ernie f

[ernie f]

Hi Wurzel - yep I saw my first Large Blue wing-roll the other day. Thanks for thinking to let me know when you saw it too.

I'm having a grand time with the Purples at the moment. They seem to be doing all sorts of interesting things that you just cannot capture on camera.

[ernie f]

Odiham Common 27th June 2018

A hairy day, today. There were three White-letter Hairstreaks on the corner Elms at Odiham Common and five Purple Hairstreaks on the Master Oak. Not stupendous numbers but nevertheless a nice tally. I went prepared and took a portable chair so I could sit and watch. With the full sun beating down I really needed a parasol too (and maybe a pint of ice-cold beer)!

No pics ‘cos they were all a bit far up but great through binoculars. Two of the male WLH’s did their sparring spiral. Up and up they went and then broke apart at the top of the spiral to fly back down to the canopy in straight lines away from each other. One came down close to me and even landed for about 10 seconds but unfortunately was wing-edge toward me and by the time I had moved – so had he.

One of the Purple Hairstreaks left the tree and made a bee-line for the Elms! A little while later another Purple Hairstreak flew from behind me, over my head and joined the others on the Oak. Could this have been the same individual on a circular scouting mission for females I wonder?

Since I have been seeing Purple Hairstreaks almost daily now, its about time to post some past pictures I think.

This one (from Odiham last year) has hermaphrodite colouration. It has a fore-wing pattern similar to that of a female but the hind-wing colour of a male. Does anyone know what is going on here? I guess its a male but with a slight aberration.

Non-butterfly Snapshot of the day

A Hogweed or some such umbellifer beside the Elm walk.

[Wurzel]

Cracking Purps Ernie I need to get out this weekend I think

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Janet Turnbull]

Why did the Purple Hairstreak cross the road? I love that photo Ernie!

[bugboy]

Ooooh those are some wonderful Purple Hairstreaks Ernie

[ernie f]

Wurzel, Janet and Bugboy - Thank you all. To answer Janet's question - Why did the Purple Hairstreak cross the road. It was not to get to the other side in this instance. She just stayed there. She must have known how beautiful she was and posed for my camera! All the ground shots I have of this species are from this one individual. As she let me walk round her she fluttered her wings at me so I could get those upper wing shots.

[Goldie M]

ernie! I may have got some decent shots of the WLH but your PHS shots are fantastic I hope I can get some of the PHS
as good as yours Goldie

[ernie f]

Thanks, Goldie. I was really lucky with the ground shots.

[ernie f]

Alice Holt Woods - 28th June 2018

Welcome to the Purple Towers Hotel.

A deluxe 5 star hotel nestling deep within the Alice Holt Woodlands. Stay in our penthouse suite for two with views in all directions along the sunny woodland rides.

Or dine out on our al fresco veranda. Choose from our extensive menu. We serve an all day breakfast of pine resin or you can lunch on dogs poo or have an evening meal of aphid honeydew enhanced by the ambient light from glow-worms.

Why not try a spot of sun-bathing in our secluded tree-top garden.

And afterwards take in the minerals in our award-winning spa.

We are sure you will enjoy your stay and will return again next year.

[ernie f]

Alice Holt Woods - 28th June 2018

I went “purpling” this morning. As my last post suggests – it was a good one. It is the first time I have counted more Purple Emperors than White Admirals in one location in one day (well 2 hours to be more exact).

I met Ashley and Mike in the Abbots Wood enclosure and while there we saw four Purple Emperors in the vicinity of the “master” tree opposite Skipper Alley. Two were sparring, another was sitting part way up a tree, another was skimming the herbage. One flew down a shady wooded pathway and flitted back and forth there for longer than you might imagine it would. Ashley got a fantastic four-wing purple shot of one when it came to sit down on a fern near him for a moment. A great hour spent in the company of butterflies (and people).

I then went on to the Straits enclosure. I actually didn’t expect too much – I went for the Hairstreaks but here again it was Purple paradise. I saw 8 in total here which brought my morning total to 12 and this year’s annual total (removing all double-counts) to 13. One was “barrelling”, two were sparring just above head height, three were dog-fighting around the first tower and one came to ground beside a Red Admiral and a Comma. These three butterflies were no more than 2 metres away from each other licking salts from the freshly-laid gravel.

But the real experience of the day was at the first deer lookout tower - my “Purple Towers Hotel” of the last PD entry. Three Purple Emperors were whizzing about this tower at the same time, often they would fly through the lookout windows at the top and on at least two occasions two went inside together and stayed awhile side-by-side in the shade. One of the pictures in my last post shows them together. At one point there were two clinging to the outside of the tower licking away at the wood while another circled above them as if waiting in line at a canteen.

Its almost an afterthought to mention the 6 White Ads, 3 Red Ads, 3 Comma, 2 Purple Hairstreaks, 1 Speckled Wood, the Large and Small Skips, Small and Marbled Whites, SW Frits and the host of Ringlet and Meadow Brown. The Ringlets outnumbered the Meadows for the first time this year here.

As well as the dragonflies which included Emperor, Southern Hawker and male Black-tailed Skimmer.

Non-butterfly Snapshot of the day

Its that male Black-tailed Skimmer…

[Andrew555]

Amazing Purple Hairstreak sightings Ernie. I like very much your Silver-washed Frits and Emperors, and of course the Large Blues.

[ernie f]

Thanks, Andrew. There's a lot going on at the moment.

[ernie f]

Alice Holt Forest - 29th June 2018

More purpling toady. I started off at the northern end of the Abbots Wood Enclosure with the idea I would increase my annual count of Purple Emperors by going to a place I had not yet been this year and sure enough I found two there. My total this year is now 15, beating my previous annual record by 1. Its not the 300+ of another site recently publicised but its always nice when you have achieved a personal best. Of course I have had far more sightings than this but I try and clip out all those I believe are double-counts. These two stayed in flight even though they came down low.

Then I thought I would try and repeat my recent success at the Purple Towers Hotel and yes, there were two there again around 12 noon. One came down to ground repeatedly and once landed low on a tree. The other landed on the tower itself like they did yesterday.

Also seen today, two Purple Hairstreaks low on trees. Also White Ads (but only three), Red Ads, three Commas all came to ground close to each other, Small and Large Whites, SW Frits, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Large and Small Skippers.

Since I am seeing Small Skippers almost daily now, its time to share a few of my past pics of this species.

Non-butterfly Snapshot of the day

Yesterday I took a pic of a Small Skipper along the Straits Enclosure and only when I got back home did I notice that it had perched beside a pair of mating Strangalia maculata beetles.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Ernie,

Great accounts of your recent 'Purpling' outings. I love the shots of the Purple Hairstreak crossing the road (or even just sitting there)

Cheers,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Cracking resort write up Ernie - are there any vacancies? Fingers crossed I can have my own purple patch this Sunday

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Janet Turnbull]

Another enjoyable report Ernie - and like Wurzel I'm looking forward to some purpling of my own on Sunday!

[ernie f]

Janet, Neil and Wurzel - Thanks. It seems to be a good year for Purple Emperors. I wish you all well on your purpling forays.

Also, Wurzel. Sorry but we are fully booked at the Purple Towers Hotel at the moment; but we do have vacancies from the second week of August right through until late June next year. So if you would like to book now I am sure we can accommodate you.

[ernie f]

Alice Holt Forest - 30th June 2018

Seeing as I had attained by own personal annual record count for Purple Emperors yesterday, I thought I would try other parts of the forest today to try and push the number up further. This time I explored the area known as the Willows Green Enclosure and there I found two more. Neither stopped but both came low in flight, one circled me at waist height. This increased my annual best total to 17.

I used two entrances to this enclosure.

From the High Thicket Lane pull-in was 1 PE, 3 White Ad, 1 Red Ad, 3 Small White, a few Large Skipper and SW Frits, 1 Comma, 1 Speckled Wood and of course the Meadow Browns and Ringlets (which I shall shorthand in future to MB&R).

From the Boundary Road Car Park there was 1 PE, many MB&Rs, S&L Skips, 1 S White, 1 Red Ad, 3 Comma, 2 White Ads and 1 Purple Hair (or is it Purplestreak to keep it in line with the Greenstreak contraction?). This last flew low many times but did not stop.

I didn’t get any PE pics today but my consolation prize was some close-ups of the White Ads instead.

Broxhead Common - 30th June 2018

A quick visit to count the Silver-studded Blues. They continue their slow decline. I counted 166 in and around the lek of which 32 were female. The last time I did a count I guestimated that the females took up 20% of the total population, a rise of 10% over the week before and now I have some figures I see it actually comes out at 19.28%, so my original guess wasn’t far off the mark.

River Itchen at Ovington - 30th June 2018

Really this was an afternoon in a pub garden beside the river Itchen, supping alcoholic beverages with my wife. The sun was out, we were under a shady parasol and there were butterflies visiting the flowers in the garden all around us. Lovely. Without moving from our chosen table there were Small White, Large Skip, M Brown and even a fresh Brimstone as well as Banded Demoiselles. We made a short walk to the bridge over the river Itchen to look for the Brown Trout that always make their home there.

Non-butterfly Snapshot of the day

Todays picture comes from Broxhead. This heathland often holds a few Dartford Warbler each year but you don’t see them that often – mostly you just hear them. Incidentally it has a few Nightjar and Woodcock too but you only see these at dusk and my camera (and photo-taking ability) is not good enough to get pics of these.

[Wurzel]

Great White Admiral Ernie Love the shot of the Dartford, takes me back to my childhood that does and messing about up on the Heath

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Janet Turnbull]

That sounds a lovely butterflying day, and it must have felt special to be eyeballed by the PE! It sounds as if you were lucky to get the shot of the Dartford Warbler - a bird I have neither seen nor heard.