Pauline

[Pauline]

I have been feeling a bit concerned about Green Hairstreaks this season. I know we have had restrictions and limitations on where we can visit but I have not been seeing them in the numbers I would expect at the sites I have been able to visit. I would be interested to know if others have noticed a similar decline in numbers. Rake Bottom is a site fairly close to me and is one which can usually be relied upon to produce several sightings. Today I recorded 11 species there but no Green Hairstreaks. 2 other butterfly enthusiasts were there for the same reason but as far as I know they also failed to locate their target. I haven't even seen one at Noar Hill and the numbers at Broxhead are definitely down. Anyway, a few snapshots from Rake Bottom:

Lots of Grizzled Skippers but just too quick for me in the heat. Jaffa was delighted to have me home as I have been her constant companion during the lockdown:

[Allan.W.]

Nice Shots Pauline ,had to do a double take there with your pair of Brown Args ,thought the top one was a Common Blue at first !...………….. Nice one ! Regards Allan.W.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline,

I have had a look at your micro and I think it may be a Firethorn Leaf Miner Phyllonorycter leucographella but Iam not 100% sure as there are a number of very similar species.
https://ukmoths.org.uk/species/phyllono ... ographella

...but just too quick for me in the heat.

You must have had it better than us here. We had a cloudy a quite cool day again with very little sun.

Great reports and photos recently. I should't laugh at the squirrel tormenting you but it does make me chuckle

Cheers,

Neil.

[Pauline]

Thanks Allen - good to hear from you and well-spotted. I reckon there were many more Brown Argus than Common Blues around on that site yesterday.

I appreciate that ID Neil - much better than anything I could come up with which is the main reason I steer away from the micros, but ...... do you reckon this is the start of a slippery slope? As for the squirrel ....... words fail me

Today I made an early start for OWH and I am so pleased that I did - even if it was a bit on the chilly side and fairly breezy. When I left a couple of hours later there was no room in the car park and cars were parked all along the verge outside. Thankfully I was well tucked away from the joggers and walkers and picnickers, my attention caught by the recently emerged Adonis - even if I couldn't find a pupa! I do believe this is an Ab. but have no idea yet which one - gorgeous whichever it is:

Couldn't find any WLH larva either

[Chris L]

Fantastic photos Pauline. I really enjoyed looking at those. Jaffa looks in fine health too and extremely contented.

[Wurzel]

Cracking looking ab Pauline - the lack of spots/fuss on the underside seems to make the topside 'pop' even more!
I too have seen fewer Greenstreaks than usual this year but I was putting it down to the time I was visiting, either in the day (they seem to prefer the morning so lunchtime trips might mean seeing fewer) or in the season - seeing them at the start of their emergence and not visiting at the 'peak'? At least that's what I'm hoping ever the opptomist

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Thank you Otep - much appreciated. You will quickly realise that my diary tends to be peppered with a variety of animals that share my space (especially when butterflies are a bit thin on the ground ).

Cheers Wurzel - would you agree it's a Krondeli? Not sure what else it could be. Re Green Hairstreaks, by now I am usually seeing females egg-laying in the afternoon or early evening and that's not happening either

A couple of Dukes only a couple of minutes old:

[Pauline]

A pleasant hour spent watching the Small Blue at Paulsgrove this morning with many seen egg-laying. It is surprising how far the abdomen reaches down into the plant:

The eggs are quite tiny, fairly obvious but dreadful to photograph given their position on the kidney vetch:

Yep! that is my boot - pink with leopard skin print

My concerns about Green Hairstreaks were somewhat alleviated, on this site at least, as I watched 4 different females egg-laying:

One was really tiny but they were all showing signs of age:

Such was my interest in their activities I didn't make it any further than one tiny little corner of the site - didn't even get as far as the pond

[Goldie M]

Pauline, fantastic shots I can't keep up with your posts so many lovely Butterflies, so different from here,
no Sun for two days now, hope fully Wednesday will be better, keep them coming. Goldie
PS, Don't forget to send me that WW shot it's gorgeous M

[millerd]

From the limited sample I've had, I would tend to agree with you Pauline that Green Hairstreaks have been a bit sparse. It hasn't helped that they were early this year I think, so I've not been able to connect with them at their (and my) favourite spots.

The Adonis is very similar to ab krodeli, which has none of the little spots at all, just the marginal orange ones and the big one in the middle of the hindwing. I don't know what the "almost" versions are called, but I bet someone has given them all a name!

I love the Small Blues, too - they can keep you entertained for hours!

Cheers,

Dave

[Pauline]

Thank you M. Just the opposite here - too hot for me to go out!!!!!!

Hi Dave - looking at the info on this site it would seem that the Ab may be Obsoleta so named by Tutts (not Mark ) in 1896 describing it as spots which tend towards obsolence. He then changed his mind and decided to align it with the Krondeli definition but looking at other shots I feel fairly confident it is Obsoleta.

I have been so lucky to be allowed to rear some Dukes and I am definitely making the most of it. Would you believe me if I told you I had taken 400 shots just of the eggs!!!! I shall spare you those (unless I run out of things to post! ) but I have managed to watch the eggs hatch. I tried to record this to the best of my ability and the little camera's capability and have pulled out a few of the many shots at random:

[Allan.W.]

Hello Pauline ,
Yes I agree with Obsoleta for your Adonis …………………...That said it is very close to Krodeli . Nice find ! Regards Allan.W.

[Pauline]

Thanks for that confirmation Allan. You may want to take a look at my ID's below cos I'm notorious for getting the moths wrong I put the trap out last night for the first time in about a year. I thought the conditions would be ideal but I only got a total of 16 moths (12 big and 4 little - and loads of chafer beetles). Here's a few of those I took shots of:

Buff-tip (pretty confident about this one)

White Ermine (probably)

Swallow Prominent (or could be Lesser, can never tell the difference )

Poplar Hawk-moth - no problem with this one - one of my favourites:

and last but not least, some sort of Mayfly?

[Pauline]

Some shots from the garden as I haven't been out of it for a few days. I just had to put the hose pipe on; the plants were going crispy and the turf I have just put down was at risk. The first thing to take an interest in the moist ground was a Holly Blue desperate for moisture. He was well pleased when he found a hedgehog dropping as a bonus and hung around for about 90mins:

As I sipped a nice cold drink in the shade (it's a hard life ) I watched a Beautiful Demoiselle and a Large Red Damselfy flitted around the pond:

Same old problems with these last 2 shots. The glare of the sun on the light leaf meant I was trying to cope with an extreme of light and dark and I can never get the exposure compensation right in these situations. In the other, the wings are not in the same plane as everything else and so are out of focus. Mike, in the past, has kindly come up with some suggestions to overcome these challenges but I'm still struggling

PS Can I just use this opportunity to remind folk that a bowl of water for small mammals in this hot weather would be very welcome.

[Allan.W.]

Hello Pauline ,
Funny thing ,I had the same thing a couple of weeks back with Swallow/Lesser Swallow prom ,but yours I,m pretty confident is Lesser Swallow
it shows a clean cut white triangle ,in the trailing edge …………………….nice moth !
Regards Allan.W.

[Wurzel]

Good news about the Greenstreaks Pauline As it always the way just when you doubt them you start seeing them all places (though perhaps not as numerous ) I don't know about much about the Adonis aberrants but looks like some digging on your part got you your answer Lush Small Blues

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Great shots of the hatching Dukelings, Pauline. It would be brilliant if you could see them through to adulthood. Thinking of such things, do you think the early emergence of the adults at Noar Hill this year, coupled with the almost continuous sunny weather, might lead to a second brood this year? As long as the cowslips don't dry up completely...

Cheers,

Dave

[David M]

Fascinating images of the tiny DoB larvae, Pauline. Good luck with the rearing and I look forward to seeing how they develop.

[Goldie M]

Love the shot of the White Ermine Moth Pauline, it looks really Royal Can't wait to see the the Duke Goldie

[Pauline]

Thanks for that Allan - Neil is probably sick of telling me the same things year after year but the trouble is, I just don't have the trap out enough and don't see these moths on a regular basis. Yes, I could look it up (as I often do ) but there's nothing like seeing it for real to 'get your eye in'. Thank you.

Hi Wurzel - doesn't change my overall feeling that the Green Hairstreaks aren't having such a great year but we'll see - hopefully I'll be wrong!

Thank you Dave. Thought there might have been an outside chance I'd see you today. Mind you, it was crowded! (well, 3's a crowd!). Let me tell you I am under some pressure with these Dukes. It is the 3rd year I have asked to rear them and the response this time was 'I suppose on this one occasion it won't make too much of a dent in the population'. I really hope it won't as I have every intention of returning the adults. Here is a shot of them from this morning:

Only about another 40 days to go to pupation Re second brood - many years ago (before I started my diary) I found the first recorded 2nd brood of Dukes at Noar Hill - I believe there have been a couple more recorded since then but I am really not sure what the trigger is as there have been similar weather patterns recorded in previous years. I keep an eye out for them every year as I am there fairly frequently looking at immature BH so we shall see.

Thank you David. You can be sure that you will be seeing more images of them in due course . Now here is a question for yourself and others. My tiny Brimstone larva have not just tolerated the recent extreme heat and direct sunshine but seem to have thrived on it. How can this be when so many other little cats would have been desiccated by now? Given that the adult laid them in that position I imagine she knew what she was doing but how can their requirements differ so much?