2009 I was down in late March but no butterflies were seen. In mid June, on the 13th at Portheras there was a Green Hairstreak, the first I have seen here. The 19th saw me again onthe green lane down to Higher Bosistow farm where hundreds of very worn Painted Ladies were found. Back again in the second week of July and a new location was explored at Rinsey, east of Mounts Bay. Again many Painted Ladies were on the wing together with Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers. On the 15th a Comma was seen in the village of Angarrack near Hayle and another was seen later on the site of Wheal Alfred enjoying the numerous Buddleia trees.

Mentioned:  read more »

John also made several individual sightings of the very rare Large Tortoiseshell butterfly near his home at Connor Downs over several years in the late 1990’s through to about 2006, raising hopes that this species may have survived over several generations in west Cornwall, following a probable small immigration of this extinct species. He is also accredited with proving a Painted Lady butterfly can overwinter as an adult butterfly in Cornwall (1997/1998) following a mark & release experiment by him close to his home near Hayle. Finally, his patience was rewarded by a fortunate sighting of the largest of all our migrants, a Monarch, on 12th November, 2002 at Angarrack on a pub roof!

   read more »

Cornish launch for ground-breaking project to secure future of rare British Lop pigs

There are believed to be only between 100 and 200 females left in the country  read more »