Trevor

[badgerbob]

Hi Trevor. It's still a bit early to say how good the 3rd brood of Wall Brown will be. I am quietly confident that it could be half decent with all the lush grasses around for the feeding larvae. But, since the 3rd brood started to fly, we have only had 2 or 3 days of decent weather, and even those days were breezy. I've just been up there today, and there were at least a dozen in the area, with only one female seen. She was busy nectaring, rather than egg laying, so hopefully she will get on with doing that soon. If we get the predicted better weather next week, numbers should build and peak numbers will follow that hopefully. Hopefully not too many pupae have perished in the cold wet weather!!

[Wurzel]

Lovely set of images Trevor Especially the Painted Lady shots - they have been hard to come by this year but there seems to have been something of a slight influx recently, hopefully they brought a few Cloudies with them

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Cheers for the reply, Bob. I usually struggle to find female Walls at H&O.
I think once mated they have no further use for a male, and keep a low profile.
Most of the action on Weds was, as usual, between the gate by the steps and
the next gate,, although a few were seen further along the hedge.
The hedge also completely filtered out the strong breeze, rendering the area
close to the fence calm and warm. Possibly why Walls do so well at H&O ?.

[trevor]

Cheers Wurzel. The Painted Ladies at Herstmonceux don't seem to have brought over
any Clouded Yellows ( yet ? ). Usually if there are any around the gardens are one of
the best places to see them.

[trevor]

My visit to Herstmonceux Castle gardens was nearly ruined when I discovered
that both batteries, one in the camera, the other in my pocket, were both nearly flat.
So on the busiest and by far the best day there so far this year, I had to be very sparing
with the use of the camera. Fortunately both batteries just about lasted the day.

I was impressed with the number of fresh Small Coppers around and also the sighting
of a Wall Brown dispute, the first Wall sighting for me at Herstmonceux this year.
In all five Walls including a fresh female were seen, all proved tricky to get near.

The rest of today's sightings.

5 Painted Ladies
2 Peacocks ( fresh )
1 Comma I( fresh )
2 Meadow Browns
6 ( Minimum ) Red Admirals.
Plus many Small and Large Whites

[millerd]

A great selection, Trevor - I particularly like the Coppers! The one on the verbena seems to be very sparsely spotted, making it glow even more than usual.

I had a look at High & Over this morning after seeing your discussion with Bob - there were a dozen or so Walls of mixed vintage, but mostly fresh males, plus one very fresh female that wafted along higher up, above all the squabbling males. It seemed a healthy number to me, but I'm not so much a a regular as you...

Cheers,

Dave

[trevor]

Thanks Dave, You did better than me at H&O if you found fresh Walls.
All those I saw were worn to some extent, even the mating female had signs of wear.
It was great to see the Walls at Herstmonceux today, even several of those were worn.
Herstmonceux is a great place to see fresh vibrant Small Coppers at this time of year.
No Cloudies yet though.

[Wurzel]

I feel your anxiety about the batteries (mind you a full card is even worse as they're so fiddly to swap over )I always carry three spares now, just in case...there's nothing like a little overkill
Cracking Peacocks and Walls but those Coppers are just brilliant - one, maybe two of them seem to be abs/variations possibly oblitera ? Cracking

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Cheers Wurzel. It's good news for the Small Coppers at Herstmonceux.
Numbers were still down on normal on Sunday, but more fresh ones appear at every visit.
Returning on Wednesday. Batteries charged !

[trevor]

I spent an entertaining hour or so with the Speckled Woods this morning.
They were only to be found at the far end of the Cuckoo Trail in Hailsham.
I saw many territorial disputes, and twice saw males launch themselves
to challenge a falling leaf ! Later I saw the tail end of a males attempt
to woo a female who in classic fashion played dead, and off he went.
It was also good to find a couple of very fresh males and one with very bold markings.
Among all the Speclie action was a lone Comma enjoying ripe blackberries.
There was very little else around, despite the fine weather.

[trevor]

I went over to Herstmonceux with one main ambition today, to track down the Wall Browns.
An area I've only visited occasionally was the moat side of the large garden wall, and sure
enough right down by the Castle itself two male Walls were located. Obtaining usable shots
was another matter, as the wall was warm and the Walls were warm !, And lively.
Later in the afternoon, shortly after Katrina left, a pristine female Wall landed briefly
near to where I was standing. Two shots and she was off.

[Katrina]

Well done with the Walls and good to find where they hang out!

[millerd]

Very nice male/female set of Walls there Trevor! The third brood seem to be doing well in Sussex again this year.

Cheers,

Dave

(PS. Does their location make them Castle Walls? )

[trevor]

It was a pleasure to meet up with Katrina today, and John Williams later on.
The number of butterflies was down on my Sunday visit, no doubt due to the strong breeze.
One unusual aspect of the day was obtaining a pair of butterflies in the same shot three times.
Despite the breeze the Red Admirals, Peacocks and Small Coppers put on a good show.

[trevor]

Thanks Katrina. I now know where to start a Wall Brown search.

Cheers Dave. Wall Brown 3rd Brood, that's something of a mystery.
In all the years of visiting Herstmonceux I have never seen a single 1st or 2nd brood specimen,
but without fail they turn up at this time of year, only in fairly small numbers though.

[Neil Freeman]

A cracking selection of species in your recent reports Trevor and some great photos

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Walls on walls Trevor You could also sing it to the tune of Girls On Film by Duran Duran Great stuff And more fantastic Coppers

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Thanks Neil. My images might create the impression that there are more
butterflies around down here than there actually are.
It's still a poor year compared with the recent past, but I am grateful
for what I have seen, largely thanks to Herstmonceux gardens.

Cheers Wurzel. I was working for a company that supplied record labels for EMI
when ' Girls on film ' first came out. After a week or two the place went mad
as sales threatened to outstrip supply of labels. Duran Duran then became
one of the major bands of the time. Another nice, fresh Copper today!

[trevor]

Although it was only Wednesday this week I was last at Herstmonceux the weather
forecast for the weekend and next week does not look so good.
So I returned today primarily for the Wall Browns. After a lot of patient waiting
around, and searching I managed a few shots that made the day worthwhile.

As usual they were hard work !

[Katrina]

Glad you managed to get them again!