20 JUNE 2026 - SOUTHERN COUNTRY PARK

Another hot spell of weather had been forecast for the next week or so, with temperatures peaking around 35 degrees C. But I absolutely hate such conditions, not the least because it plays havoc with my diabetes. However, today was forecast to be somewhat cloudy and humid, with bright or sunny intervals, and a temperature peaking at around 25 degrees C by mid-afternoon; so, I thought I’d give Southern Country Park (SCP) a go, with the Marbled White butterfly and Black-tailed Skimmer my target species.

I started out a tad later then expected because initially I almost called it off as the cloud cover was heavier than I’d expected, but after breakfast the skies cleared with fleeting glimpses of sunlight, which spurred me on to go out as planned.

I arrived at SCP at 10.00 a.m. with the cloud just beginning to clear again and made my way directly to the area known as Chalky Bank, then on via Middle Wood; the Wedge, then back to Chalky bank via Moor Hall Bank. All these areas were smothered in Oxeyes; Scabious; Vetches; Buttercups; Pyramidal Orchids (that were in profusion here) and other wildflowers and were therefore potentially excellent for butterfly species. I got my first Marbled White within a few seconds of entering the Chalky Bank, and a good number more throughout the morning, although other species were less forthcoming, doubtless due to the cloudy conditions as anything else - but small numbers of both Large and Small Whites were seen, along with several Ringlets, Meadow Browns; a few Small Skippers; a single Painted Lady, and a trio of rather worn Red Admirals.

Several more Marbled Whites were seen around the lake, and when I made it to the walkway at the northern end of the lake, I was greeted by the sight of two sparring male Black-tailed Skimmers, although surprisingly no other species of dragonfly were noted - again, probably down to the cloudy conditions.

From there I made my way to the Flower Meadow (previously known as the Maze) where I hoped to see a plethora of Marbled Whites as I’d done in previous years (my personal record being around 90 individual butterflies in the Maze area alone), but I only saw a handful, which was slightly disappointing - but overall I’d seen around 40 individuals throughout the Park that morning, so I couldn’t really complain - although trying to photograph them was extremely difficult as they were almost continually on the move.

So, I got both of my target species and noted good numbers of Small Skippers which was excellent given that they’d declined drastically locally in recent years.