Leijpark013

@leijpark013 · 12 Mar 2022

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Leijpark 013 Hay berry

Leijpark 013
Published by Thierry P. Dinjens · 2 March at 17:48 ·
Taking photos in the Leij Park as Henk de Winter does this is not as easy as it sometimes looks. Plants and trees are still so far, but many animals move. Not every animal sits down, posing in front of the camera without any doubt. Multiple photos are often needed to achieve a satisfactory result in the end. And there is one animal for which you really have to have angelic patience because she rarely sits still: the Hayberry.
This small orange butterfly, which belongs to the sand eyes, is a species that has suffered a lot of weight. As her name says, she is a butterfly of (open) grasslands. Especially the fickle temperatures often put her on the tie. When winters are soft, then mid-March the half-grown caterpillars will start moving, which spent the winter in a grass polls. The annoying thing, however, is that nowadays it can freeze quite often in April and the caterpillars don't survive that. The many rains, which increase the water in the outside area, also cause meadows to be flooded. Het Hooibeestje sees her habitat being flooded and declines hard in numbers. The butterfly is simply dependent on low-growing plants such as croak thistle, yarrow and shrub. If the land is flooded, nectar plants are not available for the adult butterflies and the eggs deposited by the female flush away. Where the soil is dry and flowers such as heather but also daisies, for example, are available, we usually find plenty of hay beets.
The Hay Bird that Henk de Winter snapped for you seems a bit more orange than usual, but this is due to the hand of the photographer who managed to catch the sunlight that shines through the wings.
Characteristic of the Hay Berry is the small black eye spot with white core. As soon as the butterfly sits down, you need to be fast with the camera, you want to 'catch' the eye. As soon as she sits for a while, the upper wing sinks into the lower wing and the eye spot is no longer visible. The usefulness of the eye spot is controversial. For years, it was thought that the sudden appearance of 'a pair of eyes' scares a predator. However, this cannot be demonstrated through research. What seems plausible is the fact that the appearance of two striking spots distracts the attention of predators and the delicate head of the butterfly is disregarded. The Hay bird often flies around with a bite out of the upper wing; a bird that haps to the wing is much less dangerous than a bird that is pointed at the head of the butterfly. Well, the investigations are still ongoing.
Henk de Winter found this Hay Forest for you and me in the Leijpark, where sandy soils and grasslands alternate and many flowers bloom, where other parts of the park
walking underwater. That's the great thing about the Leijpark; due to the height differences, there is always safety and food somewhere for many animals. This is also the case for the Hay Party that, literally, shines in the sunlight.

#leijpark013   #hayberry