Maximus

[David M]

The weather seems fairly grim almost everywhere in Europe right now, Mike, so you have to make the most of the few opportunities that present themselves.

Nice to see you did just that with the Green Hairstreak.

[Maximus]

Cheers, Wurzel, I understand what you mean about the hill but the weather has just gone back to bad again Hope to bump into you sometime this season too

I guess that South Wales has the same cool weather, David? Yesterday was on of those days that you just had to make the most of, it's now back to 'normal' again!




Five Rivers has been producing the 'goods' for us in those small periods of sunshine, in spite of the horrendous strong breezes we have been experiencing lately. It's given us our first Small Whites, Green-veined Whites and Speckled Woods of the season.

In addition Orange-tips have posed nicely, at last, to enable some reasonable shots to be obtained.

During our walk this morning there was the bonus of a Cuckoo calling nearby and many Blackcaps and Chiff-chaffs in song.

Blackcap and Reed Warbler?

[Wurzel]

I'm chuffed that you could understand the word salad of my previous comment Maximus - I think quicker than I can type
Also chuffed that Five Rivers is coming on, back in mid April I had 10 species there Love the OT shots and good ID with the Reed Warbler- it can't be a Cetti's as you can actually see it

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Thanks, Wurzel, you made yourself very clear, in a roundabout kind of way There seem to be quite a few Cetti's around at FR, but as you say they are heard but not seen


Noar Hill 30th April


Having seen the very favourable weather forecast for Selborne for Tuesday 30th we set off from Wiltshire, skirted Winchester, before heading for one of our favourite sites, Noar Hill near Selborne. I knew that Dukes had been spotted there about a week or so earlier, so we were in with a good chance of seeing a few. Arriving at Noar around midday, it was full sun and eighteen degrees with a stiffish breeze in the lane as we parked. There were already half a dozen cars parked up but some were possibly dog walkers. We headed up the rutted lane on the North West side of the site and entered through the first gate into the site proper. We had only gone about twenty metres and there were our first two Dukes. At the same time a guided party of half a dozen people carrying cameras and binoculars appeared around the corner to exit at the gate we had just come in through. We waited while they took some photos and had a good look through their binoculars before we moved slowly on. It only took a few more steps before we found another Duke and this time took some shots. It was four years almost to the day since we were last here so we made the most of this moment spent in the company of a lovely little rare butterfly.

We spent a very enjoyable afternoon searching the sheltered corners of the many flint pits. We saw in total 10 to fifteen Dukes and two Duchesses. It reminded us of times past and of the many visits we have made to this lovely site. Lets hope that the Duke of Burgundy frequents these slopes for many years to come.

This Duchess was either still inflating her wings or had a problem with them not inflating fully, she was certainly able to fly..

this was the icing on the cake...

and a couple of context shots..

There were many Brimstones across the site, we also saw a single Dingy Skipper..but alas no shots, plenty of male Orange-tips and several Holly Blues. We also heard our first Cuckoo of the year. All in all a brilliant day out.

Holly Blue ovipositing on Dogwood.

A male Orange-tip paused long enough for a shot on our way out.

[Padfield]

Brilliant shot of the mating Duke and Duchess, Maximus.

What has ten legs and four wings?

Guy

[millerd]

Great shots from Noar Hill, Mike - it was a toss-up for me on Monday whether to head down there or head north to the Chilterns...I chose the latter and had a good day, but it looks like you probably had the best deal in the end! I shall no doubt visit Cotley when Wurzel sends up the smoke signals, so may well bump into you there.

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Maximus especially the 'icing on the cake' It's been a few years since I've visited Noar Hill but your context shots brought back a load of great memories

Have a goodun

Wurezl

[David M]

...I guess that South Wales has the same cool weather, David?

Been awful, Mike, although I've been in Spain for over a week now (where it has been largely cool and cloudy too).

Finally though, things have picked up, although given I'm in Almeria that's perhaps not surprising.

Nice work with the Dukes.

[trevor]

If you are exploring Wiltshire, Mike, I have a recommendation.
Tilshead, on the A360 from Salisbury. Leave the A360 at the far end of village ( by the garage ).
Head straight on up the hill until you see a large concrete parking area on your right.
It's military land with public access. Brilliant for Common, Adonis & Small blues + Brown Argus.
Walls, Dingy and Grizzled Skippers can also be found. It's a nice flat easy site.

As others have said, great work with the Dukes.

[Maximus]

Thanks, Guy, Ten legs and four wings, it's a cracker

Cheers, Dave, you did very well in the Chilterns, looks like you had a great day. Hope to see you at Cotley if we are still in Salisbury at that time

Cheers, Wurzel, Noar is a great site, glad the shots brought back some good memories for you Can't be long before you post some Wiltshire Dukes

Glad you finally found some good weather, David, hope that your trip to Spain was fruitful

Thank you for the site recommendation, Trevor, might get a chance to visit later this week, if the rain ever stops


France 2023 part 2


Our hosts at Moulin de Pensol where we stayed for a few nights B and B, recommended a visit to an abandoned quarry about a half hours drive from them. We were not early birds that day and enjoyed a fabulous breakfast, which meant that it was already really hot when we arrived at our destination. In a small field next to the quarry we found loads of Blues flying, both Common and Adonis but they were barely stopping at all. With no cloud cover there was very little chance of any half decent shots, so after spending some time here we moved on into the quarry.

The quarry itself was fairly bereft of butterflies and we only saw these two species..

Ilex Hairstreak.

Pearly Heath.

but they were both new species for the year, perhaps in a good year there would be more?
The only other thing of note we saw were a couple of Orchids...

Bee Orchid.

Pyramidal Orchid.

This theme of finding low butterfly numbers (for us) in France in 2023, continued through our month-long trip, although there were a couple of exceptions.
The next day up bright and early we headed for the Dordogne.

[Wurzel]

Lovely Pearly Heath Maximus I'm looking forward to seeing what the Dordogne has to offer as I visited there a few years back Closer to home; I have seen a couple of Wiltshire Dukes - coming to my PD around July

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

...Glad you finally found some good weather, David, hope that your trip to Spain was fruitful...

Thanks, Mike. This second week has been a cracker.

Looking forward to your further instalments from France.

[Maximus]

Cheers, Wurzel, the Dordogne should have plenty to offer, I hope Glad you've seen a couple of Dukes, but it looks like a long wait to see their portraits

Glad you had a great second week, David, look forward to seeing your write up



A couple of Wiltshire beauties, seen yesterday. Both took a bit of finding but it was well worth the effort in the end

Today was a different story, we spent couple of hours at Bentley and it was really hard work, they just didn't want to play ball

Three or four seen and this record shot is all I could manage Give it a week and hopefully a few more will have emerged

[Wurzel]

Great to see the Duke and Grizzlie Maximus Also really good to see the Pearls out, a case of better late than never

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Grizzled Skipper, Duke of Burgundy and Pearl Bordered Fritillary are three excellent May butterflies, Mike. Looks like you're getting to grips with your local area.

[Maximus]

Cheers, Wurzel, hope you found some Pearls on your evening visit

Yes they're lovely spring butterflies, David, hope to find a few more while we are here in Wiltshire.


Tuesday 14th May


Not a very nice day weather wise today, raining with a strong gusty wind, overcast and cool. When we set off I had no destination in mind but when Cathy asked where we were going I said Cotley as I thought it might afford more shelter. Arriving at the layby there were no other cars so we parked up and headed up the little overgrown track that leads onto the western side of the hill. The first butterfly to greet us was an immaculate Wall Brown which was behaving itself in the cool overcast conditions.

We made our way along the lower path finding nothing until we arrived at the corner when I spotted a Grizzled Skipper fluttering low in the grass. There were several here but they were perched on grass stems which were really being blown about by the wind. I took a few shots checking to see if there were any blur free. Thankfully a couple seemed to be ok but it's not until you download them that you can tell for sure. There were also a couple of small silvery looking butterflies attempting to fly and when one landed I could see they were Brown Argus a first for the year. Once again I attempted shots checking them to see if any were blur free, and again a couple seemed to be reasonable. We saw no Green Hairstreaks which was surprising as I expected loads, perhaps the weather kept them down?

We saw about six Grizzlies and three or four Brown Argus in total and I saw one Small Blue. After a while we headed back to the path that runs diagonally up the hill. The first butterfly that we found here was an other Wall, but a Wall with a difference. It was sitting on the path with it's wings just very slightly open and from that I could see that we'd found an ab. When it closed it's wings the underside was standard Wall, what we prayed for was for it to stay put and hope for a brighter spell to encourage it to open it's wings, so we waited. About twenty minutes later it brightened ever so slighly and it's wings slowly began to open revealing the amazing upperside.

What a stunning ab it was, finding an aberrant is always totally unexpected and just down to luck, right place right time etc. I took plenty of shots before it finally flew off after warming up for about five minutes. We carried on up the path finding six more Wall Browns of the standard variety, including a beautiful large female who was too shy for me to get a shot.

When the time came to leave we headed back down the path finding a roosting Orange-tip and Green-veined White on the cow parsley.

The weather was mostly awful during our visit but there was just that little window of opportunity which is all you need.
We drove back on a high

[Neil Freeman]

Just been catching up on your PD Mike, some great reports with cracking photos of lovely butterflies.

That Wall Brown ab. is something special though , must be the butterfly of the year for you.

Cheers,

Neil.

[trevor]

That is a Wall ab and a half, Mike! . I wonder if Bob Eade has seen it.
I'm off to Cotley via Tilshead soon, lets hope there are some treats awaiting.

[millerd]

What a terrific butterfly, Mike. It looks absolutely fresh, too (just trying to reassure myself it wasn't around when Wurzel and I visited Cotley Hill three days earlier! ). Great shots as well and perfect weather to keep it behaving - sometimes everything just comes together. Worth a I'd say, probably several...

Cheers,

Dave

[Maximus]

Cheers, Neil, the Wall Brown ab is definitely my butterfly of the year, so far

Cheers, Trevor, I'm sure there are some nice treats awaiting you in Wiltshire

Cheers, Dave, I'm sure if it was around when you were there three days earlier you'd have seen it. It must have been very warm when you were there on the 11th, perhaps it didn't stop


9th May

Today we headed off quite late to Battlesbury Hill. There were several cars parked in Cotley lay-by as we passed so we didn't stop. We found the parking spot at Battlesbury quite easily and set off for the hill. There were quite a few people around and one chap who was leaving told us where he had just seen some Dukes. We found the spot easily as the grass had been flattened in the hotspot and it didn't take long to find a couple of DOB.

We headed up the path to the top of the hill on the lookout for any Marsh Frits, but all we found were many Marsh Frit cats on the path and spent some time relocating them out of harms way.

On the way down we found several Green Hairstreaks, once again at the hotspot and a couple of Dingy Skippers too.

We saw about 6 Dukes and Green Hairstreaks and two Dingy Skippers, and lots of people were taking their portraits. As we were leaving we got chatting to to another local enthusiast who told us that a really good spot for Dukes was Fovant Badges and he gave us some rough directions of where to go.