David M

[David M]

More Portland pictures....

After the excitement of the Large Tortoiseshell, I moved into a grassy field nearby and was immediately confronted with sizeable numbers of Chalkhill Blues:

I only saw two females. Here's the first:

....and the second:

There were also at least two Lulworth Skippers in this field, though the one that kept settling was rather worn:

I really enjoyed my morning here. Never been to Portland before, but I will return at some point and spend more time there. Chesil Beach is an amazing natural feature, and the views generally were extremely attractive:

The range of butterflies was excellent:

Large Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Peacock, Comma, Large, Small, Essex & Lulworth Skipper, the three Whites, Brimstone, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Hedge Brown, Ringlet, Common Blue, Chalkhill Blue, Small Copper, Holly Blue & Marbled White.

Adding White Letter, Purple & Brown Hairstreak, Silver Washed Fritillary & Small Heath at Alner's Gorse took my day's total to 26 species, and with a little extra effort I'm sure I could have exceeded 30, with Grayling, Wall, Dark Green Fritillary, Small Tortoiseshell & Brown Argus all surely about too.

[David M]

Wednesday 29th July 2020 - Grayling....

Another pleasant coastal jaunt this morning, only this one much closer to home; about 15 minutes drive away in fact.

The Coastguard Agency building is at Bracelet Bay near Mumbles Head and walking round it provides perfect habitat for Graylings:

This is their favoured stretch, with lots of heather to nectar from:

Just on the other side is Limeslade Bay:

It's not a very big area, so there are never more than low double figures, although they can also be found pretty much all round the coastline on the Gower.

[kevling]

David,

Catching up with your diary and enjoying your Portland pics. I can't remember the last time I saw a Small Tortoiseshell on Buddleia, let alone a Large. Well done indeed.
That's a cracking Brown Hairstreak too. I was fortunate to see a fresh female last week and they are stunning.

Kind Regards
Kev

[David M]

Thanks, Kev. Ironically, Small Tortoiseshell was one butterfly I didn't see whilst on Portland. Coming to something when the large version is commoner than the small!

[Goldie M]

Lovely views David, it's quite a while since i visited Portland they bring back some happy memories Goldie

[David M]

Yes, it's quite some place, Goldie. I'd never been before (although I'd seen it from afar when nearby on the south coast) but I'll definitely go back. I found it extremely interesting even though it's a bit of a traffic bottleneck.

[David M]

Thursday 20th August 2020 - Out of quarantine....

I wasn't too fussed having to undergo quarantine upon my return from Spain on 5th August. Female Brown Hairstreaks at the Pembrokeshire site tend only to peak at the end of August and in any case, the weather this last fortnight has been, in the main, pretty dismal.

That said, it was nice to finally get out again, and a visit to Port Eynon dunes on the Gower was a pleasurable reintroduction to the butterfly fauna of these parts.

This area near the car park is full of escaped Everlasting Pea. One day I hope I'll find a Long Tailed Blue here:

There is currently lots of valerian in flower on the dunes here, and the commonest butterfly was probably Small Tortoiseshell, with around 50 seen avidly gorging themselves:

Meadow Browns weren't far behind in numbers. Most were happy to settle with wings open in these part-cloudy conditions:

Small Whites numbered around two dozen:

I had hoped to see a few migrants, but there were no Painted Ladies (they were very common here last year), nor any Clouded Yellows. Even Red Admirals were scarce - this was one of just two seen:

However, Silver Y moths were about in serious numbers, and I also saw around 10 Hummingbird Hawk Moths, which is the most I've ever seen in Wales in a single day:

Other butterfly species seen were Large White, Hedge Brown, Common Blue & Brown Argus.

[Goldie M]

WoW! David, ten Humming Bird Hawk Moth's I'm lucky if I see one in the Garden , when I do I love to watch them even if I can't get a shot
Goldie

[David M]

Thanks, Goldie. Yes, it was quite a surprise, particularly given how few butterfly migrants are around right now.

These moths are captivating to watch.

[essexbuzzard]

Good to see the Small Tortoiseshell, David. There were loads of them about these parts in early summer, and I found plenty of caterpillar nests shortly after as well. But very few of these seem to have made it through, as I have seen hardly any adults since then. We will find out in early spring.

Amazing numbers of hummingbird hawkmoths as well, I have yet to seen any this year. Must have been quite a sight.

[David M]

Hi Mark. Yes, the humming bird hawk moths were a great surprise, but a most welcome one, as are the healthy numbers of Small Tortoiseshells in south Wales right now.

I never get carried away though. As you mention, it will pay to await next spring to see if this positive cycle is continued.

Saturday 29th August 2020 - Festival of the ordinary.....

A much welcome positive weather forecast for today saw me venture to Crymlyn Burrows on the Swansea coast for the first time in almost 3 months.

It was a cool day, and rather annoyingly, cloud cover outstripped sunny intervals for much of the time.

That said, there were still butterflies to be found, although very much the 'regulation' ones for this time of year.

I was pleased to see around 20 or so Meadow Browns, with many of the females still looking to be in good condition.

The first to attract the attention of my camera though was this female Brown Argus:

There were also several Common Blues still on the wing; mostly females and this one, which 20 years ago might have been considered abnormally blue, is pretty much what I would describe these days as relatively normal:

I found 9 Small Heaths, and whilst I generally don't take many images of them, I found this individual irresistible given how it was posing on a scabious flower:

This site isn't great for Small Tortoiseshells, but I saw three, and this one was rather darker than I am used to seeing:

Two Small Coppers were also seen, with this one posing nicely:

Other species recorded were all three Whites, three Red Admirals and a couple of Speckled Woods.

[David M]

Sunday 30th August 2020 - Brown Hairstreaks....

I first saw a male Brown Hairstreak on 22nd July, but since then, with a week spent in Spain and an obligatory 14 day period of quarantine (not to mention a run of totally unsuitable weather) I hadn't had the opportunity to go looking for females until today.

The site at West Williamston in Pembrokeshire is under considerable attack from ash die back, which gives me some concern for the future of this species in this location. Last year, in three visits I saw just four females, so I wasn't sure how successful this excursion was going to be.

In the event, with conditions fairly cool but thankfully sunny with light winds, I ended up seeing three, the first of which I spotted at the entrance to one of the 'glades' by the foreshore:

She pottered about on mature blackthorn for a while without laying any eggs:

It was the second individual that was of particular interest though. I found her in more open terrain in the middle field, watched her ovipositing on young growth before a short cloudy spell caused her to bask for a while:

What she did next was unprecedented in my experience at this site - she flew onto some ragwort and began nectaring, which might be commonplace behaviour in England but is unheard of at this location:

It has since been suggested to me that this unusual behaviour might be attributable to the almost complete loss of ash trees at this site, thus depriving the species of much of the aphid honeydew it normally relies upon.

This theory sounds plausible and it will be interesting to see whether this leads to more individuals being observed taking nectar from flowers on the site in the future.

[bugboy]

Well done with your Hairstreaks, this year has been nearly unprecedented almost everywhere it would seem! Perhaps this will become the new normal what with hotter summers predicted to become more common place. I imagine the aphids aren't keen on these summers so the Hairstreaks normal food source is becoming scarcer?

[David M]

Thanks, Paul. Yes, it's been a bizarre year without doubt, and I'm not sure what 'normal' is anymore to be honest. It may take a few years for that to become clear.

Sunday 30th August – West Williamston….

Aside from Brown Hairstreaks, this site is a good one for plenty of other species. A pleasant surprise when I arrived was this Comma resting on the fence at the back of the parking area.

The sea asters on the foreshore attract good numbers of butterflies; last year, 50+ Painted Ladies were gorging themselves on this nectar source. Today, I only saw two, but given I’d hitherto only seen half a dozen or so in 2020, they were most welcome:

The most numerous species was Small Tortoiseshell, with around 50 seen. There were also decent numbers of Red Admirals, with around 20 spotted:

This Tortoiseshell was much paler than the rest:

There were around two dozen Small Whites, as well as 7 or 8 Green Veined Whites, the latter being a species I’ve seen precious few of lately:

Hedge Browns had disappeared, but Speckled Woods were fairly common, with 15-20 on the wing, and there were still a couple of Silver Washed Fritillaries hanging on, one very tatty male and this slightly more presentable female:

I thought I’d spotted a Common Blue settling in the grasses, but it turned out to be this female Holly Blue:

On my way back to the car park, the ‘Royal Flush’ of vanessids was completed with this Peacock:

[essexbuzzard]

A good haul that, David. And nice to see someone else has been getting into the Painted Ladies.

Good to see a Peacock, they have long gone from here.

[millerd]

A very nice Painted Lady, David - good to see when they've been so sparse this year. The SWF female seems really late, given it was nearly September - she's done really well to keep going!

I'm pleased you saw some Hairstreaks in your usual spot - Hopefully they will adapt to using alternative tree species to gather in. Certainly at the hotspot down at Shipton Bellinger they appeared to have adopted a large field maple (I think that's whatr it was - some kind of acer anyway).

Cheers,

Dave

[David M]

Thanks, both. Agree that it's nice to see a few Painted Ladies finally. This has been an exceptionally poor year for them so far - I think there have probably been more Clouded Yellows!

Dave - SWFs can hang on to the second week of September round these parts, due presumably to the fact that they emerge a fair while later than those in much of southern England.

I certainly hope you're right regarding the Hairstreaks finding alternative trees to use. Trouble is, at this site it is 60% ash (there are precious few oaks) and it's quite tragic to see such a high proportion dying back. It's really taken root over the last couple of years and I do fear for this colony here.

[David M]

Thursday 10th September 2020 - White City....

There are plenty of dunes along the Gower coast, but Port Eynon is unique in that it is replete with valerian flowers, which presumably are escapes from the gardens adjacent to the site.

Today, I must have seen at least 100 Small Whites, most of which were flying frantically around these blooms as well as the wild cabbages that are common here:

Pleasingly, there were also quite a few Large Whites doing likewise, certainly 20+:

The only other species seen in double figures was Small Tortoiseshell, with a dozen or so:

Red Admirals remain comparatively thin on the ground. Numbers have increased here lately but today I only saw two:

No Painted Ladies, sadly, but there were still a few tatty Meadow Browns on the wing, and I also recorded two female and one male Common Blues, a Brown Argus and a Speckled Wood.

[David M]

Saturday 12th September 2020 - Whiteford Burrows....

Another gloriously sunny day saw me head over to Whiteford Burrows for the first time since 7th April. There were plenty of butterflies on the wing, but they were eclipsed by the hundreds of small, reddish-coloured dragonflies, which were absolutely everywhere. I'm presuming these were Common Darters:

Two Brown Argus were seen, although both were very worn:

A handful of fading Common Blues were around too:

Surprisingly, Meadow Browns were easily into double figures, with both males and females happy to pose wings open, which is something they rarely seem to do when fresh:

I counted 9 Small Heaths, 4 Red Admirals and 3 Speckled Woods as well before making my way back towards the entrance where I stopped by a damp area replete with flowering mint. There were quite a few butterflies buzzing around this, including 2 Small Tortoiseshells and this fresh Painted Lady:

I hit the shutter on this one just after it took to the air:

Three Small Coppers were present, with the inevitable aerial skirmishes occurring when they came into close proximity. This one was the nicest looking:

Small White was still quite common, but Large and Green Veined were present too in smaller numbers, whilst a solitary Peacock nectaring on hemp agrimony brought up a respectable 13 species for the day.

[millerd]

A very resplendent Painted Lady, David, especially as they've been so scarce this year. Obviously the scant few that arrived earlier in the year managed to produce a few offspring.

Cheers,

Dave