I am pleased to report that foresters are back in force in Chalfont St Peter for the third year running. I spotted fifteen today all nectaring on field scabious apart from one floating upside-down in a cattle trough which expired when I attempted a rescue. They were widely spread over a large area of rough ground which makes for slow-going so I couldn't search it all. I suspect there were many more than fifteen there. Also there were six-spot burnets, cauchas rufimitrella and common plume.
I put some lures from the current Canterbury Uni Forester and Burnet experiments out at Chiltern Open Air Museum during the hot spell, attracting nothing. However, the scabious wasn't in flower at the time. I'll try again this week...
ReplyDeleteTo treat the wife, we went up there this afternoon and had a good hour's walk about. We saw at least 20 individual Foresters. The conditions were perfect and the site is fantastic for moths and butterflies - more Marbled Whites and six-spot burnets than I could shake a stick at.
ReplyDeleteAs you say Robert - a fantastic site. Sadly the whole lot is scheduled to become a housing estate. I do hope you are successful at COAM Dave, Foresters will be safer there, though there's not so much sorrel for the larvae as there is at the Chalfont Heights site.
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