David M

[David M]

Friday 3 June – Catching up….

After spending 8 days abroad, it was time to catch up with some local species so I headed for Crymlyn Burrows hoping to find my first Large Skippers and Meadow Browns of the year.

There wasn’t a great deal flying, with Small Blues leading the way with 10, which is perhaps unsurprising given the amount of kidney vetch that grows here:

There were 9 Common Blues, 4 Small Heaths and 3 Whites, and I also saw what will be my last male UK Orange Tip for 2022.

On my way back to the car, I disturbed a Meadow Brown, but he flew into a wooded gully and I wasn’t able to get an image.

I moved on to Fairwood Common, where an hour’s search returned 20 Marsh Fritillaries, including a couple of females. They are showing signs of wear even though they only started emerging a fortnight ago:

Other species seen were 2 Common Blues, 2 Speckled Woods, a Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary and what will surely prove to be my final Green Hairstreak of the year.

[Goldie M]

Hi! David, that's another species we don't get round here, nice shots another one I'll miss out on I did see them ages ago though in North Devon so I'll have to be satisfied with that :DGoldie

[David M]

Thanks, Goldie. Yes, Marshies are absent from your general area (until someone starts populating the county like they have done elsewhere!)

You've gained far more than you've lost though.

Tuesday 14th June – Dark Green Fritillary….

With this being my only full day back home in between trips abroad spanning six weeks, I was grateful that the weather was pleasant enough to allow me to get out for a couple of hours to try to see butterflies that might not hang around for my return in mid-July.

As a result, I was delighted when having entered onto the dune area at Whiteford Burrows, the first butterfly I spotted was this Dark Green Fritillary:

It was the only one I saw, and could well be the only UK DGF I see this year, although I will doubtless come across plenty in the Alps.

[Goldie M]

Thats a lovely shot David and another one I don't think is down here but I've got shots of it when I was in the lakes, like you say though there always the chance of seeing some thing different here Goldie

[David M]

Thanks, Goldie. Yes, we do well for Fritillaries in Wales but there are species round your way that I would have to travel great distances to see.

Tuesday 14th June – Marbled White….

Another species that I feared I might not see in the UK this summer was Marbled White.

Thankfully, I found four on the dunes including one that was reasonably approachable:

[kevling]

David, you get some mighty butterflies in those dunes. Cracking DGF and Marbled White.

Kind Regards
Kev

[David M]

Thanks, Kev. In my view this is the best butterfly site on the Gower and I'm thankful I'm only a 20 minute drive from it.

[trevor]

You found an approachable Marbled White David ?.
I went to see them last evening, and even close to 8pm they could detect me from a distance!.
Lovely DGF shot too.

Trevor.

[David M]

It's a frustratingly skittish species, Trevor, but at the right time of day or in adverse weather conditions they are not impossible to approach closely.

Tuesday 14th June – Whiteford Burrows….

Aside from the solitary Dark Green Fritillary and four Marbled Whites, the return from this visit was less than spectacular, although the cloud closed in within half an hour of my arrival which didn’t help things:

Ten Common Blues and eight Small Blues was creditable, and there were also seven Speckled Woods, and three Small Heaths.

Amazingly, there were no Large Skippers and even Meadow Browns only numbered seven, although this male was unusually approachable and offered a rare, early season open wing shot:

[David M]

Tuesday 14th June – Large Skipper….

With me travelling abroad for a considerable while the following day, I thought I’d take the opportunity to take one last look at the Marsh Fritillaries on my local common.

There were only five to be seen, all of which were showing signs of wear:

By contrast, there were four fresh Small Tortoiseshells:

Having seen no Large Skippers earlier in the day on the coast, I was pleased to find twenty of them on this site, both males and females:

A solitary Painted Lady was the only other butterfly seen.

[David M]

Thursday 21st July - High Brown Fritillary....

Having returned from over a month on the continent, the first thing on my agenda was to visit the High Brown site near Bridgend.

This species has quite a decent flight period, usually beginning around 10th June and lasting till the very end of July (and sometimes into August).

One thing I've picked up over the years is that the females like to hang out on the thistle patches in the lower parts of the site towards the end of their lives, and many of them are in surprisingly good condition.

Here is the area which they like:

I saw at least half a dozen. Here's the first one I encountered:

This next one had some wing damage but was irresistible sat alongside a Meadow Brown:

The creeping thistles are waist height in places, meaning that I was able to crouch down and attempt to get a few underside images:

Sometimes they turn at the right time:

Then they fly to another thistle and you can't resist another upperside:

This one was probably the best of the lot:

[David M]

Thursday 21st July - Odds and ends....

As well as High Brown Fritillary, there were plenty of other butterflies present at the site. I saw my first Ringlets of the summer - about three dozen in total:

The commonest species was Hedge Brown, with 60-80 seen:

I found 3 Commas on the same stretch of thistles where the High Browns were nectaring:

This male Green Veined White was seen just prior to leaving:

There were a handful of tatty Dark Green Fritillaries, and I also saw a female Silver Washed, although she flew away strongly before I could get an image.

Other species seen were Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Large White, Small White, Speckled Wood, Small Heath & Peacock.

[David M]

Friday 22nd July - Grayling hunt...

Graylings are usually a relatively easy late summer 'win' round my way. There are smallish populations around much of the rocky coastline on the Gower, and an unexpected sunny break in the weather gave me the chance to track a few down at Mumbles Head.

It took me only a few minutes to find my first:

However, the gusty winds didn't help, as the only other two I saw were being buffeted about and were impossible to successfully track. Here's part of the rocky outcrop where they are found, with Limeslade Bay providing the backdrop:

I moved on to Southgate Cliffs, and saw a further three here, although again only one was settled and approachable:

[Matsukaze]

Lovely butterflies, full of character and great fun to watch (especially with the sea as a backdrop!).

[David M]

Lovely butterflies, full of character and great fun to watch (especially with the sea as a backdrop!).

They sure are, Chris, although these exposed rock faces can be windy which makes life difficult sometimes!

[trevor]

Good to see your High Browns David, after our failure to see them in Devon.
I would have liked to have brought home some shots like yours.

Never mind,
Trevor.

[David M]

Thanks, Trevor. Shame you missed out on the Devon ones. There are plenty here if you ever venture up this way.

[Pauline]

Some great shots of your HBF David but my favourite was the tortoise

[David M]

...my favourite was the tortoise

No surprise there, Pauline.

I confess I was rather fond of them myself.

[David M]

Friday 22nd July – Small Skipper...

It’s not often the grass round Swansea dies off and turns brown, but the lack of rain these last few weeks has left things looking very worn out:

So it was with some surprise that I managed to find two Small Skippers as this species loves long grass, of which there is precious little! The first one I found was at Mumbles Head but it flew off before I could get an image. The second turned up on some thistles at Southgate and I had better luck with this one:

It would have been unthinkable for me to miss out on this common butterfly in the UK this year and I fear the larval grass feeders may have a tough time of things for a little while.