june 2011

[Perseus]

Chalk downland herbs

[dilettante]

Great day out at Bookham Common ( today 26th June ) - Three Purple Emperors put on a wonderful display of acrobatics ; Silver- Washed Fritillaries and White Admirals almost everywhere we looked; and some very accommodating Purple Hairstreaks posing for photographs.
Many thanks to Gibster who showed us around- much appreciated.

You've saved me some typing!

Great day out at Alice Holt ( yesterday 26th June ) - Three Purple Emperors put on a wonderful display of acrobatics ; Silver- Washed Fritillaries and White Admirals almost everywhere we looked, but not many posing for photographs.
Many thanks to Matthew Oates who showed us around- much appreciated.

[Charles Nicol]

have just been over to Fermyn Woods... arrived at 0715....the Emperors arrived at 0835 !!
This was at Stephen Oak Riding ...

Plenty of other butterflies: Red Admirals, White Admirals, Small Skippeurs, Ringlets, Purple Hairstreaks... also a Marbled White which i have never seen there before.

I was also able to help a group of Girl Guides who were lost

Charles

[David M]

Took a trip to Bernwood Forest yesterday on the recommendation of Michaeljf. Arrived at 9am with the skies still overcast but by 9.40 the sun came out and stayed for the rest of the day along with 27C temperatures.

Plenty of butterfly activity as you'd expect given the conditions, both in the forest as well as the adjacent meadow (which was teeming with Marbled Whites & Meadow Browns). Large Skippers were more numerous than I've ever seen them and Small Skippers were also to be found in the meadow.

I was a bit disappointed by Silver Washed Fritillary numbers but there were a few White Admirals and a single Purple Hairstreak seen.

Numbers were (9.05am to 1.30pm):

1. Ringlet 200+
2. Meadow Brown 200+
3. Marbled White 200+
4.Large Skipper 100+
5. Small Skipper 15-20
6. Silver Washed Fritillary 13
7. White Admiral 9
8. Small White 4
9. Speckled Wood 3
10. Common Blue 2
11. Comma 2
12. Large White 2
13. Green Veined White 2
14. Purple Hairstreak 1



First butterfly seen was this Ringlet, which needed to open its wings as at this point the sky was still overcast



Marbled Whites in ridiculous numbers



First Small Skippers of the year for me



I thought there'd be far more SWFs - 13 was a little disappointing



This Purple Hairstreak wasn't in the mood to come down from his perch





White Admiral with traditional bramble-induced wing damage



SWF feeding with wings closed

[sahikmet]

Hi, White admirals at Park Wood Ruislip today. Cheers Sezar

[dilettante]

I saw a Holly Blue in my garden yesterday (South Cambs, 26 June). it looked in very good condition, so I assume it's 2nd brood, but it's a bit early for that, isn't it?

[millerd]

I saw a Holly Blue in my garden yesterday (South Cambs, 26 June). it looked in very good condition, so I assume it's 2nd brood, but it's a bit early for that, isn't it?

I saw several new Holly Blues yesterday (26th) around my local patch just west of Heathrow, and more today. Here's one sucking up minerals from a damp patch of ground.

Also in evidence today was a new flush of Red Admirals. Though not in the Emperor league by a long chalk, there was a great deal of impressive dog-fighting in swooping spirals around the tree-tops, involving as many as five at a time. Anything passing was also chased energetically, be it a diminutive Holly Blue or an intruding human like me. I think the 30 degee heat must have added to their energy levels, despite the fact that it was overcast at the time.

Dave

[Matsukaze]

Still plenty of Small Blues out at Stoke Camp; they have been out a while as they are no longer very blue...but still very small.

[NickB]

Saw an HB today on the DD....

Not very fresh, so early 2nd brood...?
N

[Piers]

2nd brood holly blues usually coincide with female silver washed frits, so these sightings are out on cue.

Still plenty of Small Blues out at Stoke Camp; they have been out a while as they are no longer very blue...but still very small.

Matsukaze - when I was younger, about 20 years ago there used to be an impressive chalkhill blue colony on Stoke Camp. Is it still there?

Piers.

[A_T]

Lots of lovely fresh Small Tortoiseshells around at the moment.

[admiral halsey]

Just returned from a pleasant walk in Gloucester park, Basildon. Not such an abundance of wildlife as Willow park. However, did see a few large white and 3 Ringlets and a single Marbled White. Also this beauty below. Thought it might be a clearwing or Hornet moth, until I got home and checked my resources. The closest I can come to an ID is a club tailed Dragonfly, though I'm sure our learned membership will confirm/deny this.

Rich

[MikeOxon]

I can start by confidently stating: definitely not a dragonfly.

This insect has only two wings, which places it firmly in the Diptera. I think I can see one of the halteres, which are the little balance weights that hind-wings evolved into in the diptera (true flies).

The abdomen shape indicates a female and the long legs and short antennae point to Crane Flies (Tipulidae). The commonest, and most likely is T. oleracea but I am not sufficiently expert to state that with confidence. The larvae of these are the notorious "leather jackets", which cause much crop destruction.

Mike

[David M]

On Sunday 26th, after leaving Bernwood Forest, I thought I'd check in at Collard Hill to see the Large Blue colony.

With me going away this weekend, I feared I wouldn't get another opportunity this year, although with conditions being sunny and hot, I'd kind of resigned myself to not getting terribly near them given their skittishness.

I arrived just before 4pm and in total counted 11 Large Blues, 7 in the quarry area and 4 further up. I had hoped by remaining on site till gone 6pm the LBs would settle down a little, but this proved to be incorrect, and following them around was akin to tracking Small Whites! When they did settle it was definitely 'wings shut', although I did observe a female laying eggs on the wild thyme flowers.

There was also a friendly Holly Blue in the car park, which was 'puddling' in the moisture from the previous day's rain. I was most honoured to be chased around by this little butterfly (it ended up on my shoe at one point).

Some pics:



I felt quite sad to have to leave this little fellow behind



As others have noted, the view from the top of the hill is superb - as were weather conditions.



Rare moment of relaxation before another 10 minute pound around the site!



No uppersides on display, sadly.

[admiral halsey]

I can start by confidently stating: definitely not a dragonfly.

This insect has only two wings, which places it firmly in the Diptera. I think I can see one of the halteres, which are the little balance weights that hind-wings evolved into in the diptera (true flies).

The abdomen shape indicates a female and the long legs and short antennae point to Crane Flies (Tipulidae). The commonest, and most likely is T. oleracea but I am not sufficiently expert to state that with confidence. The larvae of these are the notorious "leather jackets", which cause much crop destruction.

Mike

Thanks Mike. I had my doubts about it being a dragonfly, though I'm sure you can understand my difficulty when seeing the Club tailed Dragonfly. The markings are quite similar. With your information, I think it points to a member of the Tiger Crane Fly family.

Rich

[GOLDENORFE]

high browns are now emerging at arnside knott, on monday positvly id atleast 4, but probably a lot more. loads of dark greens this year making id difficult especially in the hot sunshine

here is a newly emerged high brown

phil

[David M]

Had a very enjoyable afternoon at the Alun Valley High Brown site today. The weather forecast was inaccurate - it turned out to be mainly sunny and 20C instead of the 18C and cloudy that had been predicted.

On Old Castle Down, I saw about 2 dozen Fritillaries, most of them Dark Greens - there were two High Browns positively identified, including a lovely fresh-looking female.



She was an absolute stunner!

Saw two Painted Ladies, the second one may well have been newly emerged as I nearly stepped on it on the path and it was extremely docile



Beautiful, rich peach colour.

I then made my way down to the Fritillary meadow which was positively heaving. Unlike on the Down, about three-quarters of all the Frits were High Browns in this spot (although there were two Silver Washed to add to the two Small Pearl Bordereds I'd seen earlier, making it 4 Fritillaries in a day!)

There must have been 40+ swooping around this site; in fact, the main obstacle to photography was the inevitable arrival of a second (or even third) Fritillary to disturb the one that was nectaring.



It wasn't till I played back the image that I noticed the late intruder flying in.

I spent about half an hour in the hotspot within this Fritillary amphitheatre, a grassy corner nearest the tree cover. The Frits were coming in from all angles and it was difficult to select one to track.



The best place for HBFs in Wales is this very spot!

With winds light, the butterflies were able to spend time on the thistles and, for once, were very accommodating regarding underwing shots:









All the above are different individuals.

Although some HBFs were getting a bit tatty, many seemed very fresh. This male was particularly unblemished:



Identification is getting easier now, as the Dark Green males have lost their early lustre. I reckon they're just past their peak now, but will probably go on for another couple of weeks. I saw at least 30 today in a 2 and a half hour period, and I didn't even visit the south facing slopes where there are many more (though photography is much more difficult due to the terrain and dense vegetation).

[selbypaul]

Spent the day in the Lake District.

The gorgeous weather allowed me to see one of my bogey species, the Mountain Ringlet. There were around 10-15 just south of the Drumhouse near Honister Slate Quarry.

I then visited Whitbarrow. Despite much better conditions than on my visit last year, there was less around. No Grayling, and no Silver Washed Fritillary in the woods below. I suspect the latter will be out in the next week or so, to coincide with the soon to emerge Bramble flowers. The hot weather made the Dark Green/High Brown Fritillary's unbelievably active. Didn't positively identify either, but from the "jizz" I suspect most if not all were DGF's. Also saw a couple of Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary.

I then moved onto Arnside Knott to try and see my 2nd bogey species, the Northern Brown Argus. No luck sadly. I did manage to see lots of High Brown Fritillary however, including a mating pair. Also a profusion of Grayling, must have counted 40+, never seen so many.

[walpolec]

I've an unusual request. I'd be very grateful for an I.D of a butterfly I didn't actually get a photo of

The story goes that I was out on my morning run in the heat of last Sunday and stopped short when I saw what was clearly a Hairstreak feeding on some red clover. Having never had the pleasure of seeing anything other than a Green Haistreak, I didn't have a clue which one it was. I was able to get a really close look and the mass of purple/mauve hairs on the body suggested PH. However, the underside looked more like WLH/BH and the only other minor factor was that I was in a shallow valley, next to a hedgerow with no oak trees anywhere around. There was a large tree about 50m away; it had leaves like this - could they be Elm, suggesting my butterfly was WLH?



Any suggestions appreciated

Chris

[David M]

Spent the day in the Lake District.

Also a profusion of Grayling, must have counted 40+, never seen so many.

Strange that High Browns are probably past their peak here in S. Wales but I have yet to see a Grayling (they're all over the hillsides round where I live).