Devil's Dyke nature photos

A few nature pictures from Devil's Dyke, Sussex.

Nicola, David and I took the open top bus up to Devil's Dyke in late June 2003. Here's a few photos of some of the nature and wildlife we found. They're not very good, but I've posted them because I couldn't find any other pages like this on the net. I found a very good site about Mill Hill, though.

There were a couple of hundred or so other people there, but almost without exception they stayed in the car park. We walked around the perimeter of the Iron Age hill fort instead.

Pyramidal Orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis.

There were quite a few of these around. Apparently, they have a 'foxy' smell, but we didn't notice that at the time.

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly.

One of the least interesting British butterfly. I had been hoping to see some blues (Adonis, Chalkhill etc), but perhaps it was a bit early. This one is feeding on creeping thistle (Circium arvense).

D H Lawrence, in addition to writing terrible novels, wrote terrible poetry. This one, Tortoise Shell is an absolute howler, but even that is not about the Tortoiseshell butterfly.

Ragwort Senecio Jacobaea.

The beleagured ragwort. Like most ragwort plants in June, these ones are supporting many Cinnabar moth larvae.

Cinnabar moth larvae feed almost exclusively on ragwort spp.

I describe ragwort as beleagured, because there is yet more legislation tabled to virtually eradicate this native plant, in addition to the Weeds Act 1959. This is beacuse they are posionous to horses (and to a lesser extent, cattle). Obviously not poisonous to Cinnabar moths, though; they will comletely eat these plants in a couple of days.

Marbled White.

The most interesting butterfly we saw. Unfortunately, it wouldn't stay still, and this is the best shot I got!

Forester moth?

Not sure about the identification on this one. Pretty little fella, though. He's feeding on a Greater Knapweed flower (Centauria scabiosa), of which there were plenty.

Six spot burnet moth.

I had never seen one of these before, but the Downs were full of them on that day. He or she is also feeding on Greater Knapweed.

Another six spot burnet moth.

This one is feeding on Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis).