Discover the latest news and sightings from the Southrey Wood butterfly reserve below...
You can report your sightings and send your photos from Southrey Wood to John Davison at: @email
If you would like to visit the site or any of our other sites in Lincolnshire, please take a look at our Events. Work party times usually run from 02.00 till 4.00 p.m. However, any time you can give would be welcomed!
Workparties:
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, workparties will be on an ad-hoc basis with limited numbers decided on availablity by Steve. He will contact regulars but contact him if you want to make yourself available.
View the Southrey Wood Blog 2019
Southrey Wood Blog 2020
1st November: Decent day.
First workparty of the winter (now under Covid rules) and a decent start. Brimstone seen flying.
Then came 2nd Lockdown,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Can only hope to restart in December (fingers crossed).
6th October: Nice morning but spoilt by rain in the afternoon.
Only a couple of Whites flying but a few Green Shieldbugs about and the Holly bearing good fruit.
1st September: Beautiful day - What went wrong!
Lots of Whites about making the most of the Devil's-bit Scabious. In addition, there was Red Admiral, Brimstone, Speckled Wood, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.
A few Hornets about and a Munjac barking.
Other Fauna...........
23rd August: Philip Johnson writes..........
"Melissa and I visited Southrey for the first time since a winter work session. We did not note any Peacock butterflies on the wing, which we thought might have been numerous a few weeks earlier. Here are some pictures, the Devil's-bit Scabious apparently in full bloom.
It was interesting to note that Marsh Fritillary and Silver-washed Fritillary were present again this year, after sightings in 2019."
https://youtu.be/2TCqZ3KW8eA
18th August: Cloudy but warm with a slight breeze.
Not a lot of variety but high numbers of Whites. Other butterflies included Common Blue, Speckled Wood, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral & Peacock.
Most were enjoying the lovely display of Devil's-bit Scabious.
11th August: Hot and sticky.
Quite a few butterflies but not great numbers. Species included Large, Small & Green-veined White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Gatekeeper, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Common Blue, Peacock and Brimstone.
Other Fauna.......
1st August: Peter Cawdell reports.........
I was delighted to find a large web of Marsh Fritillary larvae yesterday afternoon. After the unprecedented population explosion at Little Scrubbs Meadow in 2019, several butterflies managed to arrive here.This Spring further sightings of adults indicated that they must have bred. Both males and females were spotted in the same area where these larvae are now located, so it appears that a small satellite colony has been established. Whether this is just transient depends on keeping the rides and other areas open and sunny. This in turn is entirely dependent on volunteers!
Also spotted a Common Lizard and Roe Deer.
28th July: Still breezy with sunny intervals.
Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown & the odd Ringlet together with Comma, Red Admiral, Peacock and the usual Whites. 4 Silver-washed flying about and a late (tatty) White Admiral.
A few Dragonflies about including Brown & Migrant Hawker. I was surprised to come across a Willow Emerald Damselfly.
22nd July: Weather changeable again but warm and overcast seems to be the order of the day.
Lots of Meadow Brown, Ringlet and the usual Whites, together with Red Admiral and Comma. There were 2 male and 2 female Silver-washed Fritillaries but I did come across this variation f. valezina.
7th July: Warm but overcast until the rain set in.
More Ringlets than all other species combined. Others included Meadow Brown, Large & Small Skipper, Large, Small & Green-veined White and Red Admiral.
Other Fauna.....
30th June: Warm but cloudy. A lot of Ringlets together with Meadow Brown, Large & Small Skipper and Small White. White Admiral continue to frequent the main drive and also in the rides.
Other Fauna.......
23rd June: Nice hot sunny day brought out the Ringlets and Meadow Browns together with the odd Brimstone and Large Skipper. A "purple patch" however, saw 2 White Admiral, a Silver-washed Fritillary and 4 White-letter Hairsreaks all in the same small area of ride.
22nd June: Jill Hall says "Some lovely White Admirals about today."
16th June: Again the day started cloudy but picked up with good sunshine. Still few butterflies about but did see Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and my first Ringlets of the year.
Other Fauna..........
9th June: Cloudy but fine day with sunny intervals but another dearth of Butterflies. I thought a solitary Meadow Brown was going to be it until a faded Marsh Fritillary with a bit of missing wing turned up.
A couple of Moths brightened the day.
Other Fauna......
2nd June: Sunny again but still few butterflies. Orchids starting to emerge with a Common Spotted.
Other Fauna.........
30th May: Peter Cawdell reports.........
Managed to walk around the wood, including our reserve, for an hour from 4 pm. Like all the local woodlands, butterflies are thin on the ground at present. Found a fresh Small Tortoiseshell, a worn-out Comma, a Speckled Wood, a Small White and 2 Brimstone larvae on the large Alder Buckthorn near our seat. Unexpectedly came across a new female Meadow Brown near our Entrance Sign. This species is about a week early emerging this year. There were 3 Marsh Fritillary on our New Ride (2M + 1F) - as several were also seen last year they may well have bred here? There is certainly plenty of the larval foodplant around, Devil's-bit Scabious. Nice to hear a Cuckoo calling and several Swallows collecting insects along the SW corner. A flock of 9 Long-tailed Tits in our Reserve.
26th May: Nice sunny day produced a good Butterfly - Marsh Fritillary.
They were recorded here last year but nice to see them reappear.
19th May: Slightly warmer and sunnier than the morning. Orange-tip, Brimstone and Common Blue on the wing as well as the usual Green-veined White.
Other Fauna.......
13th May: Good to be out again.
Slightly warmer than the morning so Green-veined & Small White on the wing, as well as the Orange-tips.
The Early Purple Orchids are starting to go over but Peter counted 115 spikes this year.
There was a nice Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth flying among the Bugle.
Other Fauna............
23rd February: Wet overnight but thankfully no significant rain as 9 volunteers continued work on this winter's square. This was the last workparty of the year and the summer work will be ad-hoc and yet to be arranged.
12th January: 14 eager volunteers turned out again for the workparty. Struck lucky with the weather with only a few spots of rain.
Struggling again with felling as we are still down to only Steve operating a chainsaw. Hopefully this will improve later but in the meantime - any qualified operators out there who could lend a hand?
