Bugboys mission

[bugboy]

Good to see someone else training up their Padawan, in years to come perhaps the boards will be filled by young Wurzlettes, Buggy's, Millerlites and OZoids Lovely sequence of OTs - how do you get the Orange to show so vividly

Have a goodun

Wurzel

The trick I use is to under expose a bit (I do this to most my Whites pictures), and sometimes a bit of tweaking with contrast and exposure on my computer.

HI Paul,

Love your male/female OT. encounter, that more than makes up for a lack of Dukes.
Would love a shot like that in my portfolio.

Trevor.

I've got to hold my hands up here Trevor and say that picture was somewhat manufactured, I moved the sleeping female to the males flower with a view to getting two sleeping beauties in one picture, then the sun came out and woke them up. A couple of pictures and he was on his way after a quick sniff of her and getting usual 'go away' salute!

11 OT eggs on a single plant is beyond impressive, Bugboy. You also had the satisfaction of seeing a few adults to boot!

Another productive day by the look of things.

I'm not sure impressive is the right word to use David. The reason for the number is simply because there's nowhere else for them to lay. Unlike my local patch there isn't even a substitute Crucifer to use so things don't look good for next year. Luckily they do wander so as long as the Garlic mustard recovers well next year it will only be a couple of barren years before numbers are back to normal, fingers crossed.



30th April staying local

Just a few hours this morning of hazy sun allowed me a little wander on my local Patch. The wind had picked up significantly since yesterday so I quickly made my way to the sheltered paths which are generally the best places in these conditions. Today was no exception, I had a very brief glimpse of a Holly Blue and then the Whites began appearing. From the ones I got a decent look at, they mostly seemed to be Green-veined (with a couple of male Orange-tips thrown in).

I watched one female minding her own business, looking for a suitable plant on which to lay when she was accosted by a couple of wandering males. The chase went on around me for a good few minutes, with me taking snaps at suitable moments. Turned out they were both Small whites.

Adding a splash of colour to the morning was a female Comma, who was in fine fettle considering her age and a Peacock who was looking a little more its age.

As the cloud thickened the Whites settled more often, a female posing well on some Hoary Cress.

The final butterfly seen was a particularly fine looking male

[millerd]

I like the Grizzlies especially, Buggy, and no, you can never have enough Orange Tips. Beautifully glowing as Wurzel says.

Dave

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave, I got more Orange-tip this afternoon , but more of that later, first the morning! (hopefully I don't break UKB)

2nd May Denbies

I fancied another session with some Green Hairstreaks today, and the weather looked rather good, for the morning at least, of I popped down into Surrey. The walk from the station along the North Downs Way looked particularly springlike in the morning sun, the Bluebells now being in full flower. The occasional Speckled Wood fluttered around in sunny spots, mostly a little worse for wear but my eye was drawn to a little Blue fluttering along the damp path. I followed him along for some time until he finally settled, revealing a male who had seen a things in his short life.

He moved on to lick a leaf, whilst unbeknownst a female was looking down on him a couple of feet above.

After that it was just a few Specklies and what I think is a Cream Wave Scopula floslactata.

Arriving at Denbies I was immediately greeted by a Grizzled Skipper and my first Small Heath of the year. Normally getting a decent shot of a Small heath is hampered by their unerring ability to find blades of grass to hide behind, but today this one seemed quite bold.

A few Dingy Skippers flew up from the path as I headed over to the Green Hairstreak hotspot and I was pleased to find the hotspot was living up to its name. There was probably half a dozen or so but it seemed like a lot more, buzzing around like maniacs. It’s interesting how the same basking spots are utilised throughout the season buy a succession of adults, king of the castle today was this handsome ‘two spotter’.

After getting a load of shots I wandered around the Hawthorn which seems to act as a Master tree here, only to find my two spotter again, this time feeding on the blossom.

I took occasional breaks from the Hairstreaks to focus on the Skippers and Small heaths which were active along the steps, again the Small Heaths being remarkably cooperative.

A different Hairstreak, sporting a full 'streak' was occupying the favoured spot as I left to explore the rest of the hillside

Small Heath and Dingy Skippers were the commonest butterflies today, with a few Grizzled mixed in and every now and again a Brimstone would drift past.

The first 5 Spot Burnets are also out here, given the time of year these are most likely the rarer Zygaena trifolii ssp. Palustrella

A few Beetles also caught my eye, this Click Beetle was quite common, Agrypnus murinus I think

And these Weevils were everywhere, Phyllobius sp.

On returning to the Hairstreak master tree a new one had appeared, a tri-spotter.

Before leaving I popped down to the lower path where a few Gorze bushes have sometimes attracted the Hairstreaks in the past. None today but I did manage a few Brimstone pictures.

Added to the species count on Denbies today was a single Orange-tip, a single Comma and a couple of Peacock playing on the path as I left. I’m sure its only a matter of days before the Adonis are out here.

More from today, tomorrow

[Maximus]

Great picture of the numerous Orange-tip eggs on the Garlic Mustard - what a find

Mike

[Neil Freeman]

Great reports and a good selection of species lately Bugboy

You seem to be doing well down there.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Great report there Buggy Apart from the open winged Holly Blue it's a very similar scene to what I've been finding, I'm finding it hard to not count spots on Greenstreaks as well

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks guys here's how the afternoon panned out

2nd May Bookham

Like my last visit two weeks ago, I planned to spend the afternoon at Bookham, hoping that the forecasters would be wrong again and the promised cloud would fail to appear. There was no Suzie today so I had time to enjoy the walk back to Westhumble station. Just across the road from Denbies car park an Oak tree was alive with Longhorn Moths and I watched three do some synchronised aerobatics as they came in to land. I didn’t get a close look at them but they were most likely Adela reaumurella.

Just a little further on, opposite the church is a large patch of Bluebells which in past years have proved quite fertile. It’s where I got my best ever open winged shot of a brimstone last year and my backlit Orange-tip on Bluebell two weeks ago. Today I found a Peacock in a feeding frenzy. In my haste to get close enough for a few snaps, and trying not to ruin the carpet of blue, I failed to notice a Red Admiral which flew up from my feet. It vanished but the Peacock couldn’t care less about my presence. A Brimstone passed through briefly and then a Speckled Wood posed for me too.

Well I’d dawdled for longer than I’d intended by this time and looking up it seemed that for once the forecasters were right! A few hours later I was at Bookham under a thick blanket of grey, foreboding clouds so there wasn’t a hope of anything flying. But if you look hard enough there’ll always be something to see.

Over the winter I’d managed to find in excess of thirty Brown Hairstreak eggs. One of the first discoveredwas on a small, isolated Blackthorn close to the train station and it was this one I’ve kept a close eye on, on all subsequent visits in the hope of following it as it developed. Two weeks ago I’d noticed it had hatched but failed to locate the (most likely) microscopic larvae. Today after a bit of searching though I managed to find a small, pale green speck on a developing leaf. Nearby the tell-tale signs of nibbled leaves hinted I’d found what I was after but it took a few snaps to zoom in to before I was able to confirm I’d found my first ever Hairstreak larvae. Not the best pictures in the world but not bad considering its hand held in poor light.

That find alone made the trip to Bookham worthwhile but it was still early so next on my hitlist were some Orange-tips. Every Cuckooflower was carefully inspected for sleeping beauties, finding plenty of first instar larvae and still plenty of unhatched eggs, some still fresh indicating adults are still active.

During my searches, I found a mating pair of Ruby Tiger Moths.

The search for Orange-tips finally came up trumps though, a mating pair. The female was hanging so I carefully poked her until she could grasp the flower he was attached to. This seemed to settle them down and I was able to clear the background a bit.

Half an hour later I discovered another male

And a last find for the day was a web of Small Tortoiseshells.

A thoroughly satisfying end to a day

[Padfield]

Congratulations on the brown hairstreak larva, Buggy! Now you've got your eye in you'll find them much easier to spot. Good pictures, too.

Guy

[millerd]

Well done Buggy on that hairstreak larva. You captured the hairiness beautifully. A great example of making the most of a cloudy afternoon - there's always something if you look hard enough.

Dave

[bugboy]

Thanks Guy and Dave

6th May Pearls, Whites and Walls

I’ve been itching to go and see the Pearl-bordered Fritillaries at Abbots Wood for a week or two but I wanted to leave it until I was sure they were out in reasonable numbers, my days off this May are thin on the ground having used most my annual leave this year to go hunting for my remaining lifers later in the season. The forecast suggested that there would be some sun in that part of the world today so trains were booked and I left bright and early with plans to bag three new species for the year. Abbots Wood for Pearls before popping down to Eastbourne and Beachy Head to see if the Walls are out on Wall Brown Alley. Large Whites are usually reasonably common at both sites and since I have yet to find one this year it would be a good tick that one off as well.

At Abbots Wood, just like last year, I got a bit lost. Everywhere looked familiar but I wasn’t entirely sure what paths lead to the clearings, but Green-veined Whites were plentiful and kept me company.

Finally finding the main clearing at around 10, I was quite surprised to have the place to myself and even more surprised to not find any Fritillaries. Part of the clearing looked to have been quite severely cut back this year. I searched further afield, along the scrubby edges and parts that hadn’t been cut back and finally saw one basking on some bare ground, an aged animal with some sort of scale defect on the hind wing. The promised sun was starting to burn through the thin cloud now and I quickly found another Pearl, this one a fresher animal but he only posed for one shot before shooting off.

I searched around for another 10 minutes but found no more here so I decided to make my way to the smaller clearing.

Along the now sunlit paths Red Admirals appeared regularly, many showing close shaves with bird attacks, no doubt the brightly coloured wing margins saving them by drawing attention away from the body.

Approaching the second clearing another Pearl zoomed past me and I stopped to chat with another butterflyer who told me there was a count of twenty Pearls at the main clearing earlier in the week .

The next sighting was a large, rather pale looking Pearl which turned out to be a Painted Lady, most likely a fresh immigrant judging by the way it was guzzling Bluebell nectar like it was going out of fashion!

Real Pearls were active along the rides and paths surrounding the now overgrown clearing, all in feeding mode and made for perfect targets. There seemed to be lots but once I’d checked my photographs this one with the nibbled forewing tips was the one I photographed on several separate occasions.

In total, there was probably only three or four, plus one dead one. Not sure of his cause of death but we can be sure it wasn’t old age.

Several Peacocks were active, mostly looking somewhat weather worn and possibly only just clinging on to life, this is probably the best conditioned one I saw

The lack of numbers though was more than made up for by the following beauty. I was just lining up a Brimstone when he fluttered into view, In my opinion a more beautiful individual than that Bentley Wood show off last year!

I’d be willing to bet those markings are down to the cold snap a few weeks ago.

Well that was events up to 11

[Maximus]

That's a stunning Pearl, Bugboy Brilliant photos in your posts and a great shot of the Brown Hairstreak larva

Mike

[Susie]

Well done, buggy. That pearl's a beaut!

[kevling]

Nice pictures from Abbotts Wood Buggy. Those Pearls are smashing.
I was planning a long trip there from Ipswich today, but the weather seemed a little hit and miss. Your photos suggest it may have been a faux pas on my part

Regards Kev

[trevor]

I have found two dead Pearls over the years, just like yours, in otherwise perfect condition.
A complete mystery, how a fresh, intact Butterfly can suddenly die. Both examples I saw
were, again like yours, found open wing as though basking.

[SimonC69]

Wow! Those PBFs are beautiful, especially the Ab! Not sure I'll get them this year, but never say never....

[Gary.N]

It was good to put a face to the name. I didn't find the Abs you found, but I tried. You got some really nice photos from Abbot's.

Gary

[MrSp0ck]

Quite often dead good condition butterflies havnt joined their tongues on hatching, for various reasons, like one half gets hooked around a leg, or disturbed while in the joining it process. This means they dont feed, even with a slight forked tongue, so live a day or two, then die.

[Wurzel]

Cracking Pearl ab Bugboy Though it still has some way to go to do a 'Bentley'
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

That’s one hell of a PBF, Bugboy….better possibly even than the ones posted from 2016. I share your view that those two days where we had unexpectedly cold nights could have been responsible.

[millerd]

That is a splendid PBF aberration, Buggy! More subtle than last year's, which was a bit over-the-top black, perhaps. Yours has particularly attractive border markings. and most certainly.

Dave