Wednesday 13th July 2016

Elusive butterfly

There is a British native butterfly called the Grayling, Hipparchia semele, which is a specialist of Sand dunes, Heathland coastal cliff, you get the idea they are real sun whorshippers.

A highly camouflaged butterfly, they angle their body and wings in such a fashion that they cast little or no shadow, so against certain backgrounds they are almost impossible to see.

Grayling, Hipparchia Semele

I was surprised to see that there were many on the wing today, (there were none noted yesterday), in the spells of warm sunshine, along the hard track which runs from the car park to the information shelter.

Also seen today were Small Blue, Marbled White and Meadow Brown along with Black-tailed Skimmer, Emperor and Common Darter, lets hope the weather is good for the Carmarthenshire Bird Club walk on Saturday....

Tuesday 12th July 2016

Flies, Bugs, Bees and Spiders.......

Today I spent my time at Morfa Berwig LNR, with three surveyors looking at the invertebrates on the reserve.

It was such an eye-opener with nets being swished left ,right and centre, then tubes of all sizes being used to hold and identify a host of invertebrates, the knowledge and skill of the three people, Phil, Janice and Mike was humbling and the enthusiasm they demonstrated in showing me the various creature was great.

Entomologists, like botanists, move slowly, deliberately and open eyed, initial lists didn't show anything rare but a few nice "local" species came to light, (no good me even attempting to remember their names)

Its fair to say they were impressed with the array of habitats on the reserve with the " brownfield" sites particularly rich.

Tortoise beetle, Cassida murraea found on Fleabane Pulicaria dysenterica

Crab Spider, Misumena vatia, with Honey Bee Apis mellifera prey

There were too many species to list, with over 150 recorded today and a return visit planned for August.