St Giles Cemetery, Winchester Moths and night insects 25th July
UncategorizedBy kind invite of Dave and Anna, who live adjacent to the cemetery, we ran a moth lamp over sheet at the gabions and three other traps were run from ‘9 til late’. 11 people attended the event. It was a typical warm night but a bit of breeze effected things as did the lack
Peartree Green LNR Flora on the green 18th July 2026
Field Trip . Flora . InsectsA pleasant stroll around the Green in the cool of the evening. There were eight of us altogether. Already, after 18 days with no rain, the Green was starting to look parched and most plants in the open areas looked dehydrated. All the usual PG cast – horse radish, Chines and common mugwort, goldenrod, red
Southampton Old Cemetery mid summer insects 12th July 2026
Field Trip . InsectsOne of my regular insect walks open to the public and exploring the fascinating Southampton Old Cemetery. Luckily it was relatively cool, only 29 degrees Celsius but we still shortened the walk a little as the sun was hot. There were six of us. Undoubtedly the highlight was yet another recent colonist – the Jersey
Mayfield Park private garden Moths and night creatures 3rd July 2026
Field Trip . InsectsBy kind invite of Pat and Di, friends of Cath Corney, seven of us ran a UV light over the sheet on a lawn immediately next to the woodland at Mayfield Park. It was a typical warm and calm summer evening. First we observed the roosting pipistrelle bats emerging from the house, then we concentrated
Peartree Green LNR summer insect walk 27th June 2026
Field Trip . InsectsDespite the very hot weather an insect walk took place in the afternoon. The 90 degree heat forced two of us to leave half way through but three others continued for a while. Butterflies seen included silver-washed fritillary and purple hairstreak in the more wooded areas. It looked as if white-letter hairstreak had already gone
Portsdown Hill Sunday 14th June
Field Trip . Flora . InsectsSix of us joined Mark Trigwell at Fort Widley on Portsdown Hill near the Churchillian Pub. In the warm morning sunshine we walked west along the steep south facing hill of Portsdown. We eventually found the elusive bastard toadflax plant creeping low in the grassland and studied the non-native Cotoneasters. Birds were in short supply
NEW Butterflies of Southampton
UncategorizedThis book features all of the butterflies ever seen in Southampton, where and when they have been seen and plenty of other information.
The Holt Bioblitz 6th June 2026
Natural History . UncategorizedA bioblitz was held at The Holt, near Upham, on Saturday 6th June. The weather was not promising but nevertheless it was a successful day. The early morning bird walk was wet and all present were glad to shelter for breakfast, but the sun came out briefly in late morning for the butterfly walk and
Portsdown Hill 14th June 2026
Natural History . UncategorizedMark Trigwell led a group of seven westward along the south facing slopes of Portsdown Hill close to Fort Widley. The weather was warm, bright and muggy so some of us were pleased to tucking into cooling ice creams at the end. We met the warden who said that it was not worth looking at
Southampton Old Cemetery Insect Walk
UncategorizedA large crowd of 14, including one child, enjoyed a sunny insect walk around Southampton Old Cemetery on Sunday afternoon 26th April. The birds were quiet but we did see Jay and Ring-necked Parakeet and heard Blackcap singing. We also found a Dunnock nest on a path – it may have been predated and half