugalis) 1

Rush Veneer (Nomophila noctuella) 3

Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella) 32 – best numbers ever seen at CHLNR

Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata) 1

Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua) 1

Silver Y  (Autographa gamma) 2

 

Mid-August at Castle Hill LNR, Newhaven

Week 20 of the Castle Hill LNR butterfly survey season

Rampion off-shore windfarm in progress - as seen from the Castle Hill LNR clifftop

Seed-spangled orb web

I did my transect walk on Sunday in better weather conditions than I've had recently. We're at week 20 of 28 already. I've added below a list of what I saw. Most of the flowers are now past their peak, but there is still a mass of late-summer colour. The willowherb was casting immeasurable numbers of seeds into the air and all the spider webs were spangled with them.

There were 25 species of butterfly and moth and a total of 438 individuals, which I thought was pretty good considering the time of year. I was particularly pleased to see 27 Small Heaths; it has never been a common butterfly at Castle Hill LNR and has significantly declined in the UK over the past few decades, mainly because of the loss of habitat as grazing land has been 'improved' for livestock. It is a butterfly that likes fine grasses on dry soils and Castle Hill offers some good potential habitat, particularly along the clifftops.  Annual totals since 2011 have been 3, 7, 12, 23,31 and 37, so to have seen 27 in one day, mostly along the clifftop, is great news. It has been having a good year generally and I have been counting up to 80 on some days in a meadow near The Rookery at Bishopstone.

Small Whites were seen in good numbers; it was strange to have seen 60 and not a single Large or Green-veined White to go along with them - I wonder what the odds are of that?! Clouded Yellows are beginning to make an appearance and Holly Blue numbers were good along the northern path.

Volucella pellucens - the Pied Hoverfly

Amongst the other stuff seen were quite a few Volucella hoverflies. V. zonaria and pellucens are among the most spectacular of the 7000 species of British fly. A female Wheatear was seen on the clifftop, indicating that the autumn migration is upon us. Another year if flying by!

Butterflies (13 species)

Small White	Pieris rapae	60
Clouded Yellow	Colias croceus	4
Speckled Wood	Pararge aegeria	29
Small Heath	Coenonympha pamphilus	27
Meadow Brown	Maniola jurtina	129
Gatekeeper	Pyronia tithonus	19
Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	3
Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	4
Peacock	Inachis io	1
Small Tortoiseshell	Aglais urticae	1
Comma	Polygonia c-album	1
Holly Blue	Celastrina argiolus	6
Common Blue	Polyommatus icarus	127

Moths (12 species)

Bordered Carl	Coptotriche marginea	3 (mines)
Common Nettle-tap	Anthophila fabriciana	2
Ox-tongue Conch	Cochylis molliculana	1
Common Marble	Celypha lacunana	1
Grey Gorse Piercer	Cydia ulicetana	6
Six-spot Burnet	Zygaena filipendulae	1
Straw-barred Pearl	Pyrausta despicata	3
Small Purple & Gold	Pyrausta aurata	1
Common Purple & Gold	Pyrausta purpuralis	2
Rush Veneer	Nomophila noctuella	1
Straw Grass-veneer	Agriphila straminella	2
Silver Y	Autographa gamma	4

Other stuff

Common/Viviparous Lizard	Lacerta vivipara	2
Kestrel	Falco tinnunculus	1
Sparrowhawk	Accipiter nisus	1
Wheatear (female)	Oenanthe oenanthe	1
Southern Hawker	Aeshna cyanea	1
Pied Hoverfly	Volucella pellucens	1
Hornet Hoverfly	Volucella zonaria	4