Nick Broomer

[Nick Broomer]

Spider at night

8.9.2012 spider at night.jpg

The mess on the left hand side of the web was caused by the intense battle for life or death for the moth, which was an Early Thorn, or the next meal for the spider, dust from the moths wings were sent flying into the night air as they fought, but there was only going to be one outcome once the spider had got his/her fangs into the moth. The moth now completely cocooned and fixed to the web. The spider later removed the moth from the web to a safe place where he/she stood guard over its prize.

[ChrisC]

welcome to the spidery dark side

Chris

[Nick Broomer]

Thanks Chris, fasinating insects.
All the best, Nick.

[Nick Broomer]

Chiddingfold Wood 15th September 2012
I popped over to my local patch to see what i could find for a couple of hours in the afternoon sun. The butterflies were really flighty and made it rather difficult to photo, but it was lovely to see them. Species seen, 5 Red Admiral, 9 Speckled Wood, one in very good condition, one Small Tortoiseshell,which was a nice surprise, one Meadow Brown in very good condition, 6 Small and 3 Large Whites, one very worn and tatty Common Blue, and 5 Comma. Birds of note seen, Marsh Tit and two Honey Buzzards flying quite low over my head. Also seen were quite a few Common Darters.

15.9.2012 CW 013 comma.jpg

[Neil Freeman]

That is a lovely Comma photo Nick, nice clour combination against the fern frond.

Neil F.

[Nick Broomer]

Thanks Neil, your comments are much appreciated
All the best, Nick.

[Nick Broomer]

Chiddingfold Wood 15th September, continued

15.9.2012 CW 026 comma.jpg

15.9.2012 CW 017 common darter, male.jpg

[Nick Broomer]

Chiddingfold Wood 15th September, continued.
When i was wandering through CW looking for butterflies this was the last species i expected to come across as they are quite a rarity in these parts. So i was really pleased to come across this individual and even more so to actually get a couple of photos, the first for over a year.

15.9.2012 CW 039-1_1.jpg

15.9.2012 CW 044-1_1.jpg

[David M]

I'm so envious of the depth of species found in the south and east, yet Small Tortoiseshells are common in south Wales and I find it hard to believe they are scarce elsewhere.

Are they replicating many of the Fritillaries by concentrating themselves in the damper west?

[Nick Broomer]

Hi David,
i have no idea why the Small Tortoiseshell are disappearing at a alarming rate from my area as the habitat suits them very well as nettles can be found in abundance. I have only seen four individuals since the Spring. Even more worrying is the disappearance of both the Brimstone [only seen one second brood flying at Denbies a 25 min. drive from my home, none locally] and the Peacock, which i have`nt seen since the end of March. All three used to be seen in good numbers locally. A mystery.

[David M]

Hi David,
i have no idea why the Small Tortoiseshell are disappearing at a alarming rate from my area as the habitat suits them very well as nettles can be found in abundance. I have only seen four individuals since the Spring. Even more worrying is the disappearance of both the Brimstone [only seen one second brood flying at Denbies a 25 min. drive from my home, none locally] and the Peacock, which i have`nt seen since the end of March. All three used to be seen in good numbers locally. A mystery.

That IS a mystery, as parasitic wasps cannot surely pick and choose which areas they predate the host in.

Although I've seen few Small Tortoiseshells during the summer in south Wales, they have proved abundant in both spring and autumn.

What's more, this year has seen wet conditions everywhere, meaning that there ought to be no differentiation between numbers in the west and the east. Perhaps the last few drier summers have had an impact in the east, cutting numbers over the long term. However, butterflies, like desert flowers, tend to bounce back strongly the moment ideal conditions emerge, yet Small Tortoiseshells apparently haven't done so in the south east.

[Goldie M]

Wet conditions in our area have been really bad this year. I Know Gaits Barrow in the Lake District has much worse weather conditions then we have further South and yet the differant species that are found there are really special. I'm no expert but I've seen Butterflies coming out of the cravases at GB, the Lime Stone is full of them so I can only think this is how they beat the worst of the weather and survive so well in the North Goldie

[Nick Broomer]

Hi David and Goldie, thanks for your comments. Lets just hope that things improve next year and beyond, and that the weather conditions are more favourable for all of our butterflies around the British Isles.
All the best, Nick.

[Nick Broomer]

Chiddingfold Wood, 16th September 2012
Sunday afternoon with the sun showing itself i nipped over to CW again to see if i could find another Small Tortoiseshell. But as soon as i arrived the sun disappeared behind a blanket of cloud. Now i was here there was no turning back, so off i wandered. The first butterfly i came across was another stranger to these parts, a Green-Veined White one of only a dozen i have seen this year.

16.9.2012 CW 002 green-veined white.jpg

[Nick Broomer]

Chiddingfold Wood, 16th September 2012, continued
With the continuous cloud cover i passed away the time photographing an insect, that is probably a Crane Fly of some description that looks like it has a nasty sting in its tail, [but has`nt].

16.9.2012 CW 009-1_1.jpg

Just as i was about to leave, the sun reappeared, and with that a couple of Commas showed themselves shortly followed by a Red Admiral that flew past, then landed on the track for a second before flying off again. Then a Small Tortoiseshell made an appearance, all this within a couple of minutes of the sun coming out, but my joy was short lived as the sun disappeared again along with the butterflies.So home i went, defeated by the weather again.

[Gibster]

It's definitely a cranefly, and a female too (pointy tip to the abdomen) - possibly the very common Tipula paludosa. Certainly the wing length looks shorter than the abdomen length, which seems right for the species. But there are quite a few of them so don't take that as a definitive ID!

Cheers,

Gibster

[Nick Broomer]

Hi Seth,
Thanks for the ID, appreciated.
All the best, Nick.

[Nick Broomer]

Close to home, 17th September 2012
I had rigorously searched all of the Ivy close to home for Holly Blue larva, and even though i had seen the butterfly in small numbers on the plants i came up with nothing. I searched for about a week, then rembered one small patch i had`nt even thought about. so when i had a few minutes to spare i took a quick look not expecting to find anything as half the Ivy had been cut back by the adjoining property owners. What i expected is what i found, no larva. But i did find something totally unexpecting, and a first for me, three Holly Blue eggs,[well at least thats what i think they are] one of which, i found out after photographing the eggs, had hatched.

17.9.2012 holly blue egg.jpg

17.9.2012 holly blue, hatched egg 057.jpg

[Nick Broomer]

Close to home, 17th September 2012, continued
I went back the next day to look for the larva of the Holly Blue and still no result. I kept going back for a further week when i found a single clump of flower heads had indeed been occupied by a caterpillar, but no sign of any larva.I`m no expert, but there does`nt seem to be enough eaten flower heads for the larva to have reached its final instar, or to have pupated, i could be wrong. I photographed the other two eggs again and think one of them might have been parasited by some insect,

18.9.2012 holly blue, egg parasited 008.jpg

and the other one seems to have been eaten.

18.9.2012 holly blue, egg eaten 034.jpg

It is a possiblity that not finding any larva, is that a small flock of House Sparrows frequent the Ivy, and the caterpillars became a meal for these birds. It just shows you how delicate the balance of life is for these beautiful insects.

[Nick Broomer]

Going back.
Back on August 12th i found and photographed a Silver-Spotted skippers egg up at Denbies in Surrey. A week later i revisited this site hoping to find Adonis Blues and as anyone who had visited this hillside hoping to see and photograph them knows it was really hard work and you were lucky to see one let alone photograph one. Well i failed to get a picture, even though i did actually manage to see a single male, in fact i had a very poor day with the camera, only capturing this Silver-Spotted Skipper on film on a very hot and windy morning.

18.8.2012 Denbies 016 silver-spotted skipper, male.jpg

But before i left for home i decided to check on the two S.S.S. eggs i had found the previous week, i had marked the spot with a small stick stuck into the ground, protruding about 8cm`s, and thought it would be a deterrent to stop anyone wandering the area looking for butterflies from treading on the eggs. So when i arrived at the correct location.....