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DEAN GREEN TEAM Wildlife Conservation Group in the Forest of Dean Gloucestershire |
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24 June 2014
Awres Glow
Grid Ref SO639105
This was our last outing until September and we combined it with a Butterfly Survey in the morning and a scrumptious barbecue to follow. The weather was fantastic with most of the team turning up in shorts. As we were erecting the gazebo, we spotted a lovely Bee Orchid growing underneath so we moved a table over it to prevent it being squashed!
The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is awarding badges to regular volunteering members and we were very pleased to have a representative attend our barbecue and distribute the badges to many members of our team. There were gold badges for those members who had done 10 years with the team and silver badges for those who had done 250 hours or up to five years with the team. Our team has many members who have done these requisites which is an accolade to the comradeship and friendliness imparted by the whole team - well done to all!
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Deep in the woods we started to erect the gazebo which required at least four strong hands!
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Once all the barbecue food had been sorted, our forest rangers took advantage of a quiet spell to await the team returning from the butterfly survey. |
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We would all wish to thank our forest rangers for providing the barbecue and cakes - it was all very yummy! |
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At the end of the day, everything had to be packed up and we all went home suitably sated! |
Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) A small butterfly with a darting flight, widespread England and Wales. Small Skippers are insects of high summer. Although they spend much of their time basking or resting among vegetation, they are marvellous flyers, manoeuvring expertly through tall grass stems. It is these darting flights, wings glinting golden-brown in the sunlight, that normally alert an observer to their presence. Closer examination will reveal many more individuals nectaring or basking with their wings held in the half-open posture distinctive of skipper butterflies |
This is a photo of a small skipper taken on this day by one of our team. During the survey we found:- Silver Washed Fritillary Small Skipper Small Heath Common Blue Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary Ringlet
amongst other sightings - a good day for butterflies! |
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This is the light green form of the Red Sword Grass caterpillar (Xylena vetusta ) The larvae feed during the day, often fully exposed from May until the beginning of July on a variety of woody and herbaceous plants |
