Butterflies & Moths
Ten members joined Richard Smout for a butterfly walk on the morning of Tuesday 23rd July.
At lunchtime on Tuesday 26th July, I had a chance to carry out a short survey of the butterflies in the conservation area of Ryde Cemetery as part of the Big Butterfly Count.
This is an annual event run by Butterfly Conservation and the aim is to record as many of the commonest species as possible in the course of 15 minutes.
Once again we organised for a Butterfly Walk to take place at Ryde Cemetery, with Richard Smout leading the event.
Join us on Tuesday 2 August. At this time of year the conservation area in the cemetery has so much wild-life, and the butterflies are everywhere.
It may not have been a bumper summer for butterflies, but the UK public defied the cold, wet weather to make big butterfly count 2015 the biggest ever.
The Butterfly Walk, led by Mr Richard Smout on Saturday 18 July was another successful event.
The Red Admiral (Vanessa Atalanta) is a common and regular migrant to the UK at this time of year.
The six-spot burnet moth is brightly coloured and is active by day. As a result it is often mistaken for a butterfly. People generally think that moths only fly at night but in fact a number, including the six-spot burnet moth, fly by day.
The Painted Lady (Vanessa Cardui) arrives in the UK from Africa every year.