millerd

[Wurzel]

"I had considered one might exist the other way from a Dorset perspective... " how very dare you!
Great to catch up with you (and Trevor of course) today, hopefully you'll be able to make it over in a week or two when the females are egg laying

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - it was indeed an excellent day of good butterflies and splendid company. Trevor's twofer will live long in the memory... Goodness knows when I'll get round to posting the day - I keep trying to catch up but then realise I've missed a whole day out somewhere. Senility creeping in.

A case in point: I have failed to recount a visit to Chobham Common on 1st July.

As with many of my walks here, the weather was mostly cloudy, with sunny breaks but not hugely warm. After seeing the odd Grayling at Dawney's, I had hoped they might be out more numerously here, but clearly not - or not in any of the usual spots I find them.

Never mind - compensation came in the form of Silver-studded blues, in particular the female of the species. There were a few males, mostly worn...

...but with some fresher examples still flying.

However, it wasn't one of the flashy youngsters that got the girl today, but one of the older worn ones.

There were however, more females around than males, displaying degrees of wear and also degrees of boldness of the orange upperside markings.

With the prominent dark forewing spots (unusual in this species) this one looked a bit like a Brown Argus at first glance.

Underneath, the females generally displayed bolder turquoise-blue "studs" than the males.

On the way back to the car is a ditch next to the path which is always home to lots of Small Skippers at this time of year, though they are rarely this friendly...

I had washed since the DGF encounter, honest!

Dave

[millerd]

After Denbies on 2nd July, I had a quick look round at home - the only real thing of note was a Holly Blue. I'd not seen one for a fortnight, and was entirely convinced that the spring brood was done and dusted, but then this individual appeared. It was a very worn male, still valiantly puddling to enhance his contribution to the reproductive pool (though his chances of finding a female of his own generation were vanishingly slim I imagine).

I remained local for both 3rd and 4th July, and watched the numbers of Red Admirals rise: I'd seen 17 on 2nd, but now counted 43 on 3rd and 70 on 4th. Many looked very fresh, and I toyed with the idea that they were a local generation, but reports from the south coast indicated that there was a significant migration northwards underway.

On 3rd, Commas were also much in evidence with 21 counted - maybe because it was sunnier and warmer than the 4th when there were only 7 around. Red Admirals definitely don't mind the cloud.

Unfortunately, one immaculate female Comma had fallen victim to a frequent predator of butterflies - the crab spider. This one had no need to change colour, and had merely sat among the brambles pretending to be a flower bud. It had apparently paralysed the unfortunate butterfly with its wings fully open, and then found its prey almost impossible to manipulate prior to consumption.

There was a bit more to see on 4th, despite the less favourable weather, so I'll make asecond post of the rest.

Dave

[millerd]

Even aside from the burgeoning numbers of Red Admirals, things were beginning to hot up on 4th July.

All three species of White butterfly were in evidence, and a female Large White even allowed an unusually close approach.

I also managed shots of both male and female of each of the other two species.

GVW male

GVW female

Small White female

Small White male

Only a couple of Common Blues appeared today, but one was an attractive very blue female.

Gatekeepers were now in double figures - all males still, and very fresh.

This was a complete contrast to an very worn Small Heath, the tail end of the spring generation.

A few more new Small Tortoiseshells were a welcome sight...

...and I glimpsed the characteristically dark shape of a resting Peacock, the first of the summer emergence I'd seen and the vanguard of many more that would appear over the next week or so.

Finally, something other than a butterfly. I often point the camera at these wholly in vain, as they invariably dart away at the last minute. For some reason this one didn't - what an exquisite creature.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking seeing all those Silver-studs Dave and that female with the dark fore wing spots is really interesting
I think that Crab Spider posed the Comma for nicely for that final shot with both wings open even if it is slightly macabre
Lastly the final Small White (the male) has some interesting markings on the fore-wing - the black markings run down the wing margin to just in line with that concave discal spot - almost Southern that one

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - it's always worth a second look at almost everything as you never know what you might find! I probably try and photograph more Small Whites than a lot of us do for that very reason! It was quite engrossing watching that crab spider manipulating the poor Comma - as you say though, utterly macabre!

5th July promised warm sunshine to start the day, so I was out quite early again, braving the M25 and starting off down at Bookham. Though it was still just the first week of July, I felt that after my success at Chiddingfold the 2023 Emperor season was effectively over for me. I needed instead to catch up on Silver-washed Fritillaries, able now to give them my full attention.

White Admirals had been out well before them this year, and were getting fairly battered as per usual.

There were several new Commas vying with the Fritillaries in the brown-and-orange competition...

...and plenty of Skippers darting around as well.

A Marbled White made a better contrast than the fading White Admirals had done - with an unusual pose too.

However, I was here mainly for the SWF, and the males at least did not disappoint though the females were more retiring and unobtrusive.

A variety of males:

For the next trip to Bookham, the subject would be purple again - but the smaller variety.

Dave

[millerd]

5th July continued...

For traffic-related reasons, it was possibly easier to return home from Bookham via Leatherhead, and from there to Denbies is no distance... so the detour was made.

The reward was firstly a welcome coffee from the van, and then finally the first Chalkhill Blues of the year. (I believe these may have been the first ones recorded in Surrey in 2023 as well).) I saw three, but it had clouded over a fair bit and there may have been more - all were seen towards the bottom of the slope.

It was difficult to get distracted once I'd discovered the Chalkhills were flying, but an aging DGF...

...and a new Brimstone both managed it.

Dave

[millerd]

6th July: With seven hours of sun and highs of 23, it was another good day for butterflies on my local patch. In the doom and gloom around what a lousy July it was, it tends to be forgotten that around the end of the first week of the month there was a very warm and sunny spell.

Watching the numbers of Red Admirals increase hugely over recent days, I set out to count them today along my usual circular route. As they also seemed to be numerous at the time, I counted Commas as well - and did my best with everything else.

The results were:

Red Admiral 153
Comma 29

The rest are approximations in many cases, with rounded numbers:

Meadow Brown 200
Essex Skipper 30
Gatekeeper 30
GVW 30
Small White 25
Small Skipper 10
Peacock 6
Large White 6
Holly Blue 4
Small Tortoiseshell 4
Brimstone 3
Painted Lady 3
Common Blue 3
Speckled Wood 1

The Red Admiral number was phenomenal. It included several stands of wild-growing buddleia, which attracted dozens to each, but they were all along the route I took, flying up from the ground and the brambles every few metres.

In among them were good numbers of fresh Commas as well.

After seeing relatively few post-hibernation, there had clearly been a breeding success story going on. This seemed about to continue: I watched this female wandering on wild hop vines...

...and sure enough she had deposited at least one egg.

This completed the set of Comma eggs on all three of the principal LHPs I'd seen in recent days.

Aside from the Red Admirals, there were several other notable features of the day. After seeing that venerable first brood Holly Blue a couple of days ago, I found a few new ones today puddling in the same way.

Green-veined Whites were also enjoying the damp bits of path.

New Peacocks were now appearing...

...joining the handful of Small Tortoiseshells.

It was good to see a few Painted Ladies too.

Another round of Common Blues was starting - or was this just a latecomer from earlier? This one was a cracking new butterfly certainly.

With such a splendid array of butterflies to enjoy, it seems a shame to recount another predator story, but these things are all part and parcel of the butterfly experience I suppose. I was doing my best to count some of the skippers, and as I made my way towards yet another I disturbed a new Peacock that had been basking in the grass. It flew up a bit haphazardly, and I watched as a large dragonfly turned sharply in midair and intercepted it. The butterfly was too large for it to carry away, so the dragonfly went straight down to the grass to consume it.

Aside from the sight of the unfortunate butterfly, rather more upsetting were the distinctly audible crunching noises.

Another interesting day with lots to see, one way and another...

Dave

[millerd]

7th July was the most summery day of the whole month, with temperatures reaching the dizzy heights of 30 degrees and 14 hours of sunshine. Such conditions made it a much less favourable day for butterflies on my local patch, with many of them just hiding away from the heat.

New Brimstones made a brave showing, having discovered flowering teazels (which they seem to be partial to) and the bramble flowers too.

On more than one occasion, I found a string of white butterflies chasing an unfortunate female Brimstone which really struggled to shake them off. My best shot at capturing this...

Today seemed to be the day to find puddling butterflies. The recent rain had left lots of wet and muddy patches, and the male Holly Blues couldn't resist them.

Neither it seems could the GVW...

...Red Admirals...

...or even this Small Tortoiseshell.

This Painted Lady preferred the knapweed.

A new brood Brown Argus made a distant appearance but I really wasn't gointg to pursue it in this sort of weather.

To finish, I spotted a Tiger moth caterpillar on a nettle - but which sort? Jersey Tigers are becoming common hereabouts, but there are also the less flashy Ruby Tigers.

A different kind of day - the heat affected things a lot.

Dave

[trevor]

Good to see you again at Shipton B, Dave. Weather and company, perfect!
Sorry you missed the female BH on the yarrow flower head, but there wasn't
much room for two once she opened up!
Well done for capturing the Dragon Fly/Peacock encounter, a bit macabre,
but that's nature for you! All part of it.

All the best,
Trevor.

[millerd]

Cheers, Trevor - not to worry about that missed Hairstreak opportunity as I've had a decent selection this year so far. It was a great day out anyway, with lots of chat along with the butterflies.

Talking of Hairstreaks, I will return to the early morning back on 8th July, when sunshine first thing lured me back down to Bookham with the purple variety on the agenda. I somehow managed to be wandering through the woods by half six, and it was already warm enough for a few White Admirals to be gliding through patches of sunlight, and even settling to bask for a while.

At this time of day, you need to look down, rather than up, to find Purple Hairstreaks, and it was not very long before several could be seen dropping out of the trees onto the damp grass where they would set about imbibing moisture.

Once you've got your eye in, you start to realise just how many there are around - disturbing almost any patch of dew-sprinkled grass would send one up.

As the sun rose higher and the day warmed, the hairstreaks (suitably refreshed) started to fly higher and to bask on shrubs and bracken, males and females alike.

The former were generally no longer pristine, but some of the latter were still quite new. Catching the purple iridescence is just as tricky as it is with Purple Emperors, especially with the males which (unless very new) have an all-over dull sheen compared to the bright purple patches of the females.

First, some males...

...and now the more striking females.

The Purple Hairstreaks almost monopolised the morning, but also of note was a mating pair of Silver-washed Fritillaries at the limit of my zoom...

...and one of the visitors to a clearwing moth lure that another enthusiast had hung up.

In fact three of these (Hornet Clearwings?) arrived within minutes of the lure being placed - extraordinary creatures.

Another very successful trip largely devoted to just one species...

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

That's an impressive sequence of Purple Hairstreak photos Dave. A for the males,one for the females and one for the lot

(Hornet Clearwings?)

Looks like Lunar Hornet Moth, the Hornet Moth has a couple of yellow patches on the thorax which LHM lacks. Great Moths, this is the more widespread of the two species, I have had a few in my garden to the lure but never yet had a Hornet Moth.

Cheers,

Neil

[millerd]

Cheers, Neil - that's almost certainly the best set of Purple Hairstreaks I've achieved yet. I think the early start is a must really (and probably some arcane set of weather conditions that is impossible to predict!). Thank you for the moth ID too - at one point three of them came to the lure at once, but they kept moving so still shots were very difficult.

After such a good (and very early) morning, a look locally was still possible on 8th July. This was worthwhile as I managed to reach the highest species count I've ever managed over the 15 years I've been looking here: 20 species. This included a couple of Purple Hairstreaks high up in the oaks by J14, the first seen this year. The count looked like this (some approximations again):

Meadow Brown 150+
Gatekeeper 50+
Red Admiral 50+
Essex Skipper 20+
Small White 20+
GVW 20+
Peacock 10+
Comma 10+
Small Skipper 10+
Holly Blue 4
Brimstone 3
Large White 3
Small Heath 3
Speckled Wood 3
Painted Lady 2
Purple Hairstreak 2
Common Blue 2
Large Skipper 1
Brown Argus 1
Small Copper 1

As the previous day I'd seen both Marbled White and Small Tortoiseshell, the 48-hour total would be 22 species. Not bad for a random bit of semi-countryside wedged between Heathrow and the M25.

Some shots from the afternoon (when I wasn't trying to count):

There were quite a few puddling butterflies again, including this group of six Whites.

Also of particular interest (of course!) was a female Holly Blue. As I'd only seen the first summer brood males on the 4th, I was surprised to see an egg-laying female just four days later.

She was laying on the as yet very tiny ivy buds. You can see her abdomen touch down next to her back foot...

...and the egg can be made out as a greenish blob in this spot as she raises her rear again.

And rest...

With eggs laid before the middle of July, it's really not surprising that a third brood is a regular occurrence here.

Dave

[essexbuzzard]

Hi Dave. No, that’s not a bad collection for a piece of land like that. You’ve even got a couple of Painted Lady in there, I see. Not been many of those about this year...

[millerd]

Cheers, Mark - you're right, it's not a bad patch to have on your doorstep!

It remained pretty warm on 9th July, with a bit of sunshine, so I headed up to Aston Rowant to see if the Chiltern Chalkhill Blues were out alongside their brothers and sisters on the North Downs.

Indeed they were, though not in very big numbers and limited to the more sheltered parts of the hillside.

There were quite a few Common Blues as well, though they were more reluctant to open up.

Far commoner than either were Brown Argus, so much so that I neglected to photograph them... However, I can't resist a Small Copper, of which there were several...

...nor a Small Tortoiseshell.

I was also pleased to see that there were still a handful of Dark Green Fritillaries - mostly females but the odd worn male as well. Unusually, I managed to get reasonably close to one or two of them.

Another worthwhile trip.

Dave

[bugboy]

That's a good looking female DGF

[millerd]

She was a fine individual, Paul, probably the best example of a female I've seen this year.

For the next few days I only went out on my local patch. For one thing, it was peak season here, with a high species count as well as a high butterfly count overall. Secondly, many of these were fresh examples at the start of their various broods, whether it be first or second. Thirdly, I was talking to the folk who look after the majority of my patch - which is a Heathrow Conservation Area - on behalf of the airport authorities, and they reminded me that within a week the area would receive its annual haircut. This cut is carried out at the same time each year because of the fire-risk so close to the airport: it has to be before the school holidays, because there is concern that the kids would be there amusing themselves by starting fires once they were at a loose end.

Despite this rather tenuous logic - last year the fire-risk was a real one, and existed well before mid-July, whereas this year the vegetation was distinctly soggy - the cut would go ahead. Limited areas are left uncut for the benefit of nesting birds (skylarks, mostly), but no particular concessions are made for the considerable invertebrate population. The HCA staff do their best to manage the tractor/mower drivers to be generous round the edges, but there are always effects on the butterflies.

Anyway, I decided to spend a lot of the few days remaining there while the grass was still high and the wildflowers intact. In future posts I will no doubt detail the effects of the cut.

Over the three days 10th-12th July, I saw roughly 500 butterflies daily, with 21 species seen overall. With so many new butterflies of such a variety, it will be difficult to slim down the photos - but I'll try...

10th July:

a very brown female Common Blue

11th July:

12th July had some particular standouts, so that needs a separate post.

Dave

[bugboy]

That second male Gatekeeper looks good for ab. antiparvipuncta with its reduced eyespot

[Wurzel]

Crickey Dave where to begin? Brilliant reportage and shots with the highlights being the staggering number of Red Admirals, those very classy Purple Hairstreaks (brilliant) and to cap it off a very nice looking Gatekeeper aberrant Looking forward to the Shipton reports

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

That second male Gatekeeper looks good for ab. antiparvipuncta with its reduced eyespot

Cheers, Paul - I could see it wasn't at all like the other one, but didn't think it would be a named variant...

Looking forward to the Shipton reports

Though I'm doing my best to catch up, Wurzel, it's still going to be a while before the Shipton adventure filters through!

12th July: I started my local walk as has become customary with a look at the nearest wild buddleia, which is all of two minutes of home, and very nearly visible from my kitchen window. There were Red Admirals, Peacocks and Commas as expected...

...but then my eye was caught by a much smaller butterfly lower down happily nectaring too. I thought at first because it was dark with a bit of orange that it must be an undersized Gatekeeper, so I took a few shots to find out. Though the camera struggled with a small dark butterfly against the bright purple flowers, I finally identified it as a Small Copper - but a rather unusual one.

Luckily, the butterfly elected to hop onto a bit of low greenery and pose rather nicely for me.

This was an ab. radiata, and a lovely fresh butterfly as well.

The odd thing is that it is a few years since I've seen any Small Coppers on this bit of my patch, and it is the first of this ab. I've seen anywhere round here at all. As I commented at the time, it must be my birthday: and curiously that's exactly what it was...

I carried on round my usual route (the Small Copper having now vanished), not really expecting anything else particularly unusual. I saw a few more nice butterflies of course...

...including what was to be the last Marbled White here this year.

However, as is almost always the case, it was a Holly Blue that provided the next bit of interest. It was another egg-laying female, a pristine butterfly that by the date was surely a second brood individual recently emerged. The curious aspect was that she was laying on goats' rue, just like the first brood females (and possibly her own mother) had done.

So much for ivy being the exclusive plant of choice for second brood females! The bonus was that after the bouts of laying, she followed the usual routine of basking open-winged nearby - and she was an absolute stunner.

Another very appropriate birthday gift from the world of lepidoptera.

Dave