July 2013

[htcdude]

3 new butterflies for me today at Banstead Woods with a Purple Emperor, a Silver-washed Fritillary and 3 Purple Hairstreak

Nige

[ChrisC]

with everyone enjoying the "purple patch" I thought i'd go over Martin Down. sunny, windy and wonderfully cool at 7.30am. skippers must be in the thousands, marbled whites a great showing 2 chalkhill blue, but what really stood out were the hundreds of dark green fritillaries. I don't normally venture over there too much in the summer normally but this heatwave gets me up early so I don't know if this is normal or not. it really was a stunning sight. I did notice that they like to warm up on the floor rather than the tops of flowers. so I learnt something new too

[Mildheart]

Highlight of a fairly dull and Purple Emperor-free walk around Bookham Common yesterday was my first new Peacock of the year.

[Jack Harrison]

Some real butterflies today, not just pictures on a screen.

As advised, went to Tiroran, Ardmeanach, Isle of Mull via Glen More.

In Glen More, several fritillaries in flight, presumed to be Small PB (didn’t look like Marsh and habitat wrong in any case).

At Tiroran:
Meadow Browns X 10+ (all males)
Speckled Wood x 3
Small Heath x 1
Scotch Argus x 2 (first sightings of year in Scotland perhaps?)
Dark Green Frit x 3
Common Blue x 8+
GV White x 20+

I see no evidence that any of these examples are visually different from those from the south of Britain.




It was HOT (26degsC but that’s nothing to what you poor people down there are having to endure) and the butterflies were very active (but I certainly wasn’t very active in the heat and unbroken sunshine!)

Jack

[NickB]

Fantastic party! Are you guys all so old?

I was waiting for someone else to answer - sadly the answer is mostly, yes.....
Well, most are younger than me, anyway....but that isn't saying much!

[Ian Pratt]

Very good number of dark green fritillaries at Shalcombe Down IOW today (80-100), but no blues of any kind. Marbled whites very plentiful too.
At Walters Copse Newtown,6 silver-washed fritillaries and over 20 white admirals.

[Matsukaze]

plenty of butterflies around the Bath area the last 2 days, countless numbers of small skippers, plenty of marbled whites and a few white letter hairstreaks. Took a pic of this little chap too (skipper sp.) and got my suspicions that it's an Essex skipper, though never seen one before - can someone please verify for me the likelihood of this.
Cheers, Alex

Hi Alex - the Essex Skippers locally tend to hide along the margins of arable fields, where not many people look for them. They are not uncommon south of Bath around Wellow and Hinton Charterhouse in particular - the cycle path/old railway line between Midford and Wellow is not a bad spot for them. Quite a few this evening around Beckington and Rode, and they seem to be having quite a good year.

Where did you see the WLH? It is probably quite common around Bath but is easily the most difficult of all our local butterflies to track down.

[Rosalyn]

was waiting for someone else to answer - sadly the answer is mostly, yes.....
Well, most are younger than me, anyway....but that isn't saying much!

And one of us was a lady

[midpro]

Savernake Forest: 20 July 2013

This evening, a squadron of Savernake Purple Emperors were putting on an aerial display to match any of those being seen at the Air Tattoo at nearby RAF Fairford

A minimum of 5 PEs were watched for 90mins+ in two neighbouring trees close to the Column, patrolling the very high tree tops and frequently engaging in brief skirmishes, sometimes spiralling higher as if launched by ejector seats before descending to their prominent but individual watchtowers. On one occasion a dashing PE was seen to chase an over-flying carrion crow, dwarfed in comparison, before breaking-off and returning to base

This activity continued until nearly 7pm when a wisp of purple hairstreaks took to the air, twisting and dashing in the warm evening sunlight like duelling jet-fighters, but lightweights in comparison to the big guns previously on display to this single - but appreciative - observer

A brief video of some of the action can be found at:
http://youtu.be/sxOB7FJoicY

No landings at the Column during a one-hour stint mid afternoon (although regular flyovers including one low pass) but reports of refuelling activity mid-morning...

In the shadow of The Column

[Ian Pratt]

Real treat for me whilst walking my dog this morning- first Peacock of the season, and very fresh.

[selbypaul]

Had the day off work yesterday and spent it in my garden. Some of you may remember that when I bought my house back in 2010, I converted the lawn into a 7 metre by 10 metre wildflower meadow. The first sign of my efforts having paid off was back in May 2011 when I saw a single male Common Blue nectaring on some Birds Foot Trefoil, despite me not knowing of a colony within 4 miles!

Since then, the meadow has had a few knock backs, with some building work I had done last year having flattened the meadow!

Anyhow my efforts to restore the meadow this year have paid off with me spotting two Small Skipper and a single Ringlet yesterday, as well as a profusion of newly emerged Gatekeeper, and Small White's. Bear in mind my garden is a suburban garden 1 mile away from the edge of Sheffield city limits, so the Ringlet and Small Skipper (and especially the Common Blue) are pretty amazing sightings.

My garden list is now up to 17 species. I highly recommend to anyone reading that you make the effort to create a wildflower meadow in your own gardens. It really is worth the effort!
Paul

[Hugh Middleton]

Impressive numbers of Marbled Whites in the Lincolnshire Wold last night. Counted 37 but there were many more. Also large, Small and Essex Skippers, Meadow Browns, Ringlets, Small Heath and lots of 6 Spot Burnet

Hugh

[ChrisC]

My garden list is now up to 17 species. I highly recommend to anyone reading that you make the effort to create a wildflower meadow in your own gardens. It really is worth the effort!
Paul

I second that Paul.

an hour over Blashford Lakes this afternoon, it was great to see 20-30 peacock on bramble, ragwort and buddleia. this one came for it's portrait and I couldn't resist filling the frame.

[MikeOxon]

As an escape from the heat in the Thames Valley, we (my wife and I) spent the day in the New Forest yesterday (19th). We noticed that several of the local inhabitants - the ponies - were seeking shelter from the sun deep within the shadiest groups of trees.

Although it was not specifically a butterfly trip, I found the true high Summer butterfly, the Silver-washed Fritillary making the most of the flowering trees and shrubs in a garden near Boldre.

Boldre, New Forest - 19th July 2013
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR - 1.350s@f/9.5 ISO800

In the same garden, this pair had found a shady spot to mate:

Boldre, New Forest - 19th July 2013
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR - 1.350s@f/9.5 ISO800

while a Comma was also seeking shade amongst the leaves. I was struck by the pattern on this one's eyes:

Boldre, New Forest - 19th July 2013
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR - 1.180s@f/6.7 ISO800

Back in the Forest proper, there were still plenty of Silver-studded Blues on the wing. Despite looking rather worn, this male was still actively chasing females:

Matley Bog, New Forest - 19th July 2013
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR - 1.500s@f/11 ISO800

and some females were still in pristine condition:

Matley Bog, New Forest - 19th July 2013
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR - 1.350s@f/9.5 ISO800

Finally, not a butterfly but still a very attractive insect - the well-named Beautiful Demoiselle:

Boldre, New Forest - 19th July 2013
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR - 1.125s@f/5.6 ISO800

Mike

[Essex Bertie]

Saw another aberrant Meadow Brown today, at Tylers Common near Brentwood. This time both hind wings were 'bleached'.

Purple Emperors have turned up in 2 new Essex woodlands this week. White Admirals also having an excellent year here.

Rob

[aeshna5]

We visited Crockford stream area yesterday mainly for Odonata. Silver-studded Blues abundant on the heath but surprisingly only found one Grayling which posed well on a grass path.

c8 Dark Green Fritillaries, some faded now + a couple nectaring on Ragwort + brambles. Also 2 fresh male Brimstone, surprised to see a Marbled White here, quite a few Meadow Browns, a few Gatekeepers, several Large Skippers, some Large Whites moving through, couple Green-veined Whites in damper areas, c10 Small Heath, Comma + 2 Small Tortoiseshells.

Also 2 male Oak Eggar + 3 Silver-Y.

[sahikmet]

On Friday last at Bold Hill, Marbled White(100+), Small and Large Skippers 30+, Dark Green Fritillary (30) this specimen appears to have pale markings. Cheers Sezar

[Matsukaze]

Not really familiar with either area, but do the New Forest bogs in which the Silver-studded Blues occur have any resemblance to the old habitat of masseyi?

[Essex Bertie]

Whilst sailing on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, I occasionally see vanessids flying across the water, sometimes presumably on a migratory path. So i was intrigued this morning to see 2 satyrids, mid channel (about TL950070). At least one was a Ringlet, and they were both bobbling along, running with the north-easterlies, about 8' above water level. They would have been 1Km into their journey at the very least, with another Km to go. The weather was overcast. I didn't see anything in the afternoon session which was warmer and sunnier.

Rob

[Matsukaze]

There are some butterflies turning up in odd places at the moment - Ringlets and Small Skippers in car parks, for example. This afternoon I saw a Marbled White flying through woodland at canopy height, following a road through the wood. Marbled White is having a good year here and odd individuals are turning up in fairly anonymous areas of countryside, presumably dispersing to pastures new.