millerd
Re: millerd
Crickey Dave those Greenstreaks are only just deserving of their name - they've only just got a streak between them And then the female Orange-tip makes up for it by having three times the size of discal spot (slight exaggeration for effect there ) The Marshies were out at Battlesbury last Wednesday and there has been a flurry of sightings over the weekend...
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: millerd
Cheers, Wurzel - and thanks for the tip about What's On In Warminster (or nearby anyway... ).
On Thursday 4th May, I counted 100 butterflies on my local patch for the first time in 2023. Ten species sent representatives:
Holly Blue 29
Orange Tip 21
Peacock 20
Small White 13
Brimstone 6
Comma 3
Speckled Wood 3
Red Admiral 2
GVW 2
Small Tortoiseshell 1
A selection of the above. I managed a quick walk down to Staines Moor, where the Small Copper seen on 30th April was supervising the same patch of ground. Both buttercups and dandelion clocks are irresistible to this species at this time of year. A rather worn Small Tortoiseshell made an appearance down here too. Dave
On Thursday 4th May, I counted 100 butterflies on my local patch for the first time in 2023. Ten species sent representatives:
Holly Blue 29
Orange Tip 21
Peacock 20
Small White 13
Brimstone 6
Comma 3
Speckled Wood 3
Red Admiral 2
GVW 2
Small Tortoiseshell 1
A selection of the above. I managed a quick walk down to Staines Moor, where the Small Copper seen on 30th April was supervising the same patch of ground. Both buttercups and dandelion clocks are irresistible to this species at this time of year. A rather worn Small Tortoiseshell made an appearance down here too. Dave
Re: millerd
Friday 5th May was warmer and sunnier than the 4th, but curiously I didn't see as many butterflies, nor as much variety. Holly Blues continued to hog all the attention - not much need for subtle whispering when they flaunt themselves so readily.
Increasing numbers of females were appearing amongst the Orange Tips, and like every year I relearn their way of flying to (reasonably accurately) distinguish them from other whites at a distance. And every year their ten month absence means I'll forget again... There were still plenty of males flying too. One or two other species seen... ...but notable were seven Red Admirals, including some beautifully new ones - locally emerged? The Staines Moor Small Copper was around again today, still on its own with no competition for the buttercups..
Dave-
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Re: millerd
Hi Dave. Or should that be Mr. Holly Blue!
Hope you’re making the most of those Orange Tips. They won’t be around much longer...
Hope you’re making the most of those Orange Tips. They won’t be around much longer...
Re: millerd
Yes Mark, I've been indulging in plenty of Orange Tip photos this year - they seem to have been very amenable for some reason. No complaints there! After a slow start, the Holly Blues are also doing very well and playing ball nicely. I really can't remember a bad year for them here.
6th May didn't produce any suitable weather, but Sunday 7th May (my youngest's 18th birthday - this date has always been blessed with sunshine over the years) was much better. A shorter walk locally did indeed include Orange Tips... ...plus some nicely posed butterflies displaying their undersides just for a change. No Holly Blues? The lack of photos was rectified later on at the end of a visit to a friend at the Packet Boat Marina near Uxbridge, where a slightly wonky female was spotted considering laying - any flower buds will do at this time of year! Dave
6th May didn't produce any suitable weather, but Sunday 7th May (my youngest's 18th birthday - this date has always been blessed with sunshine over the years) was much better. A shorter walk locally did indeed include Orange Tips... ...plus some nicely posed butterflies displaying their undersides just for a change. No Holly Blues? The lack of photos was rectified later on at the end of a visit to a friend at the Packet Boat Marina near Uxbridge, where a slightly wonky female was spotted considering laying - any flower buds will do at this time of year! Dave
Re: millerd
After another "blank" day off for lousy weather, Tuesday 9th May was marginally better. Only Orange Tips...
...and Holly Blues appeared in any numbers, but the latter species provided a mating pair - a rarely seen activity round here, though it clearly must happen a lot! They were only found because of the interest taken by other males, which led me to them. A rather nice female GVW rounded things off.
Dave
Last edited by millerd on Thu May 18, 2023 7:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: millerd
Fantastic set of Orange-tips Dave but my favourite from your last set of posts has to be the Small Copper on the Dandelion clock - I would really like one of those in my 'collection'
"and thanks for the tip about What's On In Warminster"...lots of Marshies seen today - I'm hoping to head over there on Saturday so may see you there
Have a goodun
Wurzel
"and thanks for the tip about What's On In Warminster"...lots of Marshies seen today - I'm hoping to head over there on Saturday so may see you there
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: millerd
Blimey Dave! You're getting about a bit, aren't you?????(sightings). No wonder you don't have time to update your diary Love that female Adonis and great seeing the Lulworth .
Re: millerd
Cheers, Wurzel - strangely I had a run of butterflies posing on dandelion clocks. I still can't work out the attraction.
Thank you, Pauline - I had a short break visiting friends in Somerset and then Devon, so tried to make the most of where I was, and particularly the trips down and back.
Wednesday 10th May's forecast was for another fine morning, but clouding over by midday. I decided to pay what has become an annual visit to both sections of Bedfont Lakes Country Park, which is my nearest Green Hairstreak site. As usual I started with the part south of the railway, which is wilder and less-frequented. It was also very soggy in places! However, just inside the inner gate, I immediately found my target species. There were two or three darting around this small piece of ground on which they have appeared in several successive seasons. One was down on the ground and kept flying low between my feet and crawling in the vegetation where there are trefoil plants. My guess is that it was a female. During a walk around the rest of the park, I spotted a couple of others, including one quite high up of which I surprisingly managed a reasonable shot with the zoom. Other species seen included Peacocks, Brimstones, Specklies, Orange Tips and Holly Blues, but no Small Coppers (which I have seen before here). I then moved on to the north side of the park (a ten minute drive as the two sections are not connected). There was far less to see here, and no Hairstreaks this year that I could discover. The highlight was a selection of egg-laying Holly Blues, flitting between vetches and dogwood with no clear preference for their offspring. I returned home as it clouded over as promised, but late brightness enticed me out locally for the regular evening Red Admirals. Dave
Thank you, Pauline - I had a short break visiting friends in Somerset and then Devon, so tried to make the most of where I was, and particularly the trips down and back.
Wednesday 10th May's forecast was for another fine morning, but clouding over by midday. I decided to pay what has become an annual visit to both sections of Bedfont Lakes Country Park, which is my nearest Green Hairstreak site. As usual I started with the part south of the railway, which is wilder and less-frequented. It was also very soggy in places! However, just inside the inner gate, I immediately found my target species. There were two or three darting around this small piece of ground on which they have appeared in several successive seasons. One was down on the ground and kept flying low between my feet and crawling in the vegetation where there are trefoil plants. My guess is that it was a female. During a walk around the rest of the park, I spotted a couple of others, including one quite high up of which I surprisingly managed a reasonable shot with the zoom. Other species seen included Peacocks, Brimstones, Specklies, Orange Tips and Holly Blues, but no Small Coppers (which I have seen before here). I then moved on to the north side of the park (a ten minute drive as the two sections are not connected). There was far less to see here, and no Hairstreaks this year that I could discover. The highlight was a selection of egg-laying Holly Blues, flitting between vetches and dogwood with no clear preference for their offspring. I returned home as it clouded over as promised, but late brightness enticed me out locally for the regular evening Red Admirals. Dave
Re: millerd
The promised weather for Thursday 11th May looked pretty reasonable, so I headed down to Denbies (partly hopeful that there might possibly be an early Adonis flying). That was not to be, and in retrospect was a bit optimistic.
Overall, the day initially belonged to the Dingy Skippers, with good numbers of fresh examples about. They posed well too, with lots of perching behaviour. There were also two year firsts for me today - Small Heath... ...and Brown Argus. Also seen were a few Green Hairstreaks, including this egg-laying female... ...a rather fine Speckled Wood... ...and a Large White. There were Brimstones and Peacocks, plus a rather worn Small Copper that nevertheless was too active to be photographed. Aside from one or two Hollies, there were no other blues yet.
Dave
Overall, the day initially belonged to the Dingy Skippers, with good numbers of fresh examples about. They posed well too, with lots of perching behaviour. There were also two year firsts for me today - Small Heath... ...and Brown Argus. Also seen were a few Green Hairstreaks, including this egg-laying female... ...a rather fine Speckled Wood... ...and a Large White. There were Brimstones and Peacocks, plus a rather worn Small Copper that nevertheless was too active to be photographed. Aside from one or two Hollies, there were no other blues yet.
Dave
Re: millerd
Brilliant Greenstreaks Dave And more cracking photos of the OTs - they're having a pretty good year it seems Looking forward to your Western reports
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: millerd
Cheers, Wurzel - it's good to find my nearly local Greenstreaks are persisting nicely year after year, even though they are never numerous. Orange Tips, despite being a bit late arriving, are also doing pretty well round here. I imagine they were all safely tucked up in their chrysalids when the heat struck last year, and they are able to wait until things are suitable in the spring before they emerge.
There have been quite a few days this spring when sunshine first thing didn't persist beyond lunchtime, but butterflies were able to utilise the sunny morning. On Friday 12th May, it looked as if it was going to be one of those days. However, one scant hour of sun is all there was and the 14 degrees early on was the high point of the day. Like me, the local Holly Blues near home had clearly thought the sun would last longer, and had all crept out from where they hide at night and were sitting hopefully waiting for an improvement. Consequently I managed to count 15 little silver triangles - but saw hardly any other butterflies at all. When I returned from my walk, the cool cloudiness had caused them to disappear again in disgust. Here are a few of them... One of the other butterflies seen was a female Orange Tip, caught reacting to a brief burst of sunshine. The only other point of interest was a Brimstone egg on the single easily accessible bit of buckthorn along my walk. Dave
There have been quite a few days this spring when sunshine first thing didn't persist beyond lunchtime, but butterflies were able to utilise the sunny morning. On Friday 12th May, it looked as if it was going to be one of those days. However, one scant hour of sun is all there was and the 14 degrees early on was the high point of the day. Like me, the local Holly Blues near home had clearly thought the sun would last longer, and had all crept out from where they hide at night and were sitting hopefully waiting for an improvement. Consequently I managed to count 15 little silver triangles - but saw hardly any other butterflies at all. When I returned from my walk, the cool cloudiness had caused them to disappear again in disgust. Here are a few of them... One of the other butterflies seen was a female Orange Tip, caught reacting to a brief burst of sunshine. The only other point of interest was a Brimstone egg on the single easily accessible bit of buckthorn along my walk. Dave
Re: millerd
With a day of (rather windy) sunshine forecast, on Saturday 13th May I headed for Rewell Wood in Sussex. I parked at Fairmile Bottom and traversed a large part of the slope up to the gate at the bottom of the steep climb to the wood. It was very windy and despite the sun I saw no butterflies down here.
Once in the wood and among the various familiar rides, deciding where to look for the target Pearl-bordered Fritillaries was the conundrum. The coppicing cycle here means that each year makes the place look different from the last, and the trick is in judging which compartment is "just right" for fritillary activity.
During a long period of fruitless searching (along with one or two others similarly disappointed) I came across a small colony of Small Coppers. A Painted Lady caused momentary excitement too. However, branching out on my own along one of the rides, I disturbed another orange butterfly and found myself following a PBF at fast walking pace. Thank goodness for the wind and the relatively low air temperature, as the butterfly periodically stopped to rest and warm up, allowing me to catch it up and manage a few shots. With this modicum of success under my belt, I decided a gentle stroll back was in order, taking in a few sallies into some of the other compartments along the way. During this, I came across Bugboy just arriving, and after a bit of chat I set off searching once more (good to catch up, Paul ). I did then find another four or five PBF, none of which stopped for a moment, and (predictably, really ) nearly trod on a puddling male Holly Blue. My crossing of Fairmile Bottom (into the wind this time) was no more productive, with just a few Brimstones flying and nothing else.
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Long May days do mean that stopping somewhere on the way home is entirely feasible, and one of the "prettier" ways back to Heathrow is via Chiddingfold. Wood Whites beckoned!
Despite walking from the Botany Bay entrance right over to Oaken Wood and back, though, I found just the one - and that was within a few metres of the car. However, the walk was worthwhile as I bumped into Bob and Lisa and was shown the extraordinary shots of the female SWF they had just seen. Nearly three months adrift of its normal season, I feel sure this had to be a release as no other scenario makes any sense. Good to see you both and catch up too.
Other butterflies seen included quite a few Brimstones, a Red Admiral, a Speckled Wood and a nice female GVW. There was also a female Holly Blue that teased me briefly before making for the trees.
The other noteworthy part of the visit was coming across an adder basking on the path near Oaken Wood. It saw me just after I'd spotted it and set off beautifully sinuously (though not all that quickly) into the grass on the verge. This gave me just long enough to wield the camera from a bit of a distance and capture its departure for posterity. A very worthwhile day showing that numbers aren't everything (though they are of course worrying looking at a broader perspective... ).
Dave
Once in the wood and among the various familiar rides, deciding where to look for the target Pearl-bordered Fritillaries was the conundrum. The coppicing cycle here means that each year makes the place look different from the last, and the trick is in judging which compartment is "just right" for fritillary activity.
During a long period of fruitless searching (along with one or two others similarly disappointed) I came across a small colony of Small Coppers. A Painted Lady caused momentary excitement too. However, branching out on my own along one of the rides, I disturbed another orange butterfly and found myself following a PBF at fast walking pace. Thank goodness for the wind and the relatively low air temperature, as the butterfly periodically stopped to rest and warm up, allowing me to catch it up and manage a few shots. With this modicum of success under my belt, I decided a gentle stroll back was in order, taking in a few sallies into some of the other compartments along the way. During this, I came across Bugboy just arriving, and after a bit of chat I set off searching once more (good to catch up, Paul ). I did then find another four or five PBF, none of which stopped for a moment, and (predictably, really ) nearly trod on a puddling male Holly Blue. My crossing of Fairmile Bottom (into the wind this time) was no more productive, with just a few Brimstones flying and nothing else.
********************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Long May days do mean that stopping somewhere on the way home is entirely feasible, and one of the "prettier" ways back to Heathrow is via Chiddingfold. Wood Whites beckoned!
Despite walking from the Botany Bay entrance right over to Oaken Wood and back, though, I found just the one - and that was within a few metres of the car. However, the walk was worthwhile as I bumped into Bob and Lisa and was shown the extraordinary shots of the female SWF they had just seen. Nearly three months adrift of its normal season, I feel sure this had to be a release as no other scenario makes any sense. Good to see you both and catch up too.
Other butterflies seen included quite a few Brimstones, a Red Admiral, a Speckled Wood and a nice female GVW. There was also a female Holly Blue that teased me briefly before making for the trees.
The other noteworthy part of the visit was coming across an adder basking on the path near Oaken Wood. It saw me just after I'd spotted it and set off beautifully sinuously (though not all that quickly) into the grass on the verge. This gave me just long enough to wield the camera from a bit of a distance and capture its departure for posterity. A very worthwhile day showing that numbers aren't everything (though they are of course worrying looking at a broader perspective... ).
Dave
Re: millerd
An enjoyable narrative (did quite a bit of catching up over a few pages) and wonderful photos Dave. Lots of Holly Blues ! I was particularly taken with the 'Staines Moor Small Copper'. There is something rather charming and heart warming about encountering an old stalwart in situ. One can go about one's life and return days later to still find a Comma, a Peacock or a Small Copper still there looking after its territory.
You remind me with the adder photo. Is this the year when I see a snake? I think that 55 years (my whole cowin' life) is long enough to wait. I have never seen a snake, apart from those zoo characters.
You remind me with the adder photo. Is this the year when I see a snake? I think that 55 years (my whole cowin' life) is long enough to wait. I have never seen a snake, apart from those zoo characters.
Re: millerd
You're just one post ahead of me at the moment, that days event will be my next post. I suspect we found the same colony of Small Coppers
Some addictions are good for the soul!
Re: millerd
Thank you, Otep - good to see you back again, and I'm glad you've been enjoying what I've been posting. You are absolutely right - it is entirely possible to get quite attached to individual butterflies, especially to Small Coppers. On two occasions I've followed an identifiable individual for around six weeks as it very gradually became more and more worn from brilliant shining deep orange with prominent blue spots to near transparency. I had no idea they had such a long life! With a continuous photographic record of both butterflies, there could be no doubt as to their longevity. At the end it was genuinely sad to go out to the territory one day (just a handful of square metres) and find it unoccupied.Otep wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 8:35 pm An enjoyable narrative (did quite a bit of catching up over a few pages) and wonderful photos Dave. Lots of Holly Blues ! I was particularly taken with the 'Staines Moor Small Copper'. There is something rather charming and heart warming about encountering an old stalwart in situ. One can go about one's life and return days later to still find a Comma, a Peacock or a Small Copper still there looking after its territory.
You remind me with the adder photo. Is this the year when I see a snake? I think that 55 years (my whole cowin' life) is long enough to wait. I have never seen a snake, apart from those zoo characters.
Yes, lots of Holly Blues! There will be more to come too, as they are such a feature of my local patch and are fascinating to watch - as well as making for attractive photographs.
That's pretty likely, Paul - there wasn't much else flying that day...
Sunday 14th May was much warmer (up to 22 degrees locally) and there was some decent sunshine too. After a morning outing (more on that later), I stayed local today and found around 80 butterflies of ten species, including a new one for the year here: a bright fresh Small Copper. Today, the female Hollies were out and about laying... ...while the males were playing in the puddles. Orange Tips were also laying - this is one of the less usual plants on which I've found eggs. Both sexes posed well today. I also spotted my first Commas for ten days - there really haven't been many emerging from hibernation this year... ...in contrast to the Peacocks, which have done pretty well and continue to appear looking surprisingly good for their age. To finish with, a Red Admiral looking down on it all in typical fashion. This one is clearly displaying its forelegs (useless for walking) which give Nymphalid butterflies one of their nicknames - "brush-footed". Dave
Re: millerd
Lovely vivid Small Copper, about as fresh as they get!
Also Holly Blues are showing well around here, along the Cuckoo Trail,
and at home. I just wish they were as tame as yours.
Trevor.
Also Holly Blues are showing well around here, along the Cuckoo Trail,
and at home. I just wish they were as tame as yours.
Trevor.
Re: millerd
That first egg laying Holly Blue looks like it's on Common Vetch which I don't think I've seen listed as s foodplant anywhere!
Some addictions are good for the soul!
Re: millerd
Brilliant set of Wood White shots Dave They're on the 'hit list' this year but whether I can get them may take some careful negotiation Those Small Copper are great - each one differently marked
It was great catching up today - we'll have to do it again soon
Have a goodun
Wurzel
It was great catching up today - we'll have to do it again soon
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: millerd
Indeed, a wonderful vivid colour and great photos.
I have noticed this about our Wolves kit wearing friends. They are either bright orange for me or quite a comparatively dull orange. Do they fade quickly, or are they born different shades? Or are there sub species?