Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Love the shots of the OT's from last year Wurzel, the weathers changed here today I walked round HLB and not a single Butterfly,
so keep your's coming, then I'll believe Spring is here Goldie

[trevor]

Hope Wilts can provide a few OT's next week!.
I will check out Tilshead too if the weather behaves.

Have a great Easter break,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie I do have a bit of a backlog Goldie so I will be happy to oblige - it's April and I'm still in February PD wise
Cheers Trevor You should be okay Trevor - I saw three at one site on Saturday and there have been reports from across the county , we just need the weather to play ball - sunny intervals would be ideal

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

April 2019

Bit late I know but then that is the way of Wurzel...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Work 26-02-2019

Another day and another trip to the Path during the lunch break. This time instead of working all the way round the fields and along the first half of the field I cut to the chase and made straight for the half way point and the “Bush’. To do this I cut through the garages and after the obligatory check of the tiny bank (nothing today) I made my way through the estate eyeing various of the ‘good spots’ on the way which also drew blanks. I didn’t actually see a butterfly until I reached the ‘Bush’ where there were two Commas feeding at about head height. One nipped off and so I made to follow it along the path and it didn’t get far.

A different points along the path I was accompanied by 4 Small Tortoiseshells. I saw the first and it took off from the wrong side of the fence, flew towards me and then disturbed the second which repeated the action of the first; disturbing the third. I was pretty confident that there were three individuals here as at one point all three piled into each other in one of those great to watch Spring skirmishes. I carried on along the path spying the fourth Small Tort while the other three were still spiralling about behind me. At the far end of the path a Peacock went up from the path in front of me; the large eyes serving their purpose and dazzling me so I didn’t get a shot off. I didn’t mind as even though I didn’t have my shot I had species number 5 for the 2019 Tally.

I was almost late back to work but as I had a free it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Love that first shot of the Comma Wurzel, it's great to get Butterflies at a distance when they're on lovely Blossom Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie I was chuffed with those shots as there was a great contrasting blue sky background Hopefully this cooler weather is a blip and normal service is resumed soon

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

...Love that first shot of the Comma...

Ditto. A cracking image

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Neil In the past I didn't have much luck with the more distant shots like that - it could be that the total refit of my Autofocus means my fortunes could change though the more modest side of me puts it down to a fluke

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

The “Aristocrats”

14 White Admiral, 01-07-2018 Bentley Wood

The White Admirals were running late this year (over 2 weeks) – or rather I was as I didn’t get to Bentley until the start of the ‘silly season’ and so missed out on the first flush of WA’s when they are really contrasting. Instead by the time I got to the woods they were looking a little ragged and had taken on the more dark brown appearance that seems to come with age for this species. I didn’t have to work too hard to find a couple in Bentley but my later visit meant that I can’t really be sure how they fared here though if I go with my digestive tract then I’d say that here at least they seemed fewer in numbers than last year?

15 Purple Emperor, 01-07-2018 Bentley Wood

It seems that the Emperors have taken to emerging early as this year they were out a day earlier than last. Mind you this could be because once again we experienced a period of searing temperatures and June really was ‘Flaming’.

Last year I reckoned that I was the second year into the usual three year cycle and so this would be the year when I would find them down on the ground. And so it turned out. It was cracking and the day is emblazoned on my mind as I experienced the full gamut of Emperor behaviour. There was the meet and greet from on high in the car park, surging flights along the tops of the Oaks that line the main ride, exploratory glides down lower and the final descent onto something utterly repulsive and in this case canine in origin. To cap it all not only did I get the open wing shots that I’d been craving and envying for several years but I was granted a private audience/trousering! It was fantastic to finally enjoy some quality time with this species. They seemed to have a good year number wise and there were huge numbers coming in from other sites too.

16 Red Admiral, 05-04-2018 Middle Street

After seeing my first much later this year, two months later in fact, seeing them through the spring was actually really tricky. They just didn’t seem to be around perhaps they were slowed down by the Beast from the East. The cold blast just as they were getting going possibly meant that they kept their heads down and got on with the business. Then when the summer started I started seeing them much more frequently. In fact by the end of the season, as is often the way they were at pretty much every site I visited and became the final species of the year. A much better finish than beginning.

17 Painted Lady, 15-07-2018 somewhere in Surrey…

In 2017 I saw just 4 of this species over the whole year and it felt what with their much later appearance (almost 6 weeks) that 2018 was going to follow in the same vain or maybe even worse. However after my initial sighting it seemed that the floodgates had been broken as I then saw two individuals at Laverstock, singletons at Broughton Down and Shipton Bellinger as well as at least 6 while sojourning in Wales. Whilst this isn’t exactly a record busting year it certainly beats the 4 from 2017 and is one of the best years in several for this species for me. Hopefully this year will finally be the year when we get another massive invasion, it’s been almost a decade since the last one…

18 Small Tortoiseshell, 21-03-2018 Work

Over a month later this year and once again I found my first at work but surprisingly I saw a Peacock prior to my first Tortie. After the masses that I saw last year I was hoping for a repeat performance this year too but whilst I could regularly find them in double figures in the short walk round the school site occasionally getting into the high teens my record number was 20 in one visit so a couple down on my highest number last year. They were also in good numbers at Middle Street but down at Five Rivers – possibly because this is an ‘early’ site for them and I missed them when Snow stopped play?

As last year they dwindled as the month progressed and rather than seeing in the teens I could occasionally find a couple with some pretty worn ones up on Pewsey Downs almost 2 months after my first. After this they were very hard to come by in the Autumn although a Small Tort was my penultimate photographed butterfly of 2018. This marked drop-off in the summer brood happened in 2017 as well and they did okay in the Spring of 2018 so fingers crossed that they’re okay for this year.

19 Peacock, 13-03-2018 Work

Normally it’s a Small Tort photo wise and a first fleeting view of a Red Admiral but not so this year. Unusually a Peacock was my first photographed and first seen butterfly of 2019. At Fiver Rivers when I was able to catch up with them there they were about in reasonable numbers but I still wasn’t convinced that they were catching up on the Small Tort – in fact they seemed to be down this year. They too showed the familiar pattern of the other Aristos in that the Hibernators put in a good showing but then the subsequent brood was far less numerous. As always they seemed to be the first to disappear and hibernate.

20 Comma, 21-03-2018 Work

I feel like I’m writing the same thing again and again when considering the Aristos but for the sake of completeness here goes… later in emerging, not in as high numbers as last year and then much harder to find come the autumn when you’re hoping for a few Aristos to maintain interest in the closing stages of the season. I’m wondering if the really cold snap in the spring followed by the almost unbearable heat have played a part in this pattern that I saw in the hibernators? Obviously the pattern gets broken though for the Comma as the H.Comma appears around July time giving us a nice fresh dose of Comma action. However this year I can’t recall seeing as many of these either. Hopefully this is more down to me just being in the wrong place or at the wrong time? The unusual thing that I can recall is that the Comma was my second butterfly in 2019 knocking the usual Number 1, the Small Tort, down to third!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Fritillaries

I had a cracking year with the Fritillaries this year seeing all 8 of the British species…however this was only because I picked up the usual suspects in the UK and then took my holiday in the Dordogne where I was able to get the three trickier Frits…

21 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, 27-05-2018 Bentley Wood

Last year I saw this species twice at Bentley with a singleton and then a maximum count of 5. I said then that the Small Pearl seems to be dwindling and so it continues with only 5 seen on two occasions this year. To be fair I found my first a week later this year and it was the first record from Bentley so they may have taken slightly longer to get going but I’m still concerned for this species here. This coming season I need to tear myself away from the Eastern Clearing and check out the various paths and rides throughout the wood which will give me a fairer reflection of their status. I still feel it’s not looking good so I might need to start trying to find sites in the New Forest as a back-up.

22 Pearl-bordered Fritillary, 19-05-2018 Bentley Wood

A similar story with The Spring Fritillary as for other spring butterflies in that is was late by a good two weeks – progress slowed, emergence postponed by the Beast from the East. Even so this put it back in line with the first sighting dates from previous years coming in the first week of May and meant that the East/West time divide was slightly diminished. Unlike their smaller and swarthier cousins the Pearls seem to be not as badly number wise. Over the course of a couple of visits there were good showings of Pearls with at least 11, 8 and 6 recorded at this site. Hopefully the massive amount of clearing will be just in time to sustain this particular Frit as well as help its scarcer cousin. I kept my eye out for aberrants and melanics but only one individual seemed to have much heavier markings than usual. Also this year they seemed much more frenetic than I recall, bombing around all over the place as though on a mission, which I suppose they were; “gotta meet my Biological Imperative” was their mantra.

23 Dark Green Fritillary, 20-06-2018 Larkhill

The DGF was definitely not following the same rule book as the majority of the Frits in 2018. First up they were actually earlier than last year possibly due to onslaught of the heatwave arriving a whole 12 days earlier. They also cropped up in a massive range of sites; on the cliffs and beach at Lulworth Cove, the wastelands of Larkhill and my Duke site, the rolling Downs of Laverstock and Broughton and also in the lowland woods of Bentley. The only problem I had with this species this year was weather related. Again they lasted the distance and they were still going strong into August at Broughton. They were so solar charged in the heat that they rarely stopped for very long and even more rarely did they close up their wings allowing the much sought after under wing shots.

24 Silver-washed Fritillary, 01-07-2018 Bentley Wood

It felt like things had really caught up and got back onto schedule once the heatwave hit and for the Silver-washed this meant that I found them a day earlier this year compared to last. I seem to recall feeling that in 2017 they were doing okay but this year I don’t think that this is the case. I did see a straggler at Shipton at the tail end of their flight but after my first few at Bentley there were only a couple at Garston and a singleton at Broughton to add to the overall Tally. It was a disappointing year for me for this species. At Bentley the walk from the car park up to the Memorial for Whitters produced only a handful and I had to really work to get any shots whereas in previous years I didn’t have any worries on this score; if I missed out on one another would be encountered a short distance further on. A couple of weeks into their flight when I called in at Garston there were only a few individuals flying along the main track and they were all really worse for wear. Also this was the first year that I didn’t see a Valesina on my travels. So not a very good year – perhaps the heat struck at the wrong time for this species?

25 Marsh Fritillary, 19-05-2018 Marshie Site

Nine days later this year and unfortunately I didn’t find one at Larkhill – though I always had that one down as an outlier. Still it was a cracking year for the Marshie. Cotley was good but not as good as it has been in previous years though this is probably just down to the usual boom and bust cycle and a quieter year in 2018 could mean a busier one in 2019. They were in great numbers at Martin Down – the most I’ve ever seen here; I only walked from the main car park along the Dyke to about half way to the hollow where the Dyke transects the path from Sillen’s Lane but even so they were pretty much everywhere, littering the path and making the place look slightly untidy. However the real crème de la crème came from Bentley Wood were there were several flying on both the visits I made to the Eastern Clearing. No traipsing the length and breadth of the Wood or trying to follow narrow and winding roads to mysterious car parks deep in the impenetrable core of the wood; no ‘secret squirrels’ “none shall post” worries about the trip report write-up. No none of that as there they were, brazenly flying about around the boggier ground amid the tussocks and Purple Moor Grass. Brilliant! I’ve gone from desperately trying to find a site to see this species to being spoilt for choice!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

A great resume of mid and late(ish) 2018 season, Wurzel.
I always feel a little melancholy as His Majesty fades, as the season has peaked by then.
Personally, I thought ' the hill ' performed very well in 2018. But the weather was superb when I went.

Pearls soon!
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor The summer this year was brilliant and the grounded Emperors were the icing on the cake . I'm keeping my eyes on the Sightings page - the Bentley Pearls are normally 1-2 weeks later than those in Sussex. I better get back to writing - still got Browns, Blues, Hairstreaks and Duke to do as well as 11 reports from this season to sort out Hopefully the weather will improve for the Easter week...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Lovely shots of all the Butterflies Wurzel but I like the last shot of the Marshie best( it's lovely) it seems to be saying ("yahoo" look at me) Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie The best thing about that one was that it came from Bentley Wood and I got that shot after spending an horrific morning in Ikea Only another 5 odd weeks and they should be flying again

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Yes, a very nice Marshie, Wurzel - it was definitely odd to find them on both my visits to Bentley last year, as I'd never come across any there before. The plight of SPBF there is very worrying though, as you say. Incidentally, my experiences elsewhere of SWF didn't mirror yours - there seemed to be plenty at both Bookham and Chiddingfold.

Hopefully not long till Fritillary Time again!

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave What we in Wiltshire really need is SPBF turning up somewhere else , at Bentley I think the memo was delivered to the Marshies by mistake As for the Pearls not long now, in 2017 they were out by 23rd at least so hopefully another week or two - I can't wait

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Work 27-02-2019

After things worked out so well yesterday I again cut my way through the garages and made straight to the ‘Bush’ but today I was stopped as a Small Tort was bumbling along the tiny bank and occasionally it stopped for the briefest of basks on the Tarmac.

Down at the bushes there were three Commas – the first of which was the closest that I’ve found them at here but as I came round the corner it took off and landed high at the back of the Bush away from my lens so I had to settle for some shots from slightly further away. Aware that I didn’t have the luxury of a free directly after lunch I had to keep moving today and so set off on a rapid check of the path. There were a couple of Small Torts along the way, definitely three different individuals but because the vegetation hasn’t been cut back over successive years they’re in the habit of nipping over the fence and reappearing further along the track now rather than showing the previous behaviour of nipping to the next nectar source.

There were also a couple of Brimstones patrolling up and down the path on the return journey. Again there were three though again there could have been more. I’m basing the count of three on the fact that this was the maximum number I saw together at one time. They seemed to be slightly less inclined to keep perpetually moving and so I was able to actually get a few shots of them when they paused for breath/nectar. This is generally the way with this species at this time of year; first there is the sighting, then the feeble attempt at some in flight shots followed by distant/grab shots and hopefully eventually so decent shots while they’re still in decent nick. So I’m at Brimstone Stage 2…

After a brief final check of the Bush I legged it back to work – all change weather wise tomorrow so was that our summer?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Lovely Brimstone shot Wurzel, yellow on yellow Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie That Brimstone was apparently committing a bit of a fashion faux pas, it was doubling up colours It's a pretty feeble attempt at camo - I mean the colour is okay but it still sticks out like a sore thumb (all be it a much more attractive digit) as it's so large

Have a goodun

Wurzel