millerd

[Wurzel]

Crickey Dave your 'taster' wasn't just an amuse bouche it was a full on smorgasbord and then after the actual post - well if this had been a meal I would have been Mr Creosote Finally you offer us the not quite so 'waf-fer thin mint' of the Heath Frits
That final female looks good for some form of aberrant, definitely a fair bit melanistic

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

More congratulations from me, Dave-you’ve certainly have a couple of good trips to Essex recently, and I’m glad the weather has been kind. Also nice that Dave Cook managed to find his way up here, sounds like you both had a nice time.

[ernie f]

Dave

Perfect WLH shots only to be followed up with a pair of in-cop Heath Frits. You are having fun, aren't you? I have still yet to see my first WLH. I must make an effort soon.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Dave , I'm just catching up on my posts, lovely Hair Streak shots and I love the Heaths Goldie

[millerd]

Thank you all for the appreciative comments - it was quite a day, and great to have these two species at sites relatively near to each other. Hadleigh Country Park is a lovely spot.

Hadleigh Castle

On Tuesday 18th June, I stayed nearer home and arranged to meet up with Bugboy at Fairmile Common. This was my second visit here for Silver=studded Blues this year, and I hoped a few more would be flying. They certainly were, and the mix of sunshine and cloud (the latter began to predominate) meant varying light levels produced different intensities of blue in the butterflies - and as they started to roost, some good undersides were on show.

Aside from the SSB, we only saw one other butterfly - a Small Tortoiseshell

There were plenty of unidentified moths too, but some could be named, including this Cinnabar sitting on ragwort next to one of its caterpillars.

However, here are the Blues:

Dave

[kevling]

Dave,

Cracking diary this week. Love the Heath Frits. I normally do an annual trip to Hockley Woods and Hadleigh CP, but alas not this year. Nice SSBs. When fresh they are one of the most beautiful butterflies.

Regards
Kev

[Wurzel]

Fantastic shots of the Silver Studs I need to get my skates on or I'm going to miss out on em That penultimate shot is a corker

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Kev - SSB are terrific, aren't they? There will be more of them down the line as I've visited a couple of other sites for them in recent days.

Thanks, Wurzel - I also like that shot you picked out, plus the last one as it was resting on something other than heather or gorse! It's a good thing there is only one possible species in the UK, as there is a lot of variety between individuals in terms of width of black borders, marginal spots and presence/absence of the spot on the forewings. And variation in the light or not, some are definitely much bluer than others.

19th June was another rare day without a trip out of any sort, but I soon made up for that.

I had been invited down to see my old schoolfriend in Taunton for the weekend (I always seem to get an invite at this time of year, strangely...), but I headed out a day early on Thursday 20th June, and by a circuitous route to Glastonbury, having booked a night in a hotel there. I was lucky to get a room, as it being the solstice the place was full of people planning to go up the Tor early the following morning. I had different plans of course.

My route took me down to Dorset, avoiding the other solstice traffic around Stonehenge, and taking into account that the weather forecast for the coast was markedly better than that inland. The first port of call was the National Trust car park at Corfe Castle (as recommended by Wurzel) and as soon as I stepped out of the car I spotted a Lulworth Skipper on the grassy bank up to the railway line.

There were quite a few more, in varying condition, plus a few Small Skippers (much brighter in colour), Meadow Browns, Marbled Whites and Small Heaths. The steepness of the slope made things tricky, but the butterflies compensated by posing beautifully.

First, a Small Skipper for comparison.

Now the Lulworths. The "sunburst" is particularly clear on fresh females, making them impossible to confuse with anything else.

A couple of the darker males, more olive in colour

More shots of female butterflies

It's a great little spot, and I believe there are also Lulworths up and around the castle as well, but I didn't investigate. It's a steep climb.

That was just the start of the day...

Dave

[Wurzel]

Glad my tip off paid off Dave You almost perfectly described my last visit there They're cracking butterflies although once they get going finding a fresh one can take a bit of work - though worth the trouble as your last female shows I possibly have an inking of where you're headed next...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Beautiful Lulworths, Dave, but it's your earlier Heath Fritillary sequence that caught my eye.

I'd have sworn that really dark individual was a False Heath Fritillary had I seen it in the French mountains!

[trevor]

I have visited the Swanage railway every July for years, so any ' Large Skippers ' seen may have been Lulworths.
We always visit at the end of July, so they would be past they're best.

Some difficult shots there I should think.

Trevor.

[millerd]

Yes, thanks for pointing out that unlikely gem of a Lulworth site, Wurzel. As you'll see in a mo, a much larger location proved much less productive!

Almost every Heath Frit is different, David, and looking at all those posted in various PDs here, it's hard to believe we are looking at just the one species.

If you visited every July, Trevor, you almost certainly saw a Lulworth in amongst the steam trains - though they are somewhat smaller than the average Large Skipper. They have a long season, though, and can be found between May and as late as September.

Not too far away from Corfe is Durlston Country Park, so that was my next call on 20th June. It was pretty windy here (when is it not?), and getting close to any settled butterflies proved not so easy. There certainly were more Lulworth Skippers here, but the wind and their normally swft darting flight made them very hard to pin down. Nevertheless, I did eventually get close to one or two.

The other complication was that there were also large numbers of Small Skippers around (though thankfully, the Essex Skippers that live here too hadn't yet emerged). However, these are bigger and brighter, and compared to others seen elsewhere, this population seemed especially big and bright. Most were fresh, and some provided some unusual views with wings almost completely flat.

With so many flying, unsurprisingly I came across a mating pair.

Also seen: Marbled Whites, Small Heaths, Common Blues and Meadow Browns.

Durlston is another great place to visit.

Dave

[millerd]

There was still some time left in the day on 20th June, and the weather along the coast seemed set reasonably fair, so I drove along westwards with the idea of visiting one of the quarries on the Isle of Portland. I hadn't reckoned with horrendous traffic around Weymouth, so I ended up at Tout Quarrey rather later than intended. The sun had also disappeared and it was noticeably cooler. However, this place seemed thoroughly conducive to butterflies, full of sheltered gullies and flowers. I wonder why all I saw were a couple of Red Admirals and a distant unidentified blue? Well worth another trip (preferably when a Large Tortoiseshell has just been reported! ).

After that somewhat disappointing detour, I headed north via Yeovil towards my hotel in Glastonbury. I now passed through some heavy rain accompanied by surprising dips intemperature, but my luck swung back again, and a pool of sunshine appeared as I reached the crest of the Polden Hills just next to Collard Hill. It was quite late, and everywhere was wet, but a quick walk out onto the hillside seemed a good idea in my mind. True enough: I found several roosting Large Blues.

Just as I was about to leave them until the following morning, I spotted one just responding to the evening sunlight - a nice fesh male.

This boded well for the next day.

As I headed back to the car park, I had this view roughly northwards.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Fantastic stuff Dave Durlston is a cracking site but a little windy - I try to find the little fields further West at the reserve as there the drystone walls make quite good windbreaks
I see that your Whispering ways now work on Large Blues too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Impressive stuff with your recent Lulworths/Large Blues, Dave. You did right to check in even though the weather was far from ideal that evening.

I'm sure you saw plenty more the following day.

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - those areas you mention were nearly as windy on the day. That's where the Marbled White shots were taken...

More to come now, David.

Up early on Friday 21st June (though not as early as the folk headed up to the Tor for the solstice sunrise...). A lovely sunny start, with cloud building throughout the day - not perhaps ideal conditions for open-wing Large Blues, but certainly very good for seeing them generally. Looking through my shots I do indeed find that a lot of them are of butterflies perched with wings closed.

There were other species around as well, notably a handful of new Marbled Whites...

...and a Small Tortoiseshell.

However, the main attraction put on a good display for the fair number of enthusuiasts present, some of whom had come considerable distances. The NT guide for the year (India) did an excellent job, being very approachable, helpful and informative especially to those visiting for the first time.

The views here were stunning as ever.

Finally, along the walk back to the car I noticed the many flowering orchids, of several different kinds. All these four were close to each other.

Well worth the overnight stay.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Brilliant stuff Dave a cracking selection of shots The penultimate open wing shot looks different from the others with more globular markings

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Lovely shots Dave, I've yet to see the Large Blue, it looks fantastic with it's wings open, great shot Goldie

[millerd]

Thank you both - the annual trip down to see these butterflies is always a treat. It would be terrific if they were able to spread further afield (though apparently they can be found at a number of spots along the hills here, though generally on private land).

Unfortunately despite excellent weather on the Saturday (22nd), I was unable to go out anywhere for butterflies, and Sunday 23rd lacked the sunshine. So I was back at home on Monday 24th June, and started with a catch-up on my local patch.

There were a couple of notable sightings. Firstly the influx of Painted Ladies was now properly underway, with 16 mostly faded individuals seen.

Secondly, I found my first Marbled White here for a good few years, showing they have at last crept down from sites to the north.

Small Tortoiseshells have been reliable recently, though in small numbers.

First brood Common Blues are still around, though most are worn females now.

Similarly, the first round of Brown Argus are fading fast.

One of these had markedly reduced underside spotting, apparent despite the wear.

Small Heath were numerous...

...and the first of the second brood Small Whites had appeared.

As ever, there is always something of interest here.

Dave

[Wurzel]

That's a lovely selection there Dave 16 Painted Ladies in one sitting stop hogging em

Have a goodun

Wurzel