But, by the end of the day I came to the conclusion that it is anything but sunny for the butterfly population. All that was recorded were four Green Veined Whites.
One can only hope that many of the eggs laid by the butterflies earlier in the season have survived. I'm also hoping that Britain gets a large number of migrant butterflies this year which will hopefully boost numbers for next year.
Apart from walking the transect I also emptied and re-laid my pitfall traps that I have at two sites. For those that don't know, pitfall traps are set into the ground and insects, most notably beetles, will fall into them.
My traps consist of two one pint plastic tumblers, one set inside the other, (this makes it easier when emptying the traps as one can remove one plastic cup and the other remains set in the ground).
The traps are covered by a galvanised (13mm x 13mm) wire mesh. This is done to stop small mammals from falling in and also to stop birds using it as a running buffet. The mesh is pinned to the ground by heavy duty garden wire which I cut into strips, bend in half and push into the ground through the mesh. The trap is then filled to about third of its capacity with a mixture of water and car windscreen cleaner. See picture below for trap in situ.
All the above items can be bought from your friendly neighbourhood garden centre.
Pitfall Trap.
I have had the traps running for only two weeks and I am in the middle of identifying the contents from yesterday's collection.
I have updated my Pan Species Listings.
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