millerd

[millerd]

Thursday September 27th. Once again, a beautiful warm and sunny day. I set off at a leisurely pace down to Denbies, as much as anything because there had been reports of Clouded Yellows here as well, and seeing one inland would make a change. Compared to Mill Hill, there really wasn't much flying here at all - a few Meadow Browns, slightly more numerous Small Heaths and a handful of the very last Adonis females were pretty much it.

One or two other flypasts (Speckled Wood, Small Copper, Red Admiral, Brimstone, Small White) before the target species appeared in the distance. As evver, it came tantalisingly close before heading off past me. Denbies is a large hillside, and any regular circuits a Clouded Yellow makes take a considerable time, and they tend to get distracted off the route as well. Nevertheless, I saw the same butterfly at least six times (or six individuals once, or perhaps any permutation in between that maths allows...). It did stop a few times, but never near enough for more than shots providing evidence of its existence and the fact that it seemed to be a male.

With the customary strong breeze blowing despite almost calm conditions everywhere else, and bright sun, in the end I restricted myself to a shot or two of the view.

I popped into the vineyard afterwards, where the harvest was underway already, and took a few views here as well.

Box Hill in the background

Looking up the hill towards Ranmore

Ripe and ready

Returning home, it was worth a look on my local patch as at this time of year there can often be more to see!

Dave

[Katrina]

Great to see you on Wednesday - I enjoyed it so much I went back again today!

[millerd]

Good to see you too, Katrina! There is some more decent weather forecast for the middle of the coming week so I may well have to pop down again too.

Back home again on 27th September, and as predicted a different set of things to see. Things kicked off with a Holly Blue, something that has been absent for nearly three weeks now. It skulked in the shade unfortunately, but at least it stayed put.

Next to be seen was another long absent species: a Peacock high on some buddleia (last seen around here on 14th July). Possibly a second brood butterfly like those at Mill Hill.

Commonest species today was the Common Blue - entirely missing from Denbies now, where the third brood hasn't happened at all as far as I can see. However, the habitat here on my local patch has so many thistles they all quickly acquire rips and tears.

This was also true of the two Small Coppers I saw today.

Large and Small Whites, plus several Speckled Woods, completed the list.

Dave

[Wurzel]

With those vineyards and a Clouded Yellow in great nick that could be somewhere continental Dave

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Is that where Denbies grow there grapes, Dave?

[millerd]

True, Wurzel, not a traditionally English scene. Denbies is a massive vineyard - I believe at one time it was the largest vineyard in single ownership in Europe (most continental vineyards were actually owned by lots of individuals who pooled their shares: this may still be the case). The wine is pretty good, especially the various types of fizz - in common with many English vineyards. And, as I've mentioned before, there is the Surrey Hills Brewery round the back.

The butterfly hillside is further on to the west , David, but yes, this is where Denbies English Wine is grown.

Friday 28th September. Still mostly sunny today, but distinctly cooler as promised. First off, I decided to revisit Bedfont Lakes Country Park. Since retiring last year, I am not on the doorstep as I used to be at work, so I neglect this patch. Today wasn't especially thrilling, with two third brood Common Blues and two Small Whites seen.

Clouded Yellows do turn up here, but not today.

For the afternoon, it had to be my local patch again. Nine species seen (there were seven yesterday):
Speckled Wood 5
Small White 5
Common Blue 4
Red Admiral 2
Holly Blue 2
Brown Argus 2
Small Heath 1
Small Copper 1
Peacock 1
The Peacock was probably the same one as I saw yesterday, but this time I had some better views.

The Small Copper looked familiar too, and I cannot resist the poses these characterful butterflies strike at every opportunity.

There may not be as many pebbles as there are at Dungeness, but something in their make-up causes them to seek out stones to perch on.

Unfortunately the two very worn female Brown Argus wouldn't keep still in their investigation of the ground litter for minuscule cranesbill plants, and the two Holly Blues were flying high - they looked by their bright colour to be fresh males. I did manage shots of two of the other species seen, however.

Dave

[Goldie M]

It's great you've seen a Peacock Dave, I used to have loads in my Garden and I've not had one this year, a fact that makes me wonder if their on the endangered list for local Butterflies Here Goldie

[millerd]

Thanks, Goldie - the last one I saw here was way back in early July so it was a pleasant surprise.

Saturday 29th September: another sunny and warm day. By chance, I had been invited to afternoon tea celebrating a friend's 50th birthday down in Eastbourne. With the morning to take advantage of, I set off early enough to have an hour or two at High & Over which after all is not by any means very far from my later rendezvous.

On arriving at the car park I found it full of large vehicles housing parascending enthusiasts, who were busy jumping off the top of the ridge and riding the thermals the sunshine was generating. However, I spotted a space big enough for my normal-sized car but clearly too small for the assorted wide/high/long monstrosities parked along the verges. As I walked down the path through the trees, I was surrounded by an assortment of Speckled Woods charging about in the strong sunshine, and looking pretty fresh too. I watched a couple gyrate in the air for a while, when one of them plummeted into the undergrowth. Peering through the leaves, I watched the "playing dead" act performed by the female spurning a would-be suitor. He hung around briefly and then gave up. However, she stayed immobile for a bit longer, just in case, allowing me a couple of quick shots through the shade into the pool of bright sunshine where she was lying.

Clearly she didn't see me as any kind of threat as she then quickly sat up and flew off.

Out of the trees and down the steps, where there were two Walls arguing strenuously over the territory. The (temporary) victor paused to take stock.

There were perhaps half a dozen male Walls in the area, mostly on the northern side of the hedge today, and a couple of females were spotted as well but were camera-shy and ranging out across the open spaces. One male in particular had developed an obsession about one of the few remaining ragwort plants, returning time and time again to nectar and offering unusually good photo opportunities for this notoriously skittish species.

It posed elsewhere as well, as did one or two others.

Well worth the slight detour before the main event of the day!

Dave

[bugboy]

Good set of Walls there Dave. They're having a fabulous end of year party!

[trevor]

Pleased you had a great morning with the squabbling Walls,
And plenty of great shots. The last one in your sequence looks pretty fresh.

Hope they last a while longer,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cracking set of Walls Dave - it must be great seeing more than a solitary one
I got a bit of a shock as I read your post - "parascending enthusiasts", "a couple gyrating in the air" plummeted into the undergrowth" and "dead" was what my extremely tired brain took in " Hold on this isn't anything like Dave's usual posts, it's all gone very, very dark! "
It made a lot more sense and was much more cheerful when I reread it

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Andrew555]

Great reports Dave, I like the Coppers, Cloudies and Walls. I too have enjoyed the Hemp Agrimony corner at Mill Hill recently.

[millerd]

Cheers, everyone - High & Over is the place to go for Walls, as Trevor will tell you.

Sunday 30th September: Big Ship Day in our family... I was watching my son play rugby again this morning, but the wildflower bed next to the playing fields no longer had any Common Blues. It did, however, have a moth: I was even able to identify it as a Box Tree moth following the recents postings here.

They really are spreading.

Monday 1st October: Three-quarters of the year gone - how did that happen? I had another stroll around my local patch on a day that was cooler than of late and a bit breezy, but sunny enough to bring out a few things. I found a Comma, unusually down on the ground, and a look at the photos shows that it was sucking up moisture from the leaf litter.

The ragged Common Blues of a few days ago had now been replaced by a selection of new and unscathed male butterflies:

There was a single female, seeking suitable plants to lay on.

A nearby leaf appeared to already have an egg attached.

I spotted the Small Copper I had seen a couple of times previously:

It appeared to have adopted a particular pebble as a perch, and kept returning to it.

However, all was not to remain calm, as a newcomer appeared.

The second Copper made a daring approach...

...with inevitable consequences.

The two spent ages locked in tight dogfights, zooming across the ground and then settling next to one another.

You would almost think in the end that a truce had been declared.

Finally, a single Small Heath flew past, confusing the Coppers no end, and settled somewhat precariously.

Not that many butterflies seen in total today (only 12), but plenty of interest - the Coppers were most entertaining.

Dave

[David M]

Thanks for confirmation regarding the vineyard, Dave. Looks a decent spot in all honesty.

You're still doing marvellously well with your species range. Nine in a day is great for late September. Good too that there are Wall Browns to be seen near you. Is this species beginning a recovery or is this year just a one-off?

[millerd]

Yes, the vineyard and environs are a very attractive location, David, especially in the sunshine!

To be honest, the Walls at High & Over are not really that close - neary a two-hour drive if the traffic is in its habitual clogged-up state. Mill Hill is nearer (about 65 miles), but both are definitely worth the effort.

Tuesday 2nd October: noticeably warmer today, but a visit to the dentist and a bit of cloud impeded any longer trip out. A very brief look locally late in the afternoon produced very few butterflies, though these did include a Comma and a Red Admiral.

Wednesday 3rd October: today started sunny, became completely overcast for an hour or so, then became very sunny and warm too for the afternoon. I started off with another look down at Banks Common (Bookham). Very few flowers are now left here, but in one area where ragwort remains in bloom, I found the customary Small Copper.

Moving to the main meadow area, it appeared that the edge of the field along the hedgerow was in the process of being cut. The trim was not especially short, but the process was mangling the edge of the hedge rather badly and may well have affected some of the Brown Hairstreak eggs laid along here.

The other knock-on effect was the removal of the last scabious flowers the Coppers had been using. I didnt stay long enough to see whether the whole field was to be cut - to be honest that would probably do little damage beyond truncating a few bits of suckering blackthorn around the edges. All the butterfly eggs and caterpillars on the BFT, cranesbill and sorrel would be largely untouched by a coarse cut like this.Along the newly cut hedgeline, one Small Copper remained, the only butterfly here.

As the sun began to reappear I walked back to the car, finding that several Speckled Woods were now out and about.

Last of all was one more Small Copper.

With what looked like a sunny afternoon ahead, I continued down to Denbies again. A very good decision as it turned out...

Dave

[bugboy]

They really have strimmed it back . Still we have mused on more than one occasion as to the benefits of giving that field a decent annual hair cut . we might see a mini explosion of activity there next year, perhaps more Dingy Skippers.

[Wurzel]

Great Small Heath 'tease' shot Dave in amongst the other brill shots Dave Really like the first Comma shot - the Deep Purple colour is gorgeous and the 'Comma' is almost a full circle, almost, so it looks a little like a capital G if you side it with your head tilted

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

You're right, Buggy - it'll be interesting to see what next spring brings. Only six months to go till the first week of April..

Cheers, Wurzel. Yes, that Comma had a very bold marking - it often looks to me like an arm flexing a bicep, though in this case it is almost exactly a "G" shape: g-album perhaps?

3rd October: part two, and another visit to Denbies. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the hillside today was the number of Small Heaths that appeared when the sun shone - at least fifteen in various places, with no particular concentrations.

The next curiosity was that there appeared to be a plague of ladybirds. They were everywhere, settling in my hair, on my clothes and disappearing inside my shirt. Quite bizarre for the time of year.

As for other butterflies, there were still some very ragged Adonis females seeking out the horeshoe vetch, but I did also see a single Common Blue female firstly nectaring and then looking for trefoil.

Similarly, a Small Copper was searching hard for sorrel.

However, today's stars were the Clouded Yellows. I think there were four or five, but it could have been more. I certainly had three in view at one time. There were at least two freshly emerged females, which obligingly hopped from flower to flower, building up energy to set about laying, and allowing for some reasonable shots for a change. The males on the other hand rarely stopped in their wide-ranging patrols of the slopes.

With their relatively lazy flight, I tried to get some shots of a female on the wing, just to see if I could capture an upperside view.

My best effort yet - more practice required, though...

Another shot of the view, over towards Dorking this time.

A great afternoon once again!

Dave

[trevor]

Superb Cloudie shots, Dave. Including one of my favourite types of image,
light and shadow, great stuff.

Trevor.

[Neil Freeman]

Just catching up again Dave, I thought I was reading Hoggers PD for a minute a few posts back with those Small Coppers

Great Clouded Yellow shots . Good to see there are plenty of butterflies about down there still, things are definitely coming to an end up here although I hear there were good numbers of Clouded Yellows about earlier in the week at Sywell Country Park in Northamptonshire so they are not all down south

Cheers,

Neil.