millerd

[millerd]

Just back from a stay near York with quite a few photos to sift. The journey up took in a detour via Arnside, where I had the pleasure of meeting Neil (nfreem) and hearing first hand all about his brilliant sojourn in the area. And I did get to see the odd butterfly too... Reports to follow - eventually!

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave,

It was a great pleasure to meet you too, and your lads .

Looking forward to seeing your photos.

All the best,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Welcome back Dave - I was starting to worry Looking forward to the reports!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

5th August

Another brief walk locally today. My spare eyes at eight-year-old level announced the presence of a caterpillar again, and investigation of the hedge revealed not one but at least eight Comma caterpillars of various sizes. However, this was not nettle, nor hop, but unusually a bushy hedge composed of elm. This is the first time I have seen Commas on elm (not surprisingly, really, since in most cases they would be up and out of sight).

Otherwise, there was nothing much of note, the Clouded Yellow having moved on since yesterday, though I did achieve my first photo of a Holly Blue since the spring.

6th August (am)

Local again, though a bit further and longer. The highlight was the good number of Common Blues now out, including several new females. These were all dark, barely a hint of blue for the most part and quite a contrast to the spring brood. Does warmer weather equal darker females?

There were still a few Essex Skippers around too, and rising numbers of Small Heaths again. A Silver Y moth kept still again, well-camouflaged on a twig, but spotted nevertheless!

6th August (pm)

The weather stayed fine, and I took the boys off to Box Hill for a picnic. We stayed on the viewpoint slopes for most of the time, and in the longer grass towards the lower part of the slope, there were good numbers of Common Blues, plus a few Chalkhills, and a fair sprinkling of Silver-spotted Skippers darting between the scabious flowers.

One Common Blue settled on Elliot's ear, drinking sweat, but by the time I had the camera ready, it had moved onto the ball he was holding.

We moved on to Denbies next (you can't visit one without the other in my book), stopping off at the vineyard en route to pick up some English sparkling wine to take up to my sister in York. Denbies was a sea of Chalkhill Blues, with hundreds, probably thousands, in all directions, including high numbers in Steers Field above the main slopes. In the short time there, I didn't notice any other species at all, the Chalkhills were so overwhelming.

The customary aberrant underside

What was so attractive about this particular flower?

Tomorrow would be the long trip north, including Arnside...

Dave

[millerd]

7th August

An early start and we managed to reach Arnside in time for a picnic lunch at the top of the scree path up from the car park. Suitably refreshed, we set off through the woods and out onto the open bracken and heather covered scrubby slopes. Just on the edge of the wood, in semi-shade, a marjoram patch was playing host to several Scotch Argus - but with a few Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns too, just to make life interesting. Gatekeepers proved to be everywhere on the Knott, much fresher than those at home, too. I believe that not so long ago they were a real rarity up here.

Moving on, several very worn Dark Green Fritillaries wafted by while more Scotch Argus kept low amongst the brambles, basking a little but mostly with wings closed in the strong sun.

I only noticed the second butterfly when looked at the photo later

We made it up to the trig point, where there was a nearby largish patch of hemp agrimony. This tempting source of nectar had attracted a variety of customers: a Small Tortoiseshell, a Peacock, a Small Copper, a couple more faded DGF, Meadow Browns and a few Whites.

A little way off, I spotted a knapweed plant which had also proved interesting to a couple of fritillaries. One was another tired DGF, but the other was in better condition and looked to me very much like a High Brown. This individual was almost impossible to disturb, flying off only briefly to return to the same flower again. A brief glimpse or two of the underside was conclusive - High Brown it was , and having added Scotch Argus earlier it became my 50th species seen in 2013. I felt pretty chuffed with that!

We set off down the hill, but chose the path towards the meadow near Heathwaite. My eldest son Toby pointed out a small butterfly about three metres up in a small oak tree and said he thought it was a Holly Blue. It turned out to be a Purple Hairstreak, but set off for higher branches before the camera was brought to bear. The next spot was down on the ground: having seen none on the way up the hill, I was pleased to find a Grayling doing its best to hide on the gravel on the way down.

Finally we were down at the bottom, and into the meadow. The first thing of note was a figure with a camera looking at the butterflies (of which there were many). Engaging him in conversation, the soft Midlands accent told me this had to be Neil (nfreem) who I knew was in the area. He described his amazing couple of days up there, and showed me where the Clouded Yellow had been seen amongst other things. The meadow was full of Common Blues, but I quite forgot to photograph any at all. A fortuitous, but very pleasant conclusion to our trip to Arnside and the Knott.

Dave

[millerd]

8th & 9th August

We were now up near York, staying with my sister. She has a lovely garden with a mix of wild and semi-tamed, with a few soft fruits and vegetables thrown in. What she does have is a traditional self-sown pale purple buddleia, which was an absolute magnet for butterflies. Nothing unusual, but the quantity was astonishing. Early in the day, white butterflies abounded, with 20-30 on the plant at once. They were mostly Large Whites, with almost all the rest Small Whites - only one or two GVW paid a visit. Down the garden were thistles and flowering crucifers (including flowering bolted lettuces) which were favoured by Small Whites and a few Commas.

Green-veined White

Large White. Compare black markings with...

...Small White: the wingtips especially differ noticeably

As the mornings progressed, the Peacocks appeared, building up to equal the Whites in numbers on the buddleia, and also on the thistles not far away. I have never seen so many Peacocks in one place, not even when releasing captive-bred specimens. Apparently, the nettle beds left to grow in the garden had hosted a nest of caterpillars - if just the one, the survival rate must have been high.

The buddleia also attracted a few Small Tortoiseshells, plus one Red Admiral and one Painted Lady.

One morning, there was a Small Copper sitting on a thistle, and a few Meadow Browns made their bumbling way through at low level.

Finally, there were the Brimstones. As in previous years in this garden, these butterflies were most interested in the runner bean flowers.

female

female

I also saw a male nectaring on a (unknown to me) garden flower, one I have never even seen a bee visit.

male

The female Brimstones were repeatedly bothered and chased by male Large Whites, whose eyesight must have been poor.

It was just lovely to see so many butterflies in a garden setting again.

Dave

[millerd]

10th August

A family outing trip to the York Maize Maze was not one I would have thought would hold much butterfly interest. However, the site is bounded by medium-sized oak trees, and one a patch of unkempt ground near the crazy golf I spotted a small grey butterfly fluttering close to the ground. I thought it was a Common Blue, but surprisingly it turned out to be a Purple Hairstreak. Less surprisingly, turning the camera on it caused it first to turn frustratingly edge on, and then to whizz off in the strong wind to who knows where. I looked out for others, but conditions were not exactly ideal for hairstreak hunting.

Later in the day, I repeated last year's walk on Allerthorpe Common. It was mostly cloudy now, and not much was flying, but the site reassuringly produced Small Coppers in several different spots as it had done last year.

Quite pronounced tails on this one

The same individual from below

Glowing under the clouds almost as if it was internally lit

Also seen were Small Skippers (no Essex up here yet), a Ringlet, a Peacock, Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns and various Whites.

Small Skipper

Not as good as last year's 14 species, but dare I say the weather was actually better on the day in August 2012!

We travelled back down south on 11th with poorer weather in tow, and there has been little opportunity to venture forth since then. Hopefully, the coming week will change all that...

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking reports and shots Dave HBFS and Scorch Argus are both in my wish list but it could be a fair few years before they get ticked off I too have noticed that Small Coppers seem to have more pronounced tails this year could be the heat affecting development:? Hope you get out again soon, the weathers looking to be back on track next week

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave, great reports and photos

It was really great to meet you up at Arnside , amazing to think that a chap from Heathrow can meet a chap from the midlands up in Cumbria and guess correctly who he is

I recognise the description of the Hemp Agrimony, there was a Small Copper around there when I was up there earlier that day but no Small Tortoiseshell. The only ST I saw during my 3 days was when we stopped off at Warton Crag on the Thursday morning before hitting the M6.

Cheers,

Neil

[millerd]

amazing to think that a chap from Heathrow can meet a chap from the midlands up in Cumbria and guess correctly who he is

I left there thinking the same thing, Neil! But that's the beauty of the UKB community - you can roam the whole country with a good chance of meeting someone you know or at least feel you know a bit. The world is smaller than it used to be.

18th August

I was down in Dover this weekend, but knew the chances of a sidetrip to Kingsdown were slim even though it's pretty close. Saturday was mostly cloudy, and increasingly breezy and activity was limited to a buddleia in the garden where I was staying which attracted all the usual suspects in reasonable numbers, including a new Painted Lady. Nothing kept still, so no pictures of note were taken. Sunday was a better day, but my only opportunity for getting out was an hour up on the down behind Temple Ewell and along towards Lydden. It was very windy on the hill, and the sun came and went, but I managed to see good numbers of Chalkhill Blues and Common Blues, a handful of Silver-spotted Skippers, a Small Copper, a Brown Argus, a Marbled White (very late to see one of these I'd say), Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns and assorted Whites. I bumped into a chap who had seen a Clouded Yellow, but I failed on that score. Only a few photos - the SSS in particular were very lively in the wind. So... no visit to Kingsdown and no Long-tailed Blues. Maybe they'll breed on the peas and produce lots of offspring at the end of September...

Dave

[millerd]

20th August

I have recently moved office location to a site close to Bedfont Lakes Country Park in what I would still call Middlesex. I actually had the chance today to pop out for an hour at lunchtime and have a look around. Away from the sterile expanses of tidily mown grass, there are reasonable patches of unkempt growth, with brambles and wildflowers, and in particular a long straight border along the boundary between the Park and the railway line. Thistles, marjoram, trefoil and yellow spiky dandelion-like flowers predominate and attract a good number of butterflies.

Firstly, I noticed Common Blues, and then almost immediately the silvery flash of Brown Argus.

As I concentrated on a pretty new and almost unblemished Brown Argus, I was interrupted by a fluttering of yellow wings - two Clouded Yellows chased each other right under my nose and away. However, the sun went in and they parted, with one of them settling on the ground not far away. Their camouflage is pretty good against dried up vegetation, but I spotted its just-that-bit-too-yellow shade.

The sun came out again within seconds of the photo and it was away again. Moving on a bit, there were more Common Blues and then two darker-looking butterflies spiralled up from the ground. As they returned, it became clear they were two new Small Coppers, and one came to settle right in front of me. It seemed noticeably darker than those I'd seen recently further north - I believe in southern climes they are darker, and I suppose this year's hot weather may have produced the same effect.

Heading back to work with some reluctance, I came across another pair of Clouded Yellows. I'm pretty sure they were not the same two individuals as earlier, as the two sets of sightings were some way away from each other and on the second occasion, one of the butterflies was somewhat worn.

Other species seen included Meadow Browns, a few Gatekeepers and Large and Small Whites. Despite large quantities of wild buddleia in the Park, I saw not one Nymphalid. I was back at work one hour to the minute after leaving - and with a bit of luck may well get further chances to repeat the exercise.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great report Dave Those shots if the Clouded Yellows are great and I really like the Brown Argus Those stolen lunch breaks are great and often lead to increased productivity in the afternoon too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

21st August

Taking your sound advice Wurzel, about increasing my work output, I grabbed half an hour in the Park at lunchtime today too. I saw a very similar selection of butterflies to yesterday, but it was warmer and sunnier, and windier too, so photos were hard to come by. I saw four more Clouded Yellows in four different spots, but the general impression was that they were heading through from south-west to north-east with the wind, and not lingering much. One particularly large female (almost Large White size) stopped to nectar on Birds-Foot Trefoil, but didn't stay long enough on any one flower to make a photo possible. From what I've seen, this is typical of Clouded Yellows in sunny weather: long powerful flights with occasional pauses to nectar from several different flowers in quick succession. Just as you think you're going to get that perfect shot, off they go again. If the sun goes in, they quickly plummet to the ground, often hiding in plain sight in Grayling fashion. Should the sun go in whilst one is nectaring, that is your best chance at a picture, as they tend to stay put. Regardless of the frustration attached, it is wonderful to see Yellow so frequently amongst the Whites at the moment - if only every year could be the same... At the end of the break from work, I had managed to snap a mating pair of Meadow Browns, and one obliging Brown Argus.

Dave

[millerd]

23rd August

I spent the morning at Bekonscot Model Village with Elliot, and the proximity to the M40 drew us afterwards further out to Aston Rowant. We arrived around one, as sunshine gave way to bright and very warm overcast, and set out across the top of the hillside on the northern side, returning along the bottom. The first point of interest was a large area of rampant ragwort and marjoram just below the viewpoint - it was full of Small Tortoiseshells (with a couple of Peacocks too). A splendid sight.

There were lots of butterflies over the whole slope, as there were on my last visit four weeks ago, but the mix had changed somewhat. Not many male Chalkhill Blues were in evidence, although there were still plenty of females, and I find I didn't take a single photo of either. On the other hand, Brown Argus and Common Blues were everywhere, particularly the former.

There were also very healthy numbers of Silver-spotted Skippers, mostly females (with some fresh examples) and mostly on the ground rather than on flowers. One other skipper was seen - I think it was a Small one, but it was very worn, including the underside of the antennae!

Small Skipper (?)

The first Silver-spotted Skipper I saw was crawling through the grass, curving its abdomen around periodically, but as far as I could tell not actually laying. It was only when I looked at the photos later that in the very first one there is clearly an egg next to the butterfly.

Silver-spotted Skipper with newly-laid egg

Looking to lay another

The highlight of the afternoon though was coming across a fresh shining Adonis Blue, basking wide open under the bright sky. I have never seen Adonis at Aston Rowant before, despite visiting here every year since 2008 at the right sort of time. The contrast with the Common Blues was so clear, it is hard to imagine the two being confused.

Adonis (male underside)

Anything else? There were plenty of Meadow Browns, but no Gatekeepers now, a sprinkling of Small Heaths, and Elliot spotted a Small Copper on the path being stalked by a harvestman (unsuccessfully it turned out).

There were male and female Brimstones, and all three Whites. Fifteen species in all on the slopes, and Speckled Woods along the path back to the car made it sixteen.

At eleven o'clock this evening, a Small Tortoiseshell came in the kitchen window and circled the room like a moth, before briefly settling next to the Painted Lady on the UK Butterflies calendar. I managed to liberate the poor thing, and it didn't return. How very odd!

Dave

[Pete Eeles]

Great shots of the ovioposting SSS, Dave! Probably the best I've seen of this critter!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Neil Freeman]

Great stuff Dave

I must admit I have only ever visited Aston Rowant aroundlLate July/early August to try a catch the Chalkhills and SS Skippers in fairly good condition, I really must make the effort to visit at other times.

Cheers,

Neil F.

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Dave The egglaying female is great and to have an egg in shot too finishes off the story brilliantly The Adonis looks great it's made me realise that I need to pay them a bit more attention next year.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Nick Broomer]

I agree with Wurzel your photo depicting the Silver-spotted Skipper ovipositing whilst capturing an egg in the same picture is brilliant Dave, and it just shows you how big the SSS ovum is for such a small butterfly compared to other eggs of butterflies whether large or small. Great work.

All the best, Nick.

[David M]

Excellent stuff, Dave. We've really had an explosion of early stages images lately, and that one is up near the top!

[millerd]

Wow - thank you all for the lovely comments about the Silver-spotted Skipper and her egg. As always, it was pure luck - I didn't realise there was an egg in the shot until I looked at the photos later. I was far more excited by the Adonis Blue!

25th August

I realised that with work and weather and other commitments, I hadn't had a good look at my local patch for nearly three weeks, and decided to make good the omission this afternoon. After a selection of Whites in the front garden on the dandelions, the walk started as it often does, with a territorial Red Admiral and a couple of Commas, and several Speckled Woods fluttering about in the shade. However, the next sighting was a bit of a surprise, with a Small Heath seen a considerable distance (a good km or so) from the usual area. Progressing along the edge of the river, there were more Commas (all quite worn ones), and several Common Blues appeared, male and female, and far more than I've seen before in this particular part of the walk. One of the females was entirely brown, not a blue scale to be seen, and I had to make sure it wasn't a Brown Argus.

Completely brown female Common Blue

Male Common Blue underside

Another was found wandering amongst the trefoil plants, and after she'd flown off, I found a tiny white dot on top of a leaf - a single egg.

Another dark female Common Blue wandering on Birds-foot Trefoil

Common Blue egg on BFT

No doubt there were more if I'd looked, but they are very small and only by taking a photo and zooming in could I be sure it definitely was an egg. My attention was then grabbed by a small butterfly with a different type of flight altogether - a worn Small Copper. This was the first I've seen on my patch this year (though I had to wait until October for one in 2012...).

Just before moving on to the open field north of the A 3113, a bright new Comma appeared, intensely orange and brown, and such a contrast to its faded cousins seen earlier.

In the field area itself, I was greeted by a basking Small Tortoiseshell that looked to be freshly emerged.

The abundance of Meadow Browns had now dwindled to a few very dull individuals, and there were fewer of these than there were of Small Heaths - though there were not as many of the latter as I expected. Common Blues were all along the path at regular intervals, and having seen so many small ones this year, and so many dark females, I very nearly ignored the Brown Argus that jinked across in front of me. Again, this was the first of these I've seen here this year, and I'm glad to say the second and third followed quickly afterwards.

Returning the way I'd come, I had a different perspective on a "wild" buddleia. There were several Whites and a couple of Peacocks enjoying the purple bloom, but my eye was drawn to a pinky-brown butterfly that periodically sailed off in great arcing flights before coming back to the same spray of flowers. It was a Painted Lady, and yet another species I'd not seen here this year.

That brought the local tally for the year to 23, with only Ringlets being absent this time round from my all time local list. A good afternoon!