Monday 25th June 2012 - Penny Hill Bank

The weather seems to have settled down a bit over the past couple of days and, although not sunny, it has felt fairly warm.  With such conditions as these my invert detector started twitching (and no that's not a euphemism before anyone asks!), so I  decided to revisit Penny Hill Bank near Martley.

I gave Tony a bell to see if he was coming out to play and we arrived there just after mid-day.  The flora now was absolutely stunning and the conditions were favourable for butterflies.  In fact I think I saw almost as many butterflies in this small area than I have seen so far this year.  In total we recorded 20 Marbled Whites, 8 Meadow Browns, 4 Common Blues, 1 Small Tortoiseshell and 1 rather worn Brown Argus.

A number of moths were also noted including 1 Yellow Shell, 2 Six-spot Burnett moths and a Six-spot Burnett larvae.  I flushed a Heart & Dart moth and Tony found what was one of the day's highlights when he flushed and relocated a moth known simply as The Blackneck (Lygephila pastinum).  This was a species that I hadn't seen before so needless to say I was rather pleased.

As always there were plenty of other insects of note at the site including 2 rather smart looking Longhorn Beetles (Strangalia maculata). and a Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus vespillo)

Penny Hill is also a good place for some of our native reptiles and today was no exception with 2 Grass Snakes and 6 Slow Worms noted.

Not forgetting the area's avian inhabitants, we had cracking views of a Peregrine that went through.  Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Song Thrush were all present and in good voice.

All in all it was a very pleasing and productive visit to a fantastic local reserve.  I wonder what I may have missed at Shenstone...not a lot this time of year to be honest!

Marbled White















Six-Spot Burnett & Larvae

The Blackneck (Lygephila pastinum)

Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus vespillo) 

Longhorn Beetle (Strangalia maculata)

Grass Snake

Slow Worm