millerd

[David M]

Great late season array of species, Dave. Make the most of them....in a month's time there'll be precious few left.

[millerd]

Thanks, Wurzel. There are still new Brown Argus appearing, which is interesting since the first of the second brood appeared at the end of June. Could these be third brooders already, or is it just a long drawn-out second brood?

Cheers, David - the late season seems to have come early this year (apart from the Brown Hairstreaks). We're not quite halfway through August yet! Still, last year I was seeing butterflies well into November, so there is still time - and we may get some more extra broods to see too. Here's hoping!

Thursday 9th August, and to some extent Friday 10th, were complete washouts. The rain came down in large quantities. Luckily I was otherwise engaged on both days, being occupied with the delights of the Great British Beer Festival at Olympia on the Thursday, and taking a friend to Stansted Airport on the Friday. (We have a perfectly good airport just up the road, but... ).

Saturday 11th August promised much better, and I had originally planned to head down to Shipton B. However, I failed to get up early enough and took the next best option of another try at Bookham for the Brown Hairstreaks. As I pulled into the car park, a familiar figure was studying the oaks - Bugboy was already there and set on the same quest as myself. He had just noted that a third Purple Hairstreak egg had appeared close to the two he had been monitoring. We headed along to the Banks Common area and scoured the blackthorn for Hairstreaks. On the way we were distracted by the variety of other species still flying here: Commas, Speckled Woods, Meadow Browns, a few tired Gatekeepers, Small Heaths, Common Blues, Brown Argus and the ever-present Small Coppers.

We had almost given up on seeing any Hairstreaks, when I spotted something in the hedge that looked a bit different. Sure enough, a female Brown Hairstreak was wandering up and down a vertical blackthorn stem.

She teased us with some opening of the wings before wandering off over the hedge.

Soon afterwards, Bugboy spotted another, feasting on a blackberry, and a bit later I found what was probably the same one on another rotten fruit.

Oddly enough we also found a very worn Purple Hairstreak indulging in the same way.

When I disturbed it, it promptly fell off its perch straight downwards - a bit of over-indulgence perhaps? Bugboy then had to leave, but I stayed a few minutes longer, enough to see another Brown Hairstreak high up with wings open, but bothered by a dragonfly before I could get closer. I also saw a Painted Lady, again at some distance...

...and a particularly fresh female Speckled Wood.

At last, some success - they've been a while coming.

Dave

[trevor]

Good to see your Brown Hairstreak at last, and it saved you half a tank of petrol !.
Purple Hairstreaks seem to be a long lived species, as yours demonstrates.
I'm off for another fix at Steyning today.

Trevor.

[David M]

It's a relief to see a few Brown Hairstreaks in people's PDs, Dave. I was starting to worry that the hot spell had somehow accounted for many of them.

Let's hope normal service will now be resumed.

[millerd]

Cheers, both - a great relief to see the Brown Hairstreaks and get some reasonable shots.

I've been away for a week in Yorkshire, but before I went, on Monday 13th August I had another quick visit to Bookham as the weather seemed half decent. As before, there was a good variety of species present, including perhaps the last Gatekeepers I shall see this year.

faded like this, the resemblence to a Small Heath is quite marked

The Brown Argus and Common Blues seemed very fresh

with black marginal hindwing spots

No inebriated Purple Hairstreaks today, and for a while I thought the Brown contingent had gone into hiding. However, in the end I saw two - of which this is one.

ambling along: sloe, sloe, quick quick sloe...

the autumnal blackthorn leaves offer good camouflage

Dave

[bugboy]

I was there two days later but didn't see any

[ernie f]

Love the pic of the Brown Hairstreak actually next to a Sloe Berry.

[millerd]

None to be seen today (20th) either, Buggy.

Thanks, Ernie I think I read that Brown Hairstreaks usually avoid the bushes covered in fruit - but then they don't read the books either...

On Tuesday 14th August I travelled up to stay with my sister in York again for a few days. The weather was nothing special, but I managed a couple of trips out, and saw one or two things in the garden as usual.

Wednesday 15th August: just a couple of minutes up the road from my base in Wilberfoss is Calley Heath, a piece of sandy grassland that has never been cultivated. It had obviously been recently very parched, but the low vegetation was just starting to re-emerge - including many tiny sorrel plants. This is all to the good, as the remnants of the latest brood of Small Coppers were still hanging on. An adjacent field has now been added to the reserve and was being grazed by hebridean sheep, and between the two areas I saw eight or nine rather ragged Small Coppers.

Just inside the "new" field, some late flowering thistles were harbouring a handful of Brown Argus. Going by their age and the date, these would have been second brood indviduals and therefore not likely to be NBA - though there is some debate about the status of populations in Yorkshire.

Also seen were a few GVW and one or two Meadow Browns.

Finally, in the original reserve area (which is basically one huge rabbit warren), I spotted a Peacock flying low across the ground, settling from time to time next to rabbit holes and scrapes. I have seen one do this before in this area, and it is quite possible they hibernate in the rabbit holes.

Dave

[Old Wolf]

Great pictures millerd. I particularly like the CB where you can see the underwing spots through the top forewing. I have also been studying your SW underside shot as I don't think I have ever seen one with its wings closed before. Whenever I see them they are either flying or landed with wings fully open. I need to see one in the flesh now

[millerd]

Cheers, Old Wolf - Speckled Woods do close up like that in very sunny warm weather (and also when it's chilly and not sunny at all!). Fresh ones have a very intricate and attractive pattern, and they vary a fair bit between individuals and broods.

Friday 17th August: After an astonishingly quick fix of a punctured tyre this morning by my breakdown company (from call, via transport into York on the back of a trailer, and return to base with new tyre was less than two hours...), a bit of brightness tempted me out to Kiplingcotes chalk pit near Market Weighton. I hadn't expected to go, so it was a bit of a bonus. The track down to the reserve was full of Speckled Woods, plus a few whites, and on arrival the faint hint of sun was enough to energise a Small Heath into nectaring on a bed of marjoram.

Climbing up the chalk bank to the meadow at the top which I hadn't explored last time, I found some flowering knapweed, and here were one male and one female Common Blue, both pretty fresh as well. It looks a very promising area for future investigation.

By the time I reached the fruitful northeast corner, the sun had retreated behind much thicker cloud, and all I saw was the orange-brown of a Wall fly up in front of me from where it had been sheltering in the grass. On the way back to the car, the Speckled Woods were still making the most of what meagre brightness remained.

Here is a view looking towards the northeast from not far inside the reserve.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Those are mighty fine Brostreak images Dave and I'm glad that you got them in the end Kiplingcotes looks like an interesting reserve; the Blues look good for this time of the season too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thanks, Wurzel - those Brown Hairstreaks have been mighty difficult this year one way or another, as you'll see when I've posted a few more outings... Yes, Kiplingcotes is interesting, being part of our most northerly set of chalk hills (the Yorkshire Wolds). I now need to see it in spring!

Before I leave Yorkshire, here a few shots from my sister's garden. The weather had something to do with it, but there wasn't much around this time.

Regardless of what sort of season they are having, there is always a Painted Lady!

Dave

[Wurzel]

It mist be great to have a reliable source for Painted Lady Dave , I always struggle with them as you never know if you're going to see one

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

I know what you mean, Wurzel, but for some reason I always see them more consistently up in Yorkshire than I do on my local patch.

Talking of which... Back home and on Sunday 19th August I wandered round locally for the first time for about a week. Not a lot had changed, and Holly Blues, though more and more worn, were still the most frequently encountered species (24 seen).

Common Blues were next (16)...

and then Small Whites (15) and GV Whites (11), and after almost disappearing, there were another flush of Brown Argus (11 individuals).

The other notable increase in numbers was with Red Admirals. Of course, it was their favourite time of day at this time of year (late afternoon), and each patch of sunlight along the path between the lake and the River Colne had at least one. There were frequent battles as their territorial patrols overlapped, with as many as four butterflies squabbling together and occasionally sucking Speckled Woods into the mix. I saw nine altogether, the highest total this year so far, a mixture of battle-worn and relatively new.

Also seen: a very weary summer Comma, a Small Heath, a Meadow Brown, a couple of Large Whites and two Small Coppers (one very worn, the other quite fresh).

Today's moth was another Jersey Tiger - they have been a regular feature this summer.

Dave

[Wurzel]

That is a more than respectable number of Holly Blues Dave, your whispering ways must be bringing them in from far and wide You've done well with the Jersey Tiger, I've only ever seen one and that as foreign

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Those Hollies are still going strong, Wurzel, though perhaps not quite so many today. I've seen about half a dozen of those Tigers this year round here, so they must be spreading into these parts, having been established in the London area for a while.

Monday 20th August. Time to go a bit further again, and have another crack at those Bookham Brown Hairstreaks. Despite reasonable sunshine and warm conditions, I saw not a single one, either high, low or in the middle. However, it is never a wasted trip to Bookham, as something interesting always appears. Today it was a pretty fresh male Chalkhill Blue, nectaring on the mint that grows profusely in some of the damper patches. It took a moment to work out what it was, so completely out of its normal context, much larger than any of the other blues, and almost white in colour. This individual must have strayed from the nearest chalk: Denbies may well be the nearest spot, 7km due south of the location in which I found it.

not where you would expect to see a Chalkhill

The by now usual array of Common Blues and Brown Argus to be seen - there seems to be a continuous supply of fresh butterflies. The Brown Argus in particular is doing well here, as in previous years I have only seen one or two.

some energetic wing rolls from this one

There were some nice female Common Blues today with variable amounts of blue.

As well as one or two fading Small Coppers, a couple of new ones had appeared - once again, there appears to be an almost a continuous emergence of them here this summer.

Speckled Woods were around in good numbers too, also looking brand new.

Other species found the mint attractive too.

A shame there were no Hairstreaks, but this wandering individual rather made up for it.

Dave

[Andrew555]

Nice shots Dave. Definitely need to check Bookham out at some point.

[Maximus]

You still seem to be finding plenty of nice fresh butterflies of various species, Dave That Chalkhill Blue at Bookham was a very interesting find

Mike

[millerd]

Thank you, Andrew. Bookham is a great site, with a lot of variety throughout the season. It covers quite an area with varied habitats so worth exploring at leisure.

Cheers, Mike - as ever, always expect the unexpected! I'd love to know where that Chalkhill hatched...

On from Bookham to spend the afternoon of 20th August down at Denbies. My last visit was nearly three weeks ago on 1st, and the immediate change was that scintillating pale blue butterflies had largely been replaced by bright shining electric blue ones. Adonis were now out in good numbers, the horseshoe vetch clearly not suffered too much from the lack of rain while the caterpillars were munching. One or two individuals were a bit undersized, but most weren't, and none of the Chalkhills I've seen here have been either. This is a contrast with the Common Blues and Brown Argus, which are mostly below normal size here - as elsewhere. In amongst all the numbers of Adonis, I only spotted one slightly aberrant underside.

In addition to the Adonis, a few male Chalkhills were left...

...and there were a lot of small brown butterflies - females of all three Blues and numbers of Brown Argus. Superficially similar, very mobile and in significant numbers, It was impossible to estimate the proportions of the different species. However, all of those below are Adonis, I reckon!

I also saw quite a few Small Heaths, and a handful of Silver-spotted Skippers.

However, the male Adonis were the star attraction.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Hi! Dave, catching up on posts, it's been nothing but rain or dark cloudy days here, I love those Peacock shots , you've brought out there true colours with your shots and the same with the Adonis Goldie