millerd

[Wurzel]

More great images Dave , they serve to remind me of all the posts I've got to write up Digging the Trousered shot

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Ernie - that deformed Common Blue was a very unusual butterfly. It's amazing how they carry on pretty well as normal with such defects.

Than you Old Wolf - Box Hill is definitely worth a visit, especially if you are prepared to walk around quite widely and cover various differing habitats.

Cheers, Wurzel. This is probably the only place in the world where "Digging the trousered shot" actually has a real meaning.

Back to home territory later in the day on 22nd July. However, between 4 and 6 it was probably even hotter than earlier on. Over the desiccated yellow grassy areas, Common Blues(17) and Brown Argus(19) were still whizzing around and finding nectar on ragwort, fleabane and thistles.

Two distinct bird strikes on an otherwise new butterfly - or an encounter with a ticket collector...

However, Holly Blues(20) squeezed ahead in numbers - I was finding most of them on brambles, though some were on the fleabane too.

Noticeably, they were flying and nectaring in complete shade: as I think I've commented previously they are an extremely adaptable species. Amongst other species also seen today were a few sandy-coloured Small Heath...

...and a belligerent Small Copper.

No amount of heat seems to slow these little warriors down.

Dave

[millerd]

23rd July turned out to be yet another hot and sunny day. Consequently I took my youngest son (now 13, unbelievably) down to the beach at Studland for the day. It was surprisingly uncrowded, the sea was almost glassy calm and not at all cold, and we ended up spending the best part of the day there. In the dunes behind the beach, it was like an oven, and only a few brave Gatekeepers were flying. I used to see Grayling here every summer, but not for some years now. We hadn't left any time to visit Durlston, but a recent report from Bugboy indicated that it was badly dried up and that coupled with the heat meant I wasn't too disappointed. We did stop in the NT car park at the foot of Corfe Castle but, only a few Common Blues were flying here.

24th July was the same again weatherwise, but only another local outing was feasible as we were heading up to York the following day. A very similar picture to 22nd July (HB-23; CB-22; BA-13).

One of the Brown Argus was a minute creature - I managed to get my index fingernail in shot close to and in the same plane as the butterfly to provide some scale.

A different selection of species today.

The Red Admiral was right down in the vegetation, seeking out the green nettle shoots at the base of the dried-out stems.

Dave

[ernie f]

Butterflies aside that's a great pic of Corfe Castle.

Its like the Common Blues around the car park were laying siege to it.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Dave, love the shot of the Argus on the Berry Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cracking set of shots Dave and that is a really tiny Brown Argus I'm surprised about the Grayling missing from the dunes mind you if could have been the heat, I usually see them by the National Trust outdoor education centre which is slightly further from the beach

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thank you everyone.

Up to the York area for a few days from 25th July, staying with my sister in Wilberfoss. Three blazing hot days were followed by a spectacular lightning show and three much cooler days with rain a feature of all of them. Yorkshire seemed (initially!) nearly as dried up as the south-east, and there were definitely fewer butterflies overall in my sister's garden this year (though there were more Holly Blues than usual). Over the time we were there, I spotted Meadow Browns, Holly Blues, Commas, a Painted Lady, Red Admirals, Peacocks, a Brimstone and all three Whites. Interestingly the two Commas, seen on separate days, were one each of hutchinsoni and of the hibernating variety.

A selection of the rest:

There was also this curious fly, which I have not been able to identify.

Dave

[millerd]

During my stay in York, there were one or two outings. On 26th July we visited the York Maize Maze, the site of which is surrounded by a selection of oaks. As on a couple of previous occasions, I spotted several Purple Hairstreaks, disturbing a couple from the grass and then another down on corn leaf in the Maze itself. On 29th July, a walk around Allerthorpe Common not long after the rain finished produced no butterflies at all - somewhat unusual, as it wasn't cold and had brightened quite a lot.

However, on the previous day, Saturday 28th July, an afternoon trip to Kiplingcotes, a long disused chalk working next to the footpath that runs along the line of the old railway line between Market Weighton and Beverley, was more productive. It was mostly sunny, refreshingly much less warm, but unfortunately really windy. The footpath itself was home to Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns and Speckled Woods, with a few white butterflies thrown in. Stepping into the open area of the old chalk pit, I was struck by the resemblence to chalk landscapes much nearer home - I was expecting Chalkhill Blues to appear at any moment. However, it was only on reaching the northeast corner of the pit, with a a sheltered bit of slope facing the sun, that I found anything. Suddenly there was a whole variety of other species: Common Blues, a Comma, Small Skippers, a possible Brown Argus...

but the surprise for me was finding the bright orange-brown butterfly I had taken to be a Small Tortoiseshell was in fact a female Wall.

Any guesses as to the identity of the photobomber here?

Shortly afterwards, I spotted a male as well, but this one stayed resolutely wings shut, edge-on to the camera.

The moral of the story: Always expect the unexpected!

Dave

[trevor]

Well done on finding those two Wall Browns. Is it likely to be an unknown site for them ?.
These odd finds could suggest that they are more wide spread than given credit for.

Trevor.

[Goldie M]

Great you finding the Wall's Dave, they've been a bit elusive this year here, I spotted one in Southport Dunes in Spring and that's the last time I saw one. Goldie

[Wurzel]

That's a great motto Dave, and in this heatwave really appropriate as things have obviously read the literature and thrown it out of the window Great set of shots Is the photobomber a Bad Attitude...sorry I mean a Brown Argus? I reckon your fly was Volucella pellucens Pellucid Fly

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Wurzel's right with that big fly ID, its a type of Hoverfly. I reckon that photobomber is a common blue, the brown doesn't look chocolaty enough for a Brown Argus.

[CallumMac]

Nice to hear about your East Yorks travels Dave! Interesting to hear of Purple Hairstreaks at the maize maze - I've never yet been but might have to squeeze a visit in ASAP! I'm sure there must be Brown Arguses at Kip but I've never managed to confirm one - every time I think I've got one it magically turns into another female Common Blue...

Well done on finding those two Wall Browns. Is it likely to be an unknown site for them ?

Not an unknown site for them Trevor, but you still have to be a bit lucky to see one there. It's my local patch and I hadn't, until today, following up on Dave's sighting (now in my PD)!

[millerd]

Thanks everyone - it was good to see those unexpected Walls (like those you found in a Wiltshire churchyard, Trevor ), and better still that Callum saw a reasonable number a few days later. Now looking at the photobombing butterfly, I'm inclined to go with the female Common Blue hypothesis. The bit I thought was a long (male) abdomen is actually a bit of hindwing. And thank you for the fly ID - an odd-looking creature: its rear looks almost stuck on, the dividing line between white and black is so stark.

Monday 30th July: We headed back via Rugby to drop in on one of my other children, and thence to home down the preferred route along the M40. The Southam Bypass had no butterflies of any description (I've seen second brood Small Blues here in the past), so I also tried a stop at Bishop's Itchington. There was a bit more sunshine, and though there were no Small Blues here either, one small area that looked surprisingly green was densely populated with Common Blues. There was much variety amongst the females, from strikingly blue to almost totally brown.

An interesting little side trip barely a mile off the route home.

Dave

[Wurzel]

That's a brilliant selection of Blues Dave, and I had to do a double take - a brown female Common since when have female Common Blues been Brown

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

I think it could be the heat making them darker, Wurzel - like all the dusky Small Coppers I keep seeing.

Tuesday 31st July: Home again, and a visit to my local patch to start things off. The first immediate point of interest was the demise of two ivy-covered ash trees which harboured good numbers of the local Holly Blue population. One had fallen one way (damaging a couple of cars) and the second fell the other way, luckily damaging nothing.

I imagine the soil around the roots had dried out so much that it no longer kept the trees stable, and the weight of the ivy was just too much for them. Perhaps the additional mass of a single extra Holly Blue was enough to tip the balanace... It may well affect the numbers a bit next year, especially if eggs have already been laid, though there is so much alternative ivy around it shouldn't be by much.

There were certainly plenty of Hollies around this morning (15 seen in various spots), mostly nectaring on shaded brambles.

you're being watched...

I spotted an amorous male trying his luck with a nectaring female, but she was having none of it.

However, in a first for me with this second brood, a female opened up. She was near the ground, in the partial shade amongst ivy leaves looking for flower buds to lay on.

There were a similar number of Common Blues, found in different spots and largely in the sun.

another brown female

One of these was very small, not much larger than a fleabane flower is wide. Its scales looked very powdery, as if they remained the same size while the butterfly had shrunk (ok - I admit it, I saw the AntMan film at the weekend... ).

There were also a few Brown Argus...

... as well as various whites and browns, a Comma and a Small Copper.

Small

Large

Dave

[millerd]

Later on 31st July, I thought I'd try and find some assorted Blues basking before going to roost down at Denbies. I hadn't reckoned with it being so windy, and though not as hot as recently, it was very sunny. Consequently, most of the assortment of Common, Chalkhill and the first second brood Adonis (not to mention Brown Argus) were going straight from being blown around in flight to roosting position on equally wind-blown grass stems. To be honest, the mission wasn't much of a success! Some of the roosts did have sizeable numbers of butterflies in them, though none of my shots were worth posting. Back up at the car park of course there was not a breath of wind... A small selection of what I managed to get close to:

Dave

[Wurzel]

A lovely set of shots Dave even if they were hard won! It seems that in this hot weather open wing shots are at a premium, the minute anything lands it closes up shop and that's it

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

You're right, Wurzel - the hot weather and bright sunshine are far from ideal.

Nevertheless, on Wednesday 1st August I pretty well repeated the previous day, with a morning trip out locally and a late afternoon visit to Denbies. Very similar results, as you might expect. First of all, a selection from home. Brown Argus:

I was trying to get a shot of a dark female Common Blue, when another Argus dived in.

For once a Meadow Brown opened up.

And of course, the Holly Blues, once again the most numerous species seen. There is one particular clump of fleabane, in complete shade, that attracts this species - I have seen half a dozen or so on it at once. I will leave posting shots of this until I can get a half-decent one where you can actually see most of the butterflies!

they appear deep inconversation...

Dave

[Wurzel]

That's a cracking close up view of the Holly Blue Dave The other shots are great too but the "Incoming!" one is a corker

Have a goodun

Wurzel