millerd

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - I doubt I shall see its like again! The trouble is that such things are so rare it is impossible to make an in-depth study of their behaviour. I was lucky that my audience with the butterfly lasted about 20 minutes, but you'd need to see one for at least a day to get a real feel for how it behaved and reacted to others of the species.

A rare treat indeed, David.

23rd August was a proper hot and sunny summer's day locally, with ten hours of sunshine and temperatures reaching 28 degrees. My usual walk brought about 150 butterflies of 14 species, including two which I haven't subsequently seen here again this year: a female Gatekeeper...

...and a Painted Lady.

This summer has been unusually good for Brimstones - in most years recently I've seen very few new ones in the summer (despite a good showing during each subsequent spring).

The continuous strong sunshine kept most butterflies closed up, in the shade, or in the case of the 30-odd Brown Argus, flying rapidly around and not settling much at all.

Some of the others...

Dave

[millerd]

On 24th August, I had planned another trip north to my sister near York, and unfortunately the forecast was for less summery conditions up there. However, it was pleasant enough on arrival, and my sisters garden buddleia hosted a few things, including the familiar sight of Red Admirals...

...and the less familiar one (for me) of a Small Tortoiseshell.

Since my last visit five or six weeks previously, the nasturtiums were now covered in Large White caterpillars (and the odd Small one too), almost skeletonising the plants completely.

Predation is effective at reducing numbers, and I watched this process in live action as a succession of wasps carefully selected medium-sized larvae and either chewed them up in situ or carried them off.

The gruesome side of Mother Nature in action again.

Dave

[Wurzel]

"but you'd need to see one for at least a day to get a real feel for how it behaved and reacted to others of the species" very true
Great set of shots Dave - especially like the 'Diana dress' Brimstone
I'd read a bit about Wasps having a bad image and how they predate pests, which 'Cabbage White' caterpillars are to some I suppose, though I wasn't aware that they did this. Red in tooth and claw and all that

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

...The gruesome side of Mother Nature in action again.

Indeed so, Dave. I've seen dragonflies pick off larvae but I've never seen a wasp do so. Interesting that they should leave the larger larvae. I wonder what the reason is for that?

[millerd]

...I've never seen a wasp do so. Interesting that they should leave the larger larvae. I wonder what the reason is for that?

They spent some while selecting each larva: ignoring the very small ones entirely, considering the largest ones and then invariably picking the medium-sized individuals. My guess is that the smaller ones weren't worth the effort and the fully-grown ones were too big to carry. They didn't tackle the larvae in situ, but lifted each one off the plant, either to consume close by (as shown) or to carry away to their nest. During the course of the sunnier parts of each day I was there there were always two or three wasps in attendance on these caterpillars, and it is easy to see how huge inroads would be made into what appeared to be hundreds steadily munching away at every nasturtium in the garden.

...Red in tooth and claw and all that

Not so much red as lurid green when each caterpillar was punctured, Wurzel... It's interesting that the wasps seemed quite happy with the noxious sulphur compounds derived from the foodplant that render the larvae distateful to birds.

Moving on...

The following day (25th August) was rather cooler than I was used to, but the morning at least promised a bit of brightness. I headed out to Kiplingcotes, the old chalk quarry near Market Weighton which is a great butterfly site where more than 25 species have been recorded in recent years.

I didn't expect those sort of numbers at this point in the year, though I remained hopeful of seeing Walls here as I did a few years ago (and a Clouded Yellow too). In the end I was treated to a variety of commoner species under increasingly cloudy skies.

Also seen were Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Large White and Small White.

Dave

[millerd]

My route back to my base in Wilberfoss on 25th August took me past Calley Heath, another spot I like to visit when I'm in this part of the world. It's a piece of never-cultivated sandy heathland with some adjacent oak woodland; some parts are grazed periodically by Hebridean sheep (and all year round by rabbits, which have turned much of it into a single large warren). Despite a distinct lack of sun, it was fairly warm and bright still and during a fair bit of looking around I found a few of the local butterfly inhabitants.

This site is good for Small Coppers at almost any point in the season, and I came upon a handful today.

Brown Argus are usually reliable here too but I drew a blank on that front, just finding a male Common Blue instead.

There were several Red Admirals and a couple of Commas along the edge of the woods, but none of either would pose for long...

...but this rather fine Speckled Wood obliged more readily.

A few Whites trundled through, but the only ones I managed to approach were this pair of Green-veined.

Oddly enough, the butterfly I rated as the highlight of this visit was a very fresh female Meadow Brown. I'd pretty well given up on attempts to photograph this species at home because they rarely stay still for long with their wings wide open, but this one seemed quite happy to do just that.

Dave

[millerd]

26th August was a bit curious weatherwise. The forecast for East Yorkshire promised thundery downpours with a slow-moving area of slack low pressure close by. In the end, the wide and almost windless centre of this low took most of the day to pass over, and rather like the eye of a hurricane it was almost cloudless (though piles of cumulus and worse could be seen in all directions). The August sun made conditions very pleasant, and a walk was in order: we headed off to Allerthorpe Common with its mix of woodland and sandy heath, and wide sunny rides.

It is curious how one species can unexpectedly monopolise a visit somewhere. Wood Whites can do this sometimes, as can Silver-studded Blues and Heath Fritillaries. However, I didn't expect Brimstones to fulfil this role in late August... One ride was full of them, both males and females nectaring avidly together: my sister and I counted over fifty individuals before giving up. In the summer I am used to seeing a handful sometimes, feeding up prior to hibernation (My count of nine at home on 21st July was the highest I've ever recorded on my local patch in the summer).

Seeing the two sexes cheek to cheek like this always seems odd when in spring the males just can't leave the females alone for a second.

To be fair, there were one or two other butterflies...

...but the Brimstones were a sight worth seeing.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great to see the Brimstones Dave - really like the twofer shot, and they posed at an unusual angle too Also some nicely marked Green-veined Whites in there as well

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - you don't often get the chance to choose between a host of posing pristine Brimstones. In the spring they are relatively battered and chase each other around all the time.

I'll finish up my Yorkshire trip at the end of August with a few more butterflies from my sister's garden.

At the end of the visit, the wasps were still about their gruesome task of trying to eliminate the local Large White population.

On a local walk before the long drive back south, we spotted some hares lounging around on a turf field (where they grow football pitches)...

...and this amazing carving of an owl, created in situ from a tree that had suffered bad storm damage and would otherwise have been removed.

I'm told it took under a day to do.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great to see those Vanessids and Green-veined Dave That sculpture is mighty fine work - I've watched them do this type of thing with chainsaws at a Country Fayre before and it's mesmerising

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Allan.W.]

Yes I agree ,a wonderful piece of wood art .............love to see that ! By coincidence i put my oldest son onto a piece of wood art in a very secluded wood here in Kent ,its about a mile and a half from the nearest road and people were once very protective of its wherabouts but in recent times it has become more accessible and easier to find .Its a carving of a young pregnant woman ,and its very striking ,i first saw her picture on a local pub wall (about 40 years ago.) ,and always promised myself that i,d try to visit her .............my son has now found her ,and i,m hoping to make her aquaintance myself before Christmas. Great and interesting reports as usual Dave.
Allan.W. PS; The carving i mentioned is known as the "Lady in the woods "

[millerd]

Cheers, Allan - I'd be interested to see the carving you mention. I'm in awe of the skill someone has in creating such things, particularly (as Wurzel mentioned) they can do it with something so apparently cumbersome as a chainsaw.

Back to home territory on 28th August. Curiously, the weather back then was similar to today's a month later and well into what used to be called autumn... Around the 20-21 degree mark and about five hours of sunshine, and eleven species of butterfly seen. However, the names on the roster were slightly different to those of today, and overall numbers were a bit higher back then:

Red Admiral 19
Holly Blue 14
Brown Argus 11
Common Blue 11
Small White 10
Comma 6
Meadow Brown 6
Speckled Wood 4
Large White 3
GVW 2
Small Heath 1

Nothing stood out in particular apart from the bright new Commas now appearing.

Though Brown Argus continued to produce quite fresh-looking individuals...

...some other species were well past their best now.

Red Admirals just kept on coming...

Dave

[millerd]

29th August was a similar kind of day, but all I concentrated on were the Commas. One appeared to be a venerable and very faded example of a hutchinsoni individual: very late in the summer to still be seeing them.

The others were all new examples of the standard hibernating version, some so fresh the meconial fluid from the pupa could be seen on the leaf nearby.

One Red Admiral made it onto the memory card - sitting uncharacteristically on a grass head pretending to be a roosting blue...

That was my last butterfly outing for the month. The 31st in particular was relatively chilly (a high locally of just 17 degrees - curiously there hasn't been a day that cold here since). However, looking at the month of August as a whole weatherwise, it was best described as average. The average high for the month was at 23 degrees only a fraction of a degree below the long-term figure (1991-2020); it lacked a bit of sunshine but rainfall was spot-on the average.

However, September was going to surprise us, right from the word go.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking set of Commas Dave but for me the stand out is that Brown Argus (from the post before) with the largest lunules I've seen
I've tried the suggestion of 'Nature's lurid green in tooth and claw' but it doesn't have quite the same ring
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Allan.W.]

Hello Dave ,
Concerning the Wood sculpture i mentioned ie; "The Lady in the woods " I,ll post a couple of my sons shots ,if you don,t mind me posting on your diary .............goes without saying to delete them,if you want,once you,ve had a look . Regards Allan W.

[millerd]

Hello Dave ,
Concerning the Wood sculpture i mentioned ie; "The Lady in the woods " I,ll post a couple of my sons shots ,if you don,t mind me posting on your diary .............goes without saying to delete them,if you want,once you,ve had a look . Regards Allan W.

Hi Allan - if you send me a Private Message, you can attach the photos to that: I'd very much like to see them.

Cheers, Wurzel! That Brown Argus was one of those you really have to look two or three times at to make sure it's not a very brown Common Blue.

As August became September, the Comma theme continued as the temperature rose: 23 degrees on the 1st, 24 on the 2nd.

Meadow Browns were fast disappearing...

...and a few Small Heaths hung on in there too.

The second brood Common Blues were largely over...

...but fresher examples of the more numerous (overall) Brown Argus were still flying.

There were one or two new GVW as well.

Specklies and Red Admirals appear pretty well continuously from April to November, and looking at my records I see that the former species has turned up on more days this year than any other.

Dave

[Allan.W.]

Hello Dave ,
I,ve sent a PM ,Hopefully you,ll get it ..............I don,t have a very good track record sending PM,s ,but it did say "message sent" ,so i might have got lucky ! Allan.W.

[Wurzel]

Cracking looking Green-veined Whites there Dave , another species which shows such a remarkable range of variation - I have to be careful else I'll end up down a Green-veined wormhole as well as a Gatekeeper one

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - GVWs are a very attractive and underrated butterfly, with marked differences between the main two broods, and a whole lot of other variation. That sounds like a wormhole worth exploring (unless you have to get Captain Cisko's permission first... ).

On 3rd September the increasingly warm and sunny weather insisted that I venture back down to Denbies for a look at what might be flying at the tail end of the summer. There were no surprises, and not even a much hoped-for Clouded Yellow or two (they all appear to have headed for South Wales this year! ).

A few Chalkhill Blues still flew, though none were in any way very fresh.

There were a good number of small brown butterflies everywhere on the hillside: some were female Chalkhills, a few were female Common Blues, the lighter-coloured ones were Small Heaths and quite a few of the others were Brown Argus - like this boldly-marked one.

Some of the fresher ones turned out to be female Adonis, a striking butterfly when new.

There were still male Adonis flying as well, starting to acquire the electric blue sheen they take on with age and wear.

That left one butterfly to seek out. I was investigating the clumps of BLEP growing along the bottom of the hillside for evidence of Long-tailed Blues - but I found no eggs, and certainly no adults. My hopes were raised by the sight of a small butterfly nectaring on the peas - after discounting LTB, the angle to the light at first made me think it was a Grizzled Skipper (second broods apparently do occur occasionally).

However, sense prevailed and I realised that it was a Silver-spotted Skipper, though not where I expected to see one. Others of the species also appeared, in more conventional spots.

A nice fresh creamy-white female Small White completed the day.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking set of shots Dave That female Adonis is a right looker Silver-spots do have a tendency to turn up when and where not expected That final shot of the Small White had me doing a double take as the markings almost go down far enough for Southern...so close

Have a goodun

Wurzel