Bugboys mission

[Neil Freeman]

Still, a grand total of ten in one day (including an ab) was way more than I was expecting and ample compensation for the cancelled trip to Shipton .

A great result
That is more than I have seen in the past five years, mind you that is usually because I have been either in Cornwall or Dorset when they have been at their best here in the midlands and so I have not often tried for them. This year I managed to squeeze in a trip to Grafton Wood and just had fleeting views of two females. The week before, when we were in Cornwall, had apparently seen multiple males coming down to nectar but some bands of heavy rain unfortunately put a stop to that.

I must try harder.

Neil.

[bugboy]

Thanks for all the comments guys, it's nice for the season to be finishing on a bit of a flourish after the start that was enforced on all of us

August 2020
Sunday 9th. Well after a ten Hairstreak day there was only one place I was heading for the following day. It was going to be another hot day but that doesn’t seem to be bothering the Hairstreaks, it just means me sneaking off before the real heat of the day. As usual this year, the Hairstreaks were having a lay in but it did give me time to inspect some Browns, finding an excessa Gatekeeper who wasn’t keen on showing me her full splendour .

At 11 on the dot I came across the first one of the day, very close to where I’d found the first male the previous day, a few snaps later and I discovered it was actually the same male, a few nicks in the hind wings identifying him. Unlike the previous day though, the banks Common path remained rather quiet this time with no more seen despite a couple of slow, careful searches.

The next one appeared an hour later, flitting over my shoulder and landing up in a Blackthorn hedge in the main part of Bookham Common. She looked to be in fine fettle although she didn’t move out of the shade and all photos were obtained with my camera at arms-length.

It all went quiet again after she flew off over the hedge so I made my way back to Banks Common where the first male was still gorging himself silly on the thistles nearly 2 hours after first seeing him .

Another look on the Hogweed that had been so popular the previous day proved successful, finding another male who I hadn’t seen the day before. He was a little worn around the edges but did allow some nice closeups as he wandered round in circles.

I stayed with him for about 10 minutes, only leaving him because I felt like I needed to find some shade before heading off to the train station, although I have a feeling he would have outlasted me anyway. Being a Sunday the trains were hourly rather than half hourly so I still had a good amount of time to kill. This time was spent rather well (in my humble opinion) because wandering along the same path where the pristine female from the previous day had escaped my lens, I found this rather beautiful lady!

A perfect end to an excellent weekend

[millerd]

That last one looks absolutely perfect, Buggy! Worth all the wandering in the heat I'd say. Probably deserving of a or two if I hadn't remembered where I was at the time you were seeing these little beauties...

Cheers,

Dave

[trevor]

Nice one(s) Paul, very nice!

All the best,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

That definitely was a perfect end to the day Butterflies do have a tendency to turn up just as you're leaving, sometimes I think it pays to leave an hour earlier than you want and then as you're making your move they'll suddenly arrive and you get a hour with them

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

That last female is immaculate, Paul. It must have been difficult to drag yourself away. What a highlight!

[bugboy]

Thanks again for the comments, the Brown Hairstreaks really did bless us this year. Actually saw another one on a hill overlooking Brighton this afternoon who's other occupants will be the star of a future post in a few weeks time

August 2020
Wednesday 12th. After a couple of days filling my boots with all things Brown Hairstreak, I took a break and headed for Denbies, hoping to find some early Adonis, I had after all already found one on nearby Box Hill the week before. It was set to be even hotter than previous days out so the plan was to catch the first train there and be gone before lunch. Leaving at silly o’clock to get the first train meant I arrived at Denbies just after 8am, already under a blazing hot sun, it must have been nudging mid-twenties. A lovely back-lit Small Heath was the only butterfly that tempted my camera on the walk there

But once there it was all Blues and Silver-spotted Skippers. As with Box Hill, numbers of Skippers here were much higher than I’ve ever seen in previous years and even this early in the day proved difficult to pin down.

However, it was probably the early hour that meant finding these two peacefully sharing a flowerhead possible.

Chalkhill Blues were still around in numbers, mostly keeping wings closed to keep cool but I did spend a fair bit of time following one female around and was rewarded with some lovely open winged shots. The pictures will explain why I took such an interest in her.

A single Dingy Skipper also appeared very briefly.

By mid-morning even the sun loving SSS had shut up shop with temperatures probably over 30 degrees and I needed some shade myself so I took a wander in the woodland at the top of the slope.

Here, in a sunny glade I noticed something settle on the path, behaviourally it reminded of a Holly Blue but being orange it was clearly something else . I’m aware of Brown Hairstreaks here but never made any effort to search for them before. This male was clearly parched, desperately searching for moisture and looked to be suffering as much as I was in the heat.

By 11 I decided to make the trip home, having only managed to catch a few flyby glimpses of a handful of Adonis males. However, flying along the top path I finally managed to pin one down. It was far to hot for him to open up, in fact it was so hot he went into the shade in the edge of the wood in the end and I left him there, roosting, at 11.30am ! The SSS were still just about coping though.

[Wurzel]

Crickey Bugboy - you found a Northern Brown Chalkill Blue! Lovely sets of Silver Spots - especially like the 'twofer'
If you're planning any posts of LTBs you better get a move on while the last!

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

That's terrific to track down a Brown Hairstreak at Denbies, Buggy. I've half-heartedly looked once or twice after Susie mentioned seeing one some years ago, but never struck lucky. It does look a bit out of place where you found it mind... A very nice and unusual female Chalkhill as well. Some reward for trekking back and forth across that slope in the blazing sun of that heatwave!

Cheers,

Dave

[bugboy]

Haha, yea you may have to save a few of those for this diary Wurzel, still got a couple of weeks worth of posts before I get to the LTB...
Thanks Dave, that Hairstreak encounter was far more luck than anything but nice to have confirmation with my own eyes about their presence there.

August 2020
Thursday 20th. My first trip of the year to Newhaven Tidemills, just on the off chance of something blue with tails had hopped over the channel and was politely waiting for me. Well on that count a drew a blank, indeed due to a rather dank grey cloud that hung persistently overhead there was very little to be seen bar a few Whites (mostly Small as far as I could tell, one day I'll come across a mannii here!), some Small Heath and a couple of Common blue who provided momentary excitement.

As usual here the birdlife also caught my attention, a flock of Curlew did a few circuits before vanishing into one of the fields nearby. This singleton appeared a few minutes later and seemed to be searching for the rest of the flock, circling and calling.

A juvenile Stonechat also posed rather well and I do like this shot I got with a couple of Whitethroat looking on.

A Reed Bunting also sat for me

A couple of hours of walking around willing the cloud cover to break got a little tedious after a while, especially since I could see blue sky not far away both east and west. Newhaven fort on the other side of the estuary seemed to be bathed in sun so I headed over there, knowing the location of a bit of BLEP there adding a bit of incentive to go exploring. The BLEP came up empty but further up the hill I found some Common Blues and Small Coppers. A male of the former posed rather well and one of the latter was particularly eye catching. I’m not sure what named ab it could be, it seems to have elements of several including extensa, kochi and juncta which probably indicates those abs. are just variations on a theme. Still a striking individual nonetheless .

It was still just after noon and I had a few options of where to spend the afternoon, plumping for Malling Down to see if the Adonis were out there.

With the sun out now it was really rather warm. Silver-spotted Skippers seemed to have had a good season here too, most of them looking a bit ropy now but the odd fresh specimen could be found. Overall though it was all a bit lacklustre here and I had to work hard to find some decent looking butterflies. There weren’t many Adonis around, and only I discovered a single female who had already been found by a male.

In my rambling I disturbed a Cloudie but only managed a few distant shots at dodgy angles. I did spend a bit of time following a female Meadow Brown around as she laid her eggs, ALWAYS with at least one blade of grass in the way!

Amongst the Chalkhills still flying I found one who looked to have reduced spotting on the underside

Other species present were a few old Brown Argus, one who looked to halfway to artaxerxes with the underside spotting, and some more fresh Small Coppers of the standard model.

[Wurzel]

Interesting looking Small Copper ab Bugboy A lot of the abs, including this one, look like the paint ran There seems to be a flurry of interest in Southern Small White at the moment - Facebook has lots of examples of people hedging their bets on Small Whites which are just that and not mannii , still wont be long now I'm sure

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, yes that Copper does look like someone sneezed whilst colouring it in or something! I don't doubt that mannii is on our shores now, (they are in Calais by all accounts), perhaps for a few years now but picking them out from all the Small Whites will be rather tricky. The second brood females do look very heavily marked from images I've seen though and a favoured foodplant is candytuft apparently so anyone with a garden full of that on the south coast should keep a close eye on any Whites sniffing around.

August 2020
Saturday 22nd. Back to Bookham. With Long-tailed Blues still quietly hiding away in pea pods, just a couple of weeks away from causing a flurry of activity on the south coast (and much crazy theorizing as to where they’ve come from on social media), Bookham was still a draw and had plenty to keep me entertained. Brown Hairstreaks had reverted to the more usual elusive behaviour but others were still sitting around awaiting my camera. A couple of minor Meadow Brown abs again, both probably just fitting the addenda description, started the day off.

It's always nice when a Small Heath behaves itself too.

The third generation of Small Copper are starting to build here to. Don’t be fooled by these two’s apparent peacefulness, I managed to capture a very brief lull in what was otherwise a constant battle for dominance.

Next was the third Meadow Brown ab of the day, and my second ceaca of the year.

I did find a Brown Hairstreak, a female on egg laying duties who was far less cooperative than the previous posers I’d found here this year.

Speckled Wood were also reasonably numerous but find of the day for me was a Damselfly lifer, this is the first time I’ve knowingly seen a Willow Emerald, a fairly recent arrival to our shores.

Only one more August report to go then I'm in September and only 5 reports away from the south coast festivities

[millerd]

I like that Small Copper ab., Buggy - yet another weird and wonderful variation amongst the many that have cropped up this year. Victorian collectors would have been in copper-coloured heaven and might even have been distracted from naming every last nuance of Chalkhill Blue markings...

Those two addenda Meadow Browns are (aside from wear) actually very similarly marked. Maybe closely related...

Cheers,

Dave

[David M]

You've certainly got a good eye for anything slightly different to the norm, Paul. The Small Copper in your earlier post is particularly interesting. As you say, it exhibits characteristics of more than one aberrant form.

[Wurzel]

Another interesting collection Bugboy - that ab is an easy one to remember thinking about it as 'addenda' sounds remotely like 'add-under'; so another spot has been added under I've never encountered the Willow Emerald or any other of the green Damsel Flies

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave. Not sure those two Meadow Browns were related, at least closely. They were photographed a fair distance from each other: one was near Bookham train station and the other was on the path leading up towards Banks Common. Still, not out of the question but given what I've found this year, I think these variations are actually rather common and are just simply overlooked because once the first few have emerged and we've ticked them off our yearly tally, most of us pay them little regard in favour of the more showy butterflies which all start emerging in the weeks after them.
Thanks David, I think Lockdown got me focusing on the commoner species since I was unable to travel to see regional specialties earlier this year. I do feel like I've seen more abs this year than any other, albeit many of them minor and in reality probably within natural variations.
Thanks Wurzel, keep your eye's peeled on this diary for more Emerald Damselfly stuff in the coming weeks, maybe a fortnight if I can keep up with reports

August 2020
Wednesday 26th was a three site day and with another hot day forecast I set of nice and early again to try and beat the worst of the heat. First stop of the day was Denbies, another attempt at finding some Adonis which once again left me feeling that this years second brood has been something of a damp squib for them. The horrid wet and windy weather from the previous couple of days probably hadn’t helped my cause either. Having said that the other denizens of the slope were out, if now beginning to look a little world weary. Chalkhills and SSS still made up the bulk of the butterflies on site together with decent numbers of Meadow Browns and Small Heath.

Confident that the target wasn’t going to make an appearance I made a move to the next site, killing time whilst waiting for my train by wandering down to the River Mole to watch some Banded Demoiselles do their thing, which mostly consisted of sitting around sparkling in the sun .

Site two was Ashtead Common where Brown Hairstreaks were still on the menu. Small Coppers were a welcome distraction but it didn’t take long for a Hairstreak to make an appearance, just not the species I was expecting. The place I saw my very first Purple Hairstreak of the year becoming the place I saw my last.

Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Common Blue and Brown Argus all put in an appearance but my patience paid off and I finally had two separate female Brown Hairstreaks make an appearance, the second of which posed beautifully for me before heading off into the Blackthorn to go about her duties, shame she didn’t do that for me the day she emerged!

At Ashtead station, awaiting the train to Bookham, I couldn’t resist getting a few weird glances from fellow passengers as a Painted Lady decided to use the stairs leading to the bridge over the tracks as a basking spot.

At Bookham Small Coppers ruled the roost, not a great deal else was about, just the odd Meadow Brown, Small Heath and Speckled Wood but a passing female Large White did stop by to feed on the Devil’s-bit Scabious.

[millerd]

Quite a tardy Purple Hairstreak there, Buggy - I don't think I've ever seen one so late in the year. And good to track down the Brown ones at another site.

I agree about the worrying lack of Adonis at Denbies. I wonder if it's anything to do with the grazing regime, allowing those Belted Galloway cattle out across the slopes on and off throughout the year (including the spell between the two Adonis broods). Up at Aston Rowant the hillside is grazed with sheep, there is generally a summer gap in the grazing, and Adonis Blues seem to be doing pretty well there (several were still flying today in fact).

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great report with cracking accompanying images Bugboy That really was a late Purp
I remember reading (probably in Neil Hulme's PD) that Adonis and Chalkhills prefer a different sward height as it offers a different developmental temperature but I can't remember which way round it was, possibly that Chalkhills prefer the longer sward? Mind you cattle grazing is often better for species diversity as they pulls chunks out meaning you get a greater range of sward heights whereas sheep are like lawnmowers nibbling it to the same height - however if Adonis like a short sward perhaps the cattle aren't producing a wide enough area of short turf?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

..At Ashtead station, awaiting the train to Bookham, I couldn’t resist getting a few weird glances from fellow passengers as a Painted Lady decided to use the stairs leading to the bridge over the tracks as a basking spot.

Yes, been in that situation a few times myself, Paul, e.g. when I was blocking the wooden walkway last year at Port Eynon beach because a Clouded Yellow was feeding on valerian close by.

It's certainly more worthwhile than usual photographing Painted Ladies this year given how scarce they have been.

Unusually late Purple Hairstreak too. I bet you weren't expecting that?

[trevor]

Talking of weird looks or rather the possibility of them. When I went to Portland
for a hoped for Large Tortoiseshell, the best Buddleia bush at Church Ope Cove
was literally opposite the Ladies toilet, so to avoid adverse comments and possible
arrest I elected to study the bush from a safe distance.

I am saving my mrgreens for your trip to Whitehawk Hill.

Stay safe and well,
Trevor.