Bugboys mission

[millerd]

A splendid set of images of a wide selection of the best the Chilterns can offer, Buggy. As you know, it's one of my favourite bits of the Southeast as well. That pair of Dingies in particular...

Cheers,

Dave

[Pauline]

Some nice shots there Paul especially the mating Dingies - awhile since I've seen that. Hope you're managing to get a bit more time off work.

[David M]

Great montage, BB. Dukes seem to be everywhere this spring, as do Dingies, although that's the first in-cop image I've seen.

[bugboy]

Thanks guys . Still a good few days to go before I'm caught up, today we go back to 2 weeks ago.

13th May

Time to add another species to the years tally, Adonis Blue, so it was a trip to Denbies this time. No mishaps with the trains this time meant I was there nice and early. Before going down to see the first Adonis of the year I explored the edge of Steers field, finding a few Small Copper and something that’s been noticeably thin on the ground this year, a Red Admiral.

A couple of Adonis males, sparkling in the morning sun, erupted from the side of the path as I approached the steps where the Green Hairstreaks normally hang out, but today the steps and lecking area was bereft of them. There was however a female Holly Blue and for once this year she sat still for longer than a few seconds. I’ve barely made it into double figures for these this year so I tried my best to make the most of her. She made things difficult though, to get near her I had to pick my way through Hawthorn and Bramble whilst simultaneously trying not to disturb her. I only had the one angle to work with but I’ve never tried a stain glass Holly Blue, they look rather nice!

Anyway, the main course beckoned. It had gotten rather warm now though so pinning one down took some doing and even when I did, they were now rather reluctant to open up. Joining them were the springtime Skippers and Small Heath and also lots of 5-spot Burnets who were wasting absolutely no time in sorting out the next generation!

A smattering of Common Blues were also in the mix, and like everything else this morning, they too being rather difficult to get close to. I did managed to sneak up on one whilst he was chatting up a female Green Hairstreak though.

Green Tiger Beetles distracted me as they hunted along the paths, I had to break out the big lens to get the shots of them though, in this weather I didn’t stand a chance of getting up close to them!

Incoming!

I normally turn around and wander back up the slope when I reach the far bottom corner but today I decided to carry on and explore further. Turning the corner at the bottom of the slope I found a patch of particularly lush glass where Common Blues and Brown Argus fought for ownership over the best blade to pose on. One Argus was a particularly striking ab. snelleni, he could almost not look out of place on the Scottish borders!.

Further on I found a rather barren looking sun baked field, barren except for being occupied by several Brimstones quartering the ground as they drained every dandelion of nectar.

On the return walk up Denbies the butterflies were now mostly impossibly supercharged to pin down, but I did manage a nice pair before leaving the hillside for a quick look around Bookham.

At Bookham there was once again little around. A couple of Small Copper and a few Orange-tip were all that were around for the greater part of my wanderings. I do feel like the Orange-tip season passed me by this year, I really haven’t seen half as many as normal.

In the absence of adults I took for looking for youngsters, finding several Orange-tip eggs (no larvae here yet that I could find) and a nice selection of moth caterpillars whilst hunting for Brown Hairstreaks. The target caterpillar remained elusive, so much so I didn’t see it even when taking a picture of one…

Spot the BH caterpillar photo bombing this rather splendid Figure of Eight moth cat.

Just before leaving I came across a couple of Peacock and a Comma battling over a patch of bare earth, here’s the victor enjoying his spoils .

This really was turning into a splendid week of butterflying

[trevor]

Great stuff, Paul. Quite right, your Brown Argus could pass for a Northern BA.
You can have a mrgreen for that one .

All the best,
Trevor.

[millerd]

Yes, I rather like that Brown Argus too, Buggy - I think I've come across this variety at Denbies before. Interestingly, amongst the dozens flying on my local patch at the moment, I have yet to find one.

Cheers,

Dave

[NickMorgan]

Some lovely pictures there Bugboy. I particularly like the Common Blue with Green Hairstreak and your not-Northern Brown Argus. I am also very envious of the species you have there that we don't see north of the border.

[David M]

What a wonderful contrast in colour in your Common Blue/Green Hairstreak image, BB. It's not often you get rubi in close proximity to anything!

[bugboy]

Thanks for all the comments guys, still traveling back in time at the moment here

14th May (part 1)

Not wanting to waste another glorious day I decided to pop down to Abbots Wood again. The Pearls had only just begun emerging on my previous visit, so I was hoping the females were about this time. Like last time there was very little around again and I only bothered to get my camera out when I arrived at the first Fritillary hotspot. Here things had livened up somewhat since my last visit, males were still about, looking a little worn around the edges but the females were all looking rather good. During previous seasons I’d only come across the occasional wanderer between the clearings but today the rides seemed just as popular as them .

There didn’t seem to be much interaction between the sexes, presumably they were focused on breakfast for now, they certainly seemed to have an insatiable appetite for the Bugle which was out in profusion.

Now I knew the females were out, my aim was to find an egg laying one and hopefully get a shot of an egg. I followed a few females who looked suspiciously like they were in the mood to lay but I had to wait an hour or so before I found one laying. I did get distracted on occasion though as some other species had begun to show.

Finally though I found a female Pearl who was busy laying eggs like it was going out of style (inbetween feasting on Bugle or basking). I waited until she chose a spot near the path for me to get in close enough to see the action and as luck would have it she laid on the upperside of a leaf which required minimal manipulation to get a shot .

My next find was something I last saw two years ago in exactly the same spot, a very nice ab. nigromarginata. She too was in the mood to lay, this time on the underside of a Bluebell leaf.

Approaching noon it seemed that every female I came across now was laying eggs, surely a good sign for the future, as long as the current management regime continues .

I planned to move on to another site for the afternoon, but not before getting a few snaps of a Large White, one of several supposedly ‘common’ species that I’ve seen very little of this year so far (Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Small & GV White).

[Wurzel]

Great sequence Bugboy Especially like the stained glass shots That aberrant is a stunner It's almost as if it was suppsoed to be coloured in black but the person doing it gave up half way through

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Some great shots recently Paul. My favourites have to include that unusual BA, the PBF egg and that wonderful Figure of 8 larva - no wonder you missed the BH tucked away!

[Janet Turnbull]

Those photos of the nigromarginata are stunning, Bugboy - and I love the shot of Blue and Green
What lenses do you use nowadays? - Janet

[trevor]

If any of those female Pearls were egg laying along the ride between the two ' hot spots ',
I noticed on my last visit that some of the best Bugle and Violets were located along there.
And of course the rides could encourage them to spread further throughout the wood.

Great stuff, Paul,
Trevor.

[millerd]

A very nice selection of Pearls, Buggy, especially the melanic ab. Very striking.

The point you made in passing about scarcity of certain species I can echo in full - Large White, Red Admiral, and Speckled Wood have all been thin on the ground so far. The first two may well be topped up from abroad, but the last of the trio might give more cause for concern. Maybe the hot weather last year affected the Specklies - if so, there may be a similar effect on Ringlet and Gatekeeper with their liking for similar spots. I think the renowned summer of 1976 hit the Ringlet in particular, so the similar one of 2018 may do the same.

Cheers,

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

I can echo the lack of Large Whites, I have only seen two so far this year. Speckled Woods are between broods here around my patch with the follow on summer brood only just starting to appear.
I never see Red Admirals here before June, they are simply not a spring species around my patch...yet.

All the species with grass feeding larvae were hit here last year, something that has been highlighted in the Warwickshire BC 2018 report. It remains to be seen how that will translate to this year. We'll soon know.

Cheers,

Neil

[Padfield]

Beautiful aberrant pearly, Buggy. Do you know if that form is environmental? I wonder if it has anything to do with that sudden cold spell in early May.

Guy

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, I was channeling my inner Wurzel with those back lit shots
Thanks Pauline, yep totally didn't see that BH cat looking back at me
Thanks Janet, I'm still using the same lens as I used for Chequered Skippers 2 years ago, my Sigma 105mm
That ride did indeed have a fair bit of activity Trevor, although I never actually saw an egg being laid here the females were actively looking.
Thanks Dave . Yes that's exactly my thoughts for the Specklies scarcity so far this season. There's plenty of lush grass now though so I'm quite sure they'll bounce back in the coming months. Time will tell how the other grass feeders have faired...
It's not all bad from what I've seen with the grass feeders so far Neil, the Small Heath doesn't seem to be have too badly effected. I guess we'll have a clearer picture in the next couple of months.
Thanks Guy, I don't know for sure what is the cause of this ab, but given that I came across a very similarly marked individual in the same spot 2 years ago, perhaps it's a genetic thing

From 2017. Had this one emerged this year it would have been feeding from the same flowers on the same ride as this years ab.

14th May (part 2)
To end the day I decided to take a stroll over at nearby Malling Down, hopefully the Adonis would be out there. The Abbots Wood Butterflies tried there best to stall me, an Orange-tip proved irresistible, but I made it to Malling down by early afternoon.

It was a windy day, the mornings woodland stroll had protected me from the worst of the wind but on the open down I had no luxury and the few butterflies that I saw were getting blown ragged.

I’d started on the northern side at the old chalk pits, the wind was a northerly…. Perhaps not the best plan to start with, but once over the hill on the south facing slopes the butterflies started showing up. Fresh Brown Argus were the commonest to start with but at the bottom of the slope they were joined by many more of the usual suspects, including the first male Adonis.

Out of the wind it was rather warm and everything was very active so when I found a good sitter, I made the most of them. It was sheltered down here but not completely breeze free and this particular Adonis was still swaying a fair bit, it was time for some hit and hope shots. I ended up with quite an interesting range of shots showing how the colour changes depending on the angle

As I was leaving I couldn't resist a female Broad-bodied Chaser

[Wurzel]

Lovely collection of images Bugboy - especially the Adonis - interesting to see the various different shades and hues

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Another action packed sequence, BB. Seems strange to be seeing Orange Tips from a mere two weeks ago now that they've sadly departed for another year, but when you've got Adonis Blues to replace them things don't appear too bad.

[bugboy]

Thanks David & Wurzel, still 2 weeks behind but doing my best to not slip even further behind

16th May (part 1)

After 4 long days out butterflying I’d giving myself a day of rest (and a chance to catch up on those things that adults are supposed to do), but with fresh legs it was back out to get another dose of the Chiltons Dukes. I wanted to get there earlier than I normally do to catch the first ones waking up so I tried my best to ignore the usual distractions I find hiking across the Ridgway walk, I didn’t do too bad but there were a few irresistible encounters including a VERY fresh looking Peacock. I can only presume she’d woken up late from hibernation, it’s not often you find a near scale perfect Peacock in the middle of May!

A noisy Skylark also distracted me, he posed well though so he was worth the stalk.

On my last visit 4 days previously I’d only found the one duchess who’d spent most the time being awkward and hiding in a Hawthorn bush. Today they were the first ones I came across, perhaps getting an early start before the thuggish males wake up to pester them .

The males weren’t that far behind them though and I soon began to see them setting up territories with frequent border skirmishes sending them swirling skywards.

During all this I was following one female who at first glance I thought was freshly emerged (and perhaps yet to mate) but on closer inspection was probably a few days old. It didn’t stop an amorous male having a go though, but despite his best efforts and gymnastic moves she remained unimpressed and all but ignored him as best she could.

none the worse for her 'ordeal'

In amongst all this action there was a good variety of supporting cast

"Mine, all mine!"

The plan for the afternoon was to explore a new site for me, which had recently been highly recommended by Millerd, more of that in the next post.