Odiham Biodiversity Group Newsletter - June 2010

Look out for Forester Moths now!

The Forester Moth has declined enormously since the 1950s but we are very lucky to have the last remaining colony on Hampshire clay here at Odiham Common. The metallic green adults fly in the daytime during June and can be seen gathering around the flowers of Ragged Robin. Their caterpillars hibernate through the winter and feed up on Sorrel each Spring. Careful habitat management from Steve Lyons and the Hart Countryside team has meant that our colony appears to be thriving and is even spreading slightly into more of the open parts of the Common.

Orchid Walk At Greywell Friday 23rd July at 6.30 pm

Tony Mundell, the local flora recorder for BSBI (Botanical Society of the British Isles) is leading a walk for us on Friday 23rd July. We hope to see Marsh Helleborine, the rarer Dense-flowered Fragrant Orchid and maybe the very rare hybrid of this and the Southern Marsh Orchid. There will undoubtedly be lots of other interesting plants and flowers to see. The site is owned by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and is not normally open to the public.

The walk will last approximately 2 hours and it will still probably be wet and muddy in places, so please wear suitable footwear.

If you would like to join us please contact Sheila Bates on 01256 701187 or respond to this e-mail to book your place. It will cost £1.50.

Volunteers For Church Fete 10th July

OBG will be at the Church Fete again this year – so do come and see us! If you would you like to come and help ‘man’ the stand – even just for an hour, please contact Maureen Cripps on 01256 702695 (away until 16th June)

More Observations

Several people have heard the Cuckoo and in the same place – including Hillside and Wilk’s Water - but it seems very difficult to actually see one! Maureen Brailey has had a Grey Partridge in her garden in Archery Fields and also tells us that there is a Peregrine Falcon nesting on a tall office block in Basingstoke - its original office block was demolished and has now taken up a new position. Leslie Swadling has observed a Peregrine hunting just off Dunleys Hill.

We’ve had a couple more observations of Grass Snakes and have been able to help with identification of a beautiful white moth (White Ermine) and a pretty little yellow flower (Yellow Pimpernel), so do let us know what you see.

Non Observations

There’s no doubt that although a few arrived early the majority of our summer visitors especially Swallows and House Martins were delayed by weather conditions. Have your regular visitors now turned up or are you still without those familiar House Martins nesting in your eaves or Swallows in your outbuildings?

National Insect Week in Hampshire Museums 21st to 27th June

Events include an Insect for Beginners Workshop on the 21st and 27th June in Winchester. Please contact Christine Taylor (christine.taylor@hants.gov.uk) for more details.

Also a talk ‘The Aurelian Legacy - the lengths that butterfly collectors would go to in their search for prized specimens’ at the Alton Assembly Rooms on the 24 June at 7.30pm. Tickets available at the Curtis Museum in Alton.

And at The Willis Museum, Basingstoke - Free Bee Activity Day on the 19th June ‘Drop in honey bee activities throughout the day’ For more details and more events go to www.hants.gov.uk and search ‘insect week’.

Dragonflies and Damselflies at Elvetham Heath

Hart District Council Walk Sat 24 July 2010, 10am to Noon, led by Tony Mundell. Follow the signs to the Supermarket from Elvetham Heath railway bridge, north of Fleet. Park in Morrison's Supermarket car park and walk a couple of hundred yards east along Elvetham Heath Way to its junction with Turners Way, then a few more yards on the sandy track to meet by Turners Pond at SU801553. Different dragonflies and damselflies will be caught and shown close-up before being released.

For more information about the Odiham Biodiversity Group please contact Sheila Bates on 01256 701187