May 2018

[Allan.W.]

As a footnote to the above post ,I forgot to mention ,before we reached the far end of Samphire Ho ,there is a bank ,just past the railway tunnel, I noticed two "male" Common Blues but the behaviour was courtship type behaviour ,very odd I thought ,so I watched them ,one was definitely a male but the other "male" was actually a female and I,m not talking about the standard "Blue" females which we are all finding more and more of each season ,but a proper Blue female ,it settled briefly and from what I could see ,slightly muted compared to a male ,with with black spotting (for want of a better word )around the edges of both fore and hind wings ,an absolute gem of an insect ,got the camera on it but too B++++y
slow !should have just pressed the shutter ! looked for it for about 20 minutes but with no luck .
Reminded me a bit of the old Victorian Bird ,gentlemen gunners motto . " Whats hit is history ,whats missed is mystery "
Regards Allan.W.

[MrSp0ck]

but a proper Blue female
Regards Allan.W.

We do occasionally get Proper Blue females at Hutchinsons Bank,

this is probably similar to the one you sighted.

[jenks]

Haugh Wood 15/5/18.
With the weather set fair I visited Haugh Wood`s southern butterfly trail. This trail usually has good numbers of Wood White and the lower part of the trail didn`t disappoint. I counted at least 15, and I allowed a bit for the same butterfly being seen twice. Other "whites" were also in evidence plus Orange Tip, Speckled Wood,and Brimstone. The small pond had 5 Large Red Damselfly flying and a Hornet sitting on the algae on the surface !
Ewyas Harold common 19/5/18.
My second visit here. I`d called in briefly on the way home from Haugh Wood on the 15th but didn`t see much. This time I saw an estimated 40+ Pearl Bordered Fritillary, 1 Grizzled Skipper, 1 Common Blue, 1 Green Hairstreak plus larger numbers of the common whites, Orange Tip and Brimstone. Thanks to David Moore for pointing me in the right direction for PBF. The common is good for birds too, with Linnet, Bullfinch, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Garden and Willow Warbler all heard and seen, and Buzzard and Red Kite soaring overhead. The result of my wanderings was that I became completely disorientated and lost my way ! Eventually got back to the main road some 2 miles from Ewyas Harold where I`d left my car. Left me thinking, did I really pass A level Geography ? (Well it was in 1972).
No photos (others do this far better than me),but I hope this account shows how fine these two places are.

Jenks.

[Allan.W.]

Yes ! Mr Spock ,that looks very similar to the one I glimpsed,lovely looking insect ,honestly thought it was a male at first glance
just a bit peeved that I couldn,t re-find it ,Oh well there you go !
Early this morning ,visited a plant site near Littlestone (Kent )looking for a scarce Clover ,which I found there last year ,but no joy this year . The weather was pretty overcast and not too warm ,so I drove through to another site(Dengemarsh ) which is always good for Common Blues ,and see if I could find any roosting, On arrival first thing I heard was several Ravens calling loudly ,nice to see them in this neck of the woods
years ago it was a trip to the west country to see them ,and the same goes for Peregrine , Red Kite and Buzzard ,these days I see more Buzzards than Kestrals........how times change !
I only managed to find four roosting Common Blues ,but I found a very small ,relatively sheltered spot where I found ten roosting Brown Argus ,too early to be on the wing ,and cold !.............. and windy ,I,ve included a (poor ) shot ,best I could manage in the wind ,of one of the ten
with very reduced Spotting on the hindwing undersides . the open wing shot is from Dungeness ,a day or two back .
Regards Allan.W.

[A_T]

White-faced Darter seen at Fenns and Whixall Moss. I woulds have posted this on UKdragonflies but that site seems to be defunct.

[Allan.W.]

I4 Grizzles at my local late afternoon (near Ashford ,Kent ) from the very worn ,to the mint to the slightly unusual .
Regards Allan.W.

[petesmith]

Just back from a tremendous few days down in sunny Cornwall. Big thanks to John Chapple and Paul Browning for great company and help whilst locating Grizzled Skippers in a wide variety of forms!
This one is pretty standard:

The two intermedia below are lovely insects:

Full blown taras are sublime indeed! So happy to see these beauties!

Brown Argus, Small Copper and Dingy Skipper were also on the wing, and this female Common Blue caught my eye:

Happy days!

[bugboy]

Good numbers of Adonis (amongst many other species) at Denbies now but a warning to anyone contemplating a visit. A group of travellers have moved into the top field (steers field) with accompanying very angry and fierce dogs. Although most are tied up I got bit on the leg (more of a toothy scratch) by a Jack Russel that wasn't restrained. Thankfully it was just a small dog and I'm up to date with tetinus etc.

[Jonny721]

Nice morning at Strawberry Banks NR in the Cotswolds today seeing my first ever Marsh Fritillary. At least 2 pristine individuals were found in a short search. Also seen were my first Dingy Skipper (10+), Common Blue (2) and Small Heath (1) of the year.

Later had a quick walk round Betty Daw's Wood in Gloucestershire which according to the UK Butterflies map holds Wood White but I was unable to locate any, in fact the only butterflies I saw at all were 2 Speckled Wood and a single Large White!

[David M]

My second visit here. I`d called in briefly on the way home from Haugh Wood on the 15th but didn`t see much. This time I saw an estimated 40+ Pearl Bordered Fritillary, 1 Grizzled Skipper, 1 Common Blue, 1 Green Hairstreak plus larger numbers of the common whites, Orange Tip and Brimstone. Thanks to David Moore for pointing me in the right direction for PBF. The common is good for birds too, with Linnet, Bullfinch, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Garden and Willow Warbler all heard and seen, and Buzzard and Red Kite soaring overhead. The result of my wanderings was that I became completely disorientated and lost my way ! Eventually got back to the main road some 2 miles from Ewyas Harold where I`d left my car. Left me thinking, did I really pass A level Geography ? (Well it was in 1972).

LOL! I know what you mean, Gareth, as regards losing your bearings at this site. It's geometry is natural, rather than man-made and it took me several visits to familiaise myself with all its twists and turns.

Glad you found the PBFs though. There can be hundreds on a sunny day in peak season.

[Allan.W.]

After dropping Lynne off to work ,I decided to have a walk up on the local Downs ,it was pretty overcast ,but also fairly warm
Love this time of the year on the downs ,with plenty of Blues ,generally on show and wanted to look through the roosting blues to see if I could find anything unusual .On arrival was pretty sure that it would be roosting butterflies I was looking for ,didn,t reckon anything would be on the wing ,so was pleased to be wrong as a Wall landed right in front of me,a male ,on a bit further ,and Bingo ! another ,this time a female .
Noticed that the Horseshoe vetch was absolutely carpeting the downland,never seen it as lush as this here before ,in the tall grasses I found around 25-30 Common Blues ,15+ Brown Args; same of Small Heath, good numbers of the scarce (ish) moth ,Thisanotia chrysonuchella ,3 male Adonis ,including the one pictured ,who posed nicely on a Quaking grass stem and one Dingy (pleased with this one as I don,t recall seeing any here
last season. Regards Allan.W.

[David M]

That's a beautiful Dingy Skipper shot within a series of excellent images, Allan. Is it just me or do Adonis Blues reflect the light better when perched head down?

[Allan.W.]

Thanks David for comments ,as I said in the previous post ,I didn,t see any at this particular site last season so was very pleased to find this one ,also this afternoon I found 8 flowering spikes of White variant Bugle.
A visit this afternoon to my local patch (ie; Orletone forest ) in warm but overcast weather ,hoping for a few Blues ,I managed 4 all Males but in beautiful condition ,16 Brimstone , 2 Speckled woods ,one each Small Copper,GV White,Small White, but best of all a female Wall ,in the eighties and nineties ,Wall was really common in Orlestone ,and too my shame I probably didn,t give them a second glance ,these days they are very notable (As they are in lots of other parts !) ,and I was very pleased to see this one ! Almost back at the car ,another fair find (for Orlestone ) a Small Heath ,but no sign of any Grizzles ,as one had been reported a few Days back (more or less vanished here by around 1998.)
Couldn,t resist a last flying visit to my local Grizzle site ,the sun had more or less disappeared completely,nothing much on the wing ,(2 Common Blues ,started walking back towards home ,and I spotted what could be my last Grizzle (at this site ) for the year .20 minutes well spent.! Ps. the moth is a mother Shipton.
Regards Allan.W.

[Rivoldini]

I think this one may be ab snelleni? Bison Hill on Monday.

[Pauline]

Love the last couple of Grizzled Skipper shots Allen - that mother shipton shot is very artistic too

[Greenie]

A few recent photo shots from Hutchinsons Bank and surrounding area .

A White-letter Hairstreak larva , having turned brown in later stage of development , and settled in a rolled Elm leaf , complete with girdle .

Today I returned to find the pupa had formed .

Brimstones still very active , with males trying to take away the female's lift and bring her to ground .

This female , to the right of the top two males , attempted and succeeded to evade the three males' advances .

Today found that what must be the most westerly Small Blue colony in Kent , had doubled in number since my last visit , and included a mating pair .

[Wattsy]

Big hatch of Marsh Fritillary at Chambers Farm Wood counted over 100 on a short walk around Little Stubbs Meadow, apologies for the picture its from my phone

[millerd]

My first Large Skipper of the year seen today at Hutchinsons Bank in Surrey.

Full report in a day or two...

Dave

[Wurzel]

Pearls at Bentley looking a little faded but a fresh Small Pearl, 3 Marsh Frits and a Green Hairsteak kept me busy

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Allan.W.]

This morning I was at my local Blue site at 6.45 am ,loads of Blues slowly waking ,with the first on the wing at 7.05 ,with large numbers of Common,and Adonis ,and this morning there were a lot more females to be seen ,and some absolutely glorious Brown Argus ,with a supporting cast
of 6 Dingys ,30 + Small Heath and 2 Wall.
Regards Allan.W.