September 2024

[David Lazarus]

Yesterday, Saturday 28/09. I once again visited Rainham Marshes followed by a quick visit to the Thames Estuary Path site near East Tilbury. This primarily was to search for the female Brown Hairstreak at Rainham I saw during my last visit on the 20th in the hope of photographing my 34th and final butterfly species found in Essex during 2024. I also wanted to see how the storm and heavy rain had affected the numbers along the Thames Estuary Path, and whether or not it had blown the Clouded Yellow away.
It was chilly with full sun when I arrived, with the first butterfly, surprisingly a Small Copper, not appearing until after 09.30am. Small White [12] and Speckled Wood [12] would both be some of the few species to survive in reasonable numbers:

Small White female
Rainham Marshes 28/09/2024

Speckled Wood male
Rainham Marshes 28/09/2024

But I did find 6 Wall spread over an area both sides of the sea wall and paths, both male and female:

Wall male
Rainham Marshes 28/09/2024

Wall female
Rainham Marshes 28/09/2024

Along with this find, it was good to come across Red Admiral and Comma feeding on ivy flowers:

Red Admiral
Rainham Marshes 28/09/2024

Comma
Rainham Marshes 28/09/2024

However, I was unable to locate any of the elusive Brown Hairstreak in any of the places they had been seen before including during the previous fortnight, and only the same male Speckled Wood was left at the place I last saw a sighting of a female on the 20th which was not surprising but disappointing all the same:

Speckled Wood male
Rainham Marshes 28/09/2024

So I left sad that I was unable to complete my 2024 Essex album of photographs, and headed for East Tilbury half an hour later than my previous visit. It was about 10 degrees colder than before and with the wind in the opposite direction the sea wall did not provide the protection that created such a perfect microclimate for the colonies to thrive. It was clear by the state of the butterflies I had already seen that the hot spot was not going to be the same - indeed the butterfly nirvana was over

A few weeks ago I would be celebrating seeing 31 Wall in one place, but having seen so much activity, and so many fresh specimens it was sad to see the results of the previous week's heavy rain and strong north-westerly winds. The major loser was the Large White - only 3 tatty butterflies left:

Large White male
Rainham Marshes 28/09/2024

Once again there were good numbers of Speckled Wood on the walk to the site. While I was following the flight of a Wall, a pair in cop bumped into my cap and dropped on the ground in front of me - they seemed to be none the worse for the experience:

Speckled Wood in cop
EWT Thameside NDP 28/09/2024

One of the first butterflies I came across on the grassy banks of the sea wall was a lovely Small Heath:

Small Heath
Thames Estuary Path 28/09/2024

The colder weather meant that the Wall were easier to photograph with this female nectaring for quite a few minutes whilst sheltering from the wind:

before revealing her upperside:

Wall female
Thames Estuary Path 28/09/2024

She was in good condition unlike most I came across. And unlike before I had to search for them on both sides of the sea wall. It was sad to see the state they were in. But they still made me laugh on occasion - I am sure they are comedians - as this male landed on my boot but not long enough for me to capture the moment:

Wall male
Thames Estuary Path 28/09/2024

And most of the females weren't quite as pretty:

Wall female
Thames Estuary Path 28/09/2024

but pretty enough to attract the attention of the males:

Wall male & female
Thames Estuary Path 28/09/2024

I was only there for a short time before most of the butterflies began to roost at around 2.45pm. I found a sheltered spot where a good number of Common Blue were hiding. They were still in good numbers across the site, 13, but like the other species half the amount of the previous visit. This fresh male was particularly striking:

Common Blue male
Thames Estuary Path 28/09/2024

But I did see more Red Admiral than previously although they were mostly sheltering from the wind:

Red Admiral
Thames Estuary Path 28/09/2024

On my way home I came across this female Wall that had interesting markings. I would have loved to have seen her in her prime:

Wall female
Thames Estuary path 28/09/2024

Suffice to say the Clouded Yellow had been blown away and had been spotted further up the Thames at Purfleet. A disappointing day for many reasons. But I shouldn't have been, as I still saw 37 Wall Brown in a day - this being my target species - 151 butterflies in total, with 11 species.

edit: correction - female aberrant Wall rather than male

[bugboy]

Yesterday, Saturday 28/09. I once again visited Rainham Marshes followed by a quick visit to the Thames Estuary Path site near East Tilbury. This primarily was to search for the female Brown Hairstreak at Rainham I saw during my last visit on the 20th in the hope of photographing my 34th and final butterfly species found in Essex during 2024. I also wanted to see how the storm and heavy rain had affected the numbers along the Thames Estuary Path, and whether or not it had blown the Clouded Yellow away.
It was chilly with full sun when I arrived, with the first butterfly, surprisingly a Small Copper, not appearing until after 09.30am. Small White [12] and Speckled Wood [12] would both be some of the few species to survive in reasonable numbers:

2024.09.28 Small White Rainham Marshes.jpg
2024.09.28 Speckled Wood Rainham Marshes 001.jpg

But I did find 6 Wall spread over an area both sides of the sea wall and paths, both male and female:

2024.09.28 Wall Rainham Marshes 001.jpg
2024.09.28 Wall Rainham Marshes 002.jpg

Along with this find, it was good to come across Red Admiral and Comma feeding on ivy flowers:

2024.09.28 Red Admiral Rainham Marshes.jpg
2024.09.28 Comma Rainham Marshes.jpg

However, I was unable to locate any of the elusive Brown Hairstreak in any of the places they had been seen before including during the previous fortnight, and only the same male Speckled Wood was left at the place I last saw a sighting of a female on the 20th which was not surprising but disappointing all the same:

2024.09.28 Speckled Wood Rainham Marshes 002.jpg

So I left sad that I was unable to complete my 2024 Essex album of photographs, and headed for East Tilbury half an hour later than my previous visit. It was about 10 degrees colder than before and with the wind in the opposite direction the sea wall did not provide the protection that created such a perfect microclimate for the colonies to thrive. It was clear by the state of the butterflies I had already seen that the hot spot was not going to be the same - indeed the butterfly nirvana was over

A few weeks ago I would be celebrating seeing 31 Wall in one place, but having seen so much activity, and so many fresh specimens it was sad to see the results of the previous week's heavy rain and strong north-easterly winds. The major loser was the Large White - only 3 tatty butterflies left:

2024.09.28 Large White East Tilbury.jpg

Once again there were good numbers of Speckled Wood on the walk to the site. While I was following the flight of a Wall, a pair in cop bumped into my cap and dropped on the ground in front of me - they seemed to be none the worse for the experience:

2024.09.28 Speckled Wood Thameside NDP.jpg

One of the first butterflies I came across on the grassy banks of the sea wall was a lovely Small Heath:

2024.09.28 Small Heath Thames Estuary Path.jpg

The colder weather meant that the Wall were easier to photograph with this female nectaring for quite a few minutes whilst sheltering from the wind:

2024.09.28 Wall Thames Estuary Path 001.jpg
2024.09.28 Wall Thames Estuary Path 002.jpg

before revealing her upperside:

2024.09.28 Wall Thames Estuary Path 003.jpg

She was in good condition unlike most I came across. And unlike before I had to search for them on both sides of the sea wall. It was sad to see the state they were in. But they still made me laugh on occasion - I am sure they are comedians - as this male landed on my boot but not long enough for me to capture the moment:

2024.09.28 Wall Thames Estuary Path 004.jpg

And most of the females weren't quite as pretty:

2024.09.28 Wall Thames Estuary Path 005.jpg
2024.09.28 Wall Thames Estuary Path 006.jpg

but pretty enough to attract the attention of the males:

2024.09.28 Wall Thames Estuary Path 007.jpg

I was only there for a short time before most of the butterflies began to roost at around 2.45pm. I found a sheltered spot where a good number of Common Blue were hiding. They were still in good numbers across the site, 13, but like the other species half the amount of the previous visit. This fresh male was particularly striking:

2024.09.28 Common Blue Thames Estuary Path.jpg

But I did see more Red Admiral than previously although they were mostly sheltering from the wind:

2024.09.28 Red Admiral Thames Estuary Path.jpg

On my way home I came across this male Wall that had interesting markings. I would have loved to have seen him in his prime:

2024.09.28 Wall Thames Estuary Path 008.jpg

Suffice to say the Clouded Yellow had been blown away and had been spotted further up the Thames at Purfleet. A disappointing day for many reasons. But I shouldn't have been, as I still saw 37 Wall Brown in a day - this being my target species - 151 butterflies in total, with 11 species.

Off to Howe Green where someone saw a Wall and thinks there may be a colony - no GPS location, chilly and dull - I am not very hopeful of finding anything let alone a new colony of Wall Brown.

That final Wall is a nice aberrant female.

[David M]

That final Wall is a nice aberrant female.

Sure is. Not seen one like that before.

[David Lazarus]

That final Wall is a nice aberrant female.

Wow, well spotted Paul. Clearly a female. Teach me to look more closely and take greater care when different markings are present. Markedly different from the female of the species.

Possibly Lasiommata megera ab. mediolugens

Guy or Vince may be able to help us with this one hopefully.

[Padfield]

I'm far from an expert on aberrations, but I agree with mediolugens. David L's female wall is extremely similar to one illustrated in Howarth under that name (his specimen is a female, taken in Cornwall in 1950 by Fuchs - although interestingly the reference in UK Butterflies to the aberration, here: https://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/aberrat ... ies=megera, says Fuchs had a male ...).

Guy

EDIT - I misread: Fuch's was given as the author, not the captor. The captor was N. A. Watkins. So no contradiction with the UK Butterflies page!

[Pete Eeles]

I agree! Lots of consistent examples here: https://data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset/collecti ... a11e68f68e

Cheers,

- Pete

[zigzag_wanderer]

Spent 7-14th in Northumberland, staying on the coast between Bamburgh and Holy Island. What a beautiful part of the world. Highly impressed with Alnwick, don't think I've seen a more thriving post Covid town, loads of shops (many independent) and none closed down as far as I could see. Worth a visit just for Barter Books.

Speckled Wood were present in good numbers virtually everywhere we went (not Inner Farne though), along with healthy numbers of whites. Quite a few Red Admiral but only saw singles for Peacock and Comma. There were two short-eared owls hunting the dunes close to our cottage and more brown hares than I've ever seen. Lovely spot.

[David M]

Lovely scenery, ZZW, and there sure are plenty of seals on that beach!!

[zigzag_wanderer]

Thanks David, yes there were loads including a few very new pups.

The photos looking toward the Farne Isles and Lindisfarne were both taken on a beach walk from our cottage as the sun was setting. We woke up the next morning to hear that there'd been good views of the Northern Lights...I wish we'd known that as we'd have definitely stayed out later. The sky was showing some dramatic hues as the sun was setting, but nothing that screamed of the lightshow to come !

The cottage did have a pretty chunky and powerful telescope which we wheeled out to the bottom of the garden on a very clear night. My son located a fair few things (he has a good phone App) and we had clear views of Saturn and its rings and also the Andromeda galaxy. This is over 2.5 million light years away, so it'd be very interesting to know what stages of hominid development were present on Earth when the light we were viewing left Andromeda and what their relationship with the night sky was beyond a very good understanding of the opportunities and dangers of moonlight. Who knows where human development will be when light currently leaving Andromeda arrives or whether there be anyone around to see it ?! On a less morbid/philosophical note, I tried very hard to find a butterfly on Inner Farne, especially one not on their list but I failed to find any !

[Jack Harrison]

Shh! Keep quiet about the hidden gem of the Northumberland Coast otherwise everyone will want to visit.

We had many holidays there when my children were young. I must try to go back some time!

Jack

[zigzag_wanderer]

Sorry Jack, couldn't stop myself as I was smitten. I suppose I might have taken a different view if it had piddled down all week !