ernie f

[ernie f]

Thanks Guys.

You won't believe it (or maybe you will - I don't know) but I took over 400 photos in an hour of those Hummingbird Hawk Moths. I have managed to trim them back to about 100! All the rest are better than any of my previous efforts. What a fantastic time I had.

[ernie f]

Recently I managed to find two male Brown Hairstreaks on the ground at Noar Hill if you remember.

Today I was in a completely different part of the reserve and found two females, both looking for egg-laying sites. Given they spent most of their time in the shrubbery, often out of sight, I guess there must have been more but I just didn't see them. This is good news because last year I only saw one individual Brostreak after severe site maintenance. These females were in a part of the reserve that survived the onslaught.

This one repeatedly flew to the tops of stalks and walked down them.

Female #1

Female #2

[Wurzel]

Cracking set of Brostreak shots Ernie That's the best time to find them as they need to warm up after being in the shade and egglaying

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

...This is good news because last year I only saw one individual Brostreak after severe site maintenance. These females were in a part of the reserve that survived the onslaught.

That's excellent news, ernie. What happened regarding that 'maintenance' was utterly wrong and I'm glad to know that a population of betulae still exists there.

One hopes with time they will recover somewhat.

[ernie f]

Thanks David, Wurzel

It's nice to know they are still hanging on at Noar Hill.

[ernie f]

Last year the Small Copper population at Broxhead crashed. I went this year and saw just one - but its early-ish in the season for them here. Also saw no Brown Argus at Broxhead last year at all so thought they had become extinct here, but I also saw one of those today too. Got pics but only record shots.

However, this moth flew into our house last night and landed on our bedroom curtain. I think it is an 'Old Lady' moth, but can someone confirm?
It was big. The first I knew about it - it flew into my face!

[Allan.W.]

Hello Ernie ,
Yes Ernie, Old Lady moth ,i used to get them regularly in the trap but they,ve been a bit thin on the ground in recent years. Small Coppers have
crashed at Dungeness,in this years third brood, last year ,we had two 400 + counts around this time ,but they are very scarce in this years 3rd brood. The heat has really taken its toll on the massed ranks of Sheeps Sorrel That covers the shingle at Dungeness .
Allan.W.

[ernie f]

I am moving house on the 22nd March.

Sadly I say goodbye to Brown Hairstreaks, Purple Emperors, Silver-studded blues and Silver-spotted Skippers. No more Noar Hill, Alice Holt Woods or Broxhead Common.

But exciting times lie ahead. The clue is in my change of Avatar.

Our new house is situated on a small development surrounded by National Trust owned Common Land. In the coming year I probably wont be posting too much as we have lots to do but I will get out and about from time to time and hope you will find any posts I do make worth your effort reading.

I have a whole new region to explore and of course I already know there are a host of Nature Reserves nearby.

[Wurzel]

Hope the move goes well Ernie - looking forward to your posts featuring your explorations of new territory

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

That's a mighty fine place to relocate to, ernie.

With Large Blue having been introduced there recently, you'll have plenty to keep you occupied - Duke of Burgundy, Adonis Blue, Green Hairstreak, Chalkhill Blue, et al...

Looking forward to seeing how you get on.

[Mark Tutton]

Hi Ernie -
I’ll miss bumping into you at Alice Holt during Emperor season and our strolls down the rides, but you are moving to a great location. My wife is from Nailsworth right on the edge of Minchinhampton common so I know the area pretty well. As others have said Large Blues at a few locations, Duke of Burgundy and even HIM not too far away at Cirencester Park Woods you will feel right at home.
Hope all goes well
King Regards
Mark

[ernie f]

Thank you Mark, David and Wurzel for your kind words.

We moved into our new house without a hitch but there is even more to do to it than we thought. Once the previous owners had removed all their furniture and pictures, etc we discovered more paint jobs that need doing.

However in the first few weeks we have already seen the following in or above our garden (and we haven't even put out any food yet).

Green Woodpecker, Wren, Robin, Dunnock, Black-headed Gull, Crow, Magpie, Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Fan-tailed Dove, Gt Tit, Blue Tit, also at least one Fox almost every day (we think we have seen three individuals so far in our garden) and a group of three Roe Deer that came into our garden all together on two occasions.

Red Kite, Buzzard, Heron, Skylark and Badger (albeit a dead one) just outside our development on the NT Common Land.

But in all that time only one butterfly - a Brimstone.

Yesterday it was cool but sunny in the back garden so me and Gloria sat out there for the first time with a glass of wine each. Nice.

Two hours after we went back inside we had a massive hailstorm!

[David M]

Sounds wonderful so far, ernie. You must be excited to see what's out there not far from your front door (although judging by your bird list you're not doing too badly from behind it!)

I guess very shortly the Dukes and Green Hairstreaks will appear on the commons nearby.

[ernie f]

Hello All,

I have not been able to get out butterflying much after our move to Gloucestershire. Not only has the weather been the worst I can remember for Spring but there is a lot to do in the house and garden. Nevertheless, I thought I’d do a wildlife summary for the last month we have been here.

I have only been able to investigate a very small part of our immediate neighbourhood on the network of National Trust Commons that surround our development. To put you in the picture, we now live in a gated development of about 80 households in the centre of the connected common-land of Rodborough, Minchinhampton and Amberley near Stroud. The entire development was once the estate of a local landowner who had his mansion here, of course that no longer exists, but the high drystone wall still forms a complete circuit around us as it once did his house and grounds, and to keep the cows out there are also cattle grids at both entrances to the development.

The only part of this vast expanse of common land I have delved into for wildlife so far is basically just the hill we live on. Some of you may know about this hill. It’s called Swellshill and is a prime spot for butterflies, including the Adonis Blue. I can walk from my house to the bank of the hill where these butterflies can be found in around 15 minutes! I can also walk to where the Large Blue has been recently reintroduced. I have to say I can’t wait for the day I do that walk!

But I’ll take it a step at a time – so what happened in April?

First the back garden.

There have been Peacock, Brimstone and Holly Blue putting in a visit. Foxes and Grey Squirrels occur daily, Roe deer almost as frequent and once there was a Munjac too. Birds are numerous and include Crow, Magpie, Jay, Jackdaw, Black-headed gull, Herring Gull, Red Kite, Heron, Goldfinch, Robin, Dunnock, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Goldcrest, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Tawny Owl, Collared Dove, Fantail Dove and Wood Pigeon (of course). We also have wild cowslips.

Next the development as a whole.

As above but also Buzzard, Starling and House Sparrow. I also know there are at least two active Badger setts inside the development but as yet have not seen any badgers. Ramsons and Bluebells grow wild.

Next Swellshill.

I have to say, being slightly further north than we used to live, the season seems to start later here. By now at Noar Hill in Hampshire I would already have come across Dukes for example but although they are known to be here and the Cowslips are abundant (10’s of thousands) – so far no luck on that front. However I have seen Small Tortoiseshell and Orange Tip in addition to what I have already mentioned above and my very first Scarlet Tiger Moth Caterpillar. I have seen the actual moth before on occasion, even one emerging, but I have never seen the larva before. That was a big ‘tick in the box’ for me. Also Early Purple Orchid, Skylark, my first Swallow of the year and a Pheasant.

Quite apart from the wildlife the views are quite stunning. It’s all Oolitic Limestone hills around here, but we have a capping of loamy clay on top of our particular hill. The rivers cut through the limestone creating valleys and we live close to the limestone edge escarpment too. It means a lot of zig-zag bends when driving on and off the high common to the nearby towns in the valleys and its difficult to tear your eyes away from the scenery while negotiating the hairpin bends. Gloria suggests it looks a bit like Yorkshire and I can see what she means.

Scarlet Tiger Moth Caterpillar

Roe deer in our back garden

Early Purple Orchid

Swellshill from the village of Burleigh

The Golden Valley from Swellshill Bank

Mount Pleasant from Bownham Park lower gate beside Swellshill

[Neil Freeman]

You have certainly moved to a beautifull part af the country Ernie
I have visited Swelshill Bank a couple of times in the past but not for the past few years. Lots of other good sites within easy reach for you now ie.Strawberry Banks (Marsh Fritillary) and Daneway Banks (Large Blue).

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

Congratulations on your relocation, Ernie - you seem to have chosen an absolutely stunning part of the country, and one blessed with an enviable range of accessible butterflies. - I can't say more than that!

Cheers,

Dave

[David M]

I've been to Swell's Hill several times, ernie, so I'm broadly familiar with where you have relocated.

Once the weather improves, you should find large numbers of butterflies in that breathtaking tract of countryside. It is a gem of a place.

[ernie f]

Neil, Dave and David

Sorry for the belated thanks for your replies. As you can imagine, even now, after two months there is still a lot to do in the new house but at least I can grab an hour here and there to see the butterflies. And much of the time I don't need transport to see them. It's that kind of place.

[ernie f]

Report from The Cotswolds

So much rain in the early part of May. Even when it wasn’t raining there was heavy dew which meant soaking trouser bottoms from damp grass wherever I walked. But at least I was able to take a break from doing work on the house from time to time.

There was not exactly a glut of butterflies in the first two weeks of May in my new district. However I managed to tick off Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Peacock, Large White and Small White (or GV White – just a fly-by so unsure), Dingy Skipper, Brown Argus, Small Tortoiseshell, Green Hairstreak, Green Carpet Moth, Burnet Companion Moth, Forester Moth and Small Yellow Underwing Moth - and all these were only a short walk away from my house. A nice haul of species but overall numbers were low. One Green Hairstreak was very obliging though. Not only did I get pics of it in its standard ‘wings up’ perching stance but also with its wings open as it took off. Plus it performed not only a Wing-Roll for me but also an Antenna Nod at the same time.

The lack of butterflies in numbers was amply compensated for by the orchids on the commons around our house. As I have said, our house is in the middle of three National Trust Commons. If I turn left out of our street from the top gate of the development I am immediately on Minchinhampton Common. If I turn right or go out the bottom gate I am on Rodborough Common and if I go straight on I end up on Amberley Common. I can in fact walk to all three from my house. There are Early Purple Orchids just about everywhere. I started to count them and gave up after I reached 3,500. Not only because it was becoming tedious but as I drove across Minchinhampton Common back from the shops in Nailsworth one morning, even from the car as I was travelling along I could see masses of them peppering the grass. I was by then used to counting in batches rather than singletons and could estimate there was over a thousand in one short stretch. And those were only the ones visible from the roadside. God knows how many there are over the entire set of three commons. I have seen approximately 4,500 here and this is the most of this species of orchid I have ever seen, even if I add the annual numbers from ALL my previous years of orchid-spotting together. And the Cowslips must outnumber them by a factor of 100 to 1. There could even be upwards of a million Cowslips here. Plus – and this amazed me too – some of the Early Purples are not actually Early Purples, they are instead a separate species known as Green-Winged Orchids. By sampling I checked they are a very small proportion of the whole though and this aligns with my previous experience of them because I have only ever seen GW Orchids once before in my life and I had to travel a fair way to see them from where I used to live in Alton, Hampshire. They are not a species seen at any of the Nature Reserves that were near me then.

By the third week of May things changed. Less rain and more warmth resulted in the numbers of Butterflies and Moths at Swells Hill increasing - or should I say ‘swelling’? One morning I counted 25 BArgs of which two pairs were mating, and the Dingies numbered 3, although there must have been many more there than I saw of both these species because I didn’t stray much off the paths. I also clocked a Mother Shipton Moth. I managed to pick it up and get some great photo opportunities, as I also did for a mated pair of BArgs. As the days wore on in the latter half of May we got more consistent sunshine and heat and the numbers of Brown Argus and Dingy took off. I went to a location on Rodborough Common sometimes known as ‘The Bowl’ and lost count how many BArgs and Dingies there were on the lower south-facing slopes, and Small Blues and Small Heaths were beginning too. One of the Dingies appeared to be pursuing a Burnet Companion Moth in a rather amorous way. I have only seen this type of behaviour once before between a Duke and at BCM at Noar Hill many years ago.

Then on the 20th May I counted 36 BArgs and 10 Dingies At Swelling Hill BUT ALSO 5 Adonis Blues, 10 Small Blues, 2 Small Heath, 2 Burnet Companions, 1 Mother Shiptons and 2 Forester Moths. It was so sunny I extended my butterflying time elsewhere but now for the first time since I have lived here I went away from my own location and drove a whole 8 miles away. Yes! An incredible 8 miles! Basically down in the valley from where I live at a place known as Strawberry Bank. A few years ago there were reports of a vast eruption of Marsh Frits here so even though it was quite early in the flying season for them I explored anyway and came across 8 of them. I was over-the-moon. Hampshire only seems to get vagrants/migrants and here near me was a breeding site. Not only that but it dawned on me that this was the first time I have ever seen an Adonis Blue and a Marsh Frit on the same day. Also 3 Red Ads, 2 Speckled Woods, 3 Holly Blues, 6 S Whites and another bucket-load of Dingies.

But my bad news is that despite looking in all the right places in low sheltered dips, I have not seen a single Duke here. Not at Swells Hill nor at The Bowl and certainly not on the tops of the commons.

Other stuff

They let the cows out onto the commons each year from May 13th onwards, upwards of 500 of them by all accounts (I haven’t counted them). They are a motley bunch but great fun – often walking straight out across roads in front of the passing traffic giving no regard whatsoever to the cars which then have no alternative but to stop for them. As a result the speed limit up here is set to 40 MPH and there are signs warning drivers about them. The cows also stomp across the grass of the golf course here. Golfers not only have to be careful not to hit one with a ball but also have to be mindful where they walk! I wonder if anyone plays the shot if their ball ends up in a cow pat?

I found a group of Mosaic Puffball in the centre of Minchinhampton Common. Probably aided in their growth by the regular application of bovine fertiliser!

I can add a Wren to my growing list of birds I have seen in our garden.

My other hobby is Prehistory. Not only have I found the Standing Stone that someone recently discovered and officially recorded which amazingly is situated on our own housing development, but I also think the old milestone opposite the top gateway is a modified prehistoric Standing Stone too. Not far away on Minchinhampton Common I have discovered another Standing Stone in a hidden copse in a dell, and I can find no official records for it on-line. Also I think I have discovered a lost Long Barrow – a kind of burial chamber/religious temple adjacent to these Standing Stones. In the past, a high, continuous drystone circuit wall was built around it which still exists to this day in a well-maintained state. This wall has no entrance so I presume it was put there to protect the mound inside. Most likely the wall was built when the estate was owned by a single land-owner a couple of centuries ago. He must have had an idea of what the mound was but didn’t get it recorded by the antiquarians of his day. He probably didn’t want the hassle of an archaeological dig on his land and the disruption that came with it so close to his house! It now has mature trees growing out of the top. I met another resident who was also an archaeologist by trade who said she had her suspicions about the mound, especially since some of the trees on it must have been planted there by someone at some time in the past as they were ornamental trees rather than native ones. These monuments all date to 3000 BC or before. To give you some idea of how far back in time this is, Stonehenge phase 1 was begun somewhere between 3000 BC and 3200 BC with the big sarsen circle we are all familiar with being added around 2500 BC. I looked up the meaning of Swells Hill where I live and where this monument is situated. ‘Swell’ is actually derived from an old Saxon word for rising land or a mound or hill. It’s where we get today’s word ‘Swelling’ from. So Swells Hill actually means ‘Hill’s Hill’ or ‘The mound on the hill’. This probably refers to the Long Barrow which when the name was given to the place more than 1000 years ago was probably then just a grassy, treeless mound almost on the apex of the hill. In fact a ‘Swelling on the hill’ would aptly describe it even today.

Swells Hill from Walls Quarry

[Wurzel]

Great to catch up on your recent report Ernie Sounds like a fantastic place to live and butterfly From what I've seen Rodborough Common is possibly your best bet for Dukes - although I don't know how they've faired there this year?

Have a goodun

Wurzel