Frogspawn, Catherington Pond

Catherington Pond is our nearest wetland - it sits on the opposite side of the road to the entrance to Catherington Down SSSI - and as importantly Ca. 100m up the road from The Farmer Inn.

A thoughtful barman at The Farmer Inn, once served me a pint of Gales H.S.B. straight from the barrel so I didn't have to wait whilst it was pulled through the pipes - a simple joy, and a memorable one.

The pond is maintained by the Horndean Parish Council Rangers. This frog (Rana temporaria) record is only my second amphibian record for the site. The first being of smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) dated 30th May 2017.

Portsdown Hill - ramblings from the usual compartments

An afternoon wander around the old transect route in Portsdown Hill compartments 1 & 2 this afternoon produced, Comp 1: orange tip (4), peacock (3), holly blue (2), brimstone (5) and a single green-veined white; Comp 2: small white (1), brimstone (6), orange tip (2), peacock (2), comma (1), speckled wood (3).

In Comp 2 I also found a lesser treble bar moth and a fox moth caterpillar. I based my ID of the lesser treble bar -as opposed to the treble bar - on the noticeable kink in the bar on the forewing towards the edge of the wing (as per: Newland, Still & Swash 2013). I have since been advised that this feature is highly subjective in the field, and that in males at least the shape of the abdomen is the key ID feat (Mike Wall, Hants BC pers comm.).

The pond in the chalk pit had at least 14 newts, which I presume were all smooth newts, based on the couple I managed to ID from the photos. I also found a single juvenile slow worm on the path up the western slope, sadly the specimen was dead when I found it.