Bugboys mission

[bugboy]

Your Brown Hairstreaks are starting to look jaded, but that shouldn't detract from the joy of seeing them. If you can add Comma and White Admiral larvae as well then that constitutes a successful day in my opinion.

I've come to realise any day with a Brown Hairstreak is a win, no matter how they look. There should still be a few fresh ones around for a while yet I reckon, definitely worth a few more visits

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots of the Painted Lady Bugboy and your Brostreak wears it well regardless Hopefully they'll hang around for a bit longer now the fresher weather has set in.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, I reckon we have a couple more weeks of them yet

16th August, Chobham Common

The original plan for the day was a trip down to Newhaven Tidemills but an unintentional lie in scuppered that idea so the backup plan was used. I’d intended another visit to Chobham anyway for a couple of reasons. Firstly, following on from the Large Skipper discussion on the previous page in my diary I wanted to see if they were still going and secondly, after watching Grayling lay eggs I wanted to attempt to capture the act.

The journey was as messy as the previous day, the train issues from the previous day still causing trouble to the line but I was in no hurry to get there, as long as I could get a few hours in the afternoon I should be able to find what I was looking for.

By noon I had finally arrived and headed for the patch of Thistles where three Large Skippers were active last time. A few Gatekeepers and various Hoverflies were active but amongst them all was a single male Skipper. Considering the time of year, he’s in pretty god condition!

Next to find a Grayling going about her business. They have spread out a lot since my last visit, all paths containing several, mostly tired looking males.

The best chance of finding what I was after though was to head for Grayling nursery. Very quickly I began disturbing females, good numbers too. Like most species this year they seem to be having a good season. I wanted to find a nice fresh female who would still be full of eggs and so here is my chosen target.

She watched me with all her eyes while I moved some offending grass stems to get a clear shot. She was a nice large girl, about Red Admiral size.

So, quarry found, now to stalk her. Like last time the weather was perfect, warm but not hot, mostly cloudy but with sunny spells. The trick now is to follow her and stake her out when she settles down during a cloudy spell. It only took a slight improvement in light levels to stimulate behaviour, a jerky shuffle on the ground signals she is searching for something to lay on. They don’t seem particularly fussy either, any old stem, dead or alive will do. There’s no real need to be fussy, in this patch of habitat the only plant growing is the foodplant so which ever direction the hatchling larvae crawls it will find it’s home for the next nine months within a few minutes.

They become rather single minded and focused during this behaviour and are not bothered by your presence, the normal skittishness of the species vanishing. It looks like she finds a stem by sight, shuffling around in circles until one catches her eye, and then uses the tip of her abdomen to fine tune the position the egg will finally be laid.

After capturing the first egg I followed her around and managed to get another one from a different angle. Due to the way the abdomen is curled when laying the egg comes out upside down, ensuring it can be positioned safely on the underside of the stem

I’m pretty chuffed with myself after that and after achieving both goals for the day I set about heading back and finding out how easy the journey home was going to be. These plans were halted when I found a small brown butterfly. Finding a late large Skipper was on the cards today but a Silver-studded Blue was definitely not in the script!

I stayed with her for a while, hoping she might start laying eggs as well but sunny spells had vanished so she was intent on just trying to stay warm.

It was a slow wander back through the Common. Along with the Gatekeepers there were several fresh Speckled Woods in the shadier spots, a Comma appeared briefly and a rather worn Small Copper sat on the path waiting for the sun.

I found an unusual fungus firmly attached to the ground, looks like some kind of bracket fungus, it was quite tough and woody.

A spider was poised to strike in amongst some mint

And in the same place the Southern Hawker settled last time, a Migrant Hawker posed for me.

A very successful day out, although I'm not sure how I missed Millerd, we must have been at opposite corners of the Common

[millerd]

Not sure how I missed you, either, Buggy! I was there between two and four, but it is quite a big area so it is possible we weren't that near each other. (I was around the area centred on SU972652.) Your shots of the egg-laying are just excellent, and it's amazing that the butterfly is clearly completely undisturbed by your presence.

Dave

(PS - finding a SSB as well as the Large Skipper deserves another as well, I think...)

[bugboy]

Not sure how I missed you, either, Buggy! I was there between two and four, but it is quite a big area so it is possible we weren't that near each other. (I was around the area centred on SU972652.) Your shots of the egg-laying are just excellent, and it's amazing that the butterfly is clearly completely undisturbed by your presence.

Dave

(PS - finding a SSB as well as the Large Skipper deserves another as well, I think...)

Ahh that explains things, I wasn't that far away from you here, SU974658, but I'd started to leave around 1.30

[David M]

Excellent observations with the Graylings, Bugboy, and yet another Large Skipper!!

[Pauline]

Superb sequence of Grayling egg-laying. Much more challenging and satisfying to achieve than a butterfly nicely posed. Well done Buggy

[Goldie M]

Well done Bugboy, it's not often you get the goal you set out for, great shots too. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Fantastic sequence of shots Bugboy Although having recently watched Aliens there does seem to be more than a passing resemblance to the Queen Alien

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Greenie]

Away from the excellent butterfly shots , I think your fungi is Coltricia perennis .
Even more interesting was your spider , which looks very similar to the Raft Spider / Dolomedes fimbriatus , that
I photographed ' walking on water ' in one of the ponds on Ashdown Forest yesterday . Pic attached .

Was there water around ?

[Pete Eeles]

I’m pretty chuffed with myself after that ...

... and so you should be; fantastic sequence of shots and a sight that I suspect few have witnessed first hand! Thanks for sharing!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Neil Freeman]

A fantastic sequence of photos of the Grayling egg laying
Amazing how she contorts herself to lay on the underside of the grass stem when it would be far easier for her to lay on the top or side of the stem.

Cheers,

Neil.

[bugboy]

Thank you for all the comments everyone but I can't take all the credit, she was a very well behaved butterfly . Next time I might try for a proper close up, they really are easy to get close to when egg laying.

Away from the excellent butterfly shots , I think your fungi is Coltricia perennis .
Even more interesting was your spider , which looks very similar to the Raft Spider / Dolomedes fimbriatus , that
I photographed ' walking on water ' in one of the ponds on Ashdown Forest yesterday . Pic attached .

_MG_7025.JPG

Was there water around ?

Thanks for the ID's Greenie, I hadn't actually got round to looking up the spider. At the time I thought it was a rather fat Pisaura mirabilis, but when I looked at the pictures on my computer I could see she wasn't one of them. Yes there was a large pond close by. That's another lifer for me

[bugboy]

18th August, Down South

I got up early enough to make a trip to the south coast worthwhile today. The year’s first visit to Newhaven tide mills after Clouded Yellows mainly but also on the outside chance anything else had decided to hop over the channel. As it turned out I had under estimated the strength of the wind which was gusting at a ridiculous strength to the point I was a mere spectator to most of the Lepidoptera goings on. Not a Cloudie was seen in the couple of hours I stayed. The commonest by far was the Small Heath which if spread evenly across the site probably got close to three figures. I did manage a few pictures in the slightly more sheltered spots showing a range of markings.

Looks like this ones left forewing didn't expand properly, either that or its a gynandromorph... probably the former though!

Common Blues were also present in varying conditions.

A few Small White did their best to keep out of the wind and finishing off the butterfly count for the morning were singletons of Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood.

After a few hours, it became clear it was far too windy here so I cut my losses and decided to head to Malling Down overlooking Lewes. Yes, I know this was going to be even windier in places but I was confident I could find some more sheltered spots.

Again though, it was rather a disappointing few hours overall. Silver-spotted Skippers numbered maybe half a dozen at most, perhaps double figures of Blues (Chalkhills and Common combined) and a single solitary Adonis. A few Small Heath, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper were also avoiding the wind

I feel sorry for female butterflies, the things they have to put up with, there's just no subtlety about their romance at all!

On the plus side I got my first ever pictures of hummingbird Hawkmoths. Two were basking and one let me get up close. Whenever they took flight they were ruthlessly chased off by a skipper, not sure what he had against them, perhaps jealous at the speed they can flap their wings!

I bumped into a friendly novice butterflier and confirmed some of his images. He'd only ever seen Common Blues before so was really chuffed when I confirmed some Chalkhills for him. I was a bit jealous when a little later he showed me another picture, he'd found an Adonis. I also got a Red Arrow flyby , only just enough time for a quick shot before they were gone.

This all happened on the relatively sheltered North side, around the abandoned chalk pits. Over on the south side overlooking the allotments things were rather different. It was taking the full brunt of the wind and despite the sun and warmth only the odd unfortunate Meadow Brown was seen at first, as it got swept past like a dead leaf.

A bit of searching at the base of some marjoram revealed a few Blues sheltering including my only Adonis of the day who decided to clamber onto my finger. I used my body to protect him from the wind before popping him back.

At the base of the hill some trees were acting as a windbreak and here was a little bit of activity, a single Small Copper, a few Chalkhills and a mating pair of Small Whites.

Had it not been for the wind I'm quite sure I would have had a bountiful day, oh well. Turns out I did make the right decision though, when I got back to London I discovered it had been torrential rain all afternoon here and in some of my favourite Surrey sites.

[millerd]

Good decision, Buggy. It was very wet indeed here yesterday on the western fringes of London, with thunder and lightning to boot. At least you got to see a few things Down South. That Chalkhill male has the orange marginal spots that make it ab. suavis: these pop up at Denbies quite often. The HBHM shots are terrific - it's almost impossible to get so close to one!

Dave

[Katrina]

Good work Buggy, I too like your Hummingbird Hawkmoth photos as I have never seen them still. Well spotted Millerd too with the ab. suavis. I had never heard of them before but thanks to you and this website I will be looking out for them!

[Wurzel]

Dave beat me to the ab spotting but fair play he actually knew the name Great set of shots of the Hummingbrid Hawk Moth, they look like a totally different species when you see them grounded and still

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Some interesting images there, Bugboy, but my favourite has to be the one of the mating Small Whites, with the female showing those wonderful lemon-yellow undersides.

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave, I did actually notice the red spots when I photographed that Chalkhill but then forgot to mention it in my post I got lucky with that Hawkmoth I think, there were two who more often than not saw me way before I saw them, took me ages to get up close to a settled one!
Thanks Katrina, I think it was Dave who helped with the ID one one I'd photographed a couple of years ago
They look more like some top secret alien stealth bomber up close Wurzel, I do like a nice close up that puts a different perspective on the subject
Thanks David, it's easy to overlook the common or garden species isn't it!


19th August, a romping victory at Bookham!

There were no train themed disasters today so I managed an early start at Bookham. It was a bit windy but substantially less so than the previous day but despite the mostly blue sky, butterflies were yet again thin on the ground. Gatekeeper numbers have dropped to the point where Meadow Brown's probably outnumber them now, and they are still emerging from the looks of things.

A few Common Blues are still around as well as one or two Coppers but I'm still waiting for the late flush of Commas and Red Admiral to appear here. A fair few fresh Speckled Woods were also emerging with some lovely females enjoying the sun.

The main event for the day also took a while to show itself but a female Brimstone kept me occupied for a while, to preoccupied with feeding to worry about me getting up close and personal.

I wasn't alone today, I got chatting to a couple who had never seen a Brown Hairstreak before so I gave them some tips on what to look for and where. It was shortly after we separated that one flew over my head and the hedge. I darted over and quickly located a female fussing around low down in the Blackthorn. This tatty little lady soaked up a few rays amongst the leaves in between laying eggs.

I also just about managed some shots of an egg being laid. Like Pauline the other day I was hampered by various types of thorns whilst trying not to disturb her so they're not going to win any prizes but interestingly they show the egg coming out coated in some form of liquid. The top of her abdomen hovered over the freshly laid egg for 10 or 15 seconds before she pulled away, possibly exuding more of this substance, is this liquid some sort of glue like substance to help adhere the egg in place? I lost her shortly after another egg was deposited and going back the first one the liquid had mostly gone (dried/evaporated?) and now looked quite normal.

I wandered back along the path to find the couple had found their own female, a better conditioned one with just a few nicks. They were both very excited about finding one.

The three of us continued our search and I called them over when an exceptionally large fresh female appeared in front of me. She didn't sit perfectly for us but we got some acceptable snaps nevertheless before she fluttered off across the field out of sight.

Nearby I found the fresh Meadow Brown from earlier had found herself an equally fresh new friend!

Our next sighting was the second one reappearing, recognizable from the nicks in her wings and she set about laying an egg in front of us in a very un-Brown Hairstreak position, a rather old blackthorn stem seemed to suit her.

All this egg laying and I hadn't even had my lunch yet, so much for egg laying being an afternoon activity. I set off to go and see what's going on with the White Admiral caterpillars, munching on a sandwich when another female flutters down in front of me, my forth of the day and the couple's third, a good result for Bookham!

I searched all the usual spots for White Admirals but today only one third instar was located. I've no idea if it's one that I'd found before who's moved leaves or one I've missed. Also not sure if this one will try and go through to adult this year or hibernate, he's cutting it a bit fine if it's the former.

During my searches I did however locate an egg, my first. I presume this is one that was laid during the main flight which failed rather than from a second brood animal. I'll check on it on my next visit though.

All this recent rain seems to have caused a minor fungus explosion in the wood. I don't really know my fungi but I couldn't resist this fairy playground landscape

On my way back to check on afternoon Hairstreak activity my only Nymphalid of the day caught my eye, a bright fresh one.

Unfortunately the sun had all but gone by this time and I didn't see any more Hairstreaks, still a 0-4 win for me though, no complaints from me (a 1-11 agg lead)

[Pauline]

It's good to know so many Hairstreaks are still about - some nice shots Buggy