Lovely day last Friday for a Butterfly survey in Eltham Park (North) and Oxleas Meadows.
My survey started in Eltham Park, where 6 species were present Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Common Blue and all 3 species of common white butterflies (Large, Small and Green-veined).
I then made my way through the woods, but only found a couple of Small White butterflies.
And so onto Oxleas Meadows
After the activity in the park, I was hopeful of a good number of butterflies, but only found Small White plus a single Large White and a single Meadow Brown.
Other interesting sightings on the walk were a Buzzard, a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel and a couple of Pond Sliders on the pond in the park
Pond Sliders are found in south central USA and Northern Mexico but frequently turn up on lakes and ponds in the UK after being released by people who have kept them as pets. Such releases are detrimental to the native wildlife.
The Pond Slider has 3 three distinct types, the Yellow-bellied Slider, the Red-Eared Slider and the much less common Cumberland Slider. However intermediate forms of the types have arisen due to interbreeding where more than one type occurs. I couldn’t see any red on these so probably they are the Yellow-bellied type. We had a Red-eared Slider on the Tarn for a number of years (last seen about 2 years ago).
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