The Big Butterfly Count

Today I took part in the “Big Butterfly Count” that has been set up by the Butterfly Conservation. This activity asks for volunteers who are prepared to spend 15 minutes of their time to count the number of various butterflies in that period.

A very useful chart can be downloaded to help you identify and record the numbers you see in that quarter of an hour. After sending your results via the internet, your sightings are automatically plotted on a map.

The purpose of this count is best described in the words of the Butterfly Conservation themselves:

Butterflies react very quickly to change in their environment which makes them excellent biodiversity indicators. Butterfly declines are an early warning for other wildlife losses. That’s why counting butterflies can be described as taking the pulse of nature.

The count will also assist us in identifying trends in species that will help us plan how to protect butterflies from extinction, as well as understand the effect of climate change on wildlife.

The big butterfly count is a nationwide survey aimed at helping us assess the health of our environment. It was launched in 2010 and has rapidly become the world's biggest survey of butterflies. Almost 27,000 people took part in 2012, counting 223,000 individual butterflies and day-flying moths across the UK

The snapshot on the left shows one of my two recordings of today. If you click on the map the results page of the count will open.

 

I was pleasantly surprised about the amount of Ringlets (Aphantopus Hyperantus) I saw in my count. Although I may not have paid much attention to them in the past, I don't think there were so many when I visited this little butterfly heaven near Ruislip Lido.

But I also saw two Meadow Browns (Maniola Jurtina) before the 15 minutes were gone. Which is typical because I see them not as often as I would like.

In order to make sure I had evidence of the count, I also took some pictures of what I saw. Therefore, I can share pictures of a Large Skipper (Ochlodes Venatus), a Gatekeeper (Pyronia Tythonus) of which there were plenty and another picture of the Small White (Pieris Rapae) from the top.

The Big Butterfly Count will last until the 11^th of August and I am sure I will put in some more results.

 

It is a fun activity that can be done together as well. Just get out and enjoy the beauty of the butterfly!

 

 

 

The Green Heart of The Netherlands

Everybody knows Gouda for it’s world famous cheese. But since cheese is made from milk that comes from cows that need to eat lots of grass, there must be some green fields in the neighbourhood. And indeed, Gouda is at the centre of what is called The Green Heart of The Netherlands. Close to the rivers Hollandse IJssel and Gouwe as well as near by the Reeuwijkse Plassen there is an abundance of green flatland. Yesterday and today I took my camera out to see what was on offer in terms of wildlife. In this blog I will share the results.

My first stop, yesterday, was a natural reserve called Goudse Hout. This area has many ditches in typical Dutch grass land.

There are various public footpaths available and the reeds alongside the ditches provide shelter for insects and waterfowl.

Walking at the end of the afternoon, you can here many birds performing there evensong, but with all the trees now fully green, there was is no change to see any of them long enough for a decent picture.

It was however with great pleasure that I saw two Small White butterflies (Pieris Rapae) mating. Their courtship was like a ballet in the air. The results are shown below.

 

When crossing one of the ditches by the small bridge, I did see a dragonfly hovering over the water. As always, you cannot automatically see which one it actually is, but I knew I would sort that out at home. Picture first, name later…

It turned out to be a male Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum Cancellatum). The first picture was tsaken while he was resting on a leave, but later he performed it’s aerial dance and I was able to caught him in the act.

This dragonfly occurs nearly all over Europe except northern UK and Scandinavia; to the east, the range extends to Kashmir and Mongolia.

The adult male has a blue abdomen with a black tip and transparent wings, and the female has a yellow (later: brown) body with black bands along the abdomen and transparent wings. Even the immature males look that way. (source: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

Today, while cycling near the lakes of Reewijk, I saw four Barn Swallows (Hirundo Rustica) on a power line. They were not going to fly while I had my camera ready, but as soon as I stowed it away…you get the idea. Still, since it was the first time I took a picture of this versatile flyer, I could not keep it from this blog.

And therefore I will also show the four of them, resting on the lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, a picture of some Greylag Geese (Anser Anser) that had just landed, as the picture on top shows. They look beautiful against the green background of this wonderful area in The Netherlands.

Summer & Butterflies

Today was the first decent day of the Summer with quite some sunshine and higher temperatures. So it was inevitable for me to go walkabout to find some butterflies. And I was not disappointed with a good variety and some of them even posing. As if they knew I would be there with my camera. The Ringlet (Aphantopus Hyperantus) in the top picture was the first of the season. I found one other picture in my archives of almost one year ago. This afternoon I made two more pictures which I like to share.

I wrote earlier that the Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais Urticae) is declining. The website of Gardener’s World describes this as follows:

The arrival of a new parasitoid fly, Sturmia Bella, in 1998 has been mooted as part of the butterfly’s downturn. Within the same decade of the butterfly’s decline, the fly (which specialises in parasitizing Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Peacock butterflies) spread across the whole of England. It doesn’t appear to be quite that straightforward, though. Small tortoiseshell numbers went down in places where the parasitoid is currently unknown, and also in Europe where the fly is not a ‘new’ threat to the butterfly. Anyway, I was very happy to see two of these butterflies actually mating this afternoon. Keep up the good work and maybe the decline can be stopped.

 

Talking about reproduction: these two Gatekeepers (Pyronia Tithonus) on the right are almost certainly ready to mate as well. The male is higher than the female, but I am sure they will sort something out. They were actually the first Gatekeepers this season but there were a lot of them chasing each other. All very promising.

I did see a Meadow Brown (Maniola Jurtina) as well, but it was not possible to take a decent picture. So I have to do with one from my archive as shown on the left. I took this one whilst being stung by the Ivy and that happened again several times this afternoon. All in the name of art…

To finish this blog I will share a picture of a Five-spot Burnet (Zygaena Trifolii) and a Small Skipper (Thymelicus Flavus) respectively. The first one is actually a moth, but can be seen during daytime. The last one is just a beautiful little butterfly.

Finally the Summer has begun and I can’t wait to take more pictures of butterflies…and show them on my blog.