millerd

[millerd]

Thanks once again, Wurzel. I'm still behind your tally by at least one Fritillary, I think...

Today, I persuaded the boys into a woodland walk at Botany Bay. We saw probably as many as ten Wood Whites, including one quite close to the parking area, plus a few Brimstones, GVW and a couple of Speckled Woods. Most of the Wood Whites appeared to be females, regularly going to ground to lay eggs on a variety of plants. I'm afraid the stream proved too tempting for Elliot, and a certain amount of mud came home with us.

Back at home later, I had my usual tour locally. Nothing new to report - the butterflies were badly affected by the wind, which kept them from flying much despite the strong sunshine.

Dave

[millerd]

31st May (Part One)

Setting off early, I managed to be at Bentley Wood before ten to find the Pearl-bordered Fritillaries still warming up in the hazy intermittent sunshine. During the hour or so I was there, I probably saw a dozen or so in various places in or around the Eastern Clearing - none of them was newly emerged. I also found a pair of mating Small Coppers, which at one point were harrassed by an excited male PBF. He was no doubt affected by whatever pheremones the pair were giving off. There were several Brimstones about, a few Orange Tips, a Speckled Wood and a Grizzled Skipper.

Whilst looking to photograph a butterfly, I disturbed a couple of lizards, one of which froze to the spot and was immortalised instead. A deer on the switchback as I returned to the car park completed a very good morning.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great read Dave and cracking shots too Those mating Small Copper Did you make it to Hod Hill? I was thinking about heading there on Sunday but wasn't too sure if the Marshies were out in force there yet?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

31st May (Part Two)

It didn't take too long to drive through Salisbury and on to Martin Down. I walked from Sillens Lane up to Bokerley Ditch and along nearly to the car park on the A354, and then back again. In near perfect conditions, the butterflies were rather sparse. I did encounter Dingy Skippers everywhere along the route, and quite a few Grizzled Skippers as well, but what stood out was the absence of Brown Argus, Common Blue and Adonis Blue, all of which I would have expected to see. I found no Green Hairstreaks either and only one Small Copper, but did find a little colony of Small Blues. There were only four or five: they looked amazingly blue when they flew, considering how few blue scales they have. There were one or two Small Heaths flying too.

I was surprised at the large number of Brimstones still about. The majority were females, mos of which were egg-laying on the many small buckthorn shrubs along and near the ditch. I chanced upon a courting couple and watched the female open her wings completely and lie flat and immobile as the male danced around her. I could not freeze him with the camera, but managed clear shots of her open wings - which made my afternoon.

Dave

[millerd]

31st May (Part Three)

It's not far from Martin Down to Hod Hill, but the thought of the climb was a bit daunting. Nevertheless...

Up I plodded, hoping for good things at the top. My goodness, was I disappointed. After an hour of walking the ramparts, the ditches, the slopes, all I had seen were a dozen Dingy Skippers, a couple of Grizzled and three Small Heath. There were no Marsh Fritillaries, no Blues, no Brown Argus, no Green Hairstreaks. As I set off for the path back down, a flash of orange caught my eye - could things have changed? But no: it was an unlikely elderly Small Tortoiseshell, which amazingly was promptly joined in combat by another. Unexpected, but not what I came to see.

So Wurzel, I would advise checking that they are definitely out before heading here for Marsh Fritillaries

Dave

[David M]

Sounds like a highly enjoyable day out, Dave.

Excellent imanges of Brimstone behaviour - I'm still to see this myself as I usually see Brimstones in isolation round here. One day perhaps..

[millerd]

1st June (Part One)

Following the weather forecast with fingers crossed, I left a grey and cloudy Heathrow behind. By the time I was passing Gatwick, I had emerged into sunshine, and so it remained all the way down to High & Over, on the Downs behind Seaford. I was here to see Wall Browns – this an area renowned for them – and there were plenty to see. Following the footpath (known as The Comp) westwards, I encountered Walls every few metres once the sheep were left behind. I believe this is an ancient trackway, and it runs mostly between high hedges providing warmth and shelter. As far as I can tell, almost all the Walls I saw were male. Certainly, I failed to photograph a female, and to be fair nearly failed to photograph any males either, despite their numbers. A very lively species, and one my camera frequently pretends isn’t there at all and focusses on the surroundings instead. However, I must have seen well over 20 individuals, and many were very fresh with all the rich colour and character of a Fritillary.

As well as the Walls, I saw several Dingy Skippers and Speckled Woods, two Holly Blues, five fresh-looking Red Admirals, a few Orange Tips, Whites and female Brimstones, a Peacock, a Small Tortoiseshell and a Green Hairstreak. This individual was down on the path, apparently sucking up minerals. This is not something I’ve seen one do before, but of course many species can be seen doing it, so it’s probably not unusual. There was also a nest of Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars near the viewpoint at High & Over.

Dave

[millerd]

1st June (Part Two)

The sun went in at High & Over, so I headed west to Mill Hill, behind Shoreham, to see some Adonis Blues (and hopefully some Common Blues too). As I emerged from the trees out onto the hillside, the first butterfly I saw was a female Adonis. The sun was coming and going, so the butterflies were not too active, but across the hill, there were reasonable numbers of both Common and Adonis Blues. All were very fresh, with the latter probably in the majority and more scattered across the slopes. Also seen were Dingy Skippers, a single Grizzled Skipper and frequent Small Heaths. On the way back up to the car, a Red Admiral made a sortie at me and then retreated back into the trees.

Dave

[millerd]

1st June (Part Three)

Again, the sun disappeared, so I needed to move on. Homewards from Shoreham is along the A24, which conveniently goes through Dorking, which conveniently lies below Denbies Hillside. How could I ignore it?

On arrival at Denbies, the sun made a return appearance as if by magic. Once again to greet me was a female Adonis, which boded well. The males were indeed out too, and I saw around a dozen as well as several females. As I had only seen a very small handful during last August’s second brood, this seems reassuring. There were Common Blues in reasonable numbers too, several rather threadbare Dingy Skippers and some fresh Small Heaths. There were no Brown Argus as far as I could tell (which was true of both High & Over and Mill Hill, come to think of it). I didn’t go far across the slopes, as the butterflies were starting to roost, so I can’t really say what overall numbers were like.

Dave

[millerd]

1st June (Part Four)

I arrived home with just enough sunshine left to scoot quickly round my local patch. I was immediately buzzed by an energetic Peacock, but after that saw only Orange Tips: three males all looking to settle down for the night, and a solitary female basking in the ebbing sunshine – which has given her a distinct yellow tint in the photos.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

A great series of reports Dave with some cracking photos

Cheers,

Neil F.

[millerd]

Thanks, Neil. it was a great couple of days.

2nd June (Part One)

I decided to stay local today, and walk along the extended version of my usual ramble by the River Colne right up to the road through Colnbrook. I was pleased to see that at long last the Common Blues were out (but only two thus far, a male and a female about half a mile apart unfortunately!), and also the Small Heaths. This is one long colony, or a series of linked colonies, and in full swing can boast butterflies into three figures. Today, I counted 30 or so over quite a wide area, and in some of the hotspots (by the link bridge to Heathrow T5, for example), five or six were jousting together. It is clear they prefer areas where the soil is poor and the grass grows thinly, so what is after all just an enormous spoil heap suits them pretty well. The other species in any numbers seen today was the Peacock. I counted eight in various places, basking, nectaring on buttercups, or just swooping and diving just for the hell of it. Most were rather worn, but others still amazingly bright with life in them still - quite possibly a whole year on from when they were black and spiny, munching the riverside nettle beds.

Also seen: a couple of Holly Blues, a Speckled Wood, a variety of Whites and a Brimstone or two, but not one Orange Tip. I also found a Small Tortoiseshell larval web.

Dave

[millerd]

2nd June (Part Two)

Still local, I had an afternoon wander around Harmondsworth Moor. This can be good for Common Blues and Brown Argus, but none were to be seen today. A few Small Heaths were out, but nothing like the numbers I had seen earlier not that far away. In fact, there really wasn't much to be seen at all - a couple of Peacocks and a few Whites. Most of these appeared to be Large Whites, and as the sun was a bit come-and-go, I tracked a female, then a male down and managed some reasonable pictures of this relatively awkward customer. The female had an amazing underside: the green colour apparent in the photo was exactly how she looked.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking read and shots Dave Is it just me or in the last couple of days have you seen almost all of this years species tally ?

Have a goodun

Wurzel


ps - Cheers for the info I'll PM properly to reply.

[millerd]

21 out of this year's tally so far of 24, Wurzel - only Wood White, Comma and Duke of Burgundy were missing from the last couple of days. Didn't think till you mentioned it.

3rd June

No such excesses today, just a gentle stroll around the shorter version of my local area. Before long I encountered what I took to be a Holly Blue, flying around and over the nettles, brambles and ivy-entwined shrubs by the river. Just to check, I took a long shot of it when it settled, and discovered that it was in fact a Common Blue some considerable distance from where I normally see them. I can only speculate where the colony actually is...

There were ten or so Small Heaths in the small fraction of their habitat here that today's walk took in, popping up out of the grass each time the sun re-emerged from a cloud, plus an inevitable Peacock still defending the same patch of path that he did yesterday. With sun forecast for some days to come, he could still be around next week. Aside from that there was a genuine Holly Blue, and several Whites. These included the whitest male Small White I've ever seen, to the extent that the photos I tried to take were so over-white that no detail showed at all. There was also a very bright white Green-veined male, with which I had (marginally) more success, and a more standard Small White with a lovely delicate lemon underside.

Dave

[millerd]

6th June (Part One)

I headed north today, intitially to Totternhoe to see how the Small Blues were doing. I arrived as the sun was boilig away the cloud, but initially it was still quite cool. Overall, I must have seen 30 - 40 Small Blues in various parts of the site - they really seem to spread out in fine weather. There was a good deal of courtship going on and one encounter I watched led quickly to mating. As well as these miniature gems, I saw reasonable numbers of Common Blues, Dingy Skippers, and Small Heaths, a few Orange Tips, a Peacock and a Green Hairstreak.

Dave

[millerd]

6th June (Part Two)

From Totternhoe, I headed along the bottom of the Chilterns to Ivinghoe Beacon, somewhere I'd not been before. I walked from the car park towards the high point, but was distracted by a series of sheltered ditches or gullies to the left. Following one down, I came into a spot much hotter than the general hillside, and alive with butterflies. There were the first Brown Argus I have seen this year, Common Blues, Small Heaths and Dingy Skippers, all chasing around in hyperactivity. I homed in on what I took to be a faded Dingy Skipper, and discovered it to be an even more faded Duke of Burgundy. This area is a reasonable site for them, but I hadn't researched exactly where to find them, so this was a bit lucky. Elsewhere on the hill, there were Brimstones, a couple of Orange Tips and a few Whites.

Dave

[millerd]

6th June (Part Three)

Back home and a little time to look around locally as usual. It was pretty warm and not much was flying - a few Speckled Woods in the dappled shade, a Red Admiral in the usual riverside glade, a Common Blue, a Peacock and several Small Heaths. And then, right in the same place as previous years, a flash of orange. None of the brambles are flowering, so I didn't think it could be a Large Skipper yet (they normally coincide), but that's exactly what it was.

Oddly enough, this is the same date and place as I saw my first one last year. In 2011 it was 29th May.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking report and shots Dave Is that the first Large Skipper?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Well Wurzel, according to Richard Fox of BC, yes it's the first reported sighting this year.

Today was unexpectedly wet around here, the sun not coming through properly until after four o'clock. I'd hopefully gone down to Box Hill this morning and ended up getting soaked - at least it wasn't cold - but not surprisingly, no butterflies. Still too early for those wet weather stalwarts, Meadow Browns and Ringlets.

It turned out to be much warmer at home when I got back and the rain had stopped, so I walked a portion of my usual local walk. Two Common Blues were flying under the bright overcast, again in the area new for them this year (I've found some patches of trefoil, so I assume a wandering female did so last year as well!), plus a couple of Large Whites. Moving on, I had a good look around the Garlic Mustard patches for any last Orange Tips that might be sitting out the gloom, but instead of adult butterflies, I found a number of caterpillars. A link already to next spring as the cycle turns again. Other than that, I spied a Speckled Wood lurking deep in a hawthorn, and just the one Small Heath. Unfortunately, I had other things to do when the sun did properly come out, but nevertheless the walk under cloudy skies was interesting - always something different to see.

Dave