2009
16
MAY
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Butterfly survey in Earley and Upper Hardres Woods. |
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Saturday, 16 May 2009 |
Butterfly survey in Earley and Upper Hardres Woods.  | - Click on the image above to view gallery
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 Herb Paris As it happened once inside the Earley Wood it was very pleasant and we found we were mostly sheltered from the unpleasant wind and quickly started to see plenty of butterflies. They were for the most part whites and to be honest it’s the sort of butterfly you don’t look twice at but as we were supposed to be counting how many of each species it made us really look at what we were seeing. Once on the wing it’s not so easy to tell the difference between the Large and Small Whites, especially as at this time of year there are Green-veined Whites on the wing too. Then, just to add to the complication, female Orange Tips are mostly white as well.
It certainly was fun trying to work out just what we were looking at and in the end with the help of a few record shots of the butterflies we worked out that we saw 9 Green veined Whites, 4 Large Whites, 5 Small Whites and 4 Orange Tips. Also in the wood we found 3 Speckled Woods and on the woodland margin a Brimstone. It might not seem like a lot of butterflies but on a windy afternoon we did wonder if we would see any at all.
At this time of year the countryside is very colourful with Oilseed Rape fields which you either love or hate, but they do make for some very colourful pictures. We were getting views from the woodland of bright yellow fields and didn’t give it a second thought until we realised that the nearer of the fields was actually a very healthy crop of buttercups being grazed by some horses. Later in the walk we found a pleasant place to sit and enjoy a late lunch and I went into the Oilseed Rape field to see if I could get some different shots of the crop.
 Buttercups and Oilseed rape fields.  Oilseed Rape
One other plant I was really pleased to see in Earley Wood was a curious plant known as Herb Paris. Being predominantly green it’s very often overlooked in the undergrowth but it’s an indicator plant of ancient woodlands. It is believed to have magical properties and is associated with witchcraft.
The second wood we were asked to survey was Upper Hardres Wood, which is a privately owned wood, and the contrast between the two woods was incredible. The wood hadn’t been actively managed for approximately 30 years and as we walked our way through the dark paths we didn’t see a single butterfly. The only thing of note was a burnt out car that had obviously been there for many years.
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Lovely butterflies.
Love Sherran