millerd

[millerd]

Sunday 13th August continued: As mentioned, the stars up at Aston Rowant were the Silver-spotted Skippers. There were good numbers and it was impossible to walk along any of the paths criss-crossing the hillside without disturbing one or two every half-a-dozen paces.

a slightly more unusual perch, overlooking the hillside

I saw a fair bit of courtship behaviour, but no actual mating pairs - the males seemed to be pouncing on any newly-emerged females they could find. One thing I noticed (which can be seen in the two photos below) is that when the male approaches the female closely, he pulls his antennae back. I have no idea why this should be.

There seemed to be near enough equal numbers of males and females flying, with fresh examples of both.

Overall, a splendid display.

Dave

[trevor]

Superb Silver Spotted Skipper shots ( try saying that after a couple of beers ! ).
There are some good sites for them around here, they are on my list.

[Wurzel]

Brilliant stuff Dave And a SSS in the hand

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Love the Skipper on your hand Dave, wow! so many Skippers , Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Great couple of reports from Aston Rowant Dave
I have not managed to get there again so far this year and probably won't now due to other plans for the next few weeks. Oh well! there is always next year.

Cheers,

Neil.

[essexbuzzard]

I was there Sunday Dave, shame I missed you. Perhaps you were at the northern (motorway) end, I was at the southern section, where the Chiltern gentians grow.

I too noticed the sheer numbers of Brimstones, not only by the trees at the bottom, but on the slopes themselves. I estimate I saw 50. I was also pleased to find most of the SSS in good condition still. They have been flying here for almost a month now!

[David M]

Looks like Silver Spotted Skippers are having a good year from your account, Dave. I've been to that site a few times and seen decent numbers, but never to the point where I was disturbing them with every few steps.

[trevor]

Very much enjoyed your Silver Spots, great images.
Must visit my local site soon !. The season is racing ahead.

[millerd]

Thank you, Trevor (twice!) - I couldn't even say that phrase stone-cold sober, so I shall not attempt it just at the minute!
Thanks too, Goldie and Wurzel - that little skipper was very tame as I think it was newly emerged and hadn't got to grips with flying yet. It was on the path and I nearly trod on it.
Aston Rowant is luckily an easy trip for me, Neil - a shame you'll miss out this year.
I toyed with the idea of looking at the other part of the reserve as well, Essex, but the time had evaporated. I wish I had now - shame to miss you. Yes, I saw the first SSS here on 16th July, but they must only be peaking now as there were plenty of fresh examples.
Aston Rowant has to be one of the best sites anywhere for this butterfly, David, and with the sun out, they were everywhere. You need to get your eye in a bit as they move so fast, but then suddenly you are seeing them in all directions.

Monday 14th August: back to my local patch today, and the commoner species. However, the Brown Argus were more easy to approach than those up at Aston Rowant, and there were still fresh examples.

Also fresh was a Comma - not a summer one this time, but the standard dark form prior to hibernation...

... and a Peacock: much trickier than the "tame" ones in my sister's garden!

I managed to approach a Small Heath for a change, including achieving a less typical pose.

The butterfly also seems to have an extra spot on the underside of the forewing.

A Speckled Wood...

...a puddling Green-veined White...

...and a Holly Blue on a bramble flower completed the outing.

Dave

[millerd]

Tuesday 15th August: a similar sort of day and another local excursion only - with a different set of things of interest. It was noticeably warmer today, and the only Commas I saw were either hiding in the brambles or sitting with wings closed. The dark winter brood don't care for summer sunshine it seems.

Red Admirals seemed a bit less frequent, but new examples still remained. In this one the blue spots at the hindwing apex seemed to have smeared into a line extending up towards the body.

More Common Blues were around, mostly wearing a bit thin now...

... and the Small Copper I saw last week made a return appearance.

Meadow Browns bubbled up from the long grass, and in amongst them were two sets of mating pairs, including one that somehow avoided any intervening blades of grass.

The females look very pale now.

Also in the long grass I came upon a magnificent wasp spider with a body the size of a quail's egg. Unfortunately it appeared to have been eating butterflies, and there was at least one little sorry package in its grasp.

Finally, on the way back I came across two female Brown Argus flying low over a piece of ground that has very thin soil. Watching them closely, I found them to be laying eggs on the tiny cranesbill plants.

Luckily, this area gets little or no foot traffic (it has become a cul-de-sac as brambles have overgrown one end), but it is quite a little way away from where the butterflies are normally to be found.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Things are definitely on the turn Dave and there's another change of the guard . Interesting to see the extra spot on the Small Heath,I've seen them where the 'eye' extends down but not such a clear and wide spaced one like that before.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Yes, Wurzel, the days are noticeably shorter now and there are subtle hints of autumn in the air. The ivy is already flowering and the blackberries are going over and getting mushy... Still, it was warm and sunny on Wednesday.

Wednesday 16th August: looking back at Bugboy's diary, I noticed he'd fairly recently been down to Chobham Common and seen good numbers of Grayling (as well as a very late Large Skipper). My last trip had drawn a blank for Graylings on a very hot July afternoon, so I thought I'd give it another go and explore a bit further. As soon as I reached the top of the rise and emerged onto an undulating sandy plain covered in heather and gorse, no less than four butterflies whizzed past in a bundle. I attempted to photograph this bit of action, and the rather blurry result does show a female Grayling pursued by two males, with a further male lagging behind.

Immediately after this, I had my first personal visit from this notoriously inquisitive insect, and during the next couple of hours I was regularly perched on.

There were good numbers flying of both sexes, and several pairs flew off madly together in the breeze. I only witnessed one brief bit of courtship behaviour on the ground, but did discover a mating pair.

One area had suffered a fire fairly recently, but the gorse was already regrowing rapidly from the charred ground. This darkened soil, however, did not provide the usual camouflage for the butterflies - though there was plenty of ground that did.

. More than usual were up on the heather - perhaps a result of the stiff breeze blowing up here.

The only other butterfly in any numbers was the Gatekeeper, with quite a few seen, all female.

There was a single Small Heath, and a flash of a Small Copper - but no skippers.

Here is a view of the general area where the Graylings were to be found.

Dave

[bugboy]

I wonder how we missed each other again, I was on the north side of the M3 yesterday!

[David M]

What is it with Graylings and blue jeans?? Nice in flight images, Dave. I enjoy watching this myself but haven't had much chance this year, sadly.

[Goldie M]

Great shots of the Grayling Dave, I last saw them at Arnside when I saw the Scotch Argus, it was great watching them. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Great set of Graylings Dave , nice to know they're still going strong. After my initial sighting I always seem to move them to lower on the list of priorities There doesn't seem to be enough time in the day...mind you for some people that isn't a problem anymore

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

You were busy, Buggy! I think you'd gone by the time I got there.

No idea what the attraction Graylings have for denim, David. They liked the shirt too!

They are good to watch, Goldie - expansive floppy flyers like nothing else, and some of the females are really large too.

You do have a point, Wurzel - retirement does have the odd benefit... However, it only takes 20 minutes or so for me to reach the Graylings from home and a quick trip is reasonably feasible. Like you, I tend to forget to go after the first time.

Wednesday 16th August: later that same afternoon... It's hard to resist a local walk when the sun is out in the late afternoon. Consecutive days throw up different things, so it's always worth it, even for just a short trip as today's was. There were several Commas flying, but today all those I saw were from the summer brood, with none of the new winter ones around.

One of them was striking typical territorial poses...

... and my insertion into its domain resulted in it annexing me to its little empire. Maybe it could detect the smell of the Grayling from earlier in the day.

There were a few more Speckled Woods appearing now too, plus the usual Red Admirals and Holly Blues.

However, at one point my eye was drawn to the side of the path, where the foliage is often caught by (in my view) somewhat unnecessarily severe mowing. There sat a Small Tortoiseshell. The fact that it was brand new, still awaiting its first flight, was confirmed by the bright pink spot of meconium on an adjacent leaf.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great shot of the Small Tortoiseshell Dave That really is as fresh and out of the box as you can get

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Nice to see a fresh Tortie, Dave. They've been scarce even in south Wales where they are usually fairly commonplace. How are they doing round your 'patch'?

[millerd]

It was a beautiful insect, David and Wurzel - as fresh as you are ever likely to see. They seem to be doing ok hereabouts, but at this time of year they seem to appear briefly then head straight into hibernation. I saw very few at this time last year, but there were encouraging numbers in the spring. They do suffer locally from nests (which are often on nettles right next to the path) being mown or strimmed flat.

Dave