essex buzzard

[essexbuzzard]

Hi all,just back from holiday in Cornwall. I'm happy where i live now in Essex,but with my family history,i have and always will have a love for this fantastic place,and a big part of my heart remains there.It still has some pretty good wildlife spots,too-and scenery to match. We're not only about Cornish cream teas and pasties! I do still endeavor to enjoy the finest of Cornwall's cuisine when i can,though-just one more reason for going there!
The weather was a bit mixed,as it has been for most of us since March-apart from west Scotland! Hardly summer,but it wasn't that bad,though my heart goes out to those affected by the floods in Redruth,Bude and other places on friday night. But perhaps worse from a butterfly point of veiw is the general lack of sunshine. We don't have Silver Spotted Skippers,Scotch Argus or Brown Hairstreak,so it seems all of Cornwalls butterflies are going to struggle,even if the weather improves in August. Apart from Meadow Browns and Ringlets,they were by far the most often butterflies seen during the week.
Report and pics tomorrow,if i have time. Cheers!

[essexbuzzard]

Wednesday 4 July.
As i arrived in Cornwall,via the Tamar Bridge,the rain stoped and the cloud started to lift,so got straight to work.
Sylvia's Meadow. A Cornwall Wildlife Trust reserve. The western end is sheltered by trees,and here,Meadow Browns were getting going. Several of these were soon seen,with quite a few Ringlets as well. The spotting on these was highly vaiable,some adults had hardly any spotting at all,as they flew among the normall ones.
As a shaft of sunlight briefly shone down, a Small Tortoieshell landed in front of us. This is a species i've hardly seen at all this year, but it seems still fairly common in Cornwall-several were seen during the week. Several male Large Skippers were also seen,allong with a Red Admiral and a worn Common Blue,probably hanging on from the first brood.

[essexbuzzard]

By now,blue sky was visible near the coast,so onto Penlee Battery CWT. One of the specialities here is the Marbled White,here in east Cornwall, they are at the far west of their range,thet have no colonies further west in the county. Several fresh mostly male specimens were seen,indicating that the flight period was only just starting. A mating pair was disturbed from the grass,but caried on making babies unharmed. We noticed the colour cantrast between male and female.Also present were Meadow Browns,Ringlets,Large Skippers,another Common Blue and two new species for the trip-Small Copper and Speckled wood-they are one of the most common of Cornwalls butterflies,but are between generations,few were seen.A Hummingbird Hawkmoth was also seen.
Several Buzzards were hovering in the wind here,and i soon noticed how shrivelled the leaves on the trees were,having been given a frequent blasting by spring and summer gales,you may have thought it it was October!Dreadfull.

marbled white male,Cornwall

marbled white pair,Cornwall

[Gothic_dreams]

Cracking Marbled White shots, the pair together is lovely

Chris

[essexbuzzard]

Thanks Chris. My photography skills could still do with some improvement, but in this of all years,i am grateful of whatever i can get! Cheers!

[essexbuzzard]

Friday 6 July.
Cornwall still has quite a few strong Silver-studded Blue colonies,and one of these can be found at Gwithian Towans,near Hayle. Despite more grey skies,it was mostly dry,and quite warm in the dips and divots here. As we walked onto the dunes,we soon started to see Meadow Browns and Ringlets. A few Small Heath,too. Then,as we got deeper into the dunes,the blues started to appear. Ones and twos at first,some with wings open,some still closed. All were Silver-studded. Mostly males,but there were a few females,too,one of which had quite a good dusting of blue scales,which you can see in the picture. Several Cinnabar adults seen,along with their caterpillars. My first Cornish Small Skipper was seen. I love the eye lashes of the skippers,which you see below. Another Small Tortoiseshell was also present.
We saw a curled up Adder,trying to warm up.
On the bird front,Kestrel, Buzzard and 4 honking Ravens were high lights.For a grey day,this was most enjoyable.

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots there Essex...the female Silver Studded Blue is almost like the Welsh sub-species

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

Thanks Wurzel. The caterpillar foodplant is Birds-foot Trefoil here,as it is in parts of Wales,so perhaps they have something in common! They are quite different to the heath subspecies,which also occurs in Cornwall.

[Neil Freeman]

Nice photos,

Is that a Burnet Moth caterpillar that I see in the background of the first male SSB shot?

Cheers,

Neil F.

[essexbuzzard]

Yes,the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed the bunet moth caterpillar-they were everywhere! Some chrysalis were present too,even the odd adult. But i didn't mention them because we saw 5 and 6 spot in different places-and i can't remember which where! I think these were 6 Spot Burnet.
Thanks to all who look at my pages,i am most grateful for all your comments. Cheers!

[essexbuzzard]

On Sunday 8 July, there was a little bit of sun,so we decided to return to one of my old haunts. The rocky outcrop at Madron Carn,near Penzance,has long been known to me as a 'hilltopping' site for nymphalids and sure enough,a Red Admiral and a new one for the trip,a Painted Lady,were quickly spotted doing battle. Sometimes another would appear and at one point,3 RA and 2 PL were in the air together,rising high into the air then tumbling down and breaking off,to go their seperate ways. It was most entertaining,we watched these for some time. Meadow Browns and Ringlets also present.

[essexbuzzard]

Mondat 9 July.
Today we visited an area of Cornwall i'd never been to before,St. Anthony Head. With its impressive scenery and lighthouse, this is a very nice area. Unfortunatey,the weather wasn't so nice,with more rain than expected and we walked the coast path with only Ringlets and Meadow browns for company. But late afternon,the sun came out,and so did my first Gatekeepers of the year.Red Admiral,Small Tort and two Hummingbird Hawkmoths were seen,and some good birds,too.

[CJB]

Hi Essex or should I call you Mr Buzzard?
I am heading down to Cornwall near Bodmin and wondered if you knew of any good sites nearby?
Looks like I might be lucky with the weather!
Flutter on!
CJB

[essexbuzzard]

Hi CJB,hope i'm not too late with this message!
I know Cornwall well,but if you don't, check out the Cornwall branch of Butterfly Conservation. They have many field trips on their events page with grid referances,which you can do yourself,either by joining them-they really are a friendly bunch!-or on your own.
Also there is a site guide on their website,several good ones near Bodmin.
Hope this helps!

[essexbuzzard]

11 July.
This was our last day. One of the species i wanted to see in Cornwall is the Silver-washed fritillary. These are fairly common in Cornwall,and one of the best places i know about is Cabilla Woods,not far from Bodmin.
There was just a little sunshine today,so we gave it a try. However,by time we got there,it was raining,and a cold wind was blowing as well! With a few short sunny spells returning,we managed two,possibly three sightings,a really poor showing,there must have been more than that at this excellent site,managed with this species in mind!
Speckled woods,Meadow Browns,Ringlets and an egg laying Hutchinsonii Comma completes the picture,with ravens and buzzards overhead.
Below is a SWfrit picture-hardly vintage,but the best i could do!

[essexbuzzard]

One morning earlier this week,i got up early,taking advantage of the rare good weather,at least in the south, to catch the Skippers waking up on the large common near my home. Large Skippers can be seen,but it was the two small Skipper species that were my target today. So i took the Lumix and close-up lens and took the pictures below,which show the obvious difference between the two. Living in prime Skipper country,it is second nature to check every adult i can. Both Small and Eseex Skippers are abundant here,but Small probably outnumber Essex by about 5 to 1 on this site. Both are great little insects,and are typical of high summer.

[essexbuzzard]

Ok,now for Croatia. A full report will appear on the Naturetrek website, so this is merely a short personal report of my own hilights,and some of my favorite photo's.
This was a three centre holiday,to capture different habitats in different areas.
On arrival in Zagreb,we were soon on our way to the Plitvice Lakes National Park,a UNESCO World Heritage Site,and our first base. Although our first day was very wet,we clocked up some great stuff here,even the meadows behind the hotel had many butterflies such as Reverdins Blue(thanks Roger and Guy for confirmation),Marbled Fritillary and pearly Heath,worthy of the early searches before breakfast. On our outings,Amanda's Blues were common,a species often encountred throughout the week. Finding my own colony of Large Coppers by a river was a hilight for me,as was Chequered Blue,Twin-spot Frit and lots of Black-veined Whites,once the sun returned.
For the birders,Golden Orioles were frequently hear and seen,Turtle Doves and Red-backed Shrikes too. Corncrake heard.Quail and Black-headed Bunting behind hotel.
Photo's to follow .

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots of the skippers-I really like the Smalls pose Looking forward go the Croatia photos
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Me too. Croatia is a very tempting destination and I'll be interested to read this report.

[essexbuzzard]

Thanks for the comments,guys. So here are some of my favorite photo's from the first part of the holiday.