Hoggers

[Wurzel]

Got back from a visit back home to Dorset so catching up still...You've certainly been busy Hoggers - Painted Lady, White Letters and an open wing sho of Clouded Yellow Ace

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Brilliant Clouded Yellow. Lets hope it was laying eggs and the offspring provide a lovely yellow end to the season come September.

Dave

[Hoggers]

Many thanks for all of the comments everyone - I feel myself t be a Very Lucky UKBer.

The Painted Ladies are here! At Dungeness today I saw over twenty on Brambles in the Observatory moat

And more arriving while I was there.

There were many more of them than Peacocks

And only one each of Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral

I'd made the journey there in the hope of seeing Small Coppers and I'm happy to say they turned out to be numerous

A single Common Blue

Together with one Marbled White, One Small Skipper and many Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers.

A lovely surprise for me though, to see so many Painted Ladies

I think last year I saw only two.

[Hoggers]

Out walking the dogs yesterday evening around 8.30pm a Painted Lady went zipping by.

This morning at 730, again out with the hounds, I saw two Painted Ladies fly up when disturbed by my Spaniel.

I decided to visit Folkestone Warren today just to see if more Painted Ladies had arrived. They had

I came across seven in total with numerous Peacocks and a single Red Admiral

I also saw a Large Skipper

And several Common Blues.

I then dropped in at Lydden which thronged with Chalkhill Blues

Large and Small Whites, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and two Painted Ladies.

While in the area I decided to visit Kingsdown to see if the second brood of Small Blues had emerged. At my favourite site for these dainty little butterflies I found four on the wing

Back home, in the garden I counted twelve Peacocks and four Commas, all enjoying the Buddleias.

[Maximus]

Hi Hoggers, very nice variety of lovely photos, its great to see the Painted Ladies are around again.

Regards,

Mike

[Pauline]

Just seen your Clouded Yellow shots - fantastic job! You are absolutely right about how stunning they are and it is a real shame that not everyone gets to appreciate them.

[Hoggers]

Hi Mike thanks for that,much appreciated. I've seen your photographs so praise indeed. Last year I saw only 2 Painted Ladies so I'm over the moon to have seen about 30 of them in the last few days. I hope they make their way to everyone soon.

Pauline, Clouded Yellows are SO BEAUTIFUL! Just stunning! The female was very approachable and not on a mission to disappear as quickly as possible, so I had almost an hour gently following her up and down the hill. I took as many photographs as I could but also greatly enjoyed putting the camera aside and just watching her. It was marvellous!

[Wurzel]

Lovely shots of the Small Blues Hoggers - the sheen on the first male is cracking

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Hoggers]

Thanks Wurzel, that Magic Dust on a Small Blue's wing is something special.

Today I popped in to Lydden Nature Reserve to look for Silver spotted Skippers.

There's a constant cascade of Chalkhill Blues flowing down the hill that's a sight to see

With numerous Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns

Three Painted Ladies

added a touch of exotic glamour.

After much slow pacing about I saw my first Silver Spotted Skipper on the path basking in the sun

In my two hours there I saw five SSS's

It's early days yet at this site

And I'm sure numbers will grow rapidly. Good to see them back

[Wurzel]

Great stuff Hoggers You've cheered me up as I was worried I might miss out on the SSSk as everyone else seemed to be seeing them weeks ago

Haves goodun

Wurzel

[Hoggers]

I hope you get to see them Wurzel they are real characters. I'm keen go back to Lydden to see some more.

Just a quick note to say that there were two Painted Ladies in my garden before I left for work this morning at 8.30am and when I got home at 3pm no less than 14 Peacocks on the Buddleia with one Small Tortoiseshell and one Comma.

Also, yesterday and for the first time ever, I had a Small Skipper in the garden!

[David M]

..I had a Small Skipper in the garden!

Impressive, Hoggers. Your hard work earlier this year has really paid off!

[Hoggers]

I haven't been able to get out butterfly chasing these last few days, any that I've seen have been on my drive to and from work (lots of Large and Small Whites) and in the garden (sometimes up to 16 Peacocks a day and a sprinkling of Small Tortoiseshells).

In fact I feel rather bad about almost certainly having killed a few Whites recently on the way to work as so many are on the wing and flying across the roads. I own a complete absence of Scientific Brain so I'm not sure whether my car pushes a body of air ahead of it as it proceeds along the road which might act as a cushion for a creature so light as a butterfly, but I guess the ones unlucky enough to to be in the region of the front grill are Goners. Not a happy thought.

On a brighter note, whilst walking the dogs today I had a stroke of luck

My fifth Clouded Yellow of the year.

This one was flitting around in the same field where I saw two back in June. Unfortunately, it chose not to linger and was soon disappearing off into the distance but I managed to get close enough to take a few photographs before it left. It really has been a Clouded Yellow Year for me

Even though I've seen five this year I still get a thrill of excitement and wonder whenever I'm luck enough to find one.

The second brood of Common Blues is well underway

I saw at least four males fly up to investigate the Clouded Yellow as it crossed the field.

And I was pleased to see more Brown Argus after really struggling to find them in Spring

Tomorrow I hope to get out and about and see some butterflies. There's a slight but nonetheless distinct tang of Autumn in the air of an evening and morning now. It reminds me that the butterfly season doesn't last forever and that I should try to make the most of what remains.

[Wurzel]

Great stuff Hoggers No need for the "mr green" smilie as I saw two Clouded Yellows today I've had a few butterflies strike the car but some sermons okay - at least they're still flying when Ixsrch sight of them in the rear view mirror

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Hoggers]

That is good news Wurzel. I hope every UKBer gets to see this wonderful butterfly. As for me, I'm getting far more than my fair share of Clouded Yellows!

I took the hounds out at 7 this morning, to the usual field, and there I was astonished to see two Clouded Yellows, a male and a female, slowly flitting around in the warming sunshine. I didn't have my camera with me as it hadn't crossed my mind that I might see butterflies so early on. After the walk I took the dog home, fetched my camera and went back. The butterflies were still there

The male was the more active of the two and I saw him nectar several times.

The female either roosted on the ground or in the grass

The male twice found the female for me: I'd be watching him flying around when he'd suddenly duck down onto the ground and up would come the female, brushing him off

then settling down again

So that's five Clouded Yellows that I've seen in this one field alone so far this year, in the heart of Concrete Ashford.

I also saw this little Brown Argus

By 10am I'd arrived at Samphire Hoe, near Dover,with Brother Hoggles. We were on the lookout for second brood Wall.

I've rarely seen so much Buddleia: the path alongside of the railway is lined with beautiful big Buddleia bushes, all in full flower. There we counted 8 Painted Ladies

And would you believe, yet another Clouded Yellow

A couple of tattered Marbled Whites were still on the wing, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Large and Small Skippers

Numerous Large and Small Whites too.

Then we saw our first Wall

The sky had clouded and it had grown quite cool by this time so we had a wait while all the butterflies went to ground until the cloud had passed and it was once more warm and sunny. Common Blues appeared first and then more Wall

We saw 8 of them in total

Another rewarding and enjoyable day chasing butterflies.

[Wurzel]

I take it back - my envy had returned You were certainly lucky during the dog walk but to have one all peaceable on a Buddleia, I need some if your luck Hoggers

Have a goodun
Wurzel

[David M]

Right now it seems like a butterfly bonanza for one and all! Clouded Yellows are popping up everywhere and Peacock numbers are truly astonishing.

Well done once again with your early morning shots, Hoggers. ALWAYS take your camera, remember?

[Hoggers]

I shall not make the same mistake again, David! And Wurzel, I had some help from the weather with the Samphire Hoe Clouded Yellow because it was just as the sky became overcast that I spotted it and while the sun was behind the clouds it stayed put.

I've been at work all day so my butterflying was limited to what I could find in the garden this afternoon. Peacocks, mainly, and a Small Tortoiseshell. Where are all the Red Admirals, I wonder? I'd expected them in numbers after last year's bumper crop. Still, there's time yet before Summer's over.

What has interested me in the garden is this: I'm starting to think I've got a little community of Gatekeepers. Before I began gardening for butterflies I'd never seen a Gatekeeper in the garden. They appeared for the first time this year. Now I see them every day and this afternoon I counted three of them, one of which appeared to have set up a little territory for itself, flying out to investigate passing butterflies before returning to the same bush. Of course, they are common in the countryside, but I read in my Thomas and Lewington that "It is very rare for Gatekeepers to appear in city gardens even in counties where the species is abundant".

Ashford is not a city but it's very "built up", so I'm really quite proud of my Gatekeepers.

[David M]

Where are all the Red Admirals, I wonder? I'd expected them in numbers after last year's bumper crop.

Mainly obliterated by the cold spring, Hoggers.

We've largely been reliant on migrants re-populating the numbers over the course of the summer and I suspect that not a great deal will change before autumn arrives.

[Hoggers]

I hadn't thought of that,David. How Sad! I hope numbers pick up soon as the sight of Red Admirals getting tipsy on my windfall Plums is something I look forward to! I wonder why Peacocks appear to have fared so much better?

I knew I'd be stuck at work all day today with no chance of an early finish and a butterfly chase before going home, so as I'd had a stroke of luck last Saturday finding Clouded Yellows before 8 O'Clock in the morning I thought I'd take my camera with me on the dog walk at 6.30 (lesson learned, David!) and see what I could see.

And I discovered something that I hadn't realised before: 7am is a really good time to see Common Blues. As I walked through the long grass I saw one, then another, then another until I counted 18 Common Blues all basking in the early morning sunshine with wings wide open

They were just about everywhere, peppering the field with little glowing sparks of blue. Not only were they beautiful to see but being there with them felt a little like stepping into a church whilst the congregation is at prayer.

I wish I had not been in such a rush and that I could have spent longer with them.

Back home I popped into the garden and snapped a photograph of one of my three Gatekeepers