Bugboys mission

[Wurzel]

Those Cloudy shots were a bit epic Bugboy, especially the last one - a right royal cracker Part 2 produced a mighty fine haul of butterflies, cracking Walls

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave & Wurzel, I'm still going to keep trying to get better shots though, the weather looks pretty good for the upcoming week, fingers crossed

27th September, Bookham again.

By an unexpected turn of events I ended up with a bonus afternoon out butterflying, although the circumstances that resulted in this could have been better. The evening before (after returning from Mill Hill) I discovered a lump in the nether regions so I phoned my boss to say I wouldn’t be in first thing the next day. I breathed a huge sigh of relief the following morning when the Doctor informed me I have a hernia. Not the best thing to hear but in the circumstances, by far the better of the two evils! My boss said to take the rest of the day off and since it was going to be another glorious autumnal day what better way to calm my shaken nerves than another trip to Bookham.

Coppers were the theme of the day, with around a dozen seen in the end, spread out over quite a range.

I stopped off at the regular Copper nursery where two days previously I’d found 6 eggs. Today I counted 25 and disturbed a female adding to the tally. I followed her for a bit and disturbed a second female a few feet away, also in the act of laying, in her case on a tiny sprig of Sorrel. Closer inspection found eggs on both sides of the leaf and a tiny larvae (arrowed in the pic).

An arrowed larvae making a quick getaway.

I also had another go at looking for Purple Emperor youngsters, again coming up empty handed. There was an awful lot of feeding damage but by what I have no idea. This picture shows what I think may be Emperor feeding damage but I can’t be sure. Guy would you be able to say with any certainty?

Purple Emperor feeding damage?

Anyway, safe to say I ended the day feeling a lot better than I started the day!

[Wurzel]

Glad things turned out not as bad as they could have been Bugboy A great set of Coppers to remove the stress hormones

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Very glad to hear it was nothing too serious, Buggy. It's probably all the yomping up and down the Downs that you do.

There must be thousands of Copper eggs all over that site at the moment. It would be nice to see that transformed into clouds of shining butterflies in the spring! Great shots of both adults and offspring there too.

Dave

[David M]

Not often you get a Small Copper framed against a clear blue sky, BB. Did you have to get on your knees for that or was the insect perched unusually high up?

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, yes getting out definitely helped!
Thanks Dave, I'm sticking to delicate strolling rather than yomping for the time being
Thanks David, that particular chap was sat up high, It was taken at arms reach

3rd October, part 1, a change of scenery

I fancied a bit of change of scenery today so I went down to what had become my default Wall site, the start of the South Downs Way between Eastbourne and Beachy Head. This year though this was my first visit here and being so late in the season I wasn't expecting too much.

Walking along the seafront Small Whites were numerous and the only butterfly seen, probably well into double figures.

Once onto the green slopes though butterflies became far more sparse. The area is larger and more spread out than a place like Mill Hill so you do have to work a bit to find your quarry but my next target didn't take too long to appear, a female Small Copper fluttering nonchalantly along the path next to me, shimmering in the morning sun when she landed. The poor little thing was getting somewhat battered in the stiff sea breeze that was blowing and she did well not to lose her footing as she fed.

Next up was a male Cloudie doing the rounds. I watched him as he flew off into the distance, not even bothering to contemplate following, not least because I'm supposed to be taking things easy with my hernia!

Next up were some more Coppers and a couple of male Common Blues who posed well.

After a brief encounter with a fresh Red Admiral it was off to Wall Brown Alley with just the occasional Small White for company.

Almost immediately upon arriving I put up a male holding fort over quite a large expanse of chalk path. After him it was a while before anymore showed up and these were at the other end. In between though some more female Small Coppers kept me entertained and I found another Copper nursery.

Despite it being close to midday and it being on the warm side with very little in the way of cloud cover, the Walls were relatively well behaved and with my long lens I was able to get plenty of decent shots… or so I thought. When I checked the images later on the train, I discovered I’d managed to knock the optical stabilizer button to off on my zoom lens and the vast majority of my pictures were way beyond rescuing . I managed to pick through the carnage and found a few which are passable though.

Not really in focus but I love this pose. You can imagine how intimidating and distracting it would be to a passing bird looking for a quick snack if faced with those eye's looking back at it!

I stayed with the Walls for about an hour (taking shedloads of worthless shots...) before making my way back, nearly getting my head knocked off by a passing Painted Lady who seemed late for something! Normally I would check out the steep slope under the path where the females usually hang out, but not today, hernia and all!

In the shadier parts of the path I found a couple of the Walls more well-behaved cousin and when I returned to the spot where the Blues had been in the morning I found just a single Brown Argus

One final surprise before I was back on the promenade was a female Wall in egg laying mode. I did try and grab a shot of her in the act but they are very quick, faster than my autofocus! Here’s a first glimpse of one of next year’s first gen though.

A passing Large White on the promenade brought the days tally to 10 species, not too shabby for the first week of October! And it was still early in the day so I decided another site was worth a punt before setting off home .

[Wurzel]

That is a great return for the days work - with more to come too Good to see'resting' didn't stop you getting the butterflies and sometimes slowing down a bit means you get much more form the trip

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

A nice selection of late season butterflies Bugboy

Glad to hear your lump turned out not too bad and you are getting about ok Gentle strolling is my default mode these days anyway

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

This species really is "Wall to Wall" along the Sussex coast at the moment, Buggy. Great shots - that egg has been so carefully placed at the end of that scraggy bit of dead foliage. Amazing precision, but why there I wonder? The poor caterpillar will have some work to do before finding a grass stem.

Cheers,

Dave

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel & Neil, to be honest a gently amble is my default when I'm out, unless I spot a rare ab. or a vagrant that is...

3rd October, part 2,

Newhaven Tidemills was the second destination of the day, surely the Cloudies have turned up here by now.

The tide was out and there was a fair bit of bird activity on the channel that partly separates the site from the 'mainland'. A flock of Redshank were taking things easy in the distance but closer were some Little Egrets doing a spot of fishing, or perhaps crabbing, I couldn’t be sure.

Pretty sure that's an unlucky crab.

Moving on I continued my search for some butterflies, for once spotting a basking Cloudie before it saw me, but he only staying still long enough for one record shot before he was off, never to be seen again, oh well.

Next up was species number 11 for the day, a Small Heath which was followed by a single aged Common Blue and shortly after that I caught site of a Wall settling on a Bramble thicket, a very fresh female. She played hard to get, but I managed to sneak up on her for a few head on shots.

Surprisingly there were no Whites here this afternoon and it was a while before the next sighting happened, but it was most definitely worth the wait and went a long way to make up for the mess I'd made of the Walls that morning. Thay sat patiently and gave me plenty of time to get the shots I was after.

After this the sun decided to go into hiding so I switched my attention to the ample birdlife the site offers, in particular a noisy charm of Goldfinch. As I watched them I did start to question the validity of their chosen collective noun, feeling a ‘squabble’ seemed more apt...

A very pleasant end to another nice day out

[Wurzel]

Great shot of the Walls in cop Bugboy The Goldfinches coming into land is a beaut of a shot - well worthy of a professional calendar

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

You've certainly had better weather down your way Bugboy, love the Bird shots especially that Little Egret, Goldie

[David M]

There's certainly some interesting stuff round your way, BB. Yet another mating pair of Wall browns on the forum! I'm beginning to wonder whether this developmental trap is no longer a trap in the warmer parts of southern England. They seem to be quite numerous right now.

Love the images of the Goldfinches too, especially the first with the hovering individual at the top.

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, the Goldfinch shots are some of my hit and hope shots, 9 times out of 10 they're deleted before they make it on my computer but occasionally some pass my judgement unscathed
Thanks Goldie, yup the sun is still shining on us down here and this week looks like some places are going to be mid twenties again
Thanks David. The recent run of warm autumns and late winters seem to have encouraged strong third broods of Walls along the south coast but it will only take a blip one year with a cold autumn to knock them for six. At the end of the day they can only respond to what the weather hands them, and the current weather pattern seems to encourage a successful third brood, but who knows what will happen over the next few years

7th October, Sussex yet again part 1

After the biblical rains on Saturday (possibly a slight over exaggeration) I was once again tempted down into Sussex to see what had survived. Transport options were limited with a combination of Sunday service and works taking place and the only option left was a 9am arrival at Shoreham, somewhat early for most species but a few reasonably fresh Specklies were making an early start to the day’s activities.

Once on the hillside of Mill Hill I made a beeline for the sheltered bottom corner which would hopefully offer plenty of protecting from the chilly northerly that was blowing today. Indeed it did and it helped significantly with the local temperature. It would seem I arrived just in time to catch the first few butterflies waking up. Small Copper and Common Blue numbers slowly picking up as the morning progressed.

Next to wake up were the Brown's with Meadow and Wall both giving me the slip. The Wall in particular lead me a merry dance, a nice fresh female too. With 5 species already seen I moved up to the top to see if anything was breakfasting on the now famous clump of Hemp Agrimony. It was clearly too early up here though, not being as sheltered as lower down, the patch of flowers were falling victim to the chilly breeze. Still I had plenty of time to kill so I wandered the shrubby, sheltered paths, noting the occasional Common Blue and Small Heath.

Eventually I disturbed a sleepy Red Admiral which floated around and settled frequently, clearly still not fully charged. One thing that struck me with this relaxed pose in the grass is just how well the pattern works at distracting the eye. The red bands form a circle, drawing your eyes away from the vulnerable body which vanishes within the uniform central brownness and towards the bright white spots at the wing tips, so clever.

Looking for basking Cloudies along the top path I found a particularly striking female Common Blue, even in flight she looked unusual with an almost white rim to her hind wing.

She eventually gave me the slip but almost immediately my eye’s caught sight of a yellow shark fin poking out of the short turf up ahead. It turned out to be another male (I’ve still not seen a female Cloudie this year). He was still warming up and settled frequently, never perfectly but a few more snaps to add to the years collection.

Back in the bottom corner Blues ruled the roost, some of them still looking quite fresh.

One final wander back up the top found the Hemp Agrimony still bereft of butterflies, just a single Red Admiral who scarped quickly at my approach. Presumably its compatriots had left for warmer climes, and who can blame them after the previous days effort weather-wise! Across the site Small Heath had now become rather numerous and there reasonable numbers of Meadow Browns, all females as far as I could tell.

I suspected there was still time for things to liven up more before the day ended, but I wanted to see if I could find any of the Cloudies Trevor had seen on Friday down at Southwick, so I attempted to leave Mill Hill. I say attempted because I kept getting distracted. Firstly I found a lovely Painted Lady, who simply demanded my attention, closely followed by a Small White and then a Comma buzzed me behind the bottom car park. If my maths is correct that makes 11 species (not ten as I stated in Katrina’s PD last night).

My usual route around the horse field on the south side of the bypass also held distractions in the form of several fresh Red Admirals enjoying the masses of Ivy found here.

[bugboy]

7th October, Sussex yet again part 2

I deliberately didn’t mention the Wall much in the first part since it does seem to be the butterfly of the moment so like Millerd, I’m giving it a post of its own. I did spend a fair amount of time chasing them once things started going although oddly, I only came across females. I had about half a dozen encounters and managed to photograph three of them, it’s impossible to say whether the ones that got away were different to the ones captured though.

The first one was a rather worn individual taking breakfast in the lower corner.

Next up was a fresher one whom I met halfway along the lower path.

The final and best looking one was up the top and was one of the distractions that delayed my departure. She was a good poser, although she did cause me to tentatively descend the slope near the steps a bit.

Based on the last ones condition it looks like the they are still emerging here.

[millerd]

Mill Hill continues to support a great range of species - you saw a Comma too, which I missed on Friday. There do still seem to be Walls emerging, and one or two others as well like the second Copper. You also got closer to the Cloudies...

Cheers,

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Nice selection of Wall Brown photos Bugboy and that is a beautiful female Small Copper with the reduced spots in the previous report

Cheers,

Neil.

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave and Neil, it's amazing we can still see such a range of species so late. When I was a kid it was pretty much all over by September bar the occasional adult hibernator

7th October, Sussex yet again part 3

For the final part of the day I went down to the aforementioned Southwick looking for more Clouded Yellows, hoping Trevor’s helice was still around, but in the hour or so I was there I didn’t see any sign of that particular species, perhaps the Torrential rain the previous day scared them all south. Indeed there was very little going on. For much of the time I just had a single Small White and a handful of Common Blues keeping me company. A couple of Red Admirals showed up, one of whom settled and I saw my first Small Coppers for this site, one old and one rather fresh. No target species but I did make the best out of what was around and given we are approaching the second week of October, still a pretty good showing !

[millerd]

A very nice female Common Blue there, and the Small Copper looks fresh too. Those Red Admirals were probably just pausing and brushing up their French before setting off south...

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

"it's amazing we can still see such a range of species so late. When I was a kid it was pretty much all over by September" I know what you mean Bugboy, I remember when I was a kid I went birding to Brownsea Island and the whole party were surprised to see a Red Admiral in October A great array, that Common Blue is lush but the one that stood out most was the Wall from a post back - the 'fresher one half way along the path' - it's fore wings look huge in comparison to its hind wings

Have a goodun

Wurzel