ANIMAL LIFE ON AND AROUND THE FOOTPATH

Plants are easy to photograph. Fungi don't even blow around in the wind. But animals aren't always there; they move unpredictably, seemingly allergic to any camera; and can't be instructed to say "cheese". So there can be no systematic display of the farm livestock, wild animals, birds and insects associated with the farm and countryside elements of the footpath.

Nevertheless, there are domestic animals controlling the ecosystems on the lands to which they have access adjacent to and on the footpath, while virtually every transit of the path reveals bees, butterflies and/or other insect life to the observant walker. So this page offers a minimal selection of examples of photogenic subjects within scope of a very amateur photographer.

Undoubtedly, the major land-use enterprise in the areas both east and west of the footpath is riding horses. All the fields between the footpath and the Cirencester/Siddington road are, from time to time, grazed by groups large and small, all of remarkably similar stature, except foals of course. They take things easy on their days off, which seem to be most days. Clearly well looked after, pandering can include see-through masks to keep summer flies at bay.
Some horses.

Modest commercial groups of sheep - either white or black! - are occasionally visible in fields north and south of the footpath.

Greenfly.

GREENFLY
Aphis species

Lest you think it unfair that greenfly attack your roses at home, do understand that Mother Nature has to look after all her mini-creatures. Some 5,000 species of aphids are known: some stick to just one type of plant but others are more versatile. All live by sucking plant sap. Many have strange reproductive systems.
Photographed in May.

Blackfly.

BLACKFLY
Aphis species

The black mass has lots of legs - an overcrowded blackfly infestation. Like their 'greenfly' counterparts, they are sap-sucking aphids which might weaken their host, a path-side garlick mustard plant trying to form its seeds in this case.

Damselfly.

COMMON BLUE DAMSELFLY
Enallagma cyathigerum

If you suspect you are hallucinating electric blue flashes, they are probably these fast-moving damselflies. Slimmer than any dragonfly, their almost invisible wings are folded along their bodies when not in use.
Photographed in May.

Shield bugs.

The green bug - you need to look vary carefully to see what's bug and what's leaf - is a HAWTHORN SHIELDBUG, Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale.
The Dolycoris baccarum is smetimes known as the SLOE BUG though it does not feed on sloe (blackthorn) bushes. It has different colourations at successive stages of its life: this is a late nymph.
Mature sloe shieldbugs.

Those had been seen as individuals. But near the end of August a clump of white deadnettles had a small population of fully mature sloe shieldbugs, some hiding within foliage but others fully visible with their adult colour pattern.

Those are examples of countless life forms that we normally walk past in total ignorance, but which are vital to the balance of the ecosystem - what they eat and what eats them! Other examples are the more familiar -
Ladybirds.

LADYBIRDS

There are 26 kinds of ladybird in the UK. They nearly all live on aphids - greenfly and blackfly. On the left we have the native Anatis ocellata. But the darker Harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis, is a very successful 'foreign invader' sunning itself on a stinging nettle leaf, apparently unaffected by the stinging hairs. The red/black colouring can be in a wide variety of patterns on different individuals.
Photographed in May.

Common darters.

COMMON DARTER
Sympetrum striolatum

Dragonflies develop from larvae living in ponds, lakes and streams, so perhaps it is a little surprising that these common darters are to be found here, so far away from any permanent open water. Notice that, being dragonflies, they rest their wings spread out (unlike damselflies who rest theirs along their bodies). The upper two pictures are of males, the lower two, females.
Photographed in September.

BUTTERFLIES

ORANGE-TIP BUTTERFLY
Anthocharis cardamines

This is one of the earliest springtime butterflies. The female on the left lacks the orange colour but does have the black wing-tip and spot of the male: the green pattern can just be seen on its right under-wing. The couple were enjoying some spring sunshine on new season bramble growth!
Photographed in early May.

Gatekeeper butterfly.

GATEKEEPER BUTTERFLY
Pyronia tithonus

A fairly small brownish butterfly commonly attracted to bramble flowers. The males have an extra dark patch on their forewings compared with the females.
Photographed in July.

Red admiral butterfly.

RED ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY
Vanessa atalanta

A colourful and widely recognised butterfly to be seen at almost any time of year. Unlike some other species, the underwing pattern is the same as the top. Most red admirals are migrants to the UK from North Africa and continental Europe but some adults do manage to survive the winter by hibernating here. Caterpillars feed on stinging nettles.
Photographed in September and July.

Brown argus butterfly.

BROWN ARGUS BUTTERFLY
Aricia agestis

Fairly common around the grassland and hedges, this rather small butterfly (officially "Wingspan: 2.5-3.1cm") is just as actively elusive as other species. And yes, that light-coloured pattern IS the underside of its dark wings.
Photographed in late July.

Brimstone butterfly.

BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY
Gonepteryx rhamni

A surprisingly less nervous butterfly than most! That wing shape is unique to brimstones. Males are brighter yellow than the almost-white females.
Photographed in early August.

Meadow brown butterfly.

MEADOW BROWN BUTTERFLY
Maniola jurtina

Reputedly one of our commonest grassland butterflies, it is indeed found around the pasture fields, but feeding on bramble flowers in the thickets.
Photographed in early August.

Small copper butterfly.

SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY
Lycaena phlaeas

Described as being 'common' in the UK, it's not particularly common along the footpath. Also 'a fast flying butterfly' makes it difficult to photograph!
Photographed in early August.

Peacock butterfly.

PEACOCK BUTTERFLY
Inachis io

A common and easily recognised butterfly. Like the brimstone and the large white (below), it was photographed on the flowers of a rampant buddleia - a 'butterfly bush'. Its caterpillars feed on nettles.
Photographed in early Auguust.

Large white butterfly.

LARGE WHITE BUTTERFLY
Pieris brassicae

Its caterpillars can sometimes be a pest on cabbages and other brassicas. The buttefly was once known as the 'cabbage white'.
It is amazing how these and other butterflies can survive actively with seriously damaged wings.
Photographed in early Auguust.

Speckled wood butterfly.

SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERFLY
Pararge aegeria

Corresponding to its name, the left-hand image is of a rather less common butterfly, photographed among the trees of the canal-side woodland strip. The clearly much damaged individual had no apparent aerodynamic difficulties. On a later, dull day a more complete specimen was spotted.
Photographed in Auguust.

Common blue butterfly.

COMMON BLUE BUTTERFLY
Polyommatus icarus

A small, very active butterfly.
Photographed in August.

Comma butterfly.

COMMA BUTTERFLY
Polygonia c-album

This ragged but colourful butterfly gets its name from the small but obvious white comma on the underside of each hind-wing. Feeding on ivy flowers, the right-hand picture shows its proboscis in action sucking nectar.
Photographed in late September.

Grey squirrel.

GREY SQUIRREL
Sciurus carolinensis

Seldon glimpsed and rarely photographed on this footpath, grey squirrels are American invaders, known to some as 'tree rats' because of the damage they cause including having killed off our native 'Squirrel Nutkin' red squirrels.
Photographed in July and August.
Squirrel dreys.

DREYS
Squirrel nests

Squirrels make their nests high up in the forks of tree branches. They are usually well hidden in the summer months but are exposed to view when those branches are bare.
Photographed in February.

Slugs on the path.

LARGE BLACK SLUG
Arion ater

Even the less cuddly or pretty animals are vital too! These large slugs, rather variable in colour - perhaps beige or even bright orange - are vital recyclers, living on a variety of mainly dead plant and animal materials.
Photographed in late August.

Triangle spider's web.

Have you ever seen a spider's web like this? An unsuccessful photo of a speckled wood butterfly accidentally included this strange web pattern. Thanks to the online iSpot facility (see the link at the bottom of this page) it was identified as the work of a
TRIANGLE SPIDER,
Hyptiotes paradoxus.
Photographed in August.

All kinds of webs are explained on this page from the Natural History Museum.

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OTHER LINKS YOU MAY FIND HELPFUL
Identify common UK butterflies.
There are some 27,000 types of insect in the UK: Buglife offers a key.
Identify British birds with help from the RSPB.
In case you are lucky enough to spot something, deer and other mammals feature here.
The Open University hosts a useful, universal identification resorce at ispotnature.org.