David M

[David M]

Thursday 15th June – High Brown Fritillaries…

Whilst Dark Green Fritillaries were flying around in the bracken meadow at the lower part of the Alun Valley site, I felt confident that at some point I’d track a High Brown Fritillary down.

This took a little while, mainly because the Fritillaries weren’t settling very often, and when they did I needed to walk a little way to get near them, by which time they had generally been ‘buzzed’ by another Fritillary flying by.

These endless skirmishes are what make photographing both these species so difficult at this early stage in the flight season.

Eventually, I picked up on a couple with a slightly richer ground colour in flight. These proved to be High Browns but getting close to them was near impossible:

A short period of cloud brought another High Brown down, and this one stayed put for around a minute:

The white colour of the part of the hindwings next to the body was curious. I wondered if it had only just emerged. This next High Brown was a more standard version:

They didn’t sit with their wings closed very much, but this one did so for a few seconds:

After almost three hours on the site, I left them to their aerial dogfights, wondering whether the better option with this species is to wait a while until the females emerge in numbers, whereupon they are somewhat easier to approach.

[Pauline]

Your efforts certainly paid off David. You must be delighted with the results. I'm curious tho' as to how you avoid ticks as that bracken looks quite tall. I had one on the rim of my eye yesterday and couldn't get it off. Luckily my Pilates class is held at a hospital and they sorted it out.

[Neil Freeman]

That High Brown with the white inners to the hindwings is a spectacular looking butterfly David

Your second DGF underside in the earlier report is also a cracking image

Cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

Your efforts certainly paid off David. You must be delighted with the results. I'm curious tho' as to how you avoid ticks as that bracken looks quite tall. I had one on the rim of my eye yesterday and couldn't get it off. Luckily my Pilates class is held at a hospital and they sorted it out.

Thanks, Pauline. These Fritillaries aren't easy so early in the flight season so yes, I was happy with how it went.

As for ticks, they never seem to bother me. Don't know why (biting flies are another matter ).

Friday 16th June – Daneway Day…

It’s three years since I last visited Daneway Banks, and conditions were precisely the same this time as I pulled into the parking bay just prior to 8am with the sun shining and the steep bank opposite me looking intoxicatingly inviting.

Walking up the hill with copious Meadow Browns and my first Marbled Whites of the year was a lovely hors d’oeuvre, and it didn’t take long to find my first Large Blue, although this one resolutely remained wings closed, in spite of several attempts to shade it:

In fact, very few of the 16 I saw rested with open wings. This male was the first:

Later on, a couple of females did likewise:

The numbers of butterflies along this stretch were tremendous:

Marbled Whites numbered several dozen:

By 10.15am, I needed to leave as I had another appointment with arion…

[ernie f]

Nice to know you saw the Large Blues at Daneway. I shall have a go tomorrow.

[David M]

That High Brown with the white inners to the hindwings is a spectacular looking butterfly David

Thank you, Neil. Was an unusual one, that's for sure.

Friday 16th June – Return via Rodborough…

After leaving Daneway, I called in at Rodborough Common to see if I could locate Large Blues at this site for the first time.

It had turned into a really warm and clear late morning by now and the views were spectacular:

I fancied that the Large Blues might be on the steep slope where I usually find Adonis Blues in May:

It was therefore rather ironic that the first Blue I came across was an Adonis, my first of the year and looking remarkably fresh:

My instincts were rewarded with six Large Blues in this area, although by now with the increasing heat they barely settled and when they did they understandably did so with wings closed.

Again, Marbled Whites were plentiful with several taking an interest in my blue T-shirt for reasons I can’t explain. Three times I had different individuals land on my sleeve!

Other species around were Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Small Blue, Large Skipper and Ringlet.
I popped into the Bear at Rodborough for a much needed pint before travelling home. At £5.95 it is probably the last time I do so!!

[kevling]

David, Great photos of the High Brown Fritillary, especially the one with the white markings. Haven't seen that before. Loving those Large Blue too. Still to see my first ones in the UK. Maybe 2024.

Regards
Kev

[David M]

Nice to know you saw the Large Blues at Daneway. I shall have a go tomorrow.

Good luck, ernie. They're on the steep combes just like the Adonis.

[David M]

David, Great photos of the High Brown Fritillary, especially the one with the white markings. Haven't seen that before. Loving those Large Blue too. Still to see my first ones in the UK. Maybe 2024.

Thank you, Kev. Two very special UK species which I’m always grateful to catch up with.

[Goldie M]

Fantastic shots of the High Brown Frits David It's years since I saw them in the Lake District, also your Large Blue is anther Butterfly I've not seen yet , love your shots of them Goldie

[ernie f]

Dave

Nice to see you visiting my patch at Rodborough. The Bear is my local - I can walk to it if I want (and stagger back).

[David M]

Sunday 18th June – Welshmoor…

It was mainly sunny and pleasantly warm in the late morning so I made the short journey to Welshmoor on the Gower to see if I could pick up the last of the Marsh Fritillaries from this year’s brood.

I wasn’t able to find any, but there were plenty of Meadow Browns and Large Skippers flying amongst the grasses:

There were also 7 Ringlets, allowing me get my first images of this species in 2023:

Red Admiral and Common Blue were the other species seen.

[David M]

Nice to see you visiting my patch at Rodborough. The Bear is my local - I can walk to it if I want (and stagger back).

Thanks, ernie. Staggering is certainly the price of a pint at the Bear!

Monday 19th June – Long route home…

After spending the night in Abergavenny, I thought I’d do a diversion on my way home to Swansea.

That diversion was something of a risk, for it involved a near two hour drive to Cors Caron, near Tregaron in mid-Wales, with a weather forecast that predicted heavy showers from 9am.

The period prior to then was supposed to be dry with sunny intervals, so I made sure I was on the site just prior to 8 o’clock.

A Meadow Brown greeted me as I walked down to the entrance, and within 10 minutes I had located my first Large Heath, although it disappeared on a gust of wind over the boggy grassland:

Two more Large Heaths appeared and I tried to follow them but on each occasion they ended up in areas that were not accessible. With the clouds approaching, I knew I had to succeed with the fourth individual I spotted, and the dull and breezy conditions certainly helped, as the butterfly was not keen to take to the air once settled:

By 8.45, the first drops of rain began to fall and by the time I got back to my car it was raining fairly steadily.

[trevor]

A brave diversion David, given an iffy weather forecast.
The risk paid off, and rare image with no clutter in the way!

Never seen a Large Heath.
Trevor.

[millerd]

A great illustration of the old adage: if you don't go, you definitely won't see anything, but if you do go - you just might...

Worth the effort for the result.

Dave

[David M]

Fantastic shots of the High Brown Frits David It's years since I saw them in the Lake District, also your Large Blue is anther Butterfly I've not seen yet , love your shots of them

Thanks, Goldie. These two are 'big-ticket' UK species and it's always a pleasure to see them.

A brave diversion David, given an iffy weather forecast.
The risk paid off, and rare image with no clutter in the way!
Never seen a Large Heath.

Thanks, Trevor. The dodgy weather forecast was actually helpful in this instance. Large Heaths are near impossible in warm, sunny conditions, but when it's cooler and a bit cloudy they aren't anything like as active.

Wednesday 21st June – Silver Studded Blue…

One of my favourite sites is St Govan’s Head in Pembrokeshire, and with the weather set fair I decided to take a trip down there prior to leaving for the French Alps two days later.

Again, I arrived early (just after 8am) which is easy at this time of year as the mornings are light from very early. It also provides a bit of peace and tranquility with few people around:

It took a little while to locate my first Silver Studded Blue, which was roosting on bracken during a cloudy period:

When the sun came out, he soon livened up:

I found a couple of dozen in the two and a half hours I was there as well as this solitary female:

[Pauline]

Well done with those Large Heaths David - you deserved success after such an effort. Your description of a 'diversion' of about 2 hours made me smile. When I refer to a diversion it is usually about 10 mins!!!!

[David M]

A great illustration of the old adage: if you don't go, you definitely won't see anything, but if you do go - you just might...

Absolutely, Dave. If you don't go, you won't know.

Wednesday 21st June – Graylings et al…

Prior to finding the Silver Studded Blues, I walked onto the rocky area above the bay and came across several Graylings:

Other early risers were this Small Blue:

…and this Small Skipper:

There were decent numbers of Dark Green Fritillaries during the course of the morning. I counted 17 in total:

Other species seen were Small Heath, Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Large Skipper and Red Admiral.

[David M]

Well done with those Large Heaths David - you deserved success after such an effort. Your description of a 'diversion' of about 2 hours made me smile. When I refer to a diversion it is usually about 10 mins!!!!

Thanks, Pauline. I had a 60 mile journey anyway so extending it to just over 100 was no hardship!

Wednesday 21st June – Mustelid…

There’s plenty of other interesting wildlife at this exposed headland. I’ve regularly seen adders, razorbills and choughs here, but I got a surprise when I noticed something popping its head out between the gaps of this wall:

Amazingly, even though I was no more than three metres away, it came out into the open where I got a close look at it:

I’ve probably only seen a dozen or so weasels before, and I doubt I’ll ever get so close to one again.

[Pauline]

Great photos David I've seen them infrequently but never when I've had a camera with me. They can be quite ferocious. I saw one chasing a rabbit years ago.