Some sightings from 1st July which I did not have time to post yesterday.
First stop was Oaken Wood/Botany Bay on the Sussex/Surrey border where I bumped into Neil Hulme. I was looking for my first Purple Emperor of the year which duly appeared by the bridge and predictably went straight to Neil and landed on his boot. He is literally an Emperor magnet.
It stayed in the locality for a couple of hours, but despite our best efforts never really settled properly, so we got only fleeting shots.
In the early afternoon I moved on to Southwater Woods and saw 2 more Emperors in the canopy of the Madgeland master tree. I was also struck by the huge number of White Admiral now on the wing, with sometimes 5 in sight at any one time. However the most notable sighting was an aberrant Small Tortoiseshell with grey/black hindwings which was to be found on bramble on the track under the power lines south of the Madgeland master tree. After some initial long range safety shots I moved in with macro. It was very docile and obliging which, together with the light wind and soft afternoon light, made for easy shots. Even so, I made sure I used 'EDS' mode (Every Damn Setting) because this was one subject I did not want to mess up.
Checking the Cockayne database I think that ab.nigra is the closest match I can find.
Cheers,
Vince
Last edited by Vince Massimo on Sun Jul 04, 2010 8:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The problem with the Cockayne Database is that it is very limited and only illustrates a representative handful of aberrations per species so is flimsy as a means of accurate identification. It's function is to demonstrate the sort of variation in markings that one can expect within a species, but it is not a definitive guide by any stretch of the imagination. Like many works there are also errors in the names applied to some of the aberrant specimens, but as it is not meant as an identification guide this is of no real consequence.
Nice pic of Neil's boot!! Brings to mind Handel's Massiah "How beautiful are the feet..." often mis-quoted as "Blessed are the feet..." for some unknown reason...
Nice ones Vince. I'm meeting JackHar at Fermyn at the weekend.
I hope he is still the "magnet" he was when I last met up with him and those Emperors are just waiting for a quick taste!
(Otherwise, can I borrow your boots please, Neil )
N "Nice pic of Neil's boot!! Brings to mind Handel's Massiah "How beautiful are the feet..." often mis-quoted"
"How bootiful...."
"Conservation starts in small places, close to home..."
NickB wrote:Nice ones Vince. I'm meeting JackHar at Fermyn at the weekend.
I'm going to Fermyn tomorrow, on our way across country to Norwich. Weather for Saturday looks good and fairly dull couple for a couple of days afterwards, but you know what weather forecasts are like, usually correct about an hour before Sunday we'll get a sighting of Robert Cray at Norfolk, though he's not a butterfly by any stretch of the imagination!
Hi all,
Talking of aberrations, I had one from today that could be Small Skipper ab. pallida.....could anyone confirm it....a very strange looking little chap indeed.
21 White-letter Hairstreaks and 2 Purple Hairstreaks out at Benfleet Downs this afternoon along with plenty of Marbled Whites, Small, Essex and Large SKippers plus commoner butterflies.
Pete Eeles wrote:Yowza - nice find! I'll await a response from Felix, but if you could plop this ab. in the relevant Species album I'd really appreciate it!
Cheers,
- Pete
Hi Pete...it is done. It was one of those, is it a bird, is it a plane, moments....no its one very weird Small Skip.
Rather a return to Earth with a bump, but I did see my first Gatekeeper of the season today, whilst watching Purple Hairstreaks zooming around next to J14 of the M25. I've read their emergence date is nearly the same as that of the Purple Emperor... seems pretty accurate.
I'm in the Lake District for two days to try and see three butterflies I've not seen before: Mountain Ringlet, Scotch Argus, and Northern Brown Argus. No sucess with any of them today as the weather was extremely windy, and it took until around 2pm for the sun to come out. However the day wasn't wasted...
Spent the morning at Honister. The lack of sun and near gale force winds were not what had been forecast, so I gave up, making do with a close sighting of a Ring Ouzel.
Next stop was Whitbarrow. Never been before, and I recommend it to anyone for the views and the wildlife. By the time I arrived, the sun was out, but it was still very windy. Lots of Dark Green Fritilary, and was just about able to identify a few High Brown Fritilary's too. (Many were very active, and when they landed never closed their wings, so the green tinged underwings of the DGF were rarely visible). Saw a very tatty and old Small Pearl Bordered Fritilary, and was sure I saw a few fresher ones as well, but again they were very active in the wind and so cannot be sure. Was also extremely pleased to see two Silver Washed Fritilary's in the woods underneath the Scar. I'd read about the introduced colony here and wasn't sure if I'd be lucky, but I was!
Finally, I moved on to Arnside Knott. Was amazed at the sheer number of High Brown Fritilary's and Grayling's. I'd guess that in the course of an hour I saw 50+ HBF's, and around the same number of Grayling's. The latter was even more surprising because they were less skittish than usual, one even landed on the palm of my hand! I think I'm two weeks too early for the Scotch Argus, but was disappointed not to see any Northern Brown Argus. Anyone know whether there are any about nearby?
I had a lovely day today starting at Southwater Woods - met Mark Senior by chance and then bumped into Neil Kipper!
Couple of Purple Emperors, silly numbers of Silver Washed Frit, (including a f. valesina) and White Admirals, a Dark Green Frit plus the usual suspects.
Vince - I reckon I saw your Small Tort today....It was at the Madgeland master tree ride. I saw a very odd looking one in flight, I noticed the forewings seemed more colourful than usual, which I guess would show up if the hind wings were dark. It did settle on a tree trunk out of reach with its wings closed and I moved on. But your report makes me think that was it!
I moved on Botany Bay for 2 further Purple Emperors, more SWF and WA and 2 Wood Whites.
Photos and Neil's scratch and sniff shrimp paste to follow in my diary.
Cheers
Lee
Last edited by Lee Hurrell on Sun Jul 04, 2010 7:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
To butterfly meadows, chalk downlands and leafy glades; to summers eternal.
Hi Lee ,
Yes it was a spendid day at Southwater , many thanks for your great company . I would agree that the Small T we saw was the same as the one pictured by Vince . There was also of course the deformed SWF and the diminutive Meadow Brown aberration to note .
On my walk from Southwater town to the woods I saw my first Gatekeeper of the year and was able to add 1 more to the 14 species we saw in the woods .
Lindrick sounds a very interesting place and although I can see "Lindrick Common" on the OS map, it appears to be a golf course on either side of the A57. Is the buttefly "hot spot" to the west in Lindrick Dale or even on the edge of the woods even further south?
Local trip to the cemetery - nice GVW taking in the early morning sun and a few large Skippers, MBs and more Ringlets - very unusual.. And then on to Fleam Dyke. Beautiful carpets of wild flowers and more Ringlets than Meadow Browns at a ratio of 2 or 3 to 1. Several STs and a number of whites - mainly GV but some Small. A few Large Skippers and the odd Small; a couple of Small Heath and a battered immigrant Painted Lady.
"Conservation starts in small places, close to home..."
2 July 2010
Gatekeeper Butterflies were seen frequently along the Coastal-Downs Link Cyclepath by the Cement Works at Upper Beeding where in the tall meadow verges of Hardheads and Melilot, a few Ringlet Butterflies were seen; both species for the first time this year. A first of the year Southern Hawker (dragonfly) cruised amongst the first flowering Buddleia in the same area. The same area hosted frequent Meadow Browns and one distinctive Cinnabar Moth that fluttered rapidly through the tall herbs making photography impossible.
At Old Shoreham, one Six-spotted Burnet Moth was seen to have recently emerged from its cocoon on a Wild Carrot on the Cyclepath south of the the old Toll Bridge.
The first Small Skippers were also spotted around Tufted Vetch.
Another long day: I seem to have walked miles. Here's the rundown... Botany Bay: After seeing a very skittish Purple Emperor on here Thursday, I went back this morning and altogether saw four individuals, with other folk seeing others in other parts of the wood. Two were seen together briefly. Both White Admirals and Silver-washed Fritillaries were everywhere - there seemed to be many more females in evidence tah earlier in the week. The other point of interest was watching one of the last first brood Wood Whites laying eggs on a variety of purple vetch.
On to Box Hill: I concentrated on Burford Spur, where there were a multitude of Marbled Whites and several Dark Geen Fritillaries. There was also a Silver-washed Fritillary in the woods at the top of the Spur, which I have not seen there before.
And then finally Denbies Hillside: Unusually bereft of butterflies (it's the time of year), nevertheless, there were Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns and Small Heaths. On my way back I spotted three newly-emerged Chalkhill Blues, the first I have seen. Unfortunately limitations of the photographer have not done the two that posed together justice...
Great photo of the Hornet Clearwing moth Doggie... Brilliant impersonation of a real hornet isn't it and most predators would steer well clear of this harmless moth. It won't have been far away from a Black Poplar tree which are pretty rare in the UK either, so well done. There is a tree outside my workplace which is used by Hornet Clearwing and their hatching can be timed almost to the day. Yours are a couple of weeks later than "mine" though as they have already been and gone.
My wife and I went to Fermyn Woods today, partly for the Emperors and partly for White Letter Hairstreaks. We were lucky on both counts, although the only adult WLH we saw was not keen to have its photo taken. I did get a shot of a pupa though, which was nice ...
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