Thanks
Wurzel. Almost certainly home grown, the males tend to hang around where they grow up. As I understand it Female Cloudies do most of the migration, emerge/mate/move on, leaving the males to chase the next set of females to appear on their home patch, much like LTB appear to do.
Thanks
Trevor, as with any in-flight shot there’s a large dollop of luck and a good many binned shots for every one that sees the light of day!
Thanks
Dave, they are a welcome sight just as winter threatens to finally end the season aren’t they
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September 2021
Saturday the 18th was a long day. I went into Essex to see if any Clouded Yellows were on the long south facing path at Hadleigh Country Park, but instead of going straight to Leigh-on-sea as usual, I got off at Pitsea and walked from the other end. Had it been a month or two earlier I’d likely seen a bit more but there was just the occasional Meadow Brown to be found.
There are many small pools/ponds by the side of the path and passing each one caused a cascade of watery, amphibious plops. After a few failed attempts I managed to find a pool where I could see the edges from a distance without disturbing the culprits, Pool Frogs. There’s been much debate in the amphibian world as to whether or not they are or have ever been a native species. The general consensus seems to be ‘yes’ but with the caveat that most populations in the UK are now results of introduced animals from the continent. Anyway they are rather attractive frogs and this patch of Essex seems to be heaving with them!
![Pool Frog.png (1.92 MiB) Viewed 457 times 4 frogs and a bonus Dytiscidae Diving Beetle.](./files/thumb_13753_83c2256242a8fbca8654b3544e67fdba)
- 4 frogs and a bonus Dytiscidae Diving Beetle.
Darter Dragonflies were busy over these pools as well, many tandem pairs flying around and depositing eggs.
By the time I’d reached the Leigh-on-sea end of the park I’d managed add a single Small white to the small handful of MB, sadly there didn’t seem to be any Cloudies here this year.
In some trees across from a recently ploughed field a large gathering of raucous Corvids could be heard and I spent a while watching Crows and Jackdaws playing in the brisk wind, playfully dive bombing each other. Looking at the pictures at home one looked decidedly 'Raveny' although at the time I don’t remember any Crows standing out as bigger than the others. I believe they’re only an occasional visitor to this part of the world.
![IMG_0188.JPG (30.8 KiB) Viewed 457 times Raven?](./files/thumb_13753_fd90fec930024f98ae07f9ce5b466ba6)
- Raven?
Moving on I managed to add another Small White, a male, and a Brown Argus to the days tally.
At the narrow path which in high summer is full of White-letter Hairstreaks, I found a few Comma, one of whom had a broken ‘C’ whilst a few Red Admiral sailed above my head.
![IMG_0287.JPG (116.01 KiB) Viewed 457 times 'Polygonia j-album'](./files/thumb_13753_1feed521ac762b4bc66074f9d90c5aef)
- 'Polygonia j-album'
I headed over to Two Tree Island in the hope that the masses of Ivy would be working its magic on the late season Aristocrats, only to find it was mostly still in bud. There were some Green-veined Whites though and I killed a bit of time watching the Little Egrets fishing, squabbling and generally lounging around.
Exploring the southern side of the Island I came across a Wasp Spider, complete with egg sac, down in the saltmarsh
and in the lagoon I watched a young Dabchick pestering one of its parents. (It had actually learned to dive for it’s own food but it seemed to prefer begging).
A Red Admiral and another Green-veined White completed the butterfly sightings for the Island so I returned for one last look near the station before making my way back home
Tbc.