Wurzel

[Benjamin]

Super shots of the oak eggars Wurzel! I frequently get distracted by them as their rapid erratic flights draw me into fruitless chases. One day I’ll see one go down and maybe have an experience like yours - great stuff.

I’ve enjoyed catching up on your summer trip reports also. The trip to Alners stands out - that valezina certainly justified the always perilous dash across uneven ground with eyes fixed on target - you describe it perfectly!

[bugboy]

Don't think I've seen an Egger moth that's not a ginger blur. Those Gatekeepers are pretty good looking too, an impressive array of extra markings

[Goldie M]

Some cracking shots of the Gate Keeper's Wurzel, I've never seen that Moth before it's a beauty.

I should be settled in Wingham before too long, could be after Christmas though the way things are going

I've heard Sandwich is not too far a way and they have a Nature reserve there, not sure what Butterflies are there but I'll certainly be checking the place out

Loved your Calendar for November can't wait to see your December one Goldie

[trevor]

Superb shots of the mating Oak Eggers, Quite a rare sighting.
I've had two encounters with them, one at Cotley Hill, and another
flew into my house one evening a few years back.

Never say never, but I think it's all over now .

Stay well,
Trevor.

[Neil Freeman]

Just seen your shots of the Oak Eggars in cop Wurzel, great stuff

I have seen males bombing about at high speed a few times, most often down in Cornwall, but never seen one settle. The only settled example of this species I have seen was a female Northern Eggar up in Scotland a few years back, a massive and very beautiful insect.

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

Some more terrific Gatekeepers, Wurzel - I don't think I've ever seen any as excessively marked as those, especially the almost matching female and male. And the moths are something else...

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Benjamin It was good to finally catch-up properly with this species as like you up until now they've often just been a fast moving blur in the distance
Cheers Bugboy I was in spotty heaven with those Hedgies, I need to keep looking though as I'm sure there will be some colour variants hiding away along the Lane as it seems to have most of the other variant types
Cheers Goldie Sandwich sounds like it should be a great spot - possibly Grayling or Green Hairstreaks, maybe even...a Grizzlie? I hope things keep progressing at a pace
Cheers Trevor That could be it Trevor - I did see a Red Admiral on the 17th but we're definitely in the end days of the season
Cheers Neil I couldn't believe it when I saw them just sitting on the grass at ground level
Cheers Dave The Lane always seems to have a couple of these 'spotty ones' but you do have to search through a very large number to find them...not that that's a problem for a Gatekeeper-ophile

Aberaeron Day 4 28-07-2021

The weather seriously bucked up its ideas through the course of the morning and so after lunch we decided to make take the Outlaws down to Aberaeron for a walk through the town and down to the seafront. Once I’d made the two trips and everyone was assembled along with the walkers we set off first along the river and then down through the back streets emerging onto the main street. There were a few Whites flying across the grass in the distance and also on the opposite bank when we followed the riverside path. A Red Admiral detached itself from one of the Oaks and also swiftly buggered off across the Aeron so I turned my attention to the birds. One bird in particular didn’t just catch my eye as much as grip me by the cranium and pull my head towards it whilst screaming “LOOK AT ME!”. I stared at it noting that the wing tips protruding from its back weren’t the usual black with little ‘mirrors’ but were pure white. At first I was hoping that it was an Iceland or Glaucous Gull but the back and feather were also white and not a light grey which meant that it was a leucistic Herring Gull. In the bright sun it was almost blinding to look at and getting anything decent photograph wise was tricky both because of this and also because of the distance but I tried for a few record shots anyway.

As we journeyed on there were the occasional Whites and on the return trip a Small Tort disappeared over a garden fence but all was quiet after that. As we walked back along the river the hush continued right up to the ramp down from the path. As I looked to my left there seated on the bramble was a gorgeous looking Red Admiral. Sometimes it only takes on butterfly to brighten the day and here she was.

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Aberystwyth Day 5 29-07-2021

As it was the ultimate day we took a trip to Aberystwyth. The weather was a cool with sunny intervals but there was a blustery breeze. After picking up the first of the shopping in Morrisons we wandered along the pathway into town. Along the hedges and the outgrowths from the riverside nature reserve all was quiet and the only butterfly that I saw was a distant Green-veined White. After visiting what felt like most of the shops that Aber has to offer we walked up Constitution Hill and had lunch at the top looking out over Cardigan Bay. We took the slightly more sheltered paths on the way down which zig and zag down the hill via a more inland route and so I saw a few butterflies – Hedgies, Meadow Browns, a fly-by Small Tort and a couple of Specklies which were holding territories wherever a slightly taller tree was present in the hedge.

I pressed on ahead on the route back and so had time to investigate the small field with the large Buddleia in the corner. A things are a littlelater this year and also as we visited earlier in the holiday it didn’t hold the usual plethora of species; in fact there were only two. The first was only on the Buddleia for a moment before flying off and it was a Meadow Brown that was possibly the most neurotic member of its species that I’ve ever encountered. I couldn’t get within 8ft of it before it took off and weakly flapped to a new resting spot. The second was a lone Red Admiral, probably and hopefully the vanguard of the Vanessids that will be taking advantage of this particular bush in the coming weeks.

So ended the trip to Wales – the next day was the big drive home and I didn’t have eyes for anything but the tarmac and the cars in front but I did muse about butterflies on the way – chiefly where are the Grayling as I was in what I think of a good habitat for them and it’s still in their flight time?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

The Devenish 31-07-2021 Part 1

I was eager to get back out there and once all the usual business that follows on from a holiday was attended too I headed out to The Devenish to see what was still flying and also to try and catch up with a species that I was still missing out on – Chalkhill Blues. It seemed odd to have caught up with pretty much everything else but still be waiting for this species? Once on site I set out immediately to the Orchid Meadow hoping to find an easy Chalkhill and also wondering if they’d actually started flying at this site? With limited time I started scanning across the grass tops before I was even fully though the gate and there was the ghostly blue I was hoping for. I watched intently while my hands secured the gate by themselves and with my eyes locked on it I strode along the path, swung my camera round and clicked away – my first Chalkhill of 2021 sorted.

Chuffed to have ticked off my target I then turned my attentions to the rest of the butterflies that were flying around all over the place but that I’d missedas I was so blinkered by my fixation on finding a Chalkhill. I soon racked up two a piece of Common Blue, Brown Argus, Hedgie, Small White as well as loads of Meadow Browns, 3 Large Whites and singletons of Marbled White and Smessex and all seen whilst wandering a short way across the Meadow to the gate of the steep trackway. I pressed on feeling the pull of gravity more strongly as I started up the steep and narrow trackway. The patch of Bramble held more than its fair share of Hedgies and Meadow Browns as well as couple of Peacocks and surprisingly a Brown Argus and then as I browk out from the confines of the hedges onto the foot of the Down a luscious Small Copper was there to greet me whilst a late Ringlet sat in the shade and a Holly Blue conversely played in the sunshine along the top of the hedge. A Brown Argus patrolled lower down occasionally pausing in the middle of its duty and enabling me to grab a few shots.

With the Down rising ahead of me I now had a choice; leg it up the near vertical Down and once at the summit work along the top or stick to the bottom of the Down, using the sides of my boots to grip onto the slope. I chose the latter as despite the risk to life and limb from slipping there were several ‘clumps’ of Hemp Agrimony that grew at the edge of the trees along the bottom of the Down. I managed to safely reach the first and stood slightly lopsidedly scanning across the first clump. My first glance revealed 3 Peacocks, 8 Hedgies and 3 Meadow Browns. As I continued scrutinising the clump working my way (with my eyes) from left to right I added another Peacock, Red Admiral and a Brown Argus. A Holly Blue and 2 Small Whites did a fly –by but I hadn’t quite finished checking the clump out as a large Briar intersected it about three quarters of the way along. When I rounded the spiky corner the final quarter of the clump added a few more species to the tally and nice bit of variety with singles of Large White, a Specklie and a Small Copper.

The second clump was smaller and ran further down the Down and into the shade of the Beech trees so had slightly fewer butterflies. However what it lacked in quantity it made up for in quality as there were two Chalkhills alternately feeding and flying around the flower tops. There was also another Red Admiral, a Brown Argus and a Smessex looking very dishevelled. The Chalkhills by contrast were in cracking nick and so I turned my attentions to them. I noticed that one was a distinctly lacking in the spot department on the underside of the forewing. I managed to get a record shot before it clocked that I was taking an interest in it, opened up and then took off. I didn’t mind too much because it was the second took off also but landed nicely in the grass for a cracking open wing shot. From here I moved onto the third and final discernible ‘clump’. This again held a Red Admiral and a Peacock but a passing Common Blue and a DGF added a little variety. I wasn’t certain that the DGF would hang around and so grabbed a record shot which also turned out to be a ‘threefer’ as it also included both a Meadow and a Hedge Brown. As it turned out the DGF did hang around, in fact it didn’t want to leave and after getting some really close shots I left it still feeding away merrily in the same place...

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[trevor]

A great report of a very mrgreen worthy day out .
Lots of variety and everything nice and fresh. For me the female DGF steals the show.

Great stuff, stay safe.
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor There was a little bit more still to cover but I didn't want to over do the photos

The Devenish 31-07-2021 Part 2

After this the distinct clumps peter out into a more general carpet of low laying flowers which covers most of the bottom of the Down. I stumbled and tripped my way across the uneven and diagonal ground towards the Gully. On the way there’s a 3rd nd then 4th DGF and I’m treated at the end to a pair of Large Whites in cop. The Gully itself is even more treacherous under foot than the overgrown Down and slipping and sliding I make slow progress up to the top jarring my knees and back more often than not. A Holly Blue evaded my lens and jeered at me as it stayed up high but the Meadow Browns and Hedgies are more accommodating. A couple of Green-veined Whites were fussing about low down in the vegetation at the top of the Gully but despite plenty of courting the female wasn’t interested.

I broke free of the confines of the Gully and sauntered around in the first of the two fields at the top of the Down but it was really quiet as the wind ripped through the gap in the trees and tore across the flat top of the field before jumping out horizontally and rustling the tops of the Beech trees from the foot of the Down. On the way to the second top meadow I spotted a Marbled White and a Brown Argus but the second clearing was as quiet (apart for the rushing of the wind) as the first so I set off down the Down. Two seemed to be the number of the day as when I descended I noted two each of DGF, Brown Argus and Common Blue but the trend petered out with only singletons of Brimstone and Smessex and the more singletons of Peacock and Small White on the Brambles bush at the side of the steep narrow bit of trackway. I tried to count the number of Meadow and Hedge Browns that were crawling all over this particular bush but it was exceedingly hard work as they were all so active due to a heady mixture of sun and glucose. At the bottom I made my way through the gate and once in the Orchid Meadow turned right and made for the far end. As I strolled along, the vegetation rubbed and clawed at my jeans but the scritching and swishing I found rather soothing, to me it’s one of the sounds of high summer and it lulled me into an almost meditative state. I counted and clicked at butterflies, noted numbers down and clicked in between letting my hands pass through the grass tops as I walked. It was all a bit blissful. Looking back now at the numbers it is a roll call of summer butterflies; Brown Argus, aged Smessex, female Brimstone, a second female Brimstone, 2 Marbled Whites, Large White, Common Blue, a stunningly fresh Small Copper, 2 Brown Argus, 2 DGFs, a Marbled White and finally when almost right up against the wire fence at the end of the Meadow a Ringlet. I’d bimbled along to the end of the Meadow without really being aware of anything but the butterflies and not looking up once.

I turned around, shook myself aware again and actually lifting my head set off back across the Meadow, my feet once again snaking their way along the narrowest of trackways. Ahead of me 9 Whites were all on the wing at once, fluttering this way and that like falling magnolia petals caught on the breeze. A Ringlet caught my eye but of course as it had a slight touch of ab.lancelotta it played hard to get and chose to perch in the tallest spot on the middle of the meadow. Luckily this was a smallish tree and by standing on tip-toes and holding my camera out in outstretched arms I was able to get a passable record shot. I carried on picking up a few more shots of many of the species that I’d previously seen – a Green-veined White, a Meadow Brown and a couple more DGFs and then I was diving down through the shade of the woodland path back to the car park.

The Chalkhills are out
Butterfly numbers building
A blissed out visit

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

What a classic summer butterfly outing that was, Wurzel! I've just read parts 1 & 2 together, and it really brings the joy of seeing variety in numbers right back and into my winter living room. The Chalkhills and the female DGFs are the highlights, but everything contributes.

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave I was tempted to do the post in one but was worried about the images count racking up - but after chatting to Pete at the Social I needn't have worried

December 2021

Another Calendar complete...time to sort out the next one!

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[trevor]

Seems we both managed a super shot of a SWF with closed wing this year.
All I need now is a valesina. A shot like yours will do. 2022?.

Keep warm,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor If you're after a Valesina then Alners Gorse is a prime spot - I've seen them there two years on the trot now, Garston Wood is also a good spot

The Devenish 02-08-2021

As K was out and about with her friends we had an extra seat in the car and so we took both my nieces with us on our walk around the Devenish and the surrounding environs. Surprisingly all through the Orchid Meadow we didn’t see anything and it was only once we were half way up the Down that butterflies started appearing with a fly-by Meadow Brown and ghostly looking Marbled White. A DGF frantically zigged and zagged its way down the hill once spooked by one of the girls. Almost at the top a Meadow Brown started its climb from its roosting spot up the grass stem where it clung on drying its wings from dew and trying to warm up. I was able to get shots of it from both sides and I found the contrast between the two backgrounds with semi corresponding wing surfaces pleasing to the eye.

Once we’d caught our breaths and then had them momentarily stolen away again by the view we pressed on through the Beech wood along the top. Under the canopy it was dark and noticeably cooler and there were spectral demonic sheep that freaked the girls out and so no butterflies were seen. This dearth continued throughout the wood with not even a Specklie for my lens to focus on with more of the same as we left the wood behind and took to the farm track. Finally the Duck was broken and a Large White cut across the field but didn’t stop for a photo. I think this lack of butterflies was down to it still being early and still too cool for them, the sky had yet to clear which also didn’t help.

With the circular part of the walk completed we were back in The Devenish proper and once again in the top Beech wood and once the girls were all swung out we retraced out footsteps from earlier back to the side of the Down. As I scanned across while waiting to file through the gate I could see that things had finally woken up as Meadow Browns and Marbs flew over the tops of the grasses. As we started our descent a few blue jewels were noticeable amid the straw coloured background, not as vibrant as a showy Adonis but to me a Chalkhills beauty lies in the transition from white to black to pastel blue. A couple of really fresh males out on a bit of a show for the girls, sitting nicely on contrasting yellow or complementary purple flower heads. I checked through the shots as we finished the descent and one of the males didn’t seem properly focused at first glance. When I zoomed in on the viewing screen all became clear (not the images the reason); it was because he was carrying a passenger.

Once more in the Orchid Meadow I was tempted to stop and just revel in the butterflies that were now flying as the morning had warmed up but we were on a walk so I had to content myself with just watching and taking the odd grab shot. There seemed to be Meadow Browns everywhere I turned, a Small White went past as did a Brown Argus and what at first I thought was a second Brown Argus. It was about the same size but when it landed I got the briefest of views which revealed it to be a female Common Blue and to date it’s the smallest example that I’ve seen. Near the gate a large clump of Hemp Agrimony played host to a number of Hedgies and as one of my nieces had pointed them out I was able to get a couple of shots before we made the final part of the walk.

All in all not too bad a collection for a bona fide walk and it gave me something to look forward to for when I make my next visit. However the butterflies weren’t done yet for as we dropped my nieces off I spotted a Painted Lady, a couple of Small Torts and a Red Admiral on the large Buddleia which grows in the corner of the drive…something else to look forward to and to bear in mind the next time I do a pickup-drop off!

A quick stomp around
Typical Devenish walk
Grab shot butterflies

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Fantastic shots Wurzel, the calendar especially , Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie I better start sorting out the next one now then

Shipton Bellinger 03-08-2021

It was time I felt to start my annual series of visits to Shipton Bellinger. I’d seen one of the first Brostreaks in the country already and so I was hoping that during my sojourn in Wales the Brostreaks would have started emerging at Shipton and so kit loaded into the boot, lime pickle liberally spread over sandwiches and Iron Maiden blaring I set off for my ‘No Quite So Local Patch’.

My enthusiasm meant that I arrived a good hour before the typical curtain call so I set about examining the Hedge looking for likely perching and feeding spots. I’d only just started on my recce when I got chatting to another enthusiast, a friendly chap called Ian who was trying to photograph all the butterflies of Hampshire. After pointing him in roughly the right direction for Walls I carried on along the hedge. It felt like more and more butterflies were appearing with each footstep I took. There were plenty each of Hedgies (or at this time of year what I refer to as ‘False Streaks’) and Meadow Browns and this gave me an opportunity to freshen my memory about how they behave differently to my target quarry; less jinky, more flappy and often coming back down low or flying out to the fields rather than heading up and into the depths of the hedge. By the time I’d reached the corner at the far end of the hedge I’d added a nice Peacock and Small White to the list of shots but the Small Tort, Green-veined White, Red Admiral and numerous Holly Blues had all played hard to get. A Comma paused on the corner possibly as consolation.

I pressed on as I had a few more likely spots to look into and as I wandered I continued seeing similar species and added a few Brimstones to the days tally as they were all hanging out in the little section which butts up to the main road. I was starting to wonder if perhaps the Brosteaks had yet to put in an appearance but when I reached the Nettle Bed I soon saw that they must have emerged as there were a couple of trackways/trampled paths leading deep into the Nettles. Noting these spots to try later (as it was still before the golden hours) I followed the narrow track and worked my way back round to the main hedge. Along the way there were a few more nice bits in amidst the metaphorical sea of browns – another Comma, another Red Admiral and a Large White. Once back along the Hedge I managed to catch up with the Small Tort and there were also (probably the same ones) Commas and Red Admirals as well some Holly Blues that had now started to come down a little lower now that the day was warming up. Checking in with Ian who was still staking out the little area just after the start of the hedge I carried on round. On the main track a horse or three had left their packets of fertiliser and a brace of Holly Blue were feasting on the salts and moisture. I do like to anthropomorphise so to my mind they looked a little like a couple on a first date, one which wasn’t going too well though as one of them promptly turned their back on the other and wandered off to another part of the turd.

Loving the Lovers to their tiff I walked back round to the main hedge and once I reached the first hot spot I spotted something almost immediately. Ian who was still surveilling spotted something too so while he followed one I kept a beady eye on the other. My one flitted about along the tops of the trees and then landed up high for a while. Luckily it then came back down and after a dizzying and jinking run settled down about just above head height. Keeping my eyes fixed on it I gingerly approached and raising my arms up with camera set of autofocus I was all ready to click away when it took to the air once more. Cursing I again watched its jinking run and then it settled once more but this time even lower down and even closer! Chuffed by tis accommodating nature I actually managed to click away at this cracking male Brostreak.

Once this one had flown I nipped back round the corner to check on the dating couple and things still weren’t going well so I left them to it in the hope that they would iron out their differences and set off on another trawl of the hedge and other environs. As I began a small orange blur caught my eye. It was too small to be a Brostreak but I had an inkling that it was one of the ‘distractor moffs’ that fly at this time of year in exactly the same places as Brostreaks and cause so much “is/was that one?” confusion. Unusually this one actually landed and so I managed a few snaps of what is, for now, an unknown moff – although it does remind me of a Brick? After a quick chat Ian decided that it was time for him to find his Wall and almost as soon as he set off I spotted another Brostreak up high (possibly the one Ian had followed earlier?). Too high for me, I could only manage a record shot but Ian came back and with his telephoto lens pulled off some cracking shots of a lusciously fresh male. I carry on and bump into Alan Thornbury for the first time ever – and say a massive thank you as his website put me onto so many of my ‘firsts’. Eventually my wandering took me along the hedge, through the small section and onto the Nettle Bed. I paused at the edge for another pair of Holly Blues out on a hot date. Again things looked like they were going south; one was sat at the table eating away whilst the other remained propping up the bar!

I made straight for the far end of the Nettle Bed to the little inlet that had been trampled previously and once there I stood and waited patiently scanning about and checking each of the creeping Thistle tops in turn. There were the ubiquitous Browns and a Brimstone which seemed like a poor return and then, as if by magic, there before me was a male Brostreak. I swear that it hadn’t been there before because just a few seconds previously I’d been staring intently at the exact same flower top that it was now feeding on. After a few shots I stood back and just watched it while it fussed away feeding. In previous years they’ve favoured one particular flower, in one case staying fixed to the spot for a couple of hours. This one however had quickly had his fill as he abruptly took off and jinked his way to the top of a Field Maple. I carried on, my return route taking me back along the tiny path which was all quiet save for a Comma, Red Admiral and a Smessex. Then it back along the Hedge with the usual suspects and plenty of talking and watching the Hedge.

It stayed quiet so I set off back towards the Nettle Bed and I’m joined on the way by another gent who has never seen a Brostreak before. As we walk I scan the Hedge just in case as well as checking out all the little nooks and crannies in the little patch next to the road but to no avail. We even draw a blank at the little trample inlet. Wondering what was up with them this year we head back and then I spot one out of the corner of my eye. It’s hiding down among some Creeping Thistles; crawling in between them so a clear view isn’t really possible. Eventually it breaks from cover but it was off up to the top of the Maple again; they seemed quite flighty this season?

I set up shop and wait for it to come back down passing the time by munching down on my favourite sandwich – extra hot lime pickle with a sprinkling of Nootch. I’m only a couple of bites in when the other gent calls out as he’s found on in the creeping thistles at the edge of the narrow track. With the chilli burning a hole in my cheek I scurried round and this one was far better behaved than any of its predecessors and was in very fine fettle too! After a quite a few shots I wander back to where the Brostreak had been hiding before and carry on to the end where sure enough one is down in the initial trampled inlet.

Brilliant stuff and so almost all Brostreaked out I wander blissfully back to the car, crank up Maiden and make for Perham!

Lots of Hedge watching
Which eventually pays off
With Shipton Brostreaks!

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

3rd August must have been the day for Brostreaks, Wurzel, as while you were getting all those great shots of the males, Bugboy and I were doing the same down at Bookham. Nice Holly Blues too - I often come across pairs of males puddling like that, but never more than two at a time. If any others are around they always keep their distance.

Cheers,

Dave

[trevor]

A great report with images to match from Shipton B.
I was there two days after you and male BH were reasonably easy to find,
but I like your suggestion of a late July visit next year, for a better chance of some fresh specimens.

Great stuff, stay well.
Trevor.

[Goldie M]

Lovely shots of the Hair Streaks Wurzel,

Have a great Christmas and new Year, I'm into the Hot Chocolate already Goldie