Bugboys mission

[Wurzel]

Fantastic shots again Bugboy - thank you for meeting my request for the back lit ones - I'm a real sucker for them You did well with the Whimberal they can be tricky to pin down my favourite one was at Pulpit Rock on Portland, where it was easy to spot against the monochrome background

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave, we'll have to keep a look out for the abs. in the coming seasons, we might even get to name a few since this is a species that probably escaped those obsessive Victorians . I probably would've missed that Whimbrel had I not disturbed it in the first place, it was right under my nose initially!
Thanks Wurzel, I was lying on my back to get those shots, the things we do for art

September 2020
Tuesday 22nd. A rather severe deterioration in the weather from the previous couple of days meant no hope for any butterflies, the only breaks in the thick grey clouds were black rain clouds! I took a walk locally and despite the weather I had a rather pleasant afternoon watching the local birdlife in the company of a friend . Water birds aren’t particularly bothered by rain, obviously, and these city birds aren’t to bothered by strange people creeping up on them with cameras either. All the usual suspects were present at Walthamstow Wetlands. Cormorants were either fishing or sitting around looking like prehistoric Pterodactyls.

Mute Swans were either swimming around in families or pairs were chasing of last year’s youngsters

Wagtails were wagging tails

Pied Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

But most of my attention was on the numerous Great-crested Grebe who still had hungry and very noisy chicks to feed.

Don't worry, I still have a few butterfly posts in the wings, just about!

[bugboy]

October 2020
Wednesday 7th. Just a local wander today with little much expectation on seeing a great deal, even the warmest of Indian summers do little to bring much out on my local patch. There was however just enough to keep me occupied which started with a freshly minted Red Admiral. Never something to be sniffed at, I love that bluish sheen on the wingtips when the light hits them right .

It was nearly an hour before the next butterfly appeared, an ovipositing Small White who played hide and seek between bouts of egg laying.

Nearby I disturbed a lone male Small Copper holding a territory

And the final butterfly to sit for me was a lone Speckled Wood (a Peacock did buzz me but decided not to sit anywhere useful).

I feel the south coast beckons if I’m to squeeze much more out of the season !

[Wurzel]

Lovely set of shots Bugboy It's great when the light catches the wings of the Red Admiral like that making them look a velvety chocolate colour

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[trevor]

If you are planning a further trip to the South Coast, be warned or inspired,
take your pick. At Southwick two Cloudies were present today and nothing else.
I took a slow walk as far as the fuel tanks, but the only action was the two Cloudies
flying around the bank near the steps.
That part of the site site has been good in the past for a late, fresh, Common Blue, but not today.

Stay safe and well,
Trevor.

PS. Your Red Admiral is magnificent!.

[Goldie M]

Lovely Red Admiral shots Bugboy, not seen any it seems for ages, no chance now until next year.Goldie

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, it was a corker that Red Admiral
Thanks Trevor, I think my south coast butterfly trips are now ended for the year and I've quite possibly already seen my last butterfly of 2020. I didn't have much luck with Southwick this year, missing the emergents that others had seen. Still, there's always next year
Thanks Goldie, Red Admirals didn't have much of a season I found this year, just ticking along with no real end of season peak we've witnessed in the last few seasons

October 2020
Sunday 18th. Not a great deal to show for my trip to the south coast today. Although there’d been a lot of wind and rain in recent days, it had stayed reasonably mild so there’s still the chance of some action on a sunny day. I started off at Whitehawk Hill, more hopeful than anything else but apart from a single Red Admiral flyby, nothing was seen, which is a shame given there was no shortage of nectar sources!

I spent the rest of the day a few miles east at Newhaven Tidemills but once again little was about. It was a whole hour before a Clouded Yellow flew past. It only settled briefly once and I only managed a couple of distant shots, enough to show it was a female…

5 minutes later I had my third and last butterfly sighting of the day, a female Common Blue squeezing in a bit of egg laying before the end of the season.

Birdwise, Redshanks were doing a decent job of how they got their name, Robins were everywhere, making sure they were heard, a pair of Wrens were making a racket as they kept an eye on a prowling Weasel and Meadow Pipits occasionally settled close enough for a picture.

Hopefully I’ll find a bit more on my next visit in this part of the world.

[David M]

...but apart from a single Red Admiral flyby, nothing was seen, which is a shame given there was no shortage of nectar sources!

That's quite an impressive array of asters, Paul. I too am surprised that nothing was taking advantage of them.

This stormy spell looks to have put paid to any chances of seeing November Clouded Yellows, although there appears to be a calm, sunny window in the middle of next week so don't give up yet!

[Wurzel]

It's getting to that time of the season when some days are like what you described Bugboy Mind you a Cloudy at anytime of the year is always a welcome sight Looking forward to finding out what was on offer on your next visit

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Just catching up on your PD bugboy. Some great reports and a nice selection of birds and butterflies

which is a shame given there was no shortage of nectar sources!

There are a couple of similar patches at one of my local spots which in previous years have usually played host to a number of vanessids feeding up for the winter...this year nothing at all.

Cheers,

Neil.

[bugboy]

Thanks David but I fear the weekend stormy weather will put paid to any more butterfly trips even with a calm and sunny midweek window. it's the start of the long wait til Spring now even for us southerners now
Thanks Wurzel, still another one in the bag after this...
Tanks Neil there's vast swathes of Asters on my local patch at this time of year but I'm lucky if I find the odd White, it's pretty much dead as far as butterflies are concerned by September!

October 2020
Monday 19th. The following day it was off to see if there was still any life to be found on the slopes of Mill Hill. Last time I was here the place was alive with plagues of Common Blue so I hoped a few would still be around along with a few other species. Before there though I stopped of to see if anything interesting was flying along the strip of green that is Southwick harbour. It took a little while for anything to show itself but it was hardly worth the wait, a couple of tired looking Cloudies and a solitary Common Blue was all I left with.

An hour later I was at Mill Hill and whilst much of the upper slopes were mostly lifeless due to have being recently mown, the lower slopes still had a bit of life in them. As I’d hoped for, Common Blues were still reasonably easy to come across, albeit in tens rather than the hundreds of a few weeks ago.

Other species were about but mostly in singletons. A Cloudie, fresher than the earlier examples, spent most of the time rampaging up and down the slope with me only managed a few distant record shots.

A female Wall made a couple of appearances

A lone Small White was seen from a great distance

Spot the butterfly!

A few Red Admirals were flying around, only one of whom settled

And a rather nice Peacock also appeared, the first I’ve photographed since the 28th July!

The biggest surprise for me though was near the end of my stay when I came across a freshly emerged female Meadow Brown. She was able to fly but with a weak flight showing her wings were still not fully hardened.

There was quite a bit of action up above as well, the resident families of Kestrels and Buzzards continually passed by overhead, occasionally accompanied by various piratical Corvids.

Mill Hill remains one of the best places to squeeze out the last remnants of the butterfly season.

[millerd]

A very good day eking out the last of the season's offerings at Mill Hill, Buggy. I do wonder what were the triggers for such an amazing third brood of Common Blues - from your photos some were obviously still fresh in mid-October. The Meadow Brown is an oddity too - though they do frequently fly this late in the year, seeing one newly-emerged some five months after the first ones appeared does seem a bit strange. If it really is just the one brood, it is an extraordinarily long one. However, referring to Pete's book, it seems there is evidence that the caterpillars can overwinter in various instars (thereby staggering emergence dates for the butterflies) which perhaps explains things somewhat.

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Crickey Bugboy that is a temporally displaced Meadow Brown I seem to recall some late ones in the past but never in such splendid condition Almost puts the other fabulous species to shame

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave. I meant to have a look at Pete's book when I got back home after this expedition. I guess eggs laid by females active right at the end of the flight period (looking back I have photos of females active in November at Mill Hill) would naturally lead to larvae hibernating very young and so the extended flight period becomes self perpetuating.
Thanks Wurzel, yes not a species I expected to see as fresh as a daisy in October! However given that I have come across them in November, October emergence's can't be unprecedented.

October 2020
Thursday 22nd. After a couple of days of not particularly nice weather a small break came and it was off for probably my last chance of the year to see some butterflies. Mill Hill was once again the obvious choice to end my season with a bit of a flourish. The wind had died down a bit from last time, making photography a little easier and the species list was unsurprisingly rather similar to last time as well. A bit of a dull, cloudy morning gave way in time for my arrival with a Clouded Yellow (probably the same one as last time) being the main focus of my attention. His regular circuits of the slope always interspersed at the same few Knapweed/Stemless Thistles flowers so I was able to lay in wait, although he never allowed any close approaches, I managed another accidental upperside.

I got a little bit closer to a Small White today, and had a Brimstone flyby, first one I’ve seen for ages.

a different Peacock from Mondays one posed for me, one of three seen

and a single Red Admiral was found, this one a female fussing avidly over some fresh nettle growth.

Common Blues were once again the most numerous butterfly, similar numbers to those seen on Monday, although notably in somewhat more a dishevelled state except for a female who appeared as I was leaving. Sadly, I don’t think she timed her emergence too well with today being the last of the warm(ish) sunny days predicted for some time!

Waving the Satyrid flag for the day, replacing the Wall and Meadow Brown last time, were a couple of Specklies.

Before leaving the south coast for the last time of the year I decided to pop down to Widewater Lagoon, always worth a wander if Clouded Yellow are on the menu. No such luck today though, indeed, no butterflies were seen at all but I did get decent views of a Common Sandpiper. They're quite small birds, that's a Swan feather next to it in the second picture!

[Wurzel]

Great 'accidental' shot Bugboy and the Peacock is a cracker of a shot Pretty envious of the Common Sand as well - it's been an age since I've last seen one (though to be fair I haven't been looking )

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Good to see another accidental Cloudy topside shot - that seems to be the theme with them this autumn! Mill Hill has certainly done us proud again this year.

Cheers,

Dave

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, I don't see them very often either, no mistaking them when you do spot one though with that constant bobbing up and down
Thanks Dave. Yup, plenty of Cloudies around this autumn and always worth gluing your finger to the shutter if you catch one taking a break from their usual hyperactive behaviour

October 2020
On the 25th I went for a local wander, finding very little to point my camera at. Certainly no butterflies under grey clouds in cool, damp conditions and the birds were also keeping themselves to themselves. To be fair it is that quiet period where the summer migrants have all gone, the winter migrants have mostly yet to arrive and most of the residents are keeping quiet and finishing of their moults. Only the numerous Pied Wagtails on the horse paddocks kept me entertained, one of whom did come very close. Well these guys did grow up on the streets of Hackney and Walthamstow, they know how to look after themselves !

On Thursday 28th there was the promise of a bit of sun today so there was the slim chance of a butterfly sighting. Two-tree Island in Essex has been good late season hunting grounds in recent years, but the sun really didn’t amount to much in the end and the late season Red Admiral peak of previous seasons hasn’t really happened this year. The day was very much bird orientated and unlike the terrestrial winter visitors, the waterfowl had started to arrive. They mostly breed further north, well in the arctic circle so leave earlier and do the trip in one go. The Brent Geese had arrived, the ones that winter on the east coast of the UK are the dark bellied form which breed in Siberia. The Icelandic pale bellied form winters around the west coast and Irelend.

Also in numbers were the Wigeon, a duck which mainly breeds in Iceland, Scandinavia and Siberia, although around 4-5 hundred pairs breed in Scotland and northern England. I disturbed this flock feeding in a channel in the saltmarsh.

Teal were about in numbers too, a species which also breeds in northern Britain but most of these birds have, like the others, probably fly in from Scandinavia and Siberia.

Amongst the residents here were the Curlew, Redshank getting muddy feet and a Little Egret was having a feast, I’m not sure what he was catching but there was certainly a lot of them and they seemed to make easy pickings!

Best spot of the day was a Rock Pipit who allowed quite close approach as he trundled about looking for tasty morsels along the receding tide.

Well that’s it for October, the fat lady was definitely warming up but no singing just yet, would there be time to squeeze in one more trip before lockdown 2.0 arrives

[Wurzel]

Fingers crossed you made it before Thursday's deadline Bugboy Great to see the Brent Geese featuring in your post I was lucky enough once to see almost a thousand dark bellied, 2 pale bellied as well as a Black Brant and a Red Breasted Goose on one memorable visit to Portland so seeing your images took me back there - cheers I tried to turn your Redshank into a Spotted Redshank but couldn't manage it sorry

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, just amount made it out (see below). That's a lot of Geese! It would be nice for it to be a Spotted Redshank, would have been a lifer for me, but thanks for trying

November 2020
Wednesday 4th. I’m old enough to remember a time when if you wanted to see a butterfly in the UK in November, you either went to a butterfly house or went rooting around in the darker recesses of the garden shed. These days it’s almost standard you’ll find something on the wing if you know where to look: adult hibernators squeezing in a few extra weeks nectaring, Red Admirals and Clouded Yellows hanging around far longer than they used to and others squeezing in an extra brood. This year, in that respect was no different. There was however the rather dark cloud of lockdown 2.0 looming ever closer and my local patches had all but given up producing butterflies weeks ago. The day before lockdown started was however a happy coincidence in being my day off from work and the sunniest day of the week, so it was of for one final day down to the south coast.

Mill Hill was the main destination but as I usually do at this time of year, I stopped off at Southwick harbour first, quickly finding a Clouded Yellow. He stopped pretty regularly, it is November after all, but the main problem in getting close without disturbing him was the long November shadows.

After chasing him up and down the slope (he wasn’t going anywhere it seemed) I moved on along the path and noticed something silvery low down in the hedge. Not a species I was expecting to see, a female Holly Blue, the first I've ever seen here. Despite the wing damage she looked freshly emerged too .

She fluttered off out of sight high up into the hedge when I tried to do a bit of gardening around her so I trundled on, a Grey Wagtail distracted me for a while, foraging along the litter strewn strandline .

Another Cloudie made a brief appearance without stopping (I’m presuming it was a different one since the first one had shown no sign of wanting to leave the grassy slope at the centre of the site) and after he vanished I spied some movement on some Ivy blossom at the top of the slope. The Red Admiral wasn’t showing any sign of coming down to say hello though.

I wandered back and forth a few more times, noting a few more Holly Blues who stayed frustratingly out of reach of the macro lens

Whilst the original Cloudie was still flying back and forth, now also being chased by Dave Cook.

Together we went back to the Holly Blues and (including the original female I’d seen at the start) came to a minimum total of seven, although there was little doubt the real total was significantly higher. The best spot was of a mating pair, the first time I’ve seen Holly Blues in cop.

A bit further along a second Red Admiral came down and settled at our feet.

After all this, Mill Hill was almost an afterthought and when I finally got round to going there I was glad Southwick had came up trumps, an hours walk on the ‘main site’ gave me just a single solitary female Common Blue, somewhat past here sell by date!

Still, four species in November is never to be sniffed at .

[millerd]

No sniffing here, Buggy! That really is an unusually abundant emergence of third brood Hollies down there at Southwick: I've never seen one down there either, at any time of year! had no November sightings of them locally this year, so it's good to see them elsewhere. A mating pair as well - they're optimistic! However, if the female finds some late-flowering ivy in a sheltered spot close to the sea where frost is a rarity (especially this side of Christmas) there's an outside chance a caterpillar might make it through.

Cheers,

Dave