millerd

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - I've never seen the West Country population of Heaths, but if they're as good as the Essex and Kent ones, it'll be well worth the effort.

23rd June: part three.

I now set off for home, but for the sake of variety (and for the hell of it!) I decided to go across the Dartford Bridge and round the south side of the M25 - and so complete the whole circuit. Amazingly, the traffic was as kind as it had been earlier in the day and I found myself approaching J9 in pretty good time, so turned off and popped up to Box Hill.

It was now completely cloudy, but the Marbled Whites were still flying (though still no DGF as yet).

One adopted an inverted pose against the light, providing an unusual shot.

I wandered over to the kidney vetch patch and was surprised to find a Small Blue (after their apparent absence three days earlier) - and even more surprised to see it was a male.

Sharing the vetch patch was a Large Skipper.

They seem a bit thin on the ground this year.

After a bit of refreshment, I finally completed the circle and went home.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Hi! Dave your doing better than me I've yet to find a Large Skipper or a Small Blue, great shots of both DaveGoldie

[millerd]

Thank you, Goldie. Large Skippers seem to be difficult to find this year - never more than one or two wherever I've been.

With the warm (even hot) and fairly sunny weather continuing, I went out again on Monday 24th June - though today it had to be somewhere not too far away. I headed for Chobham Common, another of Surrey's sandy heaths, and the prospect of some more Silver-studded Blues. I usually see the tailend of this species here when looking at the excellent Grayling population, so this time they should be more numerous and fresher than my normal experience of them.

There were certainly plenty around, mostly concentrated on the higher areas with a mix of ling and bell heather, but I spotted the odd male or two across quite a widespread area. At the "hotspot" there were females and mating pairs as well as males displaying varying degrees of wear.

I find the females particularly tricky to photograph as my camera often refuses to focus on a dark butterfly against a brighter background. They also vary tremendously in appearance as the light changes. Excuses over, here are some females.

I'll post the males separately.

Dave

[millerd]

24th June: male SSB at Chobham Common.

poised to feed...

...as the proboscis enters the flower, one antenna dips

Also seen during the visit were the particularly sandy-coloured Small Heaths that fly here, plus a handful of Small and Large Skippers.

Dave

[millerd]

After the morning at Chobham, later in the day on 24th June, I made a somewhat shortened circuit of my local patch. I managed to find examples of all the Skippers that fly here - a few Small...

...one or two Essex...

...and a rather worn male Large.

Amongst other species was a fairly fresh Common Blue...

...and a new Red Admiral watching over his territory - and making sorties after anything that moved, as they like to do late in the afternoon.

Other species seen, but not photographed today: Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Large White, Small White, Comma and Brown Argus.

Dave

[Wurzel]

That final Marbled White shot from a few posts back is a cracker Dave Brilliant Silver-stud collection too Good to see the Essex are out over your way as it means they won't be too far away in this neck of the woods Soon be Shipton time...where has the year gone?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - that Marbled White shot was a bit different, but that's how the butterfly presented itself... Still, it's hard to tire of shots of fresh Marbled Whites. I agree with you about the year, though - it seems to be running away before it's even got going.

25th June was a hot one - 30 degrees at Heathrow and nine hours of sunshine. I didn't have the car available, so I had to stay local, but went out early to avoid plodding around in the midday heat. I guessed the butterflies would be supercharged today, so I elected to do a count, rather than attempt much photography. Here's the tally:

Meadow Brown 274
Small Heath 42
Small Skipper 12
Essex Skipper 9
Marbled White 9
Common Blue 6
Brown Argus 3
Comma 1
Holly Blue 1
Large White 1
Small White 1

There are two standouts for me from that list. Firstly, the Small Heath total was the highest here for several years and twice the peak figure for the same time last year. Secondly, the Marbled White figure was the highest yet, and with new butterflies of both sexes on the wing I feel confident that the colony has established itself now. Skipper numbers appeared to be building, but the first broods of several species were tailing off (the traditional "June Gap" before the next broods kick in).

Inevitably, a few photos did get taken, though the low angled strong sunshine proved a bit tricky (I wasn't used to it, as I usually seem to take photos in bright cloudy conditions this year ). A selection...

surprisingly fresh at the very end of the brood

the clearly segmented abdomen is reminiscent of the caterpillar that was

not black and white, but gold and cream - a female

something larger flew past at this moment...

...but this Small Skipper took no notice

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave. An impressive tally but I am quite surprised to see no Ringlets amongst them, they have done better than Meadow Browns up here but that will no doubt change with the latter species longer flight period.

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

Hi Dave. An impressive tally but I am quite surprised to see no Ringlets amongst them, they have done better than Meadow Browns up here but that will no doubt change with the latter species longer flight period.

Cheers,

Neil.

A bit of a mystery, this, Neil.

I saw the last Ringlet on my local patch in 2022. They had been declining year on year, and after just five singletons on separate days in late June 2022, in 2023 there were none at all; I have not seen one in 2024. I have had a long hard look or two at the areas where they used to appear, but every single dark butterfly has been a male Meadow Brown! I think the hot spells in July and August 2022, and then in June 2023, may have been too much for them. They do still occur in small numbers down at Staines Moor to the south, so there is potential for them to spread back north along the River Colne.

Dave

[millerd]

Wednesday 26th June was just as hot and even sunnier. I restricted my local outing accordingly, and it was noticeable that the butterflies were much more subdued in the heat, even the Meadow Browns hiding in the grass in the shade at the field edges. One female ventured out to nectar.

Aside from that, all the photos I came back with were of Essex Skippers.

This one was just caught as it lifted off, having been disturbed by the insect departing stage left.

Any ideas what this creature is?

Dave

[bugboy]

I think that's one of those green Thick Thighed Beetles Oedemera nobilis. Only the males have the swollen 'thighs'.

[millerd]

Thanks, Paul - I didn't recognise it in midair...

Thursday 27th June. I had the car back, the forecast was reasonably favourable, and reports of imperial activity in Chiddingfold were encouraging.

The improvement works at J10 of the M25 held things up somewhat, so the trip down there took twice as long as it should, but I'd left quite early so hadn't missed anything much. On the way from the car to the Triangle I found some fresh Ringlets (as mentioned above, sadly gone from my local patch).

All then slotted into place as sitting up at the Triangle itself was Trevor - great to see you again, Trevor, it's been a while. A little later, others arrived, including Bugboy, so inevitably there was a lot of chat and a bit of catching up, and Trevor told us of his encounter with the striking Emperor ab. the day before.

As I tend to do, I wandered off through the wood to see what I could find, and on my return, I found I'd missed the first Emperor of the day coming down. However, it hadn't gone far...

...and returned to the same area.

When this one disappeared, I had a wander in a different direction, and in exactly the spot where I'd seen my first one in 2023 I disturbed another. Luckily it returned to the ground, but although it was very twitchy and led me up and down the track a bit, I managed a few photos of something other than the Imperial profile.

As ever, it proved easier to get decent images when I had the butterfly to myself!

Unfortunately I had to leave around lunchtime, but intended to return on Friday. I believe I missed some further action later on... Still, I'd rate it a successful (and very sociable) trip!

Dave

[bugboy]

Oooh he looks fresh enough to say that was his first taste of dirt!

[trevor]

Good to see you and Paul again too, Dave. Yes, your last Emperor is as fresh as they come.
Well worth doing battle with the M25 for shots like those.

[Wurzel]

Those are cracking images Dave Here's an extra one as I'm not sure I'm going to catch up with one this season, let alone get any photos I really need to focus just on His Nibbs one year...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Trevor, Paul and Wurzel! The butterfly I had to myself was a bit of a looker, certainly.

After the excellent morning and then dealing with the chores that had dragged me away early, I went out on my local patch again in late afternoon. Having mentioned whilst chatting earlier that I hadn't seen many new Commas this year, this notion was turned on its head when I quickly found seven of them.

They shared the various bits of path with a handful of Red Admirals, and there were various squabbles between species.

One of these was a very fine new example.

Dave

[millerd]

On Friday 28th June, I went back to Chiddingfold again, hopeful of a similar day or better. It was sunny to start with, Trevor was already in position when I arrived, and one or two others arrived as the morning went on.

Emperors were not slow to appear - but for the most part they stayed around the treetops, sometimes making longish flights along the treeline. At one point Trevor and I were watching two butterflies engaged in this activity, when one of the two deviated and gave chase to something almost half as big again. It was another butterfly, and we quickly realised that it must be a female. We watched the pair head off at speed into the distance, and agreed that this was not something either of us had seen before despite the various lengthy spells we have had watching the species in this bit of woodland.

After that excitement, my itchy feet got the better of me again, but today I didn't find my own butterfly and returned to the Triangle only to be told that I had missed a grounding. Luckily, the butterfly returned.

Looking at the second shot, the butterfly has the mottled look that I believe the species displays when very freshly emerged, not acquiring the full sheen and depth of colour for another 24 hours.

By this time, it had become very cloudy, and even a bit cool. I knew I had to leave relatively early again, so decided to call it a day - knowing I would have another opportunity the following day. Most annoyingly, just as I reached the car the sun emerged and I spotted another Emperor circling the old car park just inside the gate. I watched for a while, but it didn't land and eventually flew up into the trees.

Other things from the morning...

A glowworm larva, found on the track by someone more knowledgeable than me in such matters.

A Wood White which had met its demise in the jaws of a crab spider (which was still lurking behind the grass stalk - one leg is protruding and giving it away).

A somewhat worn White Admiral doing its best Emperor impressions, but not fooling anyone. Nul points.

A selection of Ringlets.

Another good day, with a bit of Imperial behaviour new to me.

Dave

[millerd]

Saturday 29th June had much more sunshine, though it was a bit cooler than the previous days. I headed down to Chiddingfold again, at the same time as on Thursday and Friday, and it took half as long to get there. As it was early, there weren't many other Emperor aficionados in the woods yet - something that was to change later.

I ended up taking many more photographs today, by no means all devoted to the large Purple one either, so I will sub-divide the post.

As on the other days, the first butterflies to be picked up by the radar were Ringlets. They seemed to be doing better than they did last year, in complete contrast to the Large Skipper which barely showed at all across the three days I was there. Red Admirals were dotted along the rides, attempting Emperor impersonations in all the likely spots until the real thing arrived later. A few new Commas were appearing too...

...but after their first appearance earlier in the week, SWF became the more noticeable orange butterfly, and the sunshine now brought out quite a few.

Dave

[millerd]

29th June, Chiddingfold - part two

Having the previous day seen the sorry sight of a deceased Wood White in the clutches of a crab spider, I wondered if I'd see any more of the first brood - or even the vanguard of the second. In the end a few of the former made an appearance, wafting their way along the rides perhaps even more slowly in their dotage than they usually do. Their leisurely pace lured me into attempting a few inflight shots - which revealed just how worn these butterflies were.

They did stop occasionally to nectar (and once or twice to lay an egg or two).

This one, with a noticeable nick in one forewing, looked a bit fresher in flight...

...but when settled did show its age a bit.

They are durable butterflies, hardly ever showing any tears at all, and this particular individual showed up again nearly a week later and features in Trevor's PD for that day - the nick and the orange mark are distinctive.

As for other whites, I did see a couple of GVW, plus a male Brimstone which because of its patrolling behaviour I took to be a leftover hibernator rather than a newbie. There were also a few Marbled Whites in the clearing on the way up the hill, and a couple of Small Skippers, but nothing else of note there.

Dave

[Wurzel]

More great Purple shots Dave Mind you the Wood Whites and Silver-washed are none too shabby and I'd be more than happy with some of those I was hoping that Brostreaks wouldn't be too far away but the weather today has a decidedly February feel

Have a goodun

Wurzel