News

Gary Taylor sent two pictures of moths from Apse Heath in July and asked us to confirm his identifications. Ian Fletcher, one of our veteran moth recorders, affirmed “he is right with his identifications. We get ‘festoons’ here in small numbers but have not had the &

Bill Keatley asked about a plant he found in Ryde in July 2012 and from his photo we were able to tell him it is Purple Toadflax (Linaria purpurea), which used to be grown in cottage gardens and nowadays appears as a casual in urban areas and on disturbed ground.

Luke Ellison told us about seeing these both as caterpillars in April and as butterflies in June along the Ventnor – Bonchurch cliffs

Dave Dana, a member of the Society, contacted us in April with this message. “Some members will already be aware of the Ravens’ nest at Lake cliffs. Although you can only look up to the nest, you can still see the comings and goings of the adults but you can’t see th

(from the Bulletin, February 2006) The Isle of Wight Helleborine is an enigmatic orchid. It was so called because, when originally found near Ventnor in 1913, it was thought to be a new species. It doesn’t seem to have been seen again until the 1930’s in Bonchurch Landslip

A mayfly larva has been found by Keith Marston at Plaish in the Lukely Brook on 7th May 2006. There have been no previous records of mayfly larvae of this genus from the Lukely Brook. It is not possible to speciate the animal from the photo, but it is likely to be either Ephemera dani

2006: Hard Shield Fern (Polystichum aculeatum) has been discovered growing in an apparently natural situation in Brighstone Forest, by Paul Stanley. The only confirmed record for this species as a native until now has been that of Fred Stratton and F.J.Hanbury from a hedgebank opposit

Fierce storms in 2006 brought plenty of visitors to the Isle of Wight at the end of November and during the first week of December. However, these will not feature within Tourist Board statistics! These were oceanic visitors cast ashore along much of the south coast of England. An ext

The 2014 ornithology reports are now online. View the 2014 reports here.