June 2020

A few Moths that were caught in the Moth Trap overnight are as follows - Straw Dot, Common Carpet, Feyer's Pug, Common Marbled Carpets, Hearts & Darts, Lackey Moth, Marbled Minors, Common Wainscot, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Treble Lines, Bee Moth, Large Yellow Underwing & Hearts & Clubs. During the course of the day, I photographed both Juvenile Blue Tit & Magpie in our garden.

Common Carpet

Common Marbled Carpet

Large Yellow Underwing

Hearts & Clubs

Bee Moth

Hearts & Darts

Magpie [Juvenile]

Common Wainscot

Blue Tit [Juvenile]

Chew Valley Lake & Priddy 8th June 2020

We headed down to Priddy via Chew Valley Lake for the day. We saw a family group of Canada Geese at Herriott's Bridge.

We explored the heathland at Priddy. We saw Chimney Sweeper Moths, Forester Moths, Hobby flying through, Common Green Grashopper, Burnet Companion Moths, Tree Pipit, Common Whitethroat, Red & Black Froghoppers, Bloody-nosed Beetles, Six-spot Brunet Moth Caterpillar, Small Pearl-boarded Fritillares, Large Skipper & Swollen-thighed Beetle. Also saw Black-tailed Skimmers & Large Red Damselfly.

We had another quick look at Chew Valley Lake on the way home, but there was not much about. We saw both Grey Wagtail & Little Owl in the Pensford area.

Canada Geese [Family]

Forester Moth

Common Green Grasshopper

Forester & Chimney Sweeper Moths

Burnet Companion Moth

Tree Pipit [Male]

Bloody-nosed Beetle [Pair]

Common Whitethroat [Male]

Large Skipper [Female]

Small Pearl-boarded Fritillary

Simon King Talk

Black-tailed Skimmer [Male]

Red & Black Froghopper

Swollen-thighed Beetle

Little Owl [Adult]

Grey Wagtail [Male]

Codrington 15th June 2020

We went back to Codrington Quarry to see if the Skippers were out there. An Adult Cinnabar was perched in the grass. Pyramidal Orchid was in flower on the site. The Butterflies included Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Marbled Whites & Meadow Browns. A Common Chiffchaff was singing on top of the wire. We found couple of Bee Orchids in flower on the site.

Common Chiffchaff [Male]

Cinnabar Moth

Red Admiral

Marbled White

Bee Orchid

Wapley Bushes NNR 16th June 2020

Me & Dad popped up to Wapley Bushes NNR near Yate to look for Butterflies. We saw Ringlets, Meadow Browns, Marbled Whites, Small Tortoiseshell, Small Skipper, Five-spot Burnet Moth, Beautiful Demoiselle, Common Blue Damselfly & Six-spot Burnet Moth.

Meadow Brown [Male]

Meadow Brown [Female]

Marbled White

Six-spot Burnet Moth

Small Tortoiseshell

Small Skipper

Common Blue Damselfly [Immature Male]

June 2020

Three Brooks NNR 24th June 2020

Me & Dad popped to Three Brooks NNR near Bradley Stoke. A few Dock Shield Bugs were seen. A couple more Essex Skippers were on the wing. Common Chiffchaff was singing in the bushes. A Comma was feeding on a Dog dropping, which is a similar habit to the rare Purple Emperor Butterfly. Dad managed to find a pair of Marbled Whites copulating on the Tump or hill. By the stream, we had a pair of Beautiful Demoiselles. A family of Mallards, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Mute Swans & Moorhen were seen on the pond. A couple of Male Broad-bodied Chasers were perched on the stick at the edge of the pond. Also had a very brief view of a White-letter Hairstreak, mainly in flight. Thanks to Vic Savery for all the information of this site for my book.

Marbled White [Pair]

Essex Skipper [Male]

Common Chiffchaff [Male]

Beautiful Demoiselle [Male]

Broad-bodied Chaser [Male]

Comma

Stonywood 25th June 2020

Me & Dad had another walk around Stonywood in the morning near Inglestone to look for White Admiral & Sliver-washed Fritillary. Meadow Browns were the first species we saw on our visit. A couple of Red Admirals were on the wing. The Male Sliver-washed Fritillaries were on the wing & very flighty. These individuals were waiting for the Females to emerge & didn't settle on the brambles for very long. A Yellow/Black Longhorn Beetle was seen crossing the path. A Large Skipper was feeding on the Brambles at the Lower Woods end of the reserve, but no White Admirals sadly. On our way back to the car park, I photographed a Male Goldcrest singing in the tree.

Red Admiral

Silver-washed Fritillary [Male]

Yellow & Black Longhorn Beetle

Large Skipper

Aust & Elberton Meadows 23rd June 2020

As part my research for my book Butterflies of South Gloucestershire, me & Dad headed to Aust & Elberton. We started at Aust services to look for the White-letter Hairstreak. We saw Black/Yellow Longhorn Beetles, Scarlet Tiger Moth, Ringlets & Scarce Fungus Weevil. Dad spotted the White-letter Hairstreak feeding on the brambles below the bridge next to the M48 Motorway. On the way back to the car, I spotted the larvae of a Ruby Tiger Moth on the road. We moved it to the side out of harm's way. We explored around the meadows at Elberton to see what was there. A few a Small Skippers, Marbled Whites, Six-spot Burnet Moth, Essex Skipper & Meadow Browns.

Yellow & Black Longhorn Beetles

Scarlet Tiger Moth

Scarce Fungus Weevil

White-letter Hairstreak

Essex Skipper

Marbled White [Female]

Golden Valley NNR, Wick 9th June 2020

Me & Dad headed to Wick to explore the Golden Valley NNR. A few Butterflies were on the wing mainly Meadow Browns, Marbled Whites, Large Skipper, Small Skipper & Small Tortioseshell. Also saw an Immature Beautiful Demosielle & a couple of Female Black Skimmers. We also had a look for White-legged Damselflies, but sadly only saw Common Blue Damselflies. A few Pyramidal Orchids were in flower.

Black-tailed Skimmer [Female]

Meadow Brown [Male]

Meadow Brown [Female]

Beautiful Demoiselle [Immature]

Marbled White