Trevor

[Katrina]

Brilliant find Trevor, I thought the supply of fresh butterflies had probably run out for the year so glad there are still some surprises.

[millerd]

I wondered whether there might be third brood Walls out, and you've gone and found some lovely ones in a good haunt of theirs, Trevor. Splendid stuff. I ought to go down to see them if I can, since I've missed this species so far this year (as often happens).

Dave

[trevor]

Many thanks Goldie, Paul, Katrina and Dave.

It is the odd find that comes like a bolt out of the blue that makes this hobby so fascinating.
Just seeing fresh Walls in September took me by complete surprise.

Talking of surprises, Katrina, a Long Tailed Blue has been found in Warnham, just north of Horsham,
a long way in land. Fancy searching some pea tomorrow ?. I will make Tide Mills in the morning.

Trevor.

[trevor]

MORE WALLS and a LONG TAILED BLUE.

I made plans for today, yesterday, to make the most of the current weather.
Leaving home with a clear blue sky, I soon saw distant, but high up sea mist, At High and Over
the mist was obscuring the Sun and it was very breezy, At least one male Wall Brown was trying to bask
but took off in typical Wall fashion.
As the Sun broke through the cloud the Walls responded to the increasing heat. There were many more
seen today, than yesterday and included an areal battle consisting of four individuals.

It was now time to continue on to Tide Mills, where on arrival I soon met up with Katrina and James ( B. Rex ).
We had not been walking for very long when a small, blue Butterfly drew our attention. James and Katrina
quickly identified it as a Long Tailed Blue. Unfortunately it was not in the mood for settling and flew rapidly,
between Horseshoe Vetch flowers, pausing only briefly on each flower.
At least all three of us obtained some sort of record shot before the LTB got embroiled in a skirmish with a Common Blue
and was lost.

A superb day, in great company.

Trevor.

Trevor.

[Katrina]

Oh I think your LTB photo is definitely better than mine and very good in the circumstances. Love the Wall on a log photo too! Thanks again for inviting me along.

[Goldie M]

Great' Wall' shots Trevor, and you can see the Tail's quite well of the LTB Goldie

[trevor]

On the visit to Tide Mills on Wednesday with Katrina and B. Saurus we were fortunate
to have quite a close view of this Little Egret. Not a Bird I've seen very often.

Trevor.

[trevor]

In the two years of my UKB diary, one location mentioned many times is the old railway,
which runs through Hailsham town centre. Not only is it a superb location for, particularly,
Spring Butterflies, it is only three quarters of a mile from my home.
So it is a place I have got to know very well, and I was amazed to find an image of a train
in exactly the same spot where Butterflies now flourish.
The bridge the train has just passed under still survives, as seen in my recent image.

At least Dr. Beeching created a Butterfly haven when he robbed the town of what would now
be a very useful facility.

Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Brillant Walls Trevor and an LTB - my turn for lots of these 'bad boys'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

That's a beautifully evocative image of the old railway, Trevor. These disused lines do indeed often provide superb habitat for butterflies. The one that springs to my mind is the linear path at Smardale Gill in the Lake District, which is now home to serious numbers of Scotch Argus!

[trevor]

It would have been a crime to waste today's fine weather, so I headed off to High and Over.
The third brood Wall Browns welcomed me, and were performing very well. I was soon joined
by our own Badgerbob who attempted the skilled job of counting Walls, no science involved .
Katrina was the next to arrive, and there were quite a few Wall Browns to entertain her, and a sprinkling
of other species as well including a Small Copper, a nice Female Common Blue, some Red Admirals,
a Meadow Brown and the resident Speckled Woods.
My prize of the morning was an image of a male and female Wall sharing a Teasel.

We then left High and Over for Tide Mills. On almost reaching the beach we both saw a darker blue Butterfly.
Was it or wasn't it, we will never know. I would say possible not probable. anyway we promptly lost sight of it.
Butterflies here were quite thin on the ground, a reminder of the time of year.
However we did see several Clouded Yellows, Common Blues and Small Heaths. Plus I managed a shot of a
magnificent Dragon Fly.
On the way back to our cars we were very surprised when a Weasel shot across the path.

Many thanks for the wonderful company today,
Trevor.

[bugboy]

What you have there is a male Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta, a very nice shot too

[trevor]

Many thanks for the ID Paul, good to see you again today.

[badgerbob]

Good to see you and Katrina today Trevor. I never did manage an accurate count but with 10 one side and more the other side it was simply over 20!! A total also of at least 5 different females. A few Clouded Yellows as well including one helice.

[trevor]

On two consecutive days I have met Badgerbob at High and Over. On the south facing slope the Wall Browns
were a little less active than yesterday, mainly due to the hazy sunshine. A selection of slightly worn and
newly emerged males were seen.
The best Butterfly of today must go to one of the finest Red Admirals I have ever seen, the colours were amazing.
Bob then suggested a walk over the road to Frog Firle, another known area for Walls. Several more were found
along the fence line, these were quite scattered and it was a case of quality over quantity.

Many thanks for your time this morning, Bob, a very enjoyable visit.
Trevor.

[badgerbob]

That one across the road was a class ahead of the others. Great to see so many over the last couple of days!!

[trevor]

Since I discovered the third brood Wall Browns last Tuesday I have spent quite some time at High and Over.
For change of scene this morning I thought about a hike up to Windover Hill to see if there was a third brood there.
My first sighting was of a basking Small Copper, and then another, and so on.
A little more searching revealed a very strong Small Copper colony, over a very large area of the hill,
and most were in good condition or quite fresh. I was having a Hoggers moment, and thoroughly enjoying it !.
I had seen very few Small Coppers until recently, this year, but today made up for it. I could only make a
wild guess at numbers, as there must have many Coppers that I didn't see, so I would have thought they ran
easily into three figures.
As for Wall Browns, none were seen in their usual haunts, but I did spot a lone female opposite the SE water facility
on the way down the hill.
Other species seen were a flyby Clouded Yellow, two Meadow Browns and two Speckled Woods.

A fabulous morning !.
Trevor.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Trevor, really jealous of all your Wall Browns

Good to see that Small Coppers seem to be having a good third brood at a number of places

Cheers,

Neil.

[Goldie M]

Great Wall Browns Trevor, wish I'd seen one specimen in tact this year Goldie

[trevor]

Many thanks Neil and Goldie, It is very fortunate to be able to see Wall Browns at this time of year,
and fairly close to home.

Today I re-visited High and Over. Within minutes I encountered territorial disputes between male
Wall Browns, many now showing signs of ware, as were other species.
A freshly emerged Red Admiral was the star of the morning, and was probably only hours old.
There was also a good showing of Speckled Woods.

Trevor.