Beyond Birdwatching

Spring is in full flow with natural riches every way you turn, says James Lowen

Mighty blooms

Goldenbloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle is a large, striking insect, with a mouthful of a name, that visits flowers across much of central and eastern England. Longhorn Beetles are named in honour of their protracted, curving antennae. The ‘zebra crossing’ pattern on these frontal protuberances makes for a distinctive creature.

Aquatic lightning bolt

Presumably needing to provision hungry mouths, the typically nocturnal and elusive Water Shrew seems unduly active on May days. Well-vegetated ditches, streambanks or ponds are good habitats to check, but you will need both fortune and sharp eyes to coincide with its typically lightning appearances. Famously, Water Shrews are unusual among mammals in possessing venomous saliva that is strong enough to immobilise frogs.

Justified and ancient

Recognisable as a large, sturdy member of the buttercup family (hence its alternative moniker of ‘kingcups’), Marsh Marigold splashes spring colour around damp meadows, marshes and wet woodlands. It is believed to have been growing here since before the last Ice Age, making it one of Britain’s longest-established plants.

Fresh leaves

What is not to love about English Oak? It is perhaps our most familiar tree, and veterans can live for a millennium. For foresters, it is the most valuable tree – and so too for insects, for no tree harbours a greater diversity of six-legged leaf-eaters. My adoration of it peaks in spring, when the fresh lime-bright leaves are coupled with the extravagant curtains of dangling male flowers.

Moth or butterfly?

Spot a Speckled Yellow flitting around a sunny woodland glade and you could be forgiven for thinking this attractive, day-flying creature to be a butterfly. It is actually a moth – but that in itself begs the question of what the difference is between the two. In truth, pretty much every purported difference breaks down under rigorous scrutiny. Moreover, taxonomically speaking, the six butterfly families actually nestle within the 120-odd moth families.

Arguably then, butterflies are actually moths...

Monobrow

Heart and Dart – often nicknamed ‘Monobrow’ by moth-ers on account of its black headband – is among our most abundant and widespread moths. But it is also a winged messenger, for its population crashed by 86% from 1970–2016, suggesting that something is very much awry in our environment.

Weightlifter legs

There’s no mistaking a male Thick-legged Flower Beetle. One alternative name – Swollen-thighed Beetle – makes it even clearer how to recognise it. The hindlegs of the male, but not the female, are as hefty as a bodybuilder’s thighs. Widespread across Britain and particularly common in southern England’s grasslands, this metallic-green insect is an important pollinator of flowers such as Cow Parsley and Ox-eye Daisy.