Early Winter on Pevensey Levels

 The weather this December has been mostly wet and breezy but has been relatively mild for early winter, with the occasional sunny day. 

On Pevensey Levels, my attention has mainly been focused on the horizon, looking for winter raptors. However, there have also been some interesting butterfly encounters.

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

On 30th November, a nice sunny day, this Red Admiral was active along a field edge. It stopped to bask on a clump of ivy and then flew down to a nettle patch. Looking at the photograph when I got home it looks like she may have been ovipositing.

I saw another Red Admiral flying along a hedgerow on 13th December but it didn't stop.

Large White (Pieris brassicae) (larvae on rape)

On 19th December, another sunny day, I came across a colony of Large White larvae feeding on a patch of Rape (Brassica napus) growing at a field margin.

The larvae were a mixture of 4th and 5th instar caterpillars and there is little doubt that they are the progeny of a third brood pairing from late-September or early October.

Jelly Ear (Auricularia auricular-judae)