At our latest indoor talk, Coastal Ranger Chris Lickley introduced the work of Bird Aware Solent in attempting to mitigate the impact of recreational activities – walking, cycling, dog-walking, watersports etc – on the over-wintering birds of the Solent Special Protection Areas. We would encourage all members and supporters of…
Or that’s how it seems when a micro-moth of the chalk ends up in Bevois Valley. Emptying a very meagre moth trap last night the one notable capture was a single Cochylis hybridella. According to HantsMoths this micro is local on chalk downland, woodland on chalky soils and sand-dunes throughout much…
The Ministry of Defence training ground at Imber village is occasionally open for members of the pubic to visit the village and, in particular, the church. More occasionally groups are allowed restricted access to explore the wildlife of the plain in the company an MoD ecologist. Last weekend both events…
Hi all, We have a Field Meeting this coming Sunday 3rd April that was missed out of the events list but SNHS members are invited. The meeting is a botanical one, looking at urban, spring flora, and led by John Norton. Joint with the Hampshire Flora Group. The walk will…
The new survey of Hoverflies of Southampton has recently been published and will shortly be circulated to members of the Society. The Southampton Natural History Society (SNHS) Hoverfly Project is the first recording project conducted by the society resulting in the production of a booklet since the shieldbug survey of…
Some people to great lengths to get a snap of themselves. Jan went to very short lengths to get this somewhat (very) indistinct self-portrait on the back of a Scaeva pyrastri – pied hoverfly.
….that’s what we normally think. Small garden. Central Southampton. When you see something unusual, more often than not it’s a common species seen in an unusual light or at an odd angle. It’s the Occam’s razor approach to natural history observation. But not today. Today, a nationally rare species turned…
The Mottled Bee-Fly (Thyridanthrax fenestratus) is not something you see everyday. Or ever before as far as we were concerned. So it was a nice surprise to find this individual sunning itself on a gravel path at Pigbush in the New Forest. The Mottled Bee-Fly requires sandy or gravelly locations…
Cricklade is a ninth century Saxon town just north of Swindon. So what persuaded four members of the Southampton Natural History Society to pay a visit in late April 2015? The reason for the journey was to see the Snake’s Head Fritillaries (Fritilleria meleagris) which grow in substantial numbers at…
…or almost as unexpected in a small garden in central Southampton. The second Scarlet Tiger of the year and not exactly its normal habitat. Hardly a water meadow, river bank or coastal cliff in sight. Not much comfrey or hemp agrimony either. I presume that when it wasn’t auditioning for…