A New Butterfly for Us.

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 I take my turn over the summer months in walking a butterfly transect at the Waitby Greenriggs Reserve near us and send the results on to UK Butterfly Monitoring. Today I found a butterfly that I have not recorded here before. The Scotch Argus Butterfly is found at a couple of sites in Cumbria (Smardale and Arnside) but I have never seen it at Waitby Greenriggs. I am checking with other recorders to see if this is a new species for the reserve. The butterfly is well represented in Scotland but is rarely seen this far South.

Update! Apparently these butterflies were recorded at Waitby Greenriggs over 20 years ago but not since. Scotch Argus are found at Smardale reserve about 5 miles away and the males might fly that far but not the females. There was a research project a couple of years ago when they were searched for ay Waitby Greenriggs to see if the were spreading but none were found.


Diary
I almost trod on a stoat when I was out counting butterflies. I spotted the tawny owl on his perch in the orchard this morning on the way to my camera traps.


Camera traps produced a couple of fox shots and two of a badger.

Finally here is a photo of a red squirrel happily ensconced in the bird feeder attached to our conservatory window. You can tap on the glass and the squirrels ignore you!









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