A warmer day at last

We missed Transects 1, 3 and 4 because of the cool spring weather and went for No. 5 on the afternoon of 29th April. The weather was bright but not quite sunny, and fairly warm and calm, so not too bad for butterfly spotting. We started our walk at Section 1 (Great Parsons Field) where we saw 9 Brimstones, a Holly Blue, an Orange Tip and a Peacock. We saw no butterflies in section 12 and then picked up the prescribed route at Section 1 (Hither Field), where we had an excellent view of a Raven being harried by a Crow. Goats have once again been put into Section 2 (Coneyboro Hill Field) and, as the gates each end were locked, we had to miss this section. Surrey Wildlife Trust's clearance of the scrub from Fames Rough (sections 3 and 4) is proceeding steadily and we were pleased to see a good number of Twayblades and Adder's Tongue (plants) putting in their first appearance on the newly cleared area down by the railway arch. In Fames Rough we recorded 13 Brimstones, 6 Peacocks, 2 Orange Tips, a Small Tortoiseshell and a Holly Blue. No butterflies were seen in section 5 to 10.

Summary:
22 Brimstone
  7 Peacock
  3 Orange Tip
  1 Holly Blue 
  1 Small Tortoiseshell
Total: 34 Butterflies from 5 species.

​Survey by Graham H, Graham K
​and Brian Gardner
​submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS).  ​
​Report by Brian Gardner. ​