Eye Spy Nature in September

Autumn-watch is upon us at Petersfield Heath.

At the end of August, Red Admiral butterflies gather, before they start to move south in preparation to head across the Channel.  Along with this butterfly the Clouded Yellow and Painted Lady also migrate south over Europe.

Red Admiral

Red Admiral c. Robin Hart

In the evening twilight after sunset look over the pond for numerous Daubenton’s bats. You might see the silvery flash of their under bodies, seen best against the gloaming, across the water. They sometimes snatch insects with their feet from the surface of the water, in a stooping motion. A medium sized bat, this species is a water specialist. It has dark brown fluffy hair on its back and measures around 50mm in length.

Download more about Daubenton’s bats here.

Watch out until October for the Migrant hawker, a colourful dragonfly. If you get near enough you will see it has a small yellow triangle at the front of its abdomen.  Compared to the Common hawker, it is browner in its colour range.

See more about our dragonflies here.

Migrant hawker

Migrant hawker c.Robin Hart

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Categories: Eye Spy Nature