Trevor

[Wurzel]

Great set of Blues Trevor and another Wall on a wall It's often the way that the freshest looking or brightest individual has been attacked and shows some damage - they just having got the knack of staying out of the way that the complete yet faded ones have

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[trevor]

Cheers Wurzel, more Blues today but no Walls.
A site I visit annually, about this time of year is Southwick/ Shoreham Harbour.
This is usually a great spot for late Clouded Yellows, and today produced a very fine helice.
A few males were found and all were very worn. Another pleasing find was a ' normal ' female
Common Blue, and again the males were all worn.
Large and Small Whites were present, some in pristine condition, although in very low numbers.

Bob the Egret was ever present. Unfortunately my best shot of Bob has a sea of plastic waste as a backdrop.

Stay safe and well,
Trevor.

[millerd]

A very nice helice there Trevor! There seem to have been more reports of them than usual this year - but maybe there have just been more Cloudies altogether. Southwick is a very sheltered spot (in terms of temperature) so the species may well persist a bit longer down there. There must be some caterpillar foodplant too as there are always Common Blues, and the two species have similar tastes.

Cheers,

Dave

[trevor]

Cheers Dave. Until this year Southwick has always been my go to place for Clouded Yellows.
Because it is a South facing, sheltered site I have often wondered if Cloudies could survive
our winters there in whatever life stage. At Southbourne, near Bournemouth apparently they can.

Today I had a reminder that the season is now very advanced.
With several tired, worn Speckled Woods and a single Large White.

Stay well,
Trevor.

[essexbuzzard]

Lovely helice Clouded Yellow, Trevor!

Things certainly seem to have come to an unwelcome and early end this year, and you’ve done well to see what you have. The endless rain and cold has put paid to any hope of a late season flush.

Being on the south coast, you have definitely been in the best place this autumn!

[Wurzel]

Cracking set of Helice shots Trevor - a form I've yet to encounter There is a definite "They think it's all over...it is now"feel in the air at the moment but I'm still hoping for the odd warm day and a chance sighting of a Red Admiral. You're right about the Cloudies at Southborne - I believe (my memory could fail me here) that they've been seen in every month barring January there...I need to get down there again one day...

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel
ps Isn't that a Small White?

[David M]

Love that helice, Trevor, although I confess I'm developing an increasing soft spot for Bob the Egret....even if his 'des-res' leave a lot to be desired.

[trevor]

Many thanks Mark, Wurzel & David.

The season may be nearing the end, but around here I think the fat Lady is in
her boudoir fine tuning her voice in readiness for a three month long concert.

One butterfly species that's really suffering a decline around here ( East Sussex )
is the Small Tortoiseshell, and once again this year my sightings for the County
has numbered six. And here they are!............

[Wurzel]

That vibrant Small Tort is a stunner Trevor We still seem to be doing okay for Small Torts in the South West, perhaps the wetness of the West play a part?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[trevor]

Today the weather was sunny but breezy, and was just fine enough for a trip out.
Around lunchtime I headed over to Herstmonceux Castle gardens.
Unsurprisingly butterflies were harder to find, but I came home with images of
a Red Admiral, one of two seen, and a male and female Wall Brown.

Stay safe and well,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Great shots Trevor as we head into the tail end of the season Interesting that both teh males chose to perch in the same place? I wonder if the fact that there's the patch of white paint has anything to do with it as that could reflect some of the radiation back on to the underside of the butterfly

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

I reckon Wurzel could be right about the white paint - I've seen several butterflies settle on reflective surfaces like that (including a Red Admiral on a silver car the other day). Great photos of the Walls, Trevor. With the two on the paint splodge, the female is significantly larger than the male if you compare the outline of the paint behind them - maybe half as big again.

Cheers,

Dave

[trevor]

Thanks Dave & Wurzel.

Been away for a few days so I'm a bit late catching up!.
Ref. the Wall images above, the white patch on that wall is lichen, not paint,
and both the male and female Wall Brown chose the exact same patch to bask on,
despite the fact that it's a very long, tall wall.

Had some luck on the way home today!.
Trevor.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Trevor, great Wall shots, I visited Reculver whilst I was in Kent in October and was surprised to see the Roman Wall there was stripped of all it's vegetation and being rebuilt along it's length, last year I saw lot's of Wall Butterflies there, I'm hoping they'll some how survive, but I was dismayed at the sight of it. Goldie

[trevor]

Hope you enjoyed your stay in Kent Goldie, good luck with your move down there.

I left Wiltshire for home this morning in the most atrocious weather, heavy rain,
lots of spray and standing water. Before I left we had a magnificent rainbow,
which lasted for many minutes, and formed a complete arc.
Once well into Sussex the road began to dry up and there were signs of sunshine.
As I neared Shoreham I could see blue sky and the temperature had risen to 15c,
so I made the decision to divert to Southwick/Shoreham harbour.
Just two Clouded Yellows were found, with the male in very good condition,
and the other a helice, was somewhat worn. They both met several times and seemed
to ignore each other, until the male just had to try his luck. This lead to a very brief
act of rejection which I was ill prepared for, so my shots are not all in focus.
Nothing else was found despite a very slow search of the site.

Trevor.

[millerd]

Do you think that helice female is the one you saw there before, Trevor? She looks distinctly the worse for wear, almost transparent, but the male clearly doesn't care about that. That's a nice selection of shots showing their interaction.

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Brilliant stuff Trevor I'm regretting posting my Valesinas now as you're getting your own back with the Helice - I've never seen one so even though she's not exactly in fine fettle worth

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

...As I neared Shoreham I could see blue sky and the temperature had risen to 15c,
so I made the decision to divert to Southwick/Shoreham harbour. Just two Clouded Yellows were found, with the male in very good condition,
and the other a helice, was somewhat worn. They both met several times and seemed
to ignore each other, until the male just had to try his luck. This lead to a very brief
act of rejection which I was ill prepared for, so my shots are not all in focus.
Nothing else was found despite a very slow search of the site.

Is that a sign of the new 'normal', Trevor? Seeing Clouded Yellows at all used to be an irregular event, but to see them in the absence of other species in the few days left prior to November would have been considered freakish not so long ago.

[trevor]

Cheers Dave, that helice could well have been the same one.

Thanks Wurzel, the helice and suitor could well have been my last butterflies of the year.

Southwick is a sheltered south facing site, David, and is usually excellent for late season
Clouded Yellows, several years ago I found a very worn one there on Nov.18th.

Yesterday my Daughter, Lorna, found a Small Tortoiseshell fluttering around in her bedroom.
No doubt it was looking for somewhere to hibernate. No chance of that where I live!.

' Enjoy ' the lockdown, and keep well all,
Trevor.

[millerd]

I suspect that Tortoiseshell had already found somewhere to hibernate indoors, but the warm weekend followed by Monday's sunshine roused it from its slumbers! Hopefully it was able to relocate and maybe even have a topup snack before settling down again.

I have a theory that the Small Tortoiseshell's habit of entering houses to hibernate when we have the windows wide in July and August is a factor in its decline. They are frequently woken prematurely when the central heating is switched on and (if lucky enough to be released) have to find another spot to settle down at a time when the weather is not so kind.

Cheers,

Dave