millerd

[millerd]

Friday 30th June: I sadly had a funeral to go to this afternoon up in Kettering, and had agreed to meet a friend for lunch beforehand.

Rather than waste the morning, I decided to go up first thing and visit a spot I've never been to before - Fermyn Woods. There was no one there - this seemed odd having heard tales of bulging car parks... It was mostly cloudy, but reasonably warm, and the first thing that struck me were the clouds of Ringlets that erupted from the verges of the path at every step. For all their numbers, they were nearly impossible to photograph, unless distracted by other imperatives.

I wandered through the woods (once again putting up a Purple Hairstreak from the grass by the path) and down to Lady Wood as well, but encountered only one Purple Emperor: one circled me a few times as I was investigating a stand of bramble and came close to settling on me, but peeled off to chase something else and disappeared. Also in numbers alongside the Ringlets were Large Skippers, Meadow Browns, Small Tortoiseshells and Silver-washed Fritillaries.

The SWF were on the brambles, three or four males at a time - I only saw a single female.

There were also Commas and both Small and Green-veined Whites, plus Small Skippers.

Of note was an example of a "washed-out" Meadow Brown. This seems to be quite a frequent congenital aberration and never seems to affect both wings equally.

. Finally, moth of the day was this one - all ID ideas gratefully received.

The rest of the day was a moving occasion, joyous, uplifting and sad in equal measure. A memorable day.

Dave

[Allan.W.]

Possibly "Shaded broad bar" Scotopteryx chenopodiata (happy to be corrected !) regards Allan.W.

[Wurzel]

Allan is right with the ID Dave...Sorry to hear about your sad day but glad that you were able to get a little natural therapy. As Fermyn was so quiet does that mean the Emperor season is over Lovely set of Silver-washed

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave,

I can confirm Shaded Broad-bar for your moth.

Great report from Fermyn. I haven't made it there again this year, my plans were already made when the Purple Emperors decided to emerge early. I think they have caught a few people off guard this year hence why I have read a few reports of not many people at Fermyn. Of course the ascendance of Knepp has also perhaps played a part in tempting some people there instead.

Cheers,

Neil

[millerd]

Thanks everyone for the moth ID. My moth folder is steadily growing, but I doubt it'll ever reach the proportions of yours, Neil!

Fermyn wasn't quite what I expected, with no people and just the one Emperor. The complete absence of any White Admirals seemed odd, too, with so much bramble about and so many SWF appreciating it. Maybe it was just too cloudy. There was also not a single Gatekeeper...

Saturday 1st July: my first outing locally for over a week. Largely cloudy again, but warmer than yesterday, and things have moved on quite a bit. The first big change was the arrival of the Gatekeepers. There were dozens of this charismatic little butterfly, which seems to have stuck to its usual appearance date unlike many others.

There was a glimpse of a summer brood Holly Blue, and several brand new Brimstones, but none obliged with pictures. However, there were the first new brood Peacocks around too, and one posed rather typically on a buddleia.

Add to that Skippers Small, Large and Essex, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Comma, Small, Large and Green-veined White and a single Purple Hairsteak, and you can see how productive the day was: 16 species.

Dave

[bugboy]

Looks like you had a similar day to mine, saw my first Gatekeepers of the year too today and a few Holly Blues who weren't stopping for man nor beast. Like you I also saw my first summer brood Peacocks but interestingly they seemed to be behaving like spring animals, holding territories. One flirted with a female Red Admiral. Don't be surprised if we get some second brood Peacocks this year!

[trevor]

Great to see the Gate Keepers again. I kept an eye out for them at Chiddingfold on Saturday
but none seen. Lovely Summer Peacock too.

Trevor.

[millerd]

Thank you both. I will be looking for those black caterpillars again before long, Buggy - I saw a Peacock today contesting a prime bit of path with a surprised Red Admiral and a couple of Commas. It was good to see so many Gatekeepers, Trevor, especially after none at Fermyn.

Sunday 2nd July was a glorious summer's day - loads of sunshine, a breeze and not too hot. A walk a bit earlier in the day round my local patch produced another couple of species on top of yesterday's tally (Ringlet and Speckled Wood), making 18 in all. Not bad for an unmanaged bit of ordinary countryside. A selection from the day:

Going out again in early evening, I tried to find Purple Hairstreaks in accessible spots. No joy here, very distant splodges were all I could manage.

However, the highlight of the day(of course) was the first set of shots of the new brood of Holly Blues.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Hi! Dave, just catching up on my posts, sorry about your sad day.
I was thinking about going to Fermyn Woods on the way to my Daughters next weekend 15 Th. July but from your account I wonder if it's worth it, if the weather's good we could chance it being has you did at least see one. Goldie

[millerd]

Worth popping into if you can, Goldie - as they say, if do you go you might see something, if you don't go you definitely won't!

Monday 3rd July: I had to pop up the M40 this morning, so on the way back around lunchtime, I diverted off to Aston Rowant. It was mostly cloudy and quite cool until well into the afternoon, and very breezy. Marbled Whites were the the most frequent butterflies, with Meadow Browns close behind.

Also flying were Small Tortoiseshells, Small and Essex Skippers, Small Heath, a couple of Dark Green Fritillaries being blown headlong across the slopes, and a solitary new Brown Argus - likewise!

Somehow a pair of (Essex?) Skippers had got together in these conditions.

However, a brand new Marbled White takes some beating.

Dave

[millerd]

3rd July (continued): By the time I reached home and had a wander out locally, the sun was out and the temperature had gone up quite a bit. There was nothing new to report (though the Gatekeepers were mostly hiding from the sun!).

I spotted a female Brimstone hiding in the foliage, and noticed a Peacock disputing a piece of path with both a Comma and a Red Admirals.

Both of the latter were out in force late this afternoon, with the Commas generally preferring to bask and the Admirals charging around madly after anything that moved - mostly each other (or me).

Dave

[millerd]

Tuesday 4th July: Following advice and directions from Buggy I set out to defeat a bit of a nemesis of mine - White Letter Hairstreaks. I have one solitary photo of a whole butterfly from some years back, and I have only glimpsed them since. So it was off round the top half of the M25 to Leigh-on-Sea, the posh bit of Southend. The initial part of the walk from there to Hadleigh Castle takes you between regenerating elm thickets fringed with brambles - mostly pink-flowering but starting to to go over into fruit. It was very warm but bright rather than sunny. And there they were - at least half a dozen WL Hairstreaks of various ages nectaring on the bramble flowers. Interestingly, on looking at the first photos I took, there was a second butterfly behind the one I'd spotted which I hadn't seen at the time.

As well as the WLH, there were several Commas, including this one laying an egg.

As you might expect, there were a lot of Essex Skippers, but also a few Small ones as well, numerous Ringlets, Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns, and Marbled Whites and Small Tortoiseshells too.

A fresh Green-veined White completed the picture.

A successful day out.

Dave

[millerd]

Wednesday 5th July: After yesterday's excitement, I decided to go less far today and headed for the familiar slopes of Denbies. As I expected there were lots of Marbled Whites, and a multitude of Skippers, but it was a little while before I found the first Chalkhill Blues. They seem to be only just starting to appear, as some were flying a bit shakily.

As ever, a piece of dog poo attracted a small cluster of this butterfly, but not in the numbers I've seen before. Early days, perhaps. Also seen today: Meadow Browns, Ringlets, Small Heath, Commas, Small Tortoiseshells, a single Brown Argus, and two or three Dark Green Fritillaries. This is as close as I got to one of these...

...but then a particularly large Large White landed close by.

Part Two:
I then moved on to Box Hill for tea and something to eat, ending up as usual over on Burford Spur. Here were many Marbled Whites, Skippers, Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, and small clouds of assorted butterflies would not be much of an exaggeration. I also spotted a single new male Brimstone.

However, the highlight was the good number of Dark Green Fritillaries. The males were flying low over the grass, looking for females, who were lurking in the vegetation and up on some of the scrub. The females also very occasionally popped out to nectar before swooping off to hide again, but the males never stopped.

A couple of times I observed females fly up to the chalk path at the top of the ridge and take moisture or minerals from it: I finally got a bit closer to one of them to confirm what they were doing. The contrast between the brightness of the chalk and the dark orange-brown of the butterfly made the photos less than brilliant unfortunately.

Dave

[bugboy]

Glad you found those WLH and got some good shots . Like I said if you get them at the start of the season next year that encounter will seem like childs play!

Also good to see the Chalkhills are appearing. Think I'll give it a few days to let the (hopefully) masses emerge, maybe next Tuesday if we have nice weather. I was on Box hill yesterday afternoon chasing those same Fritillaries . Ended up with some shots of females egg laying down in the turf and some similar distant shots of the females.

[trevor]

I would have braved the M25 for some White Letter Hairstreak shots as good as those.
The Holly Blues have started around here too. Keep looking for those PH at low level, they are out there !

All the best,
Trevor

[Wurzel]

Congrats on the Whitters Dave That does seem to be one of 'the sites' for that species. Good to see the Gatekeepers are out - have you started counting spots - I had my first 'excessa' this morning

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Glad you got your WLHS's Dave and a lovely selection of species as well. Goldie

[millerd]

Thank you all for the kind comments about the WLH. It was well worth trip east.
Thursday 6th July: Today's target was the Graylings of the Surrey Heaths. I went first to Dawney's Hill, where attempts are being made to remove a lot of the bigger clumps of gorse, presumably to allow the heather to flourish better and benefit the Silver-studded Blues, and provide more open areas which should hopefully make the Graylings happy. There were indeed quite a few SSB still flying, but all were very worn and faded, even the females which tend to emerge later. It was very hot and sunny, which tends to keep the females hidden in the heather, and almost all those seen were males.

male - a pale wraith, though remarkably unscarred

male

female

I made my way to an open area with little vegetation at all, where Graylings usually appear. Sure enough, all I had to do was stand still for a couple of minutes, and two butterflies bounded over the sandy ground towards me. After a minor altercation between them, one promptly landed on my trouser leg - the first of several to do so.

The attraction of denim for Graylings remains a mystery, though one did land on my shoulder at one point as well. All in all I saw at least eight butterflies across the site, almost all down on the ground and mostly in the shade of the vegetation. I noticed that when in the sun, they stood on tiptoe in order to be as far off the very hot sand as they could (I've seen Speckled Woods do this in hot weather too).

no - I can't take you home

Dave

[millerd]

Thursday 6th July - part two. On the way back from Dawney's Hill, I popped into Chobham Common. It was by now very hot again, and my stay was brief - too brief to explore and find the Graylings and SSB that Buggy saw a day later. However, for some reason, Large Skippers emerge later here than elsewhere, and there were several fresh individuals in amongst the Small Skippers. A couple in particular gave ample reason for calling this group "golden".

There were also plenty of Ringlets, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and Small Heaths, plus a handful of Commas including females flying mostly in the shade and laying on nettles.

6th July part three. Back home again, and towards the end of the day I braved the heat once again (it reached around 32 degrees here at Heathrow late this afternoon). Noteworthy was the number of Commas around, none of which were opening up at all, but allowing a study of their variable undersides for a change.

Holly Blues were flitting around higher up and among the many Gatekeepers keeping largely to the shade, the first females appeared.

As ever, Red Admirals were to be found along all the paths, more active in the shadier bits and keeping me company in relays all along the walk.

Dave

[Wurzel]

That is a beautifully fresh Large Skipper Dave They may be late round your way but round my way they're 'late' in the other meaning of the word, a la Norwegian Blue Parrot

Have a goodun

Wurzel