Bugboys mission

[Padfield]

Fantastic shots, Buggy. You've been working on your abs and it's paid off!

Guy

[millerd]

Very nice SWF abs, Buggy - there must have been some chilly nights in the depths of Bookham back in June to produce such a selection of dark specimens. Good to see the underside of one of them as well: something that gets a bit overlooked when you have a striking upperside.

I've also just seen your splendid Purple Hairstreak images - I think you may already be aware of the degree of I feel about those!

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Lovely set of abs Bugboy - a proper 6 pack The first one looks like the black paint has run slightly from the leading edge of the wings and the second one - well he's just showing off; I bet he listens to The Cure, a bit of a Goth that one

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Very interesting male SWF ab. Great upper and underside shots.

Keep up the good work,
Trevor.

[bugboy]

Thanks for the comments guys, it was a particularly fine morning, and was followed by an equally fine afternoon

3rd July (part 2)
For the afternoon I moved off to Box Hill once again. The slopes were as I expected alive with Satyrids with Marbled White dominating. Dark Green Fritillary were also still out in significant numbers, perhaps second only to the MbW in numbers. Whilst no longer in tip top condition they were still worthy of my attention, especially when a few stopped for lunch. I also managed one quick shot of a very fresh female but she scarpered before I could get any clear shots.

My favourite image of this session though has to be this Marbled White chasing one, a little bit like a mini chasing a formula 1 car

The earlier missed female was rectified when I found another one further down the slope. Despite being very fresh she had still managed to mess up one of her forewings but she was such a good poser all was forgiven .

With so many males around I hoped I’d see a mating but when one did find her it was clear she had already mated, perhaps the reason for the wing damage.

Anyway, I spent half an hour with her, taking a rather large selection of images….

[Wurzel]

Brilliant DGFs Bugboy The female do have a tendency to look a little dusky - I've noticed that teh males have a tendency to go the other way being even more ginger

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Wonderful stuff, BB, and like Guy says, you've sure been pumping those abs.

Beautiful array of DGFs as well, especially that dark female.

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, I couldn't get enough of that female
Thanks David, Just being in the right place at the right time with those abs. The thanks goes to that chilly blip back in June I reckon

3rd July (part 3)
For the last hour and half of the day I went back to Bookham, on the off chance that what I was told about the Emperors coming down in the afternoon was true… I didn’t see any but I did see, unsurprisingly, several White & Red Admirals on the ground.

Elsewhere it was the usual suspects enjoying the late afternoon sun and feeding on the few patches of Bramble flowers that were still catching the rays.

Another long, but very good day. I went home with a camera full of abs and DGF shots

[millerd]

Just seen that female DGF, Buggy - what a lovely specimen and splendidly cooperative too. They are great butterflies, a very entertaining species. Being chased by other butterflies is par for the course - and watching them at Box Hill recently, I noticed they wouldn't nectar on a knapweed flower if there was another butterfly on an adjacent one - even if the suspect was a tiny Small Skipper.

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great set of shots Bugboy - especailly the female Meadow Brown - they only normally pose like that when they're past their best and they're all tatty

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

...The thanks goes to that chilly blip back in June I reckon..

Yes, I think you're right, BB. Too many species within that tight emergence period have been affected for it to be anything else.

Nice array of species in your last post, particularly the White Admiral.

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave, She was a beaut and every so accomodating, it was difficult to tear myself away from her!
Thanks Wurzel, I reckon that MB was freshly emerged so still taking things easy, plus it was quite late in the day .
Thanks David, it's always a nice treat when these fidgety species sit still long enough to get a few shots away

5th July
The day before I had done my transects at work, most notable for two things: finding my first Gatekeeprs of the year and also finding a corner buzzing with SmEssex Skippers. This was a first, I’ve only ever found the odd one or two of either species in previous years. Anyway, I didn’t have my camera with me and could only positively ID one of the dozen or so, a Small Skipper. So I brought my camera in today with the intention of trying to get a better handle on how many of each there was. My only opportunity to get close was lunch break, when they were nice and active but I was pleased to find it was a mixture of both species, with perhaps a bias towards Essex at 2:1.

Here’s my first image of a 2019 Gatekeeper.

Studying my Skipper images proved quite interesting and shows just how difficult the two species can sometimes be to separate if you catch them at the wrong angle. At first glance these next three all look like Essex

but with a bit of computer tweaking and witchcraft I can bring out the diagnostic Small Skipper antennae of the first two,. the third is most definitely an Essex.

Every day's a school day!

[MrSp0ck]

The Antennae stalk is orange nearly all the way up on an Essex, and Black banded on a Small, whatever the tip is, as the orange often wears off on the Small Skipper leaving the black tip.

you can clearly see this in your photos.

[Neil Freeman]

A great illustration of the difference in antennae in the Small and Essex Skippers.

I am seeing a lot of skipper photos recently on social media described as 'Essex' on the basis of the end of the antennae being dark, but in a graduated way and not the clearly defined 'dipped in black ink' look. As you say, a closer look often shows the underneath of the tip of the antennae to not actually be black.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Goldie M]

Great shots of the Skipper's Bugboy, the Essex is definitely one Skipper I always get mixed up. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Interesting set of shots Bugboy - just shows that my habit of crawling around to get a view from underneath 'to be sure' pays off does cost a lot in trousers though

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Ahhh but the point is MrSp0ck, none of the Skippers were worn, it was just the angle they were in relation to the sun was putting the tips of the antennae in shadow giving the illusion of a dark underside. If an observer was just using the colour of the tip of the underside of the antennae as a diagnostic feature (which every book since around 1900 tells you you should do) then they could easily be fooled.
Thanks Neil, I too am seeing this, sometimes even when the males sex brand is clearly visible!
Thanks Goldie, I still can't always work work out what I'm looking at sometimes, I have a fair few SmEssex Skipper images in my back catalogue
Thanks Wurzel and right in the middle of tick season too, the things we do for our hobby

8th July
Back to Bookham! I was still hopeful of an Emperor grounding, although since the first sightings of a couple flying around the master trees, I’d not seen hide nor hair of one. Still as the last visit showed, there’s always something here to keep me entertained. A gloomy, muggy start to the day meant it was mostly Browns and Skippers lazing around with the odd white disturbed here and there.

Further into the wood the first Silver-washed Fritillary were up and I rescued a struggling Hornet who wasn’t yet warm enough to get airborne and was struggling on some Yorkshire Fog. I moved her to a nearby tree trunk where she seemed a lot more comfortable .

The morning continued to warm up, with occasional breaks in the cloud helping to wake more stuff up, mostly more Browns, Skippers and Fritillaries

But also the Purple Hairstreaks had awoken too. These were mostly to be found coming down in the clearings, flitting around and occasionally landing the bracken, but never long enough or in a place that made lining up a shot a possibility. That was until I caught sight of this one crawling around in the grass, mopping up any moisture it could find. It was so preoccupied it didn’t seem to mind me getting down in the grass with it for a few closeups

Late morning found me gazing up at the master trees once more, still no sign of HIM though so I changed tack and went to see if I could find any White Admiral cats, It’s been a few years since I’ve tried to follow some. One reason why I’ve not is the patch of Honeysuckle that was conveniently positioned around a dead Silver Birch had fallen.. well the Birch had taking the Honeysuckle with it. Anyway, things have recovered now, a nearby tree now hosts a nice growth of Honeysuckle and it was here I found a couple of eggs. It’s good to know this patch is still suitable.

Spot the eggs

More butterflies popped up as I returned for one final look around the master tree, including a few Speckled Wood, signs are that they are finally starting to recover after a dire first half of the season.

Nearing the master trees noticed a familiar shape in the middle of the path.

After taking a few shots I went to coax it onto my finger so it didn’t get squished and discovered why it wasn’t flitting around in the tree tops !

Bizarrely, other than the small detail of missing body parts, she was behaving perfectly normally.

On the way back to the station I couldn’t help but notice significantly more Marbled White than I’ve seen here before. In previous years I’ve seen the odd one here and there but today there were several and mostly in mint condition, strong signs that they are colonising Bookham Commons

[trevor]

A few mrgreens for those brilliant Dark Green undersides
in your earlier post. How I missed them earlier, I don't know!.

Some of your best images there,
Trevor.

[Goldie M]

I agree with Trevor, you can't always get the under sides too well. I also envy your Purple Hair Streak shots, I went to Blean Woods a lot whilst I was in Kent and never saw one . Goldie

[bugboy]

Thanks Trevor, most of the credit goes to the butterfly, she gave me ample time to get the shots!
Thanks Goldie, purple Hairstreaks are a tricky species, you need to catch them early usually and like some of the other Hairstreaks, different colonies seem to behave differently with some routinely coming down year after year and others just remaining in the tree tops

10th July
The first reports of Chalkhills appearing sent me off to Box Hill today to see if they were out there yet. It was mostly overcast but still warm enough for some life to reveal itself, the Marbled Whites were still out in considerable numbers, some starting to show a bit of wear and tear but females were still emerging and being pounced on by the nearest male.

Position closed!

A few Gatekeepers and skippers were braving the gloom but keeping themselves low down in the grass making photography tricky, this is a Large Skipper.

The now rather tatty male Dark Green Fritillaries were getting themselves fueled for another long day looking for females.

Half an hour after arriving, on the upper slope above Zigzag Road and encouraged by a few glimmers of sun through thinning cloud, my mornings target was found. It was very much early days here for them with probably no more than ten on the wing and all very fresh.

The thinning cloud and warmer conditions had worked it’s magic, making the return trip a much slower event with much more to side track me. A fair few more male DGF were now active, some barely able to get of the ground, and I found another nice female, albeit having lost half an antennae in her short life already.

Oh and here’s a little something for Wurzel .

An hour later I was at Bookham. The sun was trying it’s best to brighten things up but it was still a bit on the gloomy side with not a great deal on the wing, a mating pair of Small Copper did make a welcome appearance though. The female, as you would expect, was a fresh out the box individual, the male however had certainly put a few miles on the clock.

Over the course of the next hour conditions improved and enough blue sky appeared to wake up Bookham’s resident Purple Hairstreaks

And this very crisp female Green-veined White caught my eye.

The sunny spell didn’t stay long though so a return to the overcast conditions sent me over at the White Admiral nursery. The two eggs I’d found were still eggs but I also found two larvae I’d missed last time, I think both second instar.

I hung around for a little longer in the hope the sun would reappear but I was out of luck today, still a nice selection in the bag