Little work has been done to date on the invertebrate fauna of the ELZ.
Butterflies
A list of butterflies for the ELZ has been complied and this can be downloaded by following the link below.
An excellent field guide was produced by Michael Braby in 2004 and is available from the Eltham Bookshop. This and the availability of long zoom digital cameras have made the world of butterflying accessible to anyone who has an interest in nature.
By optimising the camera settings, and some practice, reasonable photos can be achieved that can then be used to identify the species from the field guide. Just like learning to identify birds, this process becomes easier with experience.
Using this method the butterflies don’t need to be captured in a net, the traditional method that can often seriously damage the specimen. There is a catch however; some butterflies spend most of their time high in the tree-tops and are not readily photographed.
It would be useful to build up a data bank of all local sightings each month. Perhaps those interested could use the sheet to record monthly sightings for each year. These could then be collated an annual basis.
This list is a living document. Feedback is welcome from anybody who thinks it can be improved. {Please send feed-back, annual lists or details of any interesting sightings. Email to Frank Pierce.
