Trevor

[kevling]

Trevor,
Nice shots of the Brown Hairstreak. I had a similar encounter at my local patch this weekend. Lots of searching, followed by brief yet frantic activity with the camera and then nothing again
Those brief moments do make you feel warm inside though.

Regards Kev

[Wurzel]

I can ditto both your and Kev's experience. When I went to Shipton last weekend there was a female on arrival and then over 20-30 minutes I found 2 males and another female and then that was it for the rest of the time I was there

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

This morning my Butterflying ambitions were nearly cancelled, through no fault of my own.
A serious fire at a nearby timber yard, last night, closed one of the main exit routes from Hailsham.
On top of that a collision between two lorries closed the main A27.
Modifying my original plans, I headed to a hillside near Lewes, for the Silver Spotted Skipper.
The place was alive with Butterflies, mostly Meadow Browns, but my main quarry was also
present in good numbers.
At one point I sat down in the meadow, after a minute or two a beautiful, fresh, Adonis Blue
opened up next to me, it had been there all the time, unnoticed, with it's wings closed. The site was also
host to many, mostly worn, Common Blues, I did manage a shot of a fresh Common Blue that
had already sustained some wing damage.

To finish the day I drove on to Tide Mills to see if any Clouded Yellows were present. In all I either
spotted three, or one three times !, hard to tell. No images unfortunately.

Trevor.

[David M]

Adonis Blues, Silver Spotted Skippers & Clouded Yellows....that's pretty good going for a day which started so unpredictably.

[Goldie M]

Lovely Adonis Trevor I must really make the effort to see them next year. Goldie

[Wurzel]

That looks like a cracking day Trevor, lovely female Silver-spots and that Adonis is beaut Some days things seem to work out when it looked like they weren't

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

After a foul morning, we did get some sunshine in the early afternoon.
Unfortunately the sun was accompanied by a very strong breeze, which made photography difficult.
My chosen site, above Willingdon, on the outskirts of Eastbourne, is quite unique in that it starts off
through a wooded area ( many Speckled Woods today ), then an area of Buddleia, with several Red Admirals
hanging on the flower spikes for dear life. A little further on there is a large area of open Downland.
Here the wind played havoc with the Butterflies, mainly Small Heaths and Common Blues were present,
But there were also a few Chalkhill and Adonis Blues.

I shall return on a calmer day !.
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

If the wind over your way was anything like what we had then you were lucky to get those shots - why is it butterflies always seem to perch on the flimsiest of grasses in the strongest of breezes?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

An awful day out with few Butterflies !.

I think we are all keen to post stories of wonderful days out observing our Butterflies,
and sharing the resulting images on here.
But what if the planned day out goes horribly wrong ?. Well it did for me yesterday.
I set out for Shoreham harbour hoping for some Clouded Yellows. I arrived in full warm sunshine
and despite a thorough search the only Butterflies on offer were a few Large/Small whites and a
couple of worn Common Blues, how different to last year at this time in the season.

Next I planned to drive on to Steyning for the Brown Hairstreak. On arrival the sun was still shining,
but cloud was building. John Williams later joined me, and we chatted about the season so far.
I then saw the grey, gloomy cloud approaching that assured us of a good soaking !
The heavens opened, we took shelter under a tree and escaped the worst, but we were both
quite damp when the downpour eased.

When the weather improved, I spotted, out of the corner of my eye, something land in a fairly distant
Blackthorn sucker. It was an immaculate female Brown Hairstreak, but she was not happy with her
choice of this particular piece of Blackthorn and promptly flew up and was lost.
With the prospect of another soaking approaching we gave up, and went home.

Trevor.

[millerd]

I think there are always days like that, Trevor. For me, Friday was like that, though yesterday was better. It does make the good days seem all the more worthwhile!

Dave

[trevor]

I did manage a couple of images yesterday, a lovely fresh Small White at Shoreham,
and a basking Dragon fly at Steyning.
The Silver Washed Fritillary was found this morning at Eartham Woods, during a flying visit.

Trevor.

[essexbuzzard]

I feel your pain, Trevor! Like Dave said, no matter how much one checks the forecast, sometimes we inevitably end up disappointed.

[David M]

Living in south Wales, I fully empathise, Trevor. Looks like the majority of us are suffering from a dose of October in August.

[trevor]

Many thanks Dave, Mark & David,

On the positive side I must say that days like Saturday, where everything conspired to ruin my day
have, so far, been exceedingly rare.
The last time this happened was last year, at Chiddingfold forest. The Sun disappeared on arrival, no Emperors appeared,
and I hung around leaving departure until the last moment, despite an approaching storm ( which looked
as though it might miss my area ), but it didn't and the monsoon like rain fell all the way back to the car.

Happy days !
Trevor.

[bugboy]

Fingers crossed for an Indian summer and all this rain will be but a distant memory

[trevor]

One of the highlights of our holiday in the French Pyrenees was the sight of the Apollo on the wing.
Unfortunately they never seemed to land. Our tour leader, however, managed to net one.
I was elsewhere when it was caught and subsequently released. On my return I was shown
where it had landed, once freed. It remained for a full 10 mins. on a nearby rock face.

[David M]

Cloudy weather is all it takes to bring Apollos down to earth, Trevor. Otherwise, keep looking out for females which are far less flighty and will nectar from scabious/knapweed/thistle blooms quite readily.

[trevor]

This morning I returned to Steyning to search for the Brown Hairstreak.
I found the first, of the two seen, quite a distance from the fenced area.
It was slightly above head height, but quite accessible.
I called ( shouted ) to the other two hopefuls on site that one had been found.
As they arrived, both obtained a quick view before the BH took flight. Fortunately
it flew against a dark background which made tracking it easier, and eventually
landed on the corner of the fenced area. Some good shots were obtained by those
with cameras.
Within a couple of minutes another female landed a very short distance away,
and for a short while we had two down together. Both Butterflies were worn
unfortunately, but none the less it was good to see them.
It was also a pleasure to find a BH for a Guy from Norfolk, who had never seen one before.

Trevor.

[trevor]

Finding fresh Butterflies is becoming more and more difficult, so you can imagine my delight
when I located several fresh Red Admirals, and a brand new Comma this afternoon.
The Red Admiral is yet another ab. bialbata, but this time in pristine condition.
With luck these two might reappear next Spring.

[trevor]

This morning I had my 4th major Butterfly find of this season.
I went over to Park Corner Heath & Rowland Wood, not looking for anything specific.
After a while I spotted faded, but intact Small Copper nectaring on Ragwort.
When I took a step back and turned around, there, hardly visible, was a second brood
Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary, again nectaring on Ragwort.

The visitors book in the hut suggested that about four or maybe five SPBF had been
seen in recent days.
What is very important about this second brood ( and hopefully for next year ) is the
fact that these Butterflies were bred and born naturally on site.

I would like to dedicate today's SPBF images to those people who made today's sighting possible.

Trevor.