On 18th June we finally did the butterfly outing that had been originally planned for 4th June as part of the Green Week organized by Mungia Town-Hall. It was beautiful waether and a dozen of us gathered in Matxin Square. David Henderson, member of Butroi Bizirik in Transition and Zerynthia Association handed out a form with the most common local butterflies and gave a short explanation on each one of them before moving off to the park.
There weren`t a lot of butterflies to be seen there but we had the chance to see the first Small White and Meadow Brown. At Torrebillela the children were given a butterfly net made by some children at his school Tximeleta sareak nola egin and we set off again towards Atxuri bridge. At Mariñune hotel one of the kids caught the first butterfly, a Green-veined White. Although the small white is the most common white, there are others which goes to show the importance of having a net to be able to safely identify the species.
In a nearby field we really had the chance to use the nets as there were no brambles and wesaw and caught a good number of butterflies (See full list at end) and we also caught some moths. Then we moved towards the rugby pitch and around it the grass wasn`t cut and there was a lot of birdsfoot trefoil, a very good place for butterflies. So it wasn`t surprising that we saw a Common Blue here as well as many other butterflies. In a garden it`s always important to leave part of it uncut because apart from the flowers that will grow there, you`ll also find many beneficial insects such as butterflies.
To end the outing we went to Bordatxu tavern in the park where we enjoyed a refreshing drink and went over the list of day timebutterflies we had observed, 12 in all.
FULL LIST (Includes 2 moths)
Six spot burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae), Short-tailed blue (Cupido argiades) Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus), a skipper “Thymelicus”, Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) ?, Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus), Green-Veined White (Pieris napi), Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina), Small White (Pieris rapae), Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria), Painted Lady (Vanessa carduii), Large White (Pieris brassicae), Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni), Hummingbird Hawk moth (Macroglossum stellatarum).
Click this link to see the butterfly’s list: TximeletaIdentifikatzekofitxafitxategiarenkopia
A BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK PART!!!