Weekend Butterflies

Crafty Green Boyfriend was curious to find out about the butterfly surveys I'm doing. So on Saturday he came along with me to the Lauriston Farm Agroecology project where I'm doing the surveys. The survey route includes a variety of habitats and vegetation types, including lots of thistles which are great for insects, when in flower and very popular with birds such as Goldfinches when they turn to seed

The weather was too cool, too cloudy, too windy for an official survey, but we walked the route together and were pleased to see a decent number of butterflies including Red Admirals

Small Skippers 

 including this one which was being buzzed by a White Tailed Bumblebee 

 

 

and Meadow Browns

We also saw a good variety of Hoverflies including this Melangyna sp. hoverfly which was laying eggs! 

We also saw a lot of birds, including a family of eight Greenfinches, over 30 Goldfinches in the thistles (how many can you spot in the photo below?)

several House Martins and a few Swallows

I'm hoping also to do a Big Meadow Search in the Lauriston Fields this year. The Big Meadow Search is a UK and Ireland wide project developed by Carmarthenshire Meadows Group, to raise awareness and interest in grasslands and to record plant species. You can get involved by undertaking plant searches on grassland near you.