Neil Hulme

[Neil Hulme]

Rise And Rise Of The Chalkhills

This morning (9th August) I met Simon Mockford of the South Downs National Park Authority to assess numbers on another Sussex site where the Chalkhill Blue population has exploded this year. In a couple of seldom visited valleys on the Downs near Amberley I was astounded, for the second time in a week, by the unprecedented abundance of this species. The isolated flowery slopes were covered in Chalkhills, with huge bundles of males relentlessly pursuing the females, or occasionally forming a large posse to chase a Dark Green Fritillary from their patch. By walking the large area to get an idea of the numbers of butterflies per metre square, then later examining satellite images of the site, I came up with an estimate of c.175,000; not as large an emergence as at Friston, but very impressive by any standards. Other species seen here included Brimstone, Peacock, Small Copper, Common Blue, Marbled White and my first Adonis Blue of the second brood.

After a painless visit to the dentist I then headed back East to re-visit Friston Gallops. Much has changed here in a week and the Chalkhills have clearly passed their peak, with densities over the northern part of the site being (on average) no more than 1-2 per metre square now. I saw only 2 mating pairs and very few fresh specimens. However, it is still well worth a visit as numbers remain very high by normal standards. Amongst the supporting cast I saw very fresh examples of Essex Skipper and Small Heath (see images below), my first Silver-spotted Skippers of the year and some nice Small Coppers.

[Neil Hulme]

Brown Hairstreak Slow Off The Mark

As I suspected would be the case, with the season still running about two weeks behind recent years, my visit to Steyning Rifle Range on Sunday (12th August) to see female Brown Hairstreaks was rather premature. Despite perfect weather conditions none were spotted. However, the assembled hairstreak fans were given reasonable views of 2 or 3 males which teased us into believing they were coming down for a photo-shoot. Anticipation is now building ahead of my guided walk this coming Sunday (19th August), which is open to all and starts at 11 am by the Bowls Club.

I then headed to the Knepp Castle Estate to complete a butterfly survey, surrounded by free-roaming longhorn cattle, fallow deer and Tamworth pigs! The 17 species seen included Essex Skipper (widespread across the re-wilding scheme area), Small Skipper, White Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary, Purple Hairstreak, Small Copper, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Peacock, Green-veined White, Large White, Brimstone, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown. I found a Comma posing nicely on a reed by one of the many picturesque lakes here. I'm looking forward to returning in a couple of weeks time, when I get my first opportunity to assess the Brown Hairstreak population over the southern part of the estate.

[Neil Hulme]

Garden And Down

This afternoon (14th August) I decided to check on how the relatively new colony of Silver-spotted Skippers is faring at Chantry Hill near Storrington. Just before leaving the house I noticed a Speckled Wood in the garden, so couldn't resist a closer look. It turned out to be a male, which had set up territory on the large Fatsia japonica in a sunny corner. As a small cloud passed in front of the sun it opened its wings to reveal its brand new livery - a beautiful, unblemished specimen.

At Chantry Hill I was pleased to see that the colony is thriving and I easily reached a count of 47 skippers, with only 3 being females. It looks like this species may have quite a good year here. As I was more interested in assessing the population than photography, I didn't get any decent shots ... but there's always next time. Amongst the other butterflies present were a pristine Painted Lady and 3 or 4 Wall.

[Neil Hulme]

Silver-spots Revisited

With much duller, cooler weather conditions than yesterday I returned to Chantry Hill at Storrington to photograph the Silver-spotted Skippers. They were barely active, which of course made them much easier targets. However, the strong wind didn't make things easy, so I was more than pleased to get at least a couple of reasonable images.

[Neil Hulme]

Mixed Bag

Today (16th August) I started off at Steyning Rifle Range and almost immediately saw a male Brown Hairstreak in a field maple above the BH reserve area. After about an hour my first female of the season descended, but despite suitable weather conditions she made no attempt to lay. I suspect her eggs are yet to fully ripen and all too soon she returned to the canopy, leaving me with just enough time for a hurried record shot.

I then joined my father and Simon Mockford of the South Downs National Park Authority to revisit the valley near Amberley where I saw huge numbers of Chalkhill Blue a week ago. As with the Friston population, numbers had plummeted rapidly after the spectacular peak showing. Adonis Blue males were surprisingly scarce and I don't think the species will have a strong second brood here, as the lush growth of horseshoe vetch which has suited the Chalkhill will not have been to its liking.

I finished the day at Chantry Hill, where female Silver-spotted Skippers are now more common. A brief shower sent the butterflies to bed early and amongst the wide selection of species I managed to find at roost was a female Common Blue - sadly quite a rarity this year.

[Neil Hulme]

Hairstreaks & Skippers

Steyning Rifle Range is hotting up for hairstreaks, just in time for my guided walk on Sunday. This morning (17th August) I joined friends from near and far to search for female Brownies in the warm and sunny conditions that the Met Office forgot to predict. By the time I left the site 5 different females had descended from on high. Thanks to Phil Bromley for spotting the first two.

After taking a break I then headed west to watch the sunset from Chantry Hill. This is one of my favourite places on a sunny evening and many of the butterflies move round to a west facing slope to catch the last warmth of the day. A lovely female Silver-spotted Skipper came and sat next to me as I sat looking out over the Weald . I'll never lose sight of the fact that I'm very lucky to live so close to such beautiful countryside.

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Neil,

Some super SSS shots

Lovely depth of field ...

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

[Susie]

Lovely photos. Good luck with the walk tomorrow, I'll be thinking of you all most enviously with those beautiful butterflies.

[Ian Pratt]

Yes good luck with the walk. I look forward to reading your report. Weather seems ideal from here on the IOW. Ian

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks Mark. I was particularly pleased with the last SSSk shot. One of the advantages of the Lumix (small sensor) and close-up lens combination is that we can get a subject like that focused from front to back and still get a diffuse background.

Thanks Susie and Ian - report on the way!

Neil

[Neil Hulme]

BC Walk At Steyning Rifle Range (19th August)

Unfortunately, despite Met Office predictions of full-on sunshine, my guided walk at Steyning Rifle Range was conducted under 100% cloud cover, and unsurprisingly butterflies were rather scarce. We saw the odd Wall Brown, Speckled Wood, Holly Blue, Large White, Small White, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper, but it was the Brown Hairstreak we had all come to see. By the time I'd said my goodbyes to the majority of the 30 attendees it was 13.00 hrs and blue sky was just appearing over the top of the Downs. Predictably, I was back on site looking at a mint condition female Brown Hairstreak by 13.20 hrs! Another hairstreak was spotted elsewhere on the site, together with all of the other species we had hoped for. Despite these frustrations I was pleased that two people who had stayed behind managed to see their first Brown Hairstreak, and Essex Buzzard's trip to Sussex had not been in vain.

[essexbuzzard]

It wasn't a wasted trip by any means,this is a lovely site-thanks for showing us around,and for finding the only BH i saw. Slightly envious of your shots,though It was good to see plenty of Walls,i dont see much of them these days. And the SSS at Chantry Hill were good,too.
Cheers.

[Neil Hulme]

Another Butterfly DVD On The Way

Yesterday (21st August) I met up with Patrick Barkham, who I've only seen a couple of times since he completed his book 'The Butterfly Isles'. Since then we have both become fathers! We sat on the Downs above Storrington and reminisced about past adventures before getting on with the job, which, unsurprisingly, was to talk about butterflies. We were there with Bill Smith, an ex-ITV producer with a similar passion for wildlife. Bill and Patrick hope to get the DVD they've been working on out in time for Christmas. After filming we took a short walk over Chantry Hill and despite the grey skies we soon found some Silver-spotted Skippers. When Patrick asked if there were any Adonis Blue on the site I explained about its rare and sporadic appearance here, with several years having passed since I last saw one.

This morning (22nd August) I met my father on the edge of the Knepp Castle Estate, to look for Brown Hairstreak. As I got out of the car at the allotted meeting place I noticed a small butterfly moving in the canopy of the ash tree above us. We had found a Master Tree and spent the next 10 minutes watching up to 3 Brown Hairstreak males squabbling. Sadly, we failed to find any more, probably due to the lack of prolonged sunshine.

In the afternoon I returned to Chantry Hill and the first butterfly I saw after reaching the point where Patrick and I had been sitting was a male Adonis Blue! It certainly put a smile on my face, not least because it was a perfect specimen that posed beautifully. Other highlights included 8 Common Blue and probably the same perfect Painted Lady we had seen the day before. Several Silver-spotted Skippers were sufficiently well behaved to allow some photo opportunities, but their numbers are already dwindling. I came away with the feeling that I had experienced the beginning of the end of another butterfly season.

[Neil Hulme]

Brownies Go Large

Yesterday (23rd August) I met up with Bill Smith again, specifically to help him find some Brown Hairstreaks to film. When we last met (see previous diary posting) he told me that he still lacked adequate footage of Brown Hairstreak for his planned DVD release. I was confident that Steyning Rifle Range would produce the goods, despite the relatively modest numbers seen so far this year. I suspect that the concerns being widely expressed for the species are a little premature, and that the hairstreak season is simply running late in parallel with the rest of the butterfly calendar. If the two week lag is added to the average date on which we start to see good numbers of egg-laying females in Sussex, then the event should occur on 22nd/23rd August this season. I don't expect female numbers to peak until the second week of September.

When I arrived to meet Bill I was surprised to hear that Colin Knight had seen a low-level female much earlier than the 'witching hour' of 11.15 am. However, the main course was pretty much on-time and at 11.21 am I spotted a pristine female Brown Hairstreak sitting amongst the bullace; the species uses both blackthorn and bullace here, with a preference for the latter. The flood-gates opened and the assembled masses enjoyed prolonged periods with 7 females, 6 of which were in perfect or near-perfect condition. I've no doubt that more were spread around the rest of the site, but hairstreak-watching is a social event here and a large number of enthusiasts collected around each butterfly as it was spotted. After 2.30 pm the hairstreaks and crowds dispersed and we recorded some dialogue, safe in the knowledge that we had secured more than enough good footage. Perhaps the highlight was when a mint condition butterfly crawled onto my finger for a salty drink. As Bill filmed her side-on she slowly turned to the camera and opened her wings. This was one of the better days in 2012 and the stunning hairstreaks of Steyning undoubtedly gave a lot of pleasure to a lot of people. Thanks to Sherie New for the 'finger shots'.

BH4Steyning230812SN.jpg (38.05 KiB) Viewed 1563 times

[David M]

Absolutely stunning, Neil.

This is the King (or, more accurately, Queen) of UK small butterflies.

PS: what have you sprayed on your finger to make it so attractive?

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks David. A dab of Chanel No.5 behind the ear does the trick every time.
BWs, Neil

[Mark Colvin]

Simply exquisite!

Kindest regards. Mark

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks Mark. The fingering experience was one to remember! Have a great holiday.
BWs, Neil

[essexbuzzard]

That's simply not fair! Maybe i will have to come back,but,watching the weather forecast,will i get another chance?

[Wurzel]

Stunning shots Neil

Have a goodun

Wurzel