Botany & Butterflies - Fleam Dyke - 27 July 2013

Jennifer organised an outing to observe the flora and fauna on the Fleam Dyke just to the east of the A11. Ten of us started from the A11 at 09:30 and walked eastwards to Bedford Gap.

Walking towards Bedford Gap

These are the butterflies and flowers that we recorded.

Butterflies	Flowers (in no particular order)
Brimstone	Thyme
Large white	Rockrose
Small white	Horseshoe vetch (seed pods)
Small tortoiseshell	Squinancywort
Small skipper	Dropwort (gone to seed)
Meadow brown	Lady’s bedstraw
Ringlet	Hedge bedstraw
Peacock	Greater knapweed
Gatekeeper	Black Knapweed
Marbled white (2)	Dwarf thistle (‘Picnic’ thistle)
Chalkhill blue (perhaps 200 or more?)	Tuberous thistle
	Carline thistle
Moth	Harebell
5 spot Burnet moth	Kidney vetch
	Quaking grass
	Common milkwort
	Ragwort
	Teasel
	Small scabious
	Field scabious
	Yarrow
	Wild parsnip
	Pignut
	Bryony
	Agrimony
	Wild mignonette (or weld?)
	Dark mullein
	Goatsbeard (Jack go to bed at noon)
	Oxeye daisy
	Salad burnet
	Juniper
	Sweet briar
	Privet
	Elder

Burnet Moth (photo JH)

Chalkhill Blue (photo JH)

Chalkhill Blues (photo JH)

Skipper

Small White

Ringlet

Skipper

White-tailed Bumble Bee

(photos PB unless noted)