Devon's driest Summer for decades

This Summer has seen so little rain that an official drought was declared this month and a hosepipe ban introduced.  Naturally, this has affected the smaller trees in particular and it is possible we may lose some of those planted last season.  When I visited in early August, many of the trees were surviving, but had autumn colouring and they were losing their leaves prematurely.  The recent rain will have helped them enormously.

Bird Cherry from 2022

On a brighter note, the warm sunshine has helped the many butterfly, bumblebee and insect populations.  Here are some photos of butterfly species observed in the grass.  This is the second year running that I have seen the beautiful Marbled White in flight, so am hopeful a colony may be established.

Small Skipper - Male

Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)

1. Can be seen as a butterfly end of June to the start of August.

2. Female lays her eggs on the grass known as Yorkshire Fog (Holcus lanatus).       

3. The caterpillars spend the winter cocooned inside the grass stem.

4. Typical habitats are rough grass, grass verges and woodland clearings.

Marbled White

Marbled White (Melanargia galathea):

1. Beautiful patterns of striking black and white.

2. Flies late June to early August.

3. The female drops her eggs to the ground, rather than choosing a specific grass species to lay upon.

4. Caterpillar eats shell then hibernates.

5. The Red Fescue (Festuca rubra) and Sheep's Fescue (Festuca ovina) are the main plants that the caterpillars use.

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper butterfly

Flies in July to August and feeds on various grasses with a preference for fine grasses such as bents (Agrostis spp.), fescues (Festuca spp.), and meadow-grasses (Poa spp.). Common Couch (Elytrigia repens) is also used. 

There were plenty of other insects there too, and I managed to catch a mature grasshopper resting on a blade of grass. These adults will be around until winter sets in and their nymphs will emerge next April or May.

Meadow Grasshopper (mature)

 

All these records will be sent to Devon Biodiversity Records Centre, as well as informing the Big Butterfly Count and the Big Meadow Search 2022.

In May, we carried out some summer maintenance.  A small group of us met to clear grass around the smaller trees. Here Peter and Alan are at work.