millerd

[Wurzel]

Interesting behaviour Dave, were they seeking shade? They are looking a little past their best there, so much so they could almost be 'Brown' Hairstreaks

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Hard to believe Purple Hairstreaks are on their last legs with a full week still to go in July!!!

Perhaps another sortie into Chiddingfold will redress the balance somewhat. I would expect 2nd brood Wood Whites to be in their pomp!

[millerd]

Cheers, Ernie - I'm still uncertain what was going on there.

They do lose the purple very quickly, Wurzel, even though underneath they still look quite fresh. All that tussling in the treetops I suppose. I tend to agree with the Bugboy theory that they are after moisture in the grass - having now seen two Purple Emperors doing it this year, and having seen both Black and Brown Hairstreaks doing it in the past.

Yes, another Chiddingfold adventure coming up, David!

Wednesday 18th July - continued...
Bugboy and I drove down the A3 to Chiddingfold. It was still mostly cloudy, but as the middle part of the day approached it became increasingly warm and somewhat muggy. There were definitely more Wood Whites around even than there had been two days earlier, along all the rides and in the meadow by the triangle again. As before, SWFs abounded too, and with it less sunny, they spent more time nectaring. I didn't see the valesina female again.

We walked right through the wood to the Oaken Wood entrance, and resolved that on the way back we would actually count all the Wood Whites we saw - the linear nature of this would largely preclude double-counting.

However, before reaching Oaken Wood, a surprise awaited us. An unmistakeable and very large butterfly glided into view in front of us and performed a few elegant dives and swoops before briefly touching down on the ground. Neither of us was at all prepared to record the event, but Bugboy did manage to achieve a couple of shots before the magnificent creature took off and effortlessly soared up and into the tops of the trees. It was of course an Empress - and in pretty good condition too. It took a while for the "wow" factor to wear off, and sadly the display was not repeated on the way back. However, we concentrated instead on counting, and by the time the Botany Bay entrance was reached, we had seen no fewer than 122 individual Wood Whites. This seems a really good total, but it was noteable how when the sun shone briefly, the numbers in sight went up quite a bit. Consequently we reckoned that as it had been mostly cloudy, the true numbers along the rides were at least 30% higher.

In amongst all those butterflies, there were several examples of courtship behaviour, and lots of females laying eggs.

However, the best find of all -which has to be credited to Bugboy's sharp eyes - was a newly emerged individual with the empty pupal case below it complete with drop of meconium. I'd have walked straight past this amazing sight for certain.

Somewhat later, he also spotted a mating pair.

Here are the best of the rest, plus one or two other species seen as well!

Another excellent day!

Dave

[bugboy]

Youre diaries rather handy at the moment, I'm so far behind it helps remind me where I've been

[millerd]

This'll confuse you, Buggy - you weren't on this trip!

On Thursday 19th July, it was sunnier and warmer again. I decided the Silver-spotted Skippers must be properly out up at Aston Rowant now and headed on up there. I was fairly early, and the most striking thing about the hillside was that it shimmered with Chalkhill Blues fluttering just above the ground. There were more flying than I've seen for some years now (a view corroborated by another enthusiast I met in the middle of the slope a bit later). Here are a few to start things off:

There were also good numbers of Common Blues and Brown Argus...

...plus many other species too.

However, I'm glad to say the Skippers didn't disappoint either - the sunshine kept them lively, but there were enough clouds to ground them from time to time. I saw approaching 30 while I was there, though this has to be a rough estimate, and this includes one seen over on Beacon Hill, the exposed more northerly-facing area.

Worth another trip in a week or two I'd say.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Fantastic Wood Whites Dave That freshly emerged one is a real cracker and to see the pupal case left intact like that is brill, really was fresh out of the box Great set of Silver-spots too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Chiddingfold continues to provide the ingredients for a great day out !.
Well done with that freshly emerged Wood White.
Like me, you were probably astounded to find an Empress so late on.
At least the one I saw gave a wonderful, low, flying display before departing.

Trevor.

[David M]

Lovely images again, Dave. I'm quite struck by how fresh many of your butterflies are. Of course, I'd expect that with species like Wood White, Chalkhill Blue & Silver Spotted Skipper, but round my way, Ringlets & Meadow Browns are looking well past their best and Dark Green Fritillaries positively lacklustre!

[Andrew555]

Fantastic stuff from Chiddingfold Dave, you got some great shots and views of the Wood Whites and their behaviour.

[millerd]

Cheers, all. Wood Whites really do make a good study, and it was an exceptional day in that respect with ideal conditions and a large number of butterflies to observe. I've never seen so many in either brood in all the years I've been visiting these woods.

I've been away for the best part of a week, suffering the upheaval in the weather in northern climes and not seeing huge amounts of interest - one or two high points though, but it'll be a while before I get round to those as I need to catch up a fair amount of other stuff.

Friday 20th July: the last day of term, and an early finish at school for my youngest son, so I had to stay local with only half a morning to play with. It was cloudy but very warm, and once again activity was dominated by the high numbers of Brown Argus and Common Blues on the wing (21-18 today).

Brown Argus:

Common Blues:

Along the edge of the grassland area where they were flying are thistles and fleabane, and behind that, thick beds of brambles. Just to confuse things slightly, Holly Blues were making sorties from their usual haunts on the bramble flowers and settling on fleabane alongside the other two species.

Also seen were a couple of Red Admirals - there are still very few of these around this year - and the usual variety of summer species.

Dave

[trevor]

Your first Brown Argus has a bit of ' Northern ' look about it, surely only hours old.
Holly Blues around here are not behaving, staying high and not landing.

I imagine you'll have something exotic for us in a later post, at least a species not seen down here !.

Great stuff,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Great set of shots Dave it's good to stay local sometimes Your first, lush Brown Argus does look a bit 'snelleri' Only having a limited amount of time butterflying must have come as a bit of a shock

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Your patch really does produce the goods, those BA are wonderful looking insects.

I've still not finished going through my Chiddingfold pictures yet, thinned them out significantly but still need some editing due to the cloudy conditions throwing the white balance all over the place! I'll get there by the end of the week though

[millerd]

Cheers, Trevor - the Hollies have been coming down and nectaring in the shade, but staying tightly shut.

Thanks, Wurzel - you're right, the local option should never be overlooked as all sorts of things turn up.

Cheers, Buggy - the Brown Argus have been brilliant here this year, and with luck there will be a third brood at the end of August. You're right about getting decent shots of those Wood Whites - the selection I posted were pruned down from nearly 300 (with a little help here and there from PhotoScape...).

Saturday 21st July: Southwards today to Box Hill, and then Denbies. I was hoping to see the first Silver-spotted Skippers at both sites, but drew a blank at both. However, there was plenty on offer at both locations.

At Box Hill, there were still fading Dark Green Fritillaries, though they were either careering around at high speed in the sunshine or diving well into the grass to lay, completely hidden from view. One or two Marbled Whites remained, but overall, Common Blues predominated in all areas visited. There were also Chalkhills over on Dukes, plus a few Brown Argus and a nice dusky Small Copper. Amongst the Common Blues, I found several females including one which unusually appeared completely devoid of blue scales - but was definitely not a Brown Argus.

Another, of fairly average blueness, was seen to be missing the underside forewing spot often quoted as diagnostic for the species. Obviously not a Brown Argus either!

A typical female Brown Argus appeared for comparison.

The Small Copper posed nicely, including settling in close proximity to a Common Blue.

There were one or two nice fresh Chalkhills, with as usual a lot of individual variation.

with small "silver studs"

very pale underside with light yellow lunules

For almost the first time this year a female opened up slightly.

Finally, in the shade I found a selection of fresh Speckled Woods, including this richly-coloured example.

After a cup of tea, on to Denbies...

Dave

[Wurzel]

Lovely dusky Copper and cracking 'Silver-studded Chalkhill', I need to find me one of those Also interesting to see the higher concentration of blue scaling on the female Common Blue is in a similar area/block as on a female Purple Hairstreak

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

You're right, Wurzel - I must have a look at the other female blues around at the moment and see if it is a consistent feature.

Silver-studded Chalkhills seem to crop up fairly often, mostly females from what I've seen.

21st July part two: On to Denbies. I walked down through Steers Field by way of the path at the extreme right (facing downhill), close to the hedgerow. All along here were Ringlets and Small Skippers, Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns, plus a handful of worn Marbled Whites. There were even one or two Holly Blues. However, the most interesting feature was where the hedgerow fell away a bit to expose the interior of the woodland - chasing each other in and out of the shade were a pair of Silver-washed Fritillaries (a male and a female). Unfortunately they remained out of range, but were a nice sight nonetheless. Moving down the slope I then came upon a group of Small Coppers. This species pops up in small numbers at Denbies every year, never consistently in the same spot, and it is unusual to see more than a couple at a time. The group today numbered five or six.

Out on the main hillside, as at Box Hill, the three main species were Common Blues, Chalkhills and Brown Argus.

However, here the Chalkhills were definitely the most numerous, though compared to Aston Rowant a few days ago they were far more spread out.

Of particular interest was a Common Blue male with a miniature right-hand hindwing. This curious feature seemed to make no difference to how well it could fly.

I also came across another female Dark Green Fritillary, and I was surprised to see that it was really quite fresh compared to the others I've seen lately in various locations.

As I headed back to the car park, the peace was disturbed by the sound of jet engines...

On their way to Kent, I believe.

Finally, the guest moth spot today was filled nicely by this male custard-and-jam moth, which I'm told is officially known as a Clouded Buff.

Dave

[Wurzel]

More great stuff Dave, those Coppers are really dusky looking I've seen a few butterflies with deformed wings over the years but never one with such a small wing Also a surprisingly fresh DGF, where has she been hiding? I think 'Custard and Jam' is a much better name than Clouded Buff as that moth is neither 'clouded' or 'buff'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel. There should definitely be a set of alternative (more apt) names for various species... Yes, almost all the Coppers I've seen lately have been dusky: apparently it's a sure indicator of hot weather.

Sunday 22nd July: Time to see how the Graylings were doing down at Dawney's Hill. This Surrey heathland site was looking very dried up, with even the smaller gorse plants apparently dying off and very little heather blooming. Nevertheless I was surprised to see a handful of Silver-studded Blues still active, though they all looked very worn and none stopped for more than a moment or two. There were a couple of Common Blues flying to add to the confusion, though these were much more fresh.

Also in the mix were a few Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, plus a single Small Copper - one nearly always turns up here when I visit.

However, the main attraction was the Grayling population. I probably saw no more than a dozen, but they were mostly quite fresh, and there may well have been more: the heat and sunshine meant that they were disappearing into the shade at almost every opportunity, and disappearing is exactly the word. That said, whatever the weather they cannot resist the opportunity to land on me.

I did manage a few shots of grounded individuals too...

...but my attempts to get some "in flight" photos bore very little fruit:

It really was getting too hot on the heath to hang around for long, so I headed for home and a late afternoon look at my local patch where hopefully it might be a bit cooler.

Dave

[ernie f]

Great set of Grayling shots, Dave. But the image that stays with me is the Common Blue with the one stunted hind-wing. Amazing.

[Old Wolf]

Hello Millerd. I have very fond memories of Box Hill but haven't been back in many years. I think I may have to look into a return visit one day.

Great shots with a good number of butterflies I am yet to meet

I must say, the antenna on the Clouded Buff are very impressive