22nd July
Today I had two targets, two of the late summer flyers. The plan was
Chobham Common in the morning for Grayling and then nipping over to
Box hill for Silver-spotted Skipper in the afternoon.
The morning turned out quite nice, mostly light wind and plenty of sunny spells and when I arrived at Chobham I was welcomed by numerous butterflies having breakfast on a patch of Creeping Thistle.
This female Ringlet didn’t put up much of a fight to the faded males attentions. I guess it was a case of this late in the season you just have to take whatever’s left on the shelves!
There were lots of skippers around, Small, Large and Essex but I was surprised to see that Large Skippers were by far the most numerous; indeed as it turned out they were probably the most numerous butterfly all morning!
For a single brooded butterfly they really do have a long flight period!
The other dominant butterfly was the Gatekeeper, nothing with extra spots though (I did look
Wurzel, honest!)
It was an hour before I saw my first Grayling, well it saw my foot close to it then I saw it fly off over the Heather. I returned to the same spot 10 minutes later and he was sitting there. After a few record shots I managed to creep up and lie on my belly to get a closeup before it was all too much for him and he flew off again.
Moving on I came across a couple of aged but still attractive Silver Studded Blues
And a lovely Speckled Wood.
It was obviously very early in the Grayling flight period for the site, last year I was tripping over them but looking back in my records that was on the 30th July. I did however finally find a mini hotspot for them with five or six flying around in a small area, all males and all looking very fresh. I managed lots of very similar shots, typical Grayling poses. But with the sun vanishing behind clouds quite a bit now I was able to get quite close to them. I tried to get some shots showing a bit of eye but you have to be bloody quick, only managed one rubbish shot of one feeding.
Such a variety of poses.......
Also flying with them, and being harassed by them on occasion, was at the time an unidentified Dragonfly. Looking through my guides I strongly suspect it’s a female Keeled Skimmer, a lifer for me
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
I’m sure
Bill (Willrow) will be able to confirm or correct me. The flight period and habitat certainly match up.
Time to leave but one more butterfly was waiting for me, a lovely male Common Blue
and the clouds parted right on queue.
Two and half hours, and two trains later I was at
Box Hill and things had deteriorated drastically. Thick dark clouds now blanketed the sky and a rather strong wind had developed. A few brave Gatekeepers were about but even they vanished as the clouds got even darker.
This Gatekeeper had two extra spots on each forewing but could I get a shot to prove it...... Sorry
Wurzel, you’ll just have to take my word for it!
I carried on regardless, hoping in vain the clouds would thin but no such luck. At the Silver-spotted Skipper bank I saw exactly zero butterflies. I took to egg hunting, having found them relatively easy to find last year, on the basis that if there’s eggs then there’s adults. I didn’t find any. Still, it is very early for them.
I moved up to the higher bank and was very surprised to see a Chalkhill Blue flying and even trying to bask in the nonexistent sun. He looked very fresh so maybe he emerged that morning when it was sunny. If he had hands I’m sure it would have been holding his head in them and wishing he was back in his pupae.
Wandering the hillside I flushed up a couple of Meadow Browns and a female Dark Green Fritillary. The fritillary got whipped up in a strong gust and was unceremoniously plopped down somewhere further up the slope next to the hedge line. I walked up not expecting se see any sign of her but remarkably saw her almost straight away, hunkered down and vibrating her wings for a quick getaway. I managed a few record shots through the grass stems before she was off again.
With the weather showing no signs of improving I decided to make my way back.....and then it started to rain. After a quick visit to the visitor centre to make use of the conveniences the rain had stopped, the clouds had thinned and the strong wind had practically vanished, all in the space of 5 minutes. Sometimes British weather is something to behold! I toyed with the idea of going back for the skippers but time was getting on now so after a brief stop to say goodbye to the Gatekeepers I set off home.
I’ll be back though, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off work next week.
To end a little game of the annual 'spot the Grayling', an easy one this time