With fine weather on the cards and no plans to meet up with Wurzel I decided to a trip to Dawneys heath, Woking, was in order for the day. The night before I’d had my moth trap out and a bumper haul meant by the time I’d done my count, taken the photographs and got my stuff tidied up it was nearly mid-day . I also had to persuade my youngest of 14 years to drag herself away from her homework (they get a lot these days?) which added on extra-time to getting out (but not as much as Germany got against Sweden ). The short drive over took ages too as every traffic light was against .
However, it didn’t take long before I saw what I’d come to see, as a Silver-studded Blue flitted amongst the sprouting gorse and stunted heather . It was a bit tired looking, nice but not the white fringed examples I was hoping to see. As time was short, the numerous Meadow Browns got short-shrift as I focused my attention on finding the perfect Silver-stud.
And then just to add some distraction a Broad-bodied Chaser put in a show and I just had sneak up on it for a photograph or 20 as it settled on a staging post. Straight after was a Keeled Skimmer so I was getting sucked in to hunting for dragonflies. Later on, I came across an Emerald Dragonfly (could’ve been Somatochlora metallica as Dawneys is near the Basingstoke canal) but it didn’t land and I didn’t get a good enough look at it for an ID .
The Silver-studs, were in varying condition with some nice very examples but they were proving quite difficult to photograph due to them shutting their wings, not settling for long and being low-down near ground level most of the time (crouching down low is becoming a bit of an effort for me these days ). However the numbers were very good .. in fact numbering in the hundreds …. but I’m wondering how they’ll fare when the gorse out grows the heather in the coming years (as appears to be happening now after the top-soil was worked over a year or two ago) . Eventually I was able to get a nice open-wing male before having to leave so that my daughter could get back to her school books.
The only disappointment was not getting a sighting of a Grayling. All the browns were of the meadow variety, almost as abundant as the Silver-studs . No plastic pigs either .
24/06/18. More time this time, moth-trap work sorted by 10:00, at the site by 10:30, just me on my own .
Immediately inside the site entrance is a stand of bramble and this was populated by some nifty flying large Skippers and lively Meadow Browns. Now that I had more time I decided to give the Meadow browns more attention .
Unlike yesterday there were Graylings too in fairly good numbers (estimate 40 – 50 for the site). Wonder why I didn’t see them the day before
There were Dragonflies too. This time a Golden-ringed (Cordulogaster boltonii), settled as it chomped on a bee (possibly an Anthophora bimaculata .. lots around). As for the day before dragonflies kept popping up, with an Emperor (Anax imperator) sighted and a Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum).
Quite often when I go looking for Silver-studs I come across a pair in cop. This time not to be but I did see the next best thing to that I suppose, an attempted mating. The following are some blurred action shots of a female having none of it and the male giving up pretty easily.
Time was moving on and I needed to go if I didn’t want to miss the start of the England match …. but hey this is England . “I won’t miss anything if I’m a bit late .. so I squeezed a bit more out of the day with some wasps and bees and they were 2-nil up when I did get home .
Phil
Dawneys Hill SU946556
Re: Dawneys Hill SU946556
Cracking set of images Philzoid, the new lens/camera combo? I too saw a lot of the courting action from Silver-studs on Saturday, whilst the males are quite persistent the females are much more feisty when getting their point across I thought after this weekend I was catching you up but then you go and pull a Grayling out of the bag
Have a goodun
Wurzel
ps PM/email tomorrow as the football is on soon!
Have a goodun
Wurzel
ps PM/email tomorrow as the football is on soon!
Re: Dawneys Hill SU946556
Graylings out there already, Phil? Goodness, I don't think I've ever seen one at Dawney's Hill in June before... A great selection of action shots of the SSB too.
Cheers,
Dave
Cheers,
Dave
Re: Dawneys Hill SU946556
Fascinating SSB images, Philzoid, and likewise I'm surprised to see Graylings out and about around midsummer, although this isn't unheard of in warm years.
Re: Dawneys Hill SU946556
Thanks Wurzel. This time I used my new sigma 180mm macro on the D1100 as I’d forgotten to put the re-charged battery in the D600 . The D600 is normally my camera of choice but I was impressed with the quality of the broad-bodied chaser and male open-wing Silver-studded Blue on the D1100 . The only thing I don’t like about it is that I often inadvertently (in the heat of the moment) switch it from viewfinder to live view with my nose thanks to that cameras’ button arrangement (and my clumsiness). This doesn’t happen on the D600. All shots on the 24th were taken with the D600 + Sigma 180. I may end up going back to my trusty old D1100.Wurzel wrote:Cracking set of images Philzoid, the new lens/camera combo?
No danger of it staying like that for long. I’m sure you’ll be getting some Whitters and Brostreaks (my holiday might muck up the getting the latter for me just like last year ) not to mention Clouded yellow (bank on you over me) and Lulworth Skippers There again, it could come down to how our respective Purple Emperor seasons work out ... Bentley versus Straits .Wurzel wrote:I thought after this weekend I was catching you up but then you go and pull a Grayling out of the bag
Another thing I saw, which I expect you will have seen too (but was a first for me), was a Large Skipper which actually bombed another Large Skipper physically knocking it off its flower perch before they did combat . Normally a butterfly rises to meet the ‘threat’ of an interloper in its territory. Many photographs are lost thanks to this behaviour .
The male silver studs at Dawneys were not that persistent . Perhaps it’s because they were in such large numbers the males were taking a “I’ll leave her alone and go and find one that’s more willing” approach. Courtship acceptance/rejection may take on a bit more importance when numbers are lowWurzel wrote:I too saw a lot of the courting action from Silver-studs on Saturday, whilst the males are quite persistent the females are much more feisty when getting their point across
Enjoying it more than I thought though not getting carried away just yet. Lets see how our defence copes when we're up against a better teamWurzel wrote:ps PM/email tomorrow as the football is on soon!
millerd wrote:Graylings out there already, Phil? Goodness, I don't think I've ever seen one at Dawney's Hill in June before... A great selection of action shots of the SSB too.
Thanks Dave and David. What was surprising for me was I didn’t see them on the 23rd yet there were plenty by the 24th . Normally when I go to Dawneys for Silver-studs I expect to, and nearly always get to see both species (may need to check up on my previous visits for date data). I believe they have quite a protracted flight period and I know that I can see them in September in the coastal areas such as Dingle marshes nr. Dunwich in Suffolk. May be putting that to the test if we decide to do our usual September camping trip this year .David M wrote:Fascinating SSB images, Philzoid, and likewise I'm surprised to see Graylings out and about around midsummer, although this isn't unheard of in warm years.
Phil
Re: Dawneys Hill SU946556
Hi Phil - In 2017, I saw the first ones at Dawney's on 6th July, and there were still plenty flying on 19th August.
Dave
Dave