Bugboys mission

[Wurzel]

A cracking collection of oddities/abs Bugboy but that ab.radiata is the cream of the crop I'd love to find one of those Cracking day yesterday

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

That's a splendid radiata, Paul - they are great-looking butterflies (perhaps not as dazzling as that array of NZ Coppers we were looking at yesterday, though... ).

Cheers,

Dave

[Allan.W.]

You,ve found some cracking Abberation just lately Bugboy ,particularly the Gatekeeper Ab;luscens ............very unusual and also the Meadow Brown underside (just before the courting Brown Args ) and a very nice smart ,fresh Radiata Copper .................Good finds !
Nice One !
Allan.W.

[David M]

..I’ll give David the benefit of doubt and presume he was shorthanding the name of SHC which I had labelled. Good to have its ID confirmed though, I don’t always get my moths right

Had never heard of it, Paul. Shows how much (or little) I know about moths.

Love that radiata.

[bugboy]

Thanks guys, I’ve been waiting many years to come across one of those Coppers. You’re right though Dave, those NZ coppers are rather nice!

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September 2023

Sunday 3rd. cont. From the Fort I set off along the coastal path. Small Heath were quite numerous in any areas of long grass, but it was getting quite hot now and they were pretty hyperactive. I had Whites and Red Admirals and one Cloudie flybys but nothing to point my camera at until I wandered around one of the rough green patches at Peacehaven, The Dell Park. A large swath of Red Valerian attracted my attention. There were a couple of Red Admiral, some Whites and a trio of aged Gatekeeper but I spent most of my time following a Humming-bird Hawk-moth around, taking hundreds of pictures.

The rest of the walk was somewhat quiet but where Ragwort appeared there always seemed to be a few Small Copper in attendance.

By the time I reached the big sign welcoming me to Brighton & Hove the heat had got the better of me, I was a hot mess! So I hopped on a bus into central Brighton to peruse the final sight of the day, Whitehawk Hill. Here there were a few middle aged male Long-tailed Blue and a brief look at some of the flower buds showed females had also been active recently.

I think the orange blobs might be Pea Moth eggs.

The final species was a barely recognisable Painted Lady.

It would have been nice to have had a lay in the following day after that hike, but I was at work!

[Wurzel]

A truly epic day Bugboy And with those LTB shots a cracking end to the day

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

September 2023

Tuesday 5th. Only a couple of hours spare today so no long day trips. On the Marshes all I could find were a few Specklies flitting around. Out on the wetlands Herons were fishing

and a hungry juvenile Common Tern was making one hell of a racket until mum (or dad) appeared with a snack. It only kept it quiet until the fish was gone though.

Only one of the Speckled Wood from earlier settled but I'm confident she was the pick of the bunch.

[millerd]

It only kept it quiet until the fish was gone though.

It needed to be quiet for its parent to give it another fish, because you know what they say...

Only one good tern deserves another.

(Sorry, couldn't resist that... )

Dave

[bugboy]

Haha, I would say don’t give up your day job Dave but you already did!

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September 2023

Wednesday 6th. The following day I had half day at work and since I wasn’t going to be able to get out again for over a week I made a punt on another trip to the south coast. It very nearly ended in a complete mess, thanks to Southern Rail. It took over 3 hours in the end and It was approaching 4pm by the time I reached Buckle Bypass. It took a while for anything to show up, and given the late hour I wasn’t particularly hopeful but eventually a male LTB came down to do a circuit, sat for a short time and sampled the local delicacy before zooming off back up the slope.

There were numerous eggs scattered around, in fact nearly every developing flower spike had at least one egg.

That was all the action I was going to get here. A slow walk back to the station didn’t come up with many more butterflies either, a female Common Blue and a Painted Lady who wouldn’t leave the tarmac road of the new bridge for love nor money and a few Small Whites were all that entertained me.

A frustrating day.

[Wurzel]

That's a better looking Painted Lady Bugboy - much more worthy of a photo as it was going up against the 'big guns' of the LTB

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

...A frustrating day.

With Long Tailed Blue in both adult and egg stage? You're all getting rather spoiled down there, Paul.

[bugboy]

Haha, yes a bit fresherWurzel, and a few more fresher ones coming soon, but for now more ‘big guns’
Well it was frustrating that I was sat on trains for over 3 hours instead of being in their company David, luckily my next day out the trains had sorted themselves out so I got properly spoilt!

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September 2023

Saturday 16th. I had a bit more time today, and the weather was looking good so I decided to do another multi-site day again, starting off at Buckle Bypass again. Like last time the BLEP was littered with eggs but unlike last time my search was halted with the appearance of one of the culprits appeared and promptly started adding to them.

A second one also appeared but just sat minding her own business, the first one carried on for around 20 minutes, posing perfectly in-between egg laying.

After she vanished up the slope I moved on to Tidemills, bumping into Millerd on the way who had just pulled up in the car park. We had a quick chat and I let him know that the bus stop was worth a visit then went on our separate ways.

Aside from a few Whites there was very little at Tidemills, a Small Copper was all that tempted me to raise my camera.

And a walk through the Ouse Estuary Reserve didn’t cause any more excitement, a few more Whites and a Speckled Wood.

Onward to the afternoons destinations...

[bugboy]

September 2023

Saturday 16th cont. Rather than a long walk I took the bus to Brighton this time. Whitehawk Hill was the obvious stopping point here but there wasn’t an awful lot about, a couple of aged males kept me entertained for about half an hour.

The better of the two.

The final stop was Worthing Beach where I bumped into Claire. We did a couple of circuits finding several Red Admiral feeding on a wall of Ivy and a few Speckled Wood behind the boat club whilst on the beach were some Painted Lady, Small Copper and a Humming-bird Hawk-moth.

One of the Coppers was rather intolerant of a Painted Lady and despite the size difference, had no qualms about shooing it from ‘his’ flowers.

The final species on the second circuit was a Comma who was much better placed for photos than the Red Admirals.

A more satisfying day than my previous attempt

[Wurzel]

More impressive 'big guns' Bugboy The LTBs seem to be turning up in more and more places now - perhaps I won't have to wait too long until they're in Wiltshire

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, Still a few more of them locked and loaded . Find an allotment on a hill within spitting distance of the coast and there should be some action at some point soon!


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September 2023

Thursday 21st Another stay at home day today with a range of wildlife on the receiving end of my camera on the Wetlands and Marshes. Surprisingly considering the time of year here it was a butterfly that first caught my attention, although just a distant shot of the Small White was obtained.

The birds were out on the wetlands looking for breakfast

And so were many Migrant Hawker Dragonflies who were conveniently hovering in front of some dark featureless shady water from my viewpoint, making it easy for my camera to pick them out.

A few more Whites were found before I left to wander round the Marshes.

On the Marshes I started to rack up a few more species, ending the day with a nearly unprecedented (for this site in September) six species, although most were singletons.

After a circuit of the Marshes I finished back on the wetlands where I came across some Willow Emerald Damselflies, the first time I’ve seen them here.

I fished back in the hide where the Dragonflies were flying near in the morning, watching a Heron catch his tea and spotting a pair of the aforementioned Dragonflies having some private time down in the reeds.

[bugboy]

September 2023

Monday 25th I good day beckoned so it was another south coast day for me. This time beginning at Whitehawk where a Peacock started off the days proceedings.

Darting around was also a somewhat faded, but still mostly complete male LTB.

A red Admiral and what was probably a stunning looking coeruleopunctata when fresh were joined with a second LTB.

I took a wander down the slope, where there was still a large amount of BLEP in full flower but all I found here was a Common Blue on another patch of Aster.

When I returned back to the top of the hill I found I had been joined by Trevor, and with a little patience we had the pleasure of a much fresher male, certainly fresher than the pair of us!

My next port of call was going to be Worthing and since Trevor was of a similar mind he offered to give me a lift. There awaited a couple more species (and a familiar face) for the days tally…

[Wurzel]

I see what you mean about the LTBs, looks like your cup runneth'd over with them this year I shall look into getting down to the coast a bit more in future years

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Still more to come Wurzel, and you may want to save a Mr green or three for October

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September 2023

Monday 25th cont. We arrived down at worthing beach to find Neil H. already there. Unlike this time last year, Long-tailed Blue where notable by their absence. The large allotment due north of the site which almost certainly fed this spot last year was known to be full of eggs, however the main difference this year seems to have been that the Red Valerian had already mostly gone over now, so there was little to keep passing LTB’s from stopping. Last year it’s flowering had peaked with the LTB emergence, encouraging any passing LTB to hang around.
Other immigrants were around though, Painted Ladies were active and a solitary Clouded Yellow settled long enough to allow a few pictures.

I did a few circuits of the site, hanging around longer than the other two and filled my boots with the numerous Red Admirals gorging on the big clump of Ivy behind the boat club who were joined by a Peacock and another Painted Lady.

Even without the LTB, this is a pretty decent little late season site.

[David M]

Nice to see a Clouded Yellow amongst the more regular species, Paul. I notice too that there's a Peacock nectaring from the ivy flowers. I don't think I've ever seen any doing that.

[bugboy]

Thanks David. I think Peacocks are usually tucked away for hibernation when Ivy is in full flower, certainly historically. Our now routinely milder autumns and (in the south at least) semi-regular second broods are making this a more likely sight now though, it’s certainly not the first I’ve seen.

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September 2023

Tuesday 26th I took a wander around my local Wetlands, not much around but for the first time since last winter I managed a few shots of one of the local Kingfishers. They're not so easy to get when everything's in full leaf.

Friday 29th. The last transect week at work, I found a couple of Red Admiral and a Small White. Like the rest of the country, Red Admirals showed very well on my transect this year.