Thursday 25th to Monday 29th May

Thursday 25th May 2017:
Paid a brief visit to the Common this afternoon to check out the Rush Pool and surrounding area.  at the pool there were 5 Broad-bodied Chasers present (3♂ , 2♀). 


whilst walking the surrounding grassland and scrub I recorded 2 Garden Carpet moths and 3 Mother Shipton.   Many Cinnabar moths were now on the wing.   A Black-headed Cardinal Beetle was also recorded. 


Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria)

Friday 26th May 2017:
The conditions were hot weather-wise so I decided to head down to Hillditch pool in the search for dragonflies.  It proved worthwhile as both a ♂ Emperor dragonfly and an imm. Scarce Chaser were observed on the wing. Both of which were year firsts, not only for the site but the county.  There was also a noticeable increase in the demoiselle damselflies present.


♀ Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo)

The site year firsts continued with a Large Skipper butterfly present on vegetation near the pool.  Other butterflies recorded were a ♂ Common Blue and a Red Admiral.   Also observed during the visit were 3 Small Yellow Underwing moths and a single Hornet.


Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)

Monday 29th May 2017:
It was a dull, damp, drizzly day on the Common but I still decided to have a mooch about.  I walked an area on the southern section of the common from the pull in at the former car park along the Worcester Rd.  I was pleased to discover that there was a healthy population of Tower Mustard in that area with 36 flower spikes counted in total.  Tower Mustard is a fairly scarce plant in Worcestershire but it is known to be present in small numbers on the Common.


The only other positive I could take from the visit was hearing a Lesser Whitethroat singing over the road on the Cook's side of the Common.  As I continued my walk the rain became heavier and I decided to abandon and visit another day.


Tower Mustard (Turritis glabra)