Barnehurst Golf course has a good variety of habitats, and thus a good list of butterflies, which is one of the reasons why London Wildlife Trust have recommended that it be promoted from a ‘Local’ to a ‘Grade 2’ Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, when Bexley Council finally gets around to signing off on the near 18 month overdue review.
Mike Robinson and I went there yesterday (July 17th) to look for White-letter Hairstreak on the stip of Elm at the west end of the site. I have seen a single individual here on each of two separate occasions, so it was a bit of a long shot and we came up empty-handed this time.
Plenty of other species were to be seen, however, and we learnt something new, which is that Skippers, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Comma at least will make use of Lime tree flowers near the ground.
Ringlet on Lime flowers at Barnehurst Golf Course. (Photo: Mike Robinson)
Open-winged Ringlet feeding on Lime flowers. (Photo: Mike Robinson)
The full list of species seen was Small and Green-veined White, Holly Blue (at least 8) along tree margins, Ringlet (2 or 3) along scrub by a line of Poplars, Speckled Wood (2 or 3), Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Small and Essex Skippers in the grassy ‘wildlife rough’ area, along with a patrolling male Emperor Dragonfly, and at least 3 Commas.
Small White at Barnehurst Golf Course. (Photo: Mike Robinson)
Green-veined White at Barnehurst Golf Course. (Photo: Mike Robinson)
Speckled Wood at the Golf Course site. (Photo: Mike Robinson)
Essex Skipper feeding on Creeping Thistle flower. Note black tip to underside of antenna, the most useful feature distinguishing it from Small Skipper. (Photo: Mike Robinson)
Head-on view of an Essex Skipper on the Golf Course’s ‘wildlife rough’ area. (Photo: Mike Robinson)
Commas patrol the brambly margins to patches of trees and shrubs at the Golf Course. (Photo: Mike Robinson)
Patches of Creeping Thistle demonstrated the way in which these ‘weeds’ fuel insect life in our open spaces. There were some fine Hoverflies on a swathe of it near the entrance driveway.
Hoverfly feeding on Creeping Thistle at Barnehurst Golf Course. (Photo: Mike Robinson)
This fine large Hoverfly at the Golf Course had wings with a large yellowish margin and darker patches. (Photo: Mike Robinson)
There were 11 Swifts over the west end of the site and, briefly, half a dozen House Martins over the east end. A Whitethroat and Green Woodpecker were in evidence and a Song Thrush was calling.
Chris Rose
