Sand point

[Zonda]

Despite the electrical storms that keep cutting off my electricity, i shall persevere with this post. Today i spent a couple of magical hours in the company of 'Grumpy' Jack Harrison. Grumpy,,,, no, informative, and knowledgable yes. He actually left me standing and gasping on the approach hill. The Glanville Fritillaries are just emerging. To be honest, i don't think me or Jack would have caught them, had it not been for the terrier-like tenacity of my companion Chris Rowland. He decided to retrace our previous tracks after some sun had appeared. The pair of them made my day, and i was able to capture some fresh shots of this beautiful Frit.

[Jack Harrison]

Sand Point was excellent – until I saw Zonda’s photographs when it really came home to me the difference between results from a DSLR and bridge camera. I will be further commenting on camera in the “"DSLRs v Bridge (compacts) - again" thread later but lots of other things to get on with today.

Sand Point is perfect for those of us carrying a little extra body weight; lots of exercise in a good cause. I weighed myself when I got back last evening as I was more that 2 kilograms lighter. Not a real loss of course – mainly de-hydration – but it made me feel good.

We (more correctly) Chris found the hot spot. To get there, opposite the car park, climb the steps and then the rough but easy enough (although steep) track to get to the top of the hill. Pass the seat (very usefully positioned!) and then continue along the crest of the hill. There is a likely looking open slope to the left but we didn’t explore that. Carry on past the concrete trig point and after about 150 metres you come to another open hillside with an obvious track going down towards a stile. (And yes that is the correct spelling, not style, but I admit to having to look that up). Stay on the track and in the general area of the stile and fence seems to be a hotspot.

Picture show Chris pointing from the crest of the hill down the slope.



Getting back up the hill is challenging as Zonda demonstrates.



There is possibly a short cut from the car park area which reduces the amount of climbing and descending.

Apart from the 6 to 10 Glanvilles seen (all pristine on 6th so doubtless many more yet to emerge over the coming days) Sand Point positively teemed with Common Blues and Brown Argus. We MIGHT have seen a Small Blue in flight – it didn’t settle before we lost it - but they are difficult to distinguish from small Brown Argus when flying, so only a possible. Also several Small Coppers and a Wall Brown around the old earthworks at the top.

I had stayed overnight in the Commodore Hotel at Kewstoke, just a couple of miles away. Very reasonable price. I thoroughly recommend it. Excellent beer, marvellous carvery in the evening and superb breakfast. The bedroom was comfortable although I do have to say that this sign could result in some unfortunate consequences if taken too literally.



Jack

[Zonda]

Jack didn't give me time to pose properly, had i known, i'd have sucked in.

[Jack Harrison]

A couple of bugs from Sand Point – neither identified.

Larva feeding on bramble:



This fellow was nicknamed Arnold Schwarzenegger, or the “Arnie Bug” on account of its huge “muscles” on its rear legs. (“What are they really for?” we wondered)



Jack

[Lee Hurrell]

The first one's The Lackey, no idea on shiny green balls.

Cheers

Lee

[Zonda]

I get these in my garden, and shame on me, i can't remember the binomial latin. Nobilis as a species comes fleetingly to mind, but i am not really into beetles.

[Gibster]

Oedemera nobilis, chaps. Only the male shows the swollen thighs. There's a clever bit of adaptive evolution involved here - I've seen spiders, hoverflies and even bumblebees kicked clean off 'his' flower head! Amazing to watch.

Gibster.




PS - I'm only kiddin' about the kicking, but it seemed such a lovely idea...

[Pete Eeles]

10 Glanville seen "on transect" today, so must be coming up to a peak soon. Thx to Matthew Oates for the info! Also Brown Argus and Wall at Sand Point.

Cheers,

- Pete

[Jack Harrison]

Also Brown Argus and Wall at Sand Point.

I suspect Matthew was "economical with the truth" with no mention of Common Blues. They were in their scores on Friday.

Jack

[Willrow]

Spent this morning with the Glanville Fritillary...in lovely sunshine! Arrived at this interesting location at 8.30 and was greeted on my way down the track towards the stile by three Glanville in lovely condition. This is my first experience of the species, the incredible history of this butterfly made me feel rather humbled, it was a privilege to spend time with them. I sat quietly watching them go about their business, and as I sipped hot coffee for my elevenses, they took nectar from their favoured Birdsfoot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus just a matter of feet away. The Common Blue gave them little peace, constantly moving them on from their nectar source, yet often they returned to the same plant moments later after managing to out manoeuvre their pugnacious antagonist. There are several swards of Birdsfoot Trefoil on the slopes of the 'hotspot', but it's hugely important to be very careful not to trample it down, I would heartily recommend a good pair of binoculars if you intend visiting, then you can observe without doing any damage to the habitat at this special sanctuary for this superb insect. It proved tricky getting reasonable photographs from the path, but it can be done!

As a matter of interest I had a pretty good look around most of the areas on The Point that I thought the Glanville may favour, I was pleasantly surprised to find them along the entire lower pathway in mainly single numbers, I actually saw one out on the top of the hill in the later stages of the morning, however, by about 1pm the sky had totally clouded over and all species went to ground and there was not a single Glanville to be found. Two young chaps had travelled from Exeter and Gloucester, but by then the sun had retired and they sadly saw little but the odd Brown Argus, Small Copper and loads of folded Common Blues.

Allowing for any chance of double counting, I estimated that I saw at least 20 Glanville throughout a five hour visit. My advice is to arrive at Sand Point early and check the latest weather forecast for the sunshine. I would like to express my gratitude to Jack and Zonda for their excellent advice about the 'Hotspot'. Sand Point is a wonderful place.

Bill

PS. Keep your eyes open for Cream-spot Tiger (Moth) should you decide to visit, it has Local status, not a very common critter nowadays!

[martin bevan]

hello the glanville fritillary where showing this afternoon at the hot spot. we had about 5 some old one and some fresh one .they came out when the sun was out and show well.also lots of brown argus and common blues and one wall brown.

[Denise]

Cream-spot Tiger are generally seen along the lower track after the 'hotspot' (past that big clump of bramble and beyond) toward the point.
I have seen them several times there on previous visits.
Wall tend to stick to the rocky outcrop at the top. Patience usually pays off.

Denise