August 2019

[David M]

Sadly, in a month's time summer will be over....

[millerd]

Not so gloomy, David! In recent years, the butterfly season down here in the south has continued into November, and certainly September has been full of interest. Let's hope that trend continues .

Dave

[Jack Harrison]

The windsock is to help butterflies land in the optimum direction.

Of course I can’t expect you to believe that.

The truth is ( ) the windsock is to aid aircraft approaching Inverness airport: they pass over my house at around 2 to 3,000 feet.

Jack

[David M]

Not so gloomy, David! In recent years, the butterfly season down here in the south has continued into November, and certainly September has been full of interest...

I'm not gloomy right now, Dave (certainly not this morning when I have been surrounded by Zapater's Ringlets in Spain) but September is always a depressing month for me; the nights close in and most butterflies vanish from my area.

[Jack Harrison]

An earlier August.

72 years ago (at the age of eight) was my first serious year butterflying. I had had my introduction, courtesy my mother, two years earlier. School holidays began at end of July.

August 1947 was sunny and hot (by the norm for that era). Butterfly seasons were much later than they are today. August 1947 was a big month for me.

I am Norfolk born and lived near Great Yarmouth at the edge of town: countryside was within easy distance. We would go out every afternoon and wander the lanes.

Memory is of course imperfect but my ‘list’ was this – give-or-take.

Large and Small Skipper.
Large, Small, GV White and Brimstone. Clouded Yellow at end of month
Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock (one or two only – scarce in those days), Red Admiral, Painted Lady and Comma (yes, a single Comma). One vagrant Silver washed Fritillary from nearby woodland.
Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper (aka Hedge Brown), Ringlet, Wall Brown (common!), Grayling, Small Heath. NO Speckled Woods then (nor of course Marbled Whites).
Common Blue, Brown Argus (yes, I could distinguish from female Common Blue), Holly Blue, Small Copper, Purple Hairstreak.
I might – but very unsure – have found Small Blue on some waste ground.

Although my memory is coloured by that childhood summer, I have read elsewhere that 1947 was vintage.

Norfolk was the native county of that other great lepidopterist, F.W.Frohawk who indeed at one point (according to wiki) lived in Great Yarmouth. So Norfolk has produced three famous people, the other two being Admiral Horatio Nelson and Frederick Frohawk.

Jack

[Allan.W.]

Found a pale Meadow Brown ,amongst the hoards on the wing today ,I think its called AB;Semi-Intermedia ,also noted ,at various sites ,very large numbers of fresh Painted Ladies . (Kent ). Regards Allan.W.

[Rivoldini]

Second ab pallens Painted Lady, north Durham this morning.

[MrSp0ck]

2nd Brood Glanville Fritillaries at Hutchinsons Bank, the last 2 days, hopefully will get a picture this week, this is what it says in the Glanville Fritillary action plan

"The butterfly is univoltine in Britain and bivoltine in southern Europe. Rarely, in good years
in Britain there is a partial second brood in August (Pope, 1988). In normal years the adults
fly in late May and June."

this spring the Glanvilles were flying in Late April giving time for the 2nd brood.

2nd Brood Glanville
The first sightings were seen and photographed by other visitors, and i only had a fly past this afternoon but all were male Glanville Fritillaries, of the 2 monitored larval webs, Web 1 the larvae left, to feed alone, as they didnt need the wamth by grouping at this time of year, the 2nd web they entered hibernation at the same time, so i think the 2nd brood are resulting from web 1.



Photo Stephan Morris who saw the first one on 3rd August

Glanville Web2 4th August

[Testudo Man]

Another trip to Queensdown Warren, in Kent on Saturday (3/8/19) for a 2nd go for some SSS.
The plan was to stay on site until sun set, because i wanted to search for the SSS roosting!
I would say there was 20+ on site, but im sure within the next week, the numbers will increase some.
2 other firsts for me (at this site)...A Wall Brown, an a Wasp Spider.

Several images from the day/evening, Images are not cropped, unless stated. Cheers Paul.

Brown Argus.

Brown Argus, grey blue/type.

[David M]

That last specimen is mint, TM. Thanks for sharing.

[Testudo Man]

That last specimen is mint, TM. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks David, that Brown Argus did appear fresh.
Here is an underwing image of said butterfly.

An just to show the different colouration/appearance between the two,
here is an underwing image of the 1st/regular Brown Argus butterfly that i posted.

[millerd]

I'd say the brown underside individual is a female and the more silvery-grey one a male. Though as ever there is a range of variation, my experience tends towards this distinction as a reasonable indication in many cases. As for uppersides... the angle to the light and age/wear can provide a spectrum of shades in both sexes - females tend to have bigger and more complete sets of orange lunules though.

I do like your nose-to-tail SSS image!

Cheers,

Dave

[Medard]

Visiters to my garden here in Somerset.
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com

[Testudo Man]

I'd say the brown underside individual is a female and the more silvery-grey one a male. Though as ever there is a range of variation, my experience tends towards this distinction as a reasonable indication in many cases. As for uppersides... the angle to the light and age/wear can provide a spectrum of shades in both sexes - females tend to have bigger and more complete sets of orange lunules though.

I do like your nose-to-tail SSS image!

Cheers,

Dave

Cheers for that Dave, im inclined to agree with you on your suggestion of which individual Brown Argus, is what sex. Both were fresh looking, but i guess the male was the "freshest" (probably not long emerged).

I had a great time with those SSS's, but i had to wait until beyond 7.30pm, to get the better images of em.
Heres another nice SSS image. Cheers Paul.

[MrSp0ck]

All alone in the cutting at Hutchinsons Bank this lunchtime, in full sun and warmth, i was monitoring a female Glanville, she was showing interest in a plantain, she sheltered for a short while in thick growth on the lip of the scrape and went back and laid a batch of eggs, she went off to feed afterwards, after a while i carefully turned the leaf there was an earlier batch too? probably too many eggs for one egg laying session.

[Allan.W.]

a long -Tailed Blue in the Obs; garden at Dungeness today( see Obs; website ) ,and another in Sussex ,also a Queen of Spain frit ;
a day or two back in the south foreland valley ,Kent. Allan.W.

[Allan.W.]

As a footnote to my last post ,the Blue was a fine fresh female and appears to me to be sitting on Bladder Senna (but I could well be wrong !!) Allan.W.

[Jack Harrison]

In Nairn and Moray shires, huge numbers of whites on the wing at present. Careful checking shows about 5% are Small Whites the rest being Green Veined.

Good showing of Peacocks, Scotch Argus plus a few Speckled Woods. One Painted Lady flying around and attracted to a Cactus*

*Citroen Cactus car, presumably the weak smell of petrol was an attractant.

Jack

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Allan,

"As a footnote to my last post ,the Blue was a fine fresh female and appears to me to be sitting on Bladder Senna (but I could well be wrong !!)"

You're spot-on. This is a female oviposturing on Bladder Senna. There's an egg visible on the calyx of one of the flowers, and there are no doubt others on the plant.

It looks like LTBs are coming in along the full length of the South Coast at the moment, so well worth searching any areas where extensive growths of pea or other leguminous plants occur.

BWs, Neil

[jenks]

After a weekend consisting of torrential rain on Saturday and rain and gail force winds on Sunday, Monday morning was dry, bright and reasonably warm. So, off out to banish the stir crazy feelings of the weekend, I headed for Lavernock point south of Cardiff. I got there at 07.30 hoping to see some Manx Shearwater passing as these birds fly from their nests on Skomer and Skokholm off the west Wales coast to collect food before returning to the islands. Stormy weather brings them in close to the Bristol channel but with the wind having abated I was not in luck. The best birds seen were a Bonxie and a Little Egret some distance out flying towards Flat Holm island, otherwise just gulls of various species, ages and in various plumages. To get to the point involves walking across a flower meadow (part of the local nature reserve) and in doing so I disturbed at least 10 Painted Ladies, 2 Ringlet, 2 Speckled Wood, 1 Red Admiral and numerous Meadow Brown and Gatekeepers, all before 09.30. Then I went across the road to Cosmeston C.P. and more Painted Ladies, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers plus Small and Large Whites. I reckon I saw at least 20 PL`s in the morning but no Clouded Yellow (seen here at the end of last week).
At 11.00 I headed west along the coast to Dunraven Bay and the Walled Gardens here. Dunraven is a private estate and the gardens were built and cultivated in Victorian times by the estate workers and cottagers to grow vegetables and flowers for themselves. Now mostly given over to flowers, these provide a source for nectaring butterflies and, most importantly, provide a sheltered sun trap for them. My target was Wall Brown and this was the first butterfly I saw. It also gave me my 50th species for the year. I saw another Wall Brown later on plus 2 more Painted Ladies. So a good morning after a lousy weekend weather-wise.
Still only 12 August but the day had a distinct autumnal feel.
Jenks.