millerd

[millerd]

Thank you, Goldie!

12th August was another warm one, though rather less sunny. Having become a bit fed up recently with sitting in queues on the M25 just to travel 25 miles from home, I set off along ordinary roads down to Chobham Common to see the Graylings. There were good numbers around, but getting any reasonable shots of them proved even trickier than usual. I hoped for some courtship behaviour and a display of uppersides, but there was very little interaction between the butterflies and with the lack of any large examples I decided most were males. One or two looked very fresh, and the tease of bright orange markings as they jinked past me in the wind...

...reignited the long-felt wish that this species would settle wings open once in a while. Hey ho.

In the end I managed a few shots.

One butterfly in particular decided that the camouflage of a tree trunk was a better option than the ground: maybe from one side...

...but from the other, not so much.

This did allow for some context shots of the butterfly and its habitat - one in which it seems to thrive.

A great butterfly.

Dave

[Katrina]

Love those context shots and good to see them on a tree

[millerd]

Thank you, Katrina. I've watched Graylings go to roost in trees when it's clouded over, but that was the first time I had one actually pose on a tree trunk so perfectly. I think those are now among my favourite shots of the species.

13th and 14th August were very similar days, with only a little sunshine and OK temperatures. I went out locally both days and unsurprisingly saw a similar set of butterflies on each - examples of about a dozen species.

A selection from across both days: some were looking a little tired now.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great set of reports recently Dave, the dreaded 'W' has kept me busy in less creative ways recently so I've been doing a bit of catching up Great Graylings from Chobham - the ones in the New Forest don't seem to sit on the side of trees despite there being a nice ring of them around my site so its nice to see those shots which lack the odd grass blade or spring of heather Really interesting to see the black spotted Common Blues - reminiscent of P.celina

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Good to see those Graylings, Dave. I'm well aware they're not common round your way.

[Neil Freeman]

Great shots of the Grayling on the tree with the blue sky in the background

I have some photos taken in previous years of Grayling on trees...but in my case they were fallen trees lying on the ground.

Cheers,

Neil

[millerd]

Cheers, everyone - it was good to get some shots of a Grayling in a different pose than the usual ones, and one that didn't require grovelling soundlessly on spiky ground to get level with them...

Looking back, I see that the middle part of August was pretty warm and sunny overall - at least in my part of the world - contradicting what the doomsayers about the past summer would have you believe. Unfortunately, one or two things kept me otherwise occupied at this time, but I still went out locally whenever I could.

The next opportunity was on 17th August, and I was rewarded with three species producing highish figures. For Small Coppers, this meant four, but I rarely see more than two on any given day! One of them appeared to be egg-laying.

There is no Sheep's Sorrel that I've seen here, so they manage with standard Sorrel and Dock. All the other Coppers were just as worn - or worse.

I counted 40 Holly Blues, as ever happy to frequent the shade on warmer sunny days...

...and seeking out pink bramble blossoms.

The third species with good numbers today was the Brown Argus. My worries that the "haircut" this site was given a month back might affect them severely in the second brood proved to be unnecessary as I counted 34 individuals. I imagine the cut went over the heads of all the larvae down near the ground on the small cranesbills.

A week since my previous sighting, I came across a Peacock. It was behaving territorially, patrolling a section of path and chasing off anything that ventured into its airspace. It was also quite worn, and I suspect that it had been wired up to breed again, rather than hibernate, as does occasionally happen here.

Dave

[millerd]

With the continuing spell of good weather and what seemed to be decent numbers and variety of butterflies locally, on my next local walk (on 19th August) I performed one of my more careful counts. I vowed to concentrate on numbers and resist the temptation to take so many pictures, but one or two somehow found their way on to the memory card it seems...

Anyway, here are the totals:

Holly Blue 40
Brown Argus 31
Meadow Brown 21
Small White 20
Common Blue 18
Speckled Wood 15
GVW 13
Red Admiral 8
Large White 7
Comma 5
Small Copper 4
Small Heath 4
Gatekeeper 1

187 butterflies of 13 species.

At least two of the Small Coppers seen today were not among the four seen two days earlier - I suspect the overall population, spread as it is right across this large site, is bigger than it looks.

A few others that snuck in front of the camera lens.

Finally, I did have to stop and try a few shots of a Small White laying on a plant I cannot identify. I frequently see them pottering around low-growing greenery but rarely do they spend long enough in one spot to get any decent images.

There's almost always something worthy of that little bit of extra attention!

Dave

[Vince Massimo]

Hi Dave, the mystery plant looks like Hoary Cress to me, but it's worth getting a second opinion.

Vince

[Goldie M]

Love the Grayling shots Dave, I didn't know they liked tree's so much, I'd always seen them on sand or slate, you learn some thing every day Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cracking reports there Dave "A few others that snuck in front of the camera lens."...it's funny how many manage to do that when you're out and about Round this way the summer was a bit hit and miss, like normal summers in fact

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thanks for the plant ID, Vince. Not one I knew, but the Small White obviously did.

Thank you, Goldie - I'd seen them do this before but never long enough for me to get a photo.

Cheers, Wurzel! I think you've suffered from the bad bits of the summer all falling within the school holidays...

20th August was warm and sunny again (26 degrees as a high local to me). I headed down to Denbies once again where as always a cooling breeze was blowing. Time was now beginning to take its toll on the Chalkhill Blues, and very few of the many males looked sparkling fresh now.

There were some fresher females though.

I do wonder whether this might be Adonis rather than Chalkhill...

The Adonis males were more resplendent, and appeared to be having a healthy second brood this year - presumably July's rain perked up the foodplant after the Chalkhill caterpillars had finished with it in June.

One or two Brown Argus were in amongst the other blues, but I didn't see any obvious Common Blues today.

However, my main target was Silver-spotted Skippers. With them having a poor season up at Aston Rowant, it was encouraging to find the species widespread across most parts of Denbies, though not in huge numbers by any means. They are tricky little things in sunny weather, but perseverence paid off eventually.

This female was tucked down in the grass egg-laying.

The do become really quite dark with age sometimes.

I was already pretty happy with my visit, but there was one other sighting to come - which deserves its own post.

Dave

[millerd]

20th August at Denbies - continued...

As I made another tour of the hillside, along the middle path towards the western end of the slope I was wondering why I hadn't seen any mating pairs of either Adonis or Chalkhill Blues. As I mused upon this, I suddenly thought I'd spotted one - disturbed into flight by me not paying attention. The apparent pairing landed not too far away, so I approached the spot without difficulty.

The big shock though was discovering that what I had taken to be two Chalkhill Blues in cop. was in fact just one butterfly. It was a bilateral gynandromorph - half male, half female. I had witnessed this rare phenomenon only once before (that was with a Silver-spotted Skipper, so far less obvious and striking), so was staggered to see another, and in this case in a more distinctly dimorphic species. The only downside was that the butterfly was quite worn. Nevertheless...

The butterfly was relatively easy to approach, never flying very far. Once or twice it investigated the patches of horseshoe vetch, as if responding to the female side of its genetic make-up, and didn't interact with any other butterflies. I suppose that if it had half an ovary, it would have eggs - but it would have been unable to mate as it would have been unable to lock onto another butterfly of either sex. could it somehow have fertilised itself?

Anyway, here are some shots of the poor confused little creature.

Dave

[Allan.W.]

Thats a wierd looking Brown Arg Dave ..............with the bright blue body .........at a quick glance ,i thought it was a "Brown " female Common Blue ..................but the body shape and length is a bit of a giveaway ! very unusual !
I know i,ve already commented on your Gynandrous Common Blue ......but what a find ! and looking back i do now recall your very unusual Silver -Spot as well ..................keep going Dave some great finds !!
Allan.W.

[Allan.W.]

Whoops ................meant Chalkhill not Common ! Allan.W.

[David M]

That's an amazing specimen, Dave. Even the hairs on the body are different colours!

[bugboy]

A fantastic find although I always feel a bit sorry for such individuals, it must be a very confusing life to live. Looking at the final picture, and if the colouration of the hairs is an accurate representation of it's internal makeup, it does look like the abdomen is more female than male, so perhaps it was able to mate with a male to produce viable eggs.

[millerd]

Thanks, Allan - yes, that Brown Argus caused me to think a bit before labelling it! That blue bloom on the body is very deceptive, but the abdomen shape is definitely male (as was its behaviour in the field), and there is actually not a single blue scale on the wings.

It was an extraordinary butterfly, David, apparently split down the middle in every way (though Paul has pointed out that the abdomen has hints of a female bias...).

Cheers, Paul - you definitely have a point there. The blue "fur" on the male side doesn't extend right to the tip of the abdomen (though curiously it does encroach a bit onto the female side of the thorax). I suspect one would never know without a careful dissection of the butterfly...

Regardless of anything else, it was a real highlight of the summer.

Back to Earth now, or my local patch at least. 21st August was another pretty warm and sunny one, but I only had an hour or so available for my usual walk. The highlight was a selection of fresh male Common Blues.

It all appears calm in this companionable water-cooler-moment shot, but as soon as the sun fell on these two again, they were at each other hammer and tongs.

The summer brood of Small Heath was underway, but numbers are poor these days with rarely more than a handful seen.

I spotted a single new Comma, apparently clutching its ripe blackberry like a small child with a beach ball...

Holly Blues prefer the blossom.

Dave

[Wurzel]

That Gynandromorph is a stunning sight Dave - what the odds are on seeing one of those I wouldn't like to reckon but with that
kind of luck did you buy a lottery ticket on the way home?
It does seem to be slightly more female orientated on the abdomen but even if it could produce viable ova how would it get to mate - would it be courted by ardent males or would they see it off as a potential rival?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

...It was an extraordinary butterfly, David, apparently split down the middle in every way (though Paul has pointed out that the abdomen has hints of a female bias...)...

Yes, now you come to mention it I can see how the 'male' side peters out towards the base of the abdomen.

It's fascinating how such a phenomenon can occur, and I wonder how it impacts the behaviour of the butterfly. Of course, we will never know but just seeing it is a real rare treat.