Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Some nice photos there Wurzel

I have still to get out and see White Admiral, SWF, Marbled White and Small Skipper this year, this weekend and another day off work next Wednesday are currently lined up.

Weather be damned, I will be out

Cheers,

Neil F.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Philzoid I guess I had all the luck that day. You'd have noticed how I refered to the camera problems? And then you go and give the game away on your July posting!

Cheers Neil - that seems to be the only way to see anything at the moment - just get out there! When you do find the butterflies they're so much more satisfing!

Martin Down...
As we headed to Martin Down the sun remained in the sky and we arrived to summer weather, which after what we’ve experienced recently was a bit of a shock! We headed off from the car park and worked our way across the meadow to the start of Bokerley Ditch. As we walked there were a few Small Heaths about and a small jewel like moth caught my eye a Forester.

There were also some Meadow Browns but no big ginger jobs. Last year this area had huge numbers of Dark Green Fritillaries so many in fact that they seemed to spill into the car park! So far this year this wasn’t the case but the Knapweed was out so we remained hopeful and started winding our way along the top of the ditch. Within a few yards we came across our first Dark Green, then another but the sun had charged them up fully so they were difficult to approach as they wouldn’t settle for too long. Once spooked they were gone like little ginger missiles. With Skippers their jinking flight makes them difficult to follow in flight whereas Dark Greens are difficult to follow because of their great speed. Eventually we managed to creep up on enough different individuals to ensure that we had some photos at least, probably about 10 individuals in all.

Having got to the butts and walked up, along and then down Philzoid was just about to show me the hotspot that he’d found the year before when I checked my watch. Unfortunately it was time to head back so we said our goodbyes, relocated the main track back to the car park and hurriedly set off. While we rushed back Kitty told me all her favourite bits of the day and to get the full list I’d probably take another day. We were joined every now and again by a DGF nectaring on Knapweed or Thistles on the edge of the path. Just as the path started to wind into the scrub Kitty stopped talking and walking very abruptly and pulled on my arm. There at the edge of the path were two DGFs on the ground. As we watched they hopped, walked towards a large piece of dog faeces and then both climbed on and started “feeding”. They became quite engrossed in their activity which allowed me to get in really close - very cautiously so I didn’t get too close mind you!

Just as we were approaching the car two more DGFs did a farewell fly by and then it was our turn to fly – home as quickly as we could! An absolutely cracking day but if we’d believed the weather we’d have missed out on so much! Hopefully the weather will really improve by next weekend and the hunt for His Nibbs will be back on!
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Excellent shots, Wurzel. Very impressive.

This species is not one that normally allows close approaches!

Perhaps we should all carry a spare crotte de chien whenever we go out hunting.

[Wurzel]

Cheers David for the kind commnets on my photos There has to be an easier/less smelly way to get a close up though if you do try out your idea make sure it's kept well away from your lunch!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

The butterfly that time forgot...well I almost did anyway! Back during those few brief glimpses of the sun in Flaming June I managed a quick trip out to Martin Down. It was the shortest of stops just a quick recce to check on the progress of the Dark Green Fritillaries. From the car park I headed over to the hotspot from last year and straight away I knew I was not going to see much as instead of a sea of Knapweed Purple I was met by the usual beige of long grasses with the odd purple flower head peeping through. As I wound my way down the rabbit track into the hollow the odd Small Heath and Meadow Brown would explode from the turf along with a Silver Y at one point.
Something else caught my eye on a lone island of Bramble and as I approached it took off, flew round and round a few times before landing back on the Bramble Island. It was a pristine Small Tortoiseshell and a welcome sight after reading of all the doom and gloom this species is going though. As I watched it continued in cyclic pattern of behaviour; feeding, backing, flying a few loops and then settling elsewhere. It felt that while it was flying the circuit it was either reinforcing its’ territory or trying to espy more Bramble islands in the ocean of grass. Whatever it’s reason for this behaviour I managed to get in for a few shots and revelled in the blue powder triangles and strange lobes on the hind wings. Saying that I think that the underside is equally beautiful on fresh specimens and I love the way that the lighter areas change colour with the light from lemony to sometimes almost salmon in colour. I don’t know enough about the reasons for the rapid decrease in this butterflies population, but can only hope that it doesn’t go the same way as its’ larger relative...

I didn’t find any showy Dark Greens but the Small Tort offered more than enough compensation.
Have a goodun

[Wurzel]

Bustard Inn

I am getting slightly behind on my posts as despite the weather I seem to be managing to cram in as many “outings” as I can. This means stopping on the way to work, taking evening visits and taking the girls out at the weekend too! This “summer”, and I use the term in the loosest sense, you have to be a bit smash and grab and the last two years with small children have got me all trained up for this eventuality!
So last week I stopped off for 10 minutes on the way to work. I generally follow the maxim “don’t race to get to work, race to get home ”so I had to leave slightly earlier but morning visits are less risky then stopping off on the way home and incurring the wrath should I get back later than anticipated! There was also the added bonus that the butterflies were slightly less active and more approachable.
The place I stopped off at was a lay-by off the Larkhill Road. There is a grass track parallel with the road with shrubs lining either side and shielding the grasses from the wind. I slowly worked my way up this track for 5 minutes or so and then worked my way back to the car again.
In that time I managed to find a good number of butterflies with 2 Large Skippers, 2 Small Heath, 15 or so Meadow Browns, 9 Ringlets and 8 Marbled Whites, all in this tiny section of scrub. The Ringlets were in various stages of wear from reasonably fresh to distinctly lacklustre.

I also managed to get a Multiple Species shot ready for later in the year.

The Marbled Whites all seemed to adopt moth like poses while roosting folding their fore wings back over the hind wings.

Ten minute sanity break over I headed off to work, once again with the heaters on full to try and dry out my trousers!
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Gothic_dreams]

Some lovely photos Wurzel, I love the marbled white shots as this is one of my favourite butterflies, especially the pic on the purple flower

Chris

[Paul Harfield]

Hi
I think the full frontal close up shot of the Dark Green Frittilary feeding is stunning and very unusual

[Wurzel]

Cheers Chris I too love Marbled Whites but they can be pains sometimes as they sometimes go down low so lots of greenery can get in the way of the shot!. They seem to be doing alright this year - I stopped at Woodhenge again this morning and they were all over the place - at least 35 in hte one small field!

Cheers Jack - luckily their mineral source wasn't that fresh so I could get close without the stench!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Your last account made me laugh Wurzel as it is very much my modus operandi at the minute - an hour here, half hour there. Grab the time while you can and s*d the weather! Haven't got it down to 10 mins yet tho'

[Neil Freeman]

You must have amazing willpower Wurzel, to manage to tear yourself away after 10 minutes :wink.

I have enough trouble leaving places when I have sometimes been there for hours.

Cheers,

Neil F.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Pauline - sometimes I can stretch it to 15 but then I'll feel the water soaking through my work trousers so I know it's time to go

Neil all I have to do to drag myself away is picture my boss tapping her watch and tutting at my tardiness

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Slop Bog
Having made two trips already to Slop Bog with no luck I was determined to make my third visit count. Things were looking a lot more favourable than on my previous forays. There had been sightings of one or two Silver Studs and then reports form the weekend of 50 plus males at Slop Bog so I knew that they were about and now, like so many other times this year, I was relying on the weather. I watched the news, checked the web and 3 different Apps on my phone and then Thursday (05-07-2012) everything seemed perfect for an evening visit; warm, sunny, some scattered cloud with light winds!
I practically flew home from work, once the kids had taken their last mouthful of tea they were whisked up to the bath still chewing, stories were read, wife kissed goodbye and into the car. By 6:32 I was pulling up at Slop Bog.
As I practically sprinted along the board walk I scanned the heather on either side for blue waifs flitting around the heather tops with no luck. I slowed down a little realising that although everything looked good they might not be as easy to find compared to last year. However once on the appropriately named “Silver Studded Heath”, they became much more obvious. What I found slightly ironic was that the first butterfly that I found was a female which are usually skulking around down low and so difficult to track down. This little beauty was more intent on sunning herself and strutting herself.

Once I’d had my fill of her I then moved further along the path and something huge and blue caught my eye, a monstrous dragonfly which I have yet to identify but will have a go at when I can get round to it!

It’s difficult to remember exactly how the evening progressed and I was managing to capture moments and get shots of male and female in lots of different poses as well as becoming deeply engrossed in observing for fleeting minutes; so I found it useful when reflecting on the evening to group the shots into category rather than chronological order.
Last year I had limited success with female Silver Studs. I get the impression that the Slop Bog population are late emergers so when I turned up last year the females had only just started appearing. This year with the weather I think things have happened later but quicker hence there were many more females present than on my previous visit. I’d expected them to behave like the literature detailed, but the females I saw were all pretty much out in the open, clinging to exposed heather tops and basking, wings open wide. It allowed me to get some shots like Millerd has previously got, where the sunlight refracts one the wings to give them an iridescent oily sheen.

I was also able to get the more usual closed wings shots and noticed that just like the males they show a high variety in the size of the studs and are slightly less variable in the number of studs.
In one shot I managed to get an underside view of a females’ wing which was in shadow and the studs are not noticeable at all. Does this mean that the blue of the studs is mechanical, a bit like the blue of the male?

where have the studs gone?

There were more males than females but whether that is due to timing, different behaviour or just the fact that the males are much more noticeable I’m not really sure. There were some slightly tatty looking individuals with tears in the edges of their wings and missing patches of scales, but on the whole most looked in very good nick. When I first arrived the majority were clinging to the heather, wings tightly closed. The way to find them was to crouch down low and scan across the heather tops with an eye for little white “flags”. As the evening progressed the taller stands of heather appeared to be flying 4 or 5 white flags as the males in particular started to gather together for communal roosting. It was then that I noticed their behaviour changing slightly as now, just as I thought they were settling, they opened their wings and started basking. As the late evening sun caught their black wing margins they’d turn reddish, simply stunning.

The final set of shots allowed me to continue my stained glass window collection. One males was hanging upside down from a thin, tall heather stem and having got the obligatory frontal open wing shots I gently crept behind him, propped myself on my elbows and took my shots from slightly below and behind. Whilst I was happy with the end result I was less than happy to notice 3 minute Ticks crawling on my hand and trying to find purchase. Luckily they hadn’t had a chance to lock on/bite so I could just brush them off!

Despite seeing only one species of butterfly the whole time I was out a thoroughly pleasant evening. Fantastic weather, scenery and most importantly company!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[MikeOxon]

What splendid results from an evening walk! I do like your 'stained glass window' collection. I believe that your dragonfly is the fairly scarce Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens).

Mike

[Nick Broomer]

Some lovely photos Wurzel, and as usual an excellent read.

All the best, Nick.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Wurzel,

Some excellent SSB photos there, the evening light gives them a lovely quality

A second the Dragonfly being a Keeled Skimmer, a male. Nice find.

Cheers,

Neil F.

[millerd]

Glad you got to spend some time with the SSBs, Wurzel, and got those lovely shots of the females - and the backlit undersides. I don't think I could have managed shots like those without being upside-down in a gorse bush... I'd probably still be there now.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers for the ID Mike and thanks for the kind comment!

Cheers Nick sometimes I don’t know what I like best the sorting of the photos or the writing – of course the actual getting the photos beats both other aspects hands down!

Cheers for your kind comments Neil.

Cheers Dave – I didn’t get stuck in a Gorse bush but did get soaked in bog juice and then eaten alive almost by some of the biggest Mosquitoes I’ve ever seen!

Woodhenge...

It’s been a while and I’m getting so far behind with my diary that I’ve still get some posts from almost a fortnight back! Work keeps getting in the way of the important business of getting out and photographing/enjoying butterflies and then sorting the subsequent photos!
I’ve still got the weekends shots to sort through as I visited Straits Enclosure for the first time but to try and catch up here is a BOGOF, two posts in one from Woodhenge. The first was from 07-07 the second from 13-07. Both trips were made in the morning before work as it’s safer that way and as I’ve previously mentioned the butterflies are more approachable.
On the first visit the clouds came over and there was a lot of moisture in the air and on the grasses. I wandered around the rings and there were Ringlet and Meadow Brown in small numbers – Ringlets looking worn and Meadow Browns full of vim and vigour. But I was here for the Marbled Whites again as I wanted to get a shot of a female with her wings closed. I encountered a few males and lots of MW’s with their wings held in the moth like manner. One of these had a white substance extruding from its’ genitalia and I’m not sure whether this was a male or female and what the substance was?

I then found a few females to photograph including one with its wings firmly closed.

Shots in the bag I headed off to work with trousers soaked from the knee down but relaxed and ready for work...
My second visit was only a week later but what a difference. It was one of those rare blue sky mornings with a light wind and feeling decidedly warm for 8ish am. There were still good numbers of Marbled Whites but many more Meadow Browns now including one female that almost glimmered. In the early morning sun

Just behind the car park is a small triangle of grass shaped by the fence and hedge and the two roads. Here there were the same range of species but in much lower numbers – one MW and 2 MBs and I was just about to call it a day only 6 minutes in when a tiny orange blur buzzed by. I let it settle and then approached it cautiously as it settled in the grass. Straight away I could see that it was a Smessex and the lack of sex brands meant that I would have to get round the front and look at the antennae to be sure. Luckily enough she didn’t seem to want to go anywhere so I worked my round getting shots from a range of angles.

The orange tips seen in close up left me in no doubt that this was a Small Skipper. I’ll have to start looking at Five Rivers soon I think for my Essex!
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

... I headed off to work with trousers from the knee down but relaxed and ready for work...
Wurzel

This conjures an interesting image, Wurzel. What exactly is it you do for a living?

(Lovely Marbled Whites, incidentally)

Dave

[Wurzel]

Thanks for pointing out the edit mistake, should be sorted now Dave, I hope the imagery didn't put you off your supper

Have a goodun

Wurzel