Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Will it be a bumper season for butterflies?
Could this be one of those summers when large numbers of painted lady butterflies arrive in our gardens? There have been reports from southern Europe of a major migration from North Africa with the butterflies breeding as they move northward.
Six years ago thousands of these lovely butterflies were seen across the country, the adults feeding on the nectar of many flowers, especially buddleia in gardens and marjoram on the downs and laying eggs on thistles, the food-plant of its caterpillars.
Some have already appeared here and in East Anglia but not in large numbers. A major influx from the continent will depend on the wind direction, southerly winds will help them to reach here but northerlies may keep them on the other side of the channel.
Another beautiful butterfly that occasionally migrates to our shores is the continental swallowtail. They bred in Kent in the past when their caterpillars were seen feeding on carrot tops and fennel but each time their colonies died out, apparently following cool summers.
England does have a slightly smaller native swallowtail that is well-established on the Norfolk Broads. With their darker colours they appear even more striking than their continental cousins as can be seen from the photograph. Their caterpillars also have a different food plant, milk parsley. Perhaps one day they will migrate to Stodmarsh or Ham Fen, the habitat looks suitable.
A canopy of leaves is now shading our woodlands but in coppiced glades some of the glories of early summer stand out: Foxgloves, red, pink and white, thriving on neutral and acidic soils and ragged robin in the wetter, peaty areas.
Many people confuse ragged robin with red campion, perhaps because the latter was once also known as red robin but red campion prefers chalky and base-rich soil. Its flowers have five rounded petals with a cleft at the top of each . To add to the confusion red campion often hybridises with white campion to produce fertile pink varieties which some botanists believe may one day completely oust the red variety.
Ragged robin flowers also have five pink petals but each is segmented into four twisted fingers and the flowers looks ragged.
Eyed hawkmoths are less common in Kent than some other members of the family.
They do not eat in their lifetime and are most likely to be seen in July. The “eyes” on their wings deter predators. Their fearsome-looking caterpillars may be found on a variety of trees including apple and willow, usually until mid-September. They then disappear underground, emerging as hawkmoths in early summer.
With the school summer holidays approaching it’s a good time to plan a fossil hunt I have often written about the beautiful ammonites that can be found in the sticky gault clay of Copt Point at East Wear Bay, Folkestone, but nowhere offers more opportunities to find beautiful 60-million yearold chalk fossils than the bays of the Isle of Thanet
The finest heart urchin in my collection was found on chalk exposed at low tide near Botany Bay. Rock pools in that area are usually full of life. Washed out among the shells the sharp-eyed may also spot other fossils derived from the chalk such as belemnites, sharp-pointed brownish rounded guards from an ancient relative of the cuttlefish, usually only 2-3cm long (about an inch) but sometimes much larger.
We are fortunate in east Kent to have so many organisations offering us the opportunity to learn more about nature and the beauty of our surroundings.
The Kent Wildlife Trust’s visitor centre at Reculver is outstanding, the Kentish Stour and White Cliffs Countryside Projects regularly offer walks, knowledge and events led by real enthusiasts to interest the entire family.