October - Extreme Weather on our meet

October 31st 2021, the day of our meet, demonstrated what we could call extreme weather here in Sussex. The torrential rain and sudden squalls only lasted whilst our meet lasted and as soon as we had finished, the weather cleared - but the rain was continuous whilst it lasted, starting early in the morning. Those who decided to attend were soaked but collected a considerable amount of litter despite the conditions.

Birds and mammals made themselves invisible with a frog and three Magpies the only sightings.

The mornings torrential rain did not result in any 'river out of bank' incidents here - the drainage basins and ponds had collected more rainwater about ten days previously which had quickly soaked away.

The sight of butterflies in the autumn is quite often a surprise but Red Admirals are always an exception in this area where mature Ivy plants form part of the hedgerows:

A Red Admiral butterfly basking on a late bramble leaf amongst 

a late patch of nettles. Their large wings can effectively absorb heat 

from the sun even on winter days.

Here in Sussex Red Admirals have been seen on almost every day of the year.

This year to date Red Admirals have been seen in November on almost every sunny day, the latest so far having been seen on 16th November after a clear frosty morning.