Discover the latest news and sightings from the Twyford Wood Butterfly Reserve below...
You can report your sightings and send your photos from Twyford to John Davison [email protected]
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For more details, contact: Martin Kew (tel 01476-860952).
Twyford Wood Blog 2021
9th July : Martin Kew reports......
Visited the reserves this afternoon. Hazy sun but very warm.
Of note: My first Silver-washed Fritillary of the year, sighted between the reserves (SK 947232). Good numbers of Marbled White recorded on the transects ( Glades 16, Sanctuary 10 ). Also a very late, but fresh looking Grizzled Skipper recorded at the Sanctuary
5th July : Richard Tutin e-mailed........
Just a quick message to say I walked Twyford woods today, sightings as follows:-
Marbled White 8, Large Skipper 1, Red Admiral 6, Small Tortoiseshell 5, Peacock 1, Fritillary 1 - Silver-washed we thought, Speckled Wood 3
Plus plenty of Meadow Browns and Ringlets and a couple of Whites.
1st July : Martin Kew reports...
Walked the transects this afternoon in warm sunshine for the most part. I recorded my first Marbled White and Small Skipper on both reserves. Plenty of Ringlets around and also a pleasing number of Small Tortoiseshell.
13th June : Peter Cawdell reports.......
I visited Twyford Wood this afternoon and there were still plenty of skippers about. I was particularly interested to watch a Grizzled Skipper egg-laying. She was deliberately seeking out creeping cinquefoil leaflets on which to attach her eggs, although there was plenty of wild/barren strawberry in the vicinity.
My full sightings were:
SANCTUARY:
13 DS, 7 GS, 6 CB, 6 SH, 1 GVW, 1 LS. Many Burnet Companion moths, sev, Cinnabar moths, sev. patches of Thyme, plenty of CS & SM Orchids.
BETWEEN AREAS:
14 DS, 8 GS (inc. f egg-laying on creeping cinquefoil), 10 CB, 10 SH, 1 SpW, 1 RA, 1 GVW, 1 old P. Many Burnet Companion moths, sev. Cinnabar moths, patch of 5 Bee Orchids. CS & SM Orchids.
GLADES:
10 DS, 4 GS, 6 CB, 6 SH, 1 'hutch' Comma, Sev Burnet Companion and Cinnabar moths.
Some more Bee Orchids along with Common Spotted and S Marsh Orchids
1st June : Pete Stannard e-mailed
Walked the reserves at Twyford Wood late morning/early afternoon in good weather conditions. Recorded 15 Grizzled Skipper, 20 Dingy Skipper, 1 male Common Blue and 1 Green Hairstreak on the Sanctuary. Walking to the Glades reserve, 8 Grizzled Skipper, 4 Dingy Skipper and 2 male Common Blue were recorded on good habitat in the middle of the north/south runway around SK944 228. On reaching the Glades reserve, 8 Grizzled Skipper, 18 Dingy Skipper, 2 Green Hairstreak, 8 Small Heath, 4 male Common Blue and 1 male Orange Tip were recorded.
30th May : Richard O'Connor e-mailed
I paid a visit to the butterfly sanctuary in Twyford Wood. I had plenty of dingy skippers, three grizzled skippers, two green hairstreaks and a small heath.
29th May : Martin Kew reports........
Walked the reserves this afternoon in warm sunshine at last.
Grizzled numbers have improved but are still low. Good numbers of Dingy Skipper. Also my first sightings of Green Hairstreak, Common Blue and a Holly Blue.
Glades: Grizzled Skipper 6, Dingy Skipper 24, Small Heath 6, Green Hairstreak 2, Common Blue 2, Peacock 2, Small White 1.
Sanctuary: Grizzled Skipper 7, Dingy Skipper 26, Small Heath 4 and one each of Green Hairstreak, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Holly Blue and Green-veined White.
28th May : Suzanne Nelson e-mailed....
I visited Twyford Woods late morning today and here are my sightings: Orange Tip (4 males and 1 female), 2 Grizzled Skipper, 13 Dingy Skipper, 1 Large White and 1 Green Hairstreak.
23rd May : Martin Kew reports.....
I visited the reserves this afternoon. The weather was still less than ideal and there were very few butterflies on the wing. However I did record my first Small Heath of the season.
Glades: 3 Dingy Skipper, 1 Small Heath and 1 Speckled Wood.
Sanctuary: 5 Dingy Skipper and 1 Grizzled Skipper.
I hope the Grizzled are just waiting for an improvement in the weather like us!
16th May : Martin Kew reports......
Had a walk around the reserves today. Intermittent sunshine but a little warmer. Slight improvement of Grizzled Skipper numbers with 5 seen at the Glades and 2 at the Sanctuary. Also 11 Dingy Skipper over the two reserves along with Orange Tip, Brimstone and Green-veined White.
13th May : Pete Freeman emailed:
"Visited Twyford Wood this morning, where it was 15 degrees with some hazy sun: The Glades - 1 Grizzled Skipper and 5 Dingy Skipper. The Sanctuary - 1 Grizzled Skipper and 11 Dingy Skipper. Also noted Orange Tip, Speckled Wood, Green-veined White and Peacock."
12th May : Martin Kew reports.......
I walked the transects this morning as the weather had marginally improved. Still not a lot on the wing. I recorded one each of Orange-tip, Dingy Skipper, Peacock and Brimstone at the Glades. Slightly better at the Sanctuary -10 Dingy Skipper, 2 Orange-tip, 2 Peacock and a Brimstone. I met a B.C. member at the Sanctuary who had seen 3 Grizzled Skipper earlier. Let's hope numbers improve with the weather.
6th May : Martin Kew reports.......
First Grizzled Skipper sighted today at the Glades. Quite a cold wind still so it was rather hunkered down in the grass! Nothing else on the wing apart from a single Orange-tip.
24th April: Martin Kew reports......
I’ve been keeping a close eye on the reserves this week but as of this afternoon no Skipper sightings yet so a later season than last year. Good numbers of Peacocks however, especially sunning themselves on the runways and several Brimstone, Comma and Small Tortoiseshell. Also a couple of Orange-tip today.
4th April: Martin Kew reports......
Walked first transect (before it turned cold again!) and recorded 13 Peacocks, 2 Small Tortoiseshell and a Comma over the two sites.