Sunday 19 July 2020

Butterflies along the Old Railway Cutting

Over the last week or so, Andy M has been noting the butterfly species around along the Old Railway Cutting, and has taken a few photos of those he has seen:

Small Tortoiseshell 

 Marbled White

 Red Admiral - which seem to prefer feeding 'head-down'
 Red Admiral

 Comma
- characteristic colour and 'ragged' wing shape

Peacock
Meadow Brown
Meadow Brown - with forewing hidden, so no 'eye'spot evident.
 Meadow Brown - 
unusually with two small white 'eye' spots, more typical of the 
Gatekeeper - but lacking the orange colour of the latter.

Gatekeeper - 
note the four small white dots on the underside of the hind wing
 Gatekeeper - 
note the 'typical' double white spots in the 'eye-spot' and the bright orange colour

Female Ringlet
 - the female has more obvious white and black spots (much less distinct in the male)
 Female Ringlet

 Female Common Blue
 - brown fading to blue near the body, and with orange, black 
and white spots on the lower edge of the hind wing
Female Common Blue

Female Large Skipper
- has the chequer-board pattern, but lacks the bold black strip or 'sex-brand' of the male.

Essex Skipper
- very similar to Small Skipper, but having black-tipped antennae
(which are orange tipped in Small Skipper)
 Essex Skipper 

 Small White
 - smaller than Large White, and with paler 'grey' area just at the tip of to the forewing
(much darker tip extending down the edge in the Large White)



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The Aims of Abington Naturewatch

At their meeting on 9 April 2005 the members approved this revised version of the aims of Abington Naturewatch:

  • To monitor and record the wildlife (fauna & flora) within the borders of the Abingtons;
  • To encourage protection of our wildlife, maintain its quality and foster its diversity;
  • To promote awareness of the richness, potential and problems of the natural environment of the Abingtons;
  • To cooperate in improving access to the local natural environment for the benefit of all Abington villagers.

Pat Daunt, Founder

The organisation is informal and communication is by email if possible; members are notified of events from time to time. Contact details are maintained by a small "project team". There is currently no membership fee as costs are covered by voluntary contributions at events.

Members are encouraged to report notable sightings of flora and fauna within the Abingtons to the appropriate sector coordinator and an illustrated record is published annually.

A map of the area covered, with some features noted, is available here: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=213774935674882866424.00000111dca2be9f06ab8&z=13>

For more information or to join, please contact David Farrant on (01223) 892871.

Contributions to our records should be sent to sector contacts or either of the above. Photographs may also be submitted to Andy Merryweather (amerryweather61@gmail.com)