Neil Hulme

[Neil Hulme]

Plenty Of Pearls

Yesterday (24th April), with the help of my father, I performed a thorough survey of Rewell Wood, recording Pearl-bordered Fritillary (PBF) over six discrete areas. By returning to finish off with a couple of ‘new’ coppice blocks in the evening, I ended up with a tally of just over 100 PBF. This is very much in line with counts over recent years, but this total has been achieved significantly earlier in the flight season, with only a single female recorded. This gives some indication that the species is set to do well at Rewell this year. On sunny days (particularly early/mid morning and later in the afternoon) plenty can be seen nectaring on bugle and dandelion beside the tracks, along the route described under my 17th April posting. I suspect there are plenty more yet to emerge. While counting Pearls it was nice to see good numbers of Peacock, Brimstone, Green-veined White and Orange Tip along the way.

'The Old Man' at work

[Neil Hulme]

Evening Argus

An early evening (26th April) visit to Chantry Hill at Storrington to look for roosting Grizzled and Dingy Skippers (I found about half a dozen of each) produced my first (2) Brown Argus of the year.

[badgerbob]

Wonderful to see the blues are starting to appear!! Adonis soon. Great stuff.

[Neil Hulme]

Another Grizzly

I suffered a frustrating wait for the clouds to part during a short, morning visit to Chantry Hill today (28th April). I found plenty of butterflies at roost (mainly Dingy and Grizzled Skipper) and just needed the sun to show its face in order to see a couple of species in their full glory, including freshly emerged Brown Argus and my first Small Copper of the year. With literally a couple of minutes to go before I had to leave, the sun broke through with force and I was suddenly surrounded by squadrons of dog-fighting butterflies, adding Green Hairstreak, Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock to the list. In the end I only managed to photograph (yet another) Grizzled Skipper, but they’re one of my favourite species and I can’t get enough of them!

[David M]

These cool and cloudy conditions seem to play into your hands from a photography perspective, Neil.

Once again, top drawer images.

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks David. Yes, once you 'get your eye in' it's quite straightforward finding butterflies at roost, and then they're sitting ducks! Plenty of time to examine them closely and pick out the really fresh ones, and then just wait for a little sunshine. While waiting, eat sarnies, lie back in the grass and listen to the Cuckoo or Corn Bunting. A lovely time of year, but a little more sunshine would be welcome at the moment.
BWs, Neil

[David M]

I think I understand you, Neil.

I went out yesterday in heavy cloud and got images of Green Hairstreaks I never thought I could obtain.

They were torpid to the point of sleepiness and it was a real lesson - take a chance and venture out when conditions are far less than ideal and you may get richly rewarded.

[Neil Hulme]

Heyshott Magic (Part 1)

Today (29th April) was one of those days when all the hard graft put in throughout the winter at Heyshott was repaid by the bucket load. After a cloudy start things just got better and better, until they just couldn't get any better!

I stopped off in the lowermost pit by the 'Camel's Humps' and old limekilns (hidden under trees) in the hope of seeing a Duke of Burgundy here; their arrival is eagerly anticipated following management work over the last few years. Although I didn't see any Dukes I did find a couple of Dingy Skipper roosting on the hardheads. As the sun started to bleed through the clouds they were encouraged to pose nicely, before I headed further up the slope and onto the open grassland area.

As the clouds parted things really began to happen and Dingy Skippers started to come thick and fast, followed by Dukes. These were by far the most numerous species. Of the 23 Duke of Burgundy I counted, 21 were male. Before the sunshine won through later in the afternoon, periodic cloudy and cool conditions ensured that many of the males became torpid between spells of frenetic activity. Although I spent some time photographing them, I also took the opportunity to marvel at their beauty through my Pentax Papilio close-focus binoculars, from point blank range. This butterfly is every bit as good as the Purple Emperor! But I had come specifically to find a Duchess ....

[Neil Hulme]

Heyshott Magic (Part 2)

After searching the western flank of the reserve, hoping for signs of colonisation, I walked back across to the Duke of Burgundy 'hotspot' and the oldest lek on the slopes. Sitting there waiting for me was precisely what I had hoped for; a lovely pair sitting on a cowslip, as photographed here by Mark Cadey and Gary Faulkner a few days previously. After watching them for about 20 minutes they parted and went their separate ways. I followed the female as I was particularly interested in her behaviour. After a very brief spell of sunbathing she found some thick scrub to lay up in while her eggs mature. It's always great to see the next generation of this rarity in the making.

[Neil Hulme]

Far And Wide

This morning (30th April) I paid a brief visit to woodland near Arundel, before spending the rest of the day surveying butterflies around the Storrington area for the 'South Downs Way Ahead' Nature Improvement Area project.

Highlights at the first site included my first woodland Duke of Burgundy of the year, 6 freshly emerged Grizzled Skipper, a Fox Moth and my first (2) Drab Looper of the season. I then moved on to Springhead (a.k.a. Kithurst) Hill where up to 4 male Duke of Burgundy are currently holding territory in the meadow. Further along the Downs at Chantry Hill there were numerous Dingy Skipper and Green Hairstreak, and a few very tired looking Red Admiral (3) and Painted Lady (1), suggesting a modest influx from the south. As I finished my count for the day I watched 3 beautiful Small Copper males catching the last rays of sun.

[David M]

Neil, if I'm ever fortunate enough to bump into you again like I did in Botany Bay last July I'm going to demand to know how you take such photographs with an identical camera to mine!!!

Magnificent images once again.

[William]

Those Dukes are superb Neil - the duchess is positively swollen with eggs

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks David and William. One of the key elements to getting plenty of good shots is having the luxury of time. Another is making sure you are in the right place at the right time, so I would always rate 'field-craft' as being much more important than technical knowhow, particularly since many cameras (particularly bridge cameras) are virtually idiot proof theses days.
BWs, Neil

[Paul Wetton]

The shots are particularly great Neil as you manage to get the entire foreground crisp and sharp with sufficient depth of field but manage to get a wonderfully coloured and blurred background. I love them.

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks Paul. The FZ38 and close-up lens is a great combination specifically for butterflies and plants, assuming average to good light conditions. The only other option I'd personally look at is the FZ200, but the newer model simply provides additional benefits and functions that I don't really require. I doubt that it would give me better images of the type I'm after. I recently bought an unused FZ38 off eBay for £140, which will hopefully serve me long into the future. That's ridiculously cheap for such a piece of kit. As you point out, this set-up seems to give sufficient DOF to allow good focus across antennae and wing-tips, while allowing for soft OOF backgrounds.
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Moths And Bluebells

This morning (3rd May) I only had time for a brief spin around Rewell Wood and a lightening stop at Springhead Hill. I made a quick count of Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Duke of Burgundy but photographed neither, having snapped away at plenty in the last couple of weeks. However, I did stop for this very pretty Clay Triple-lines at Rewell, and took the opportunity to photograph the gorgeous bluebells before they are over.

[Buchan Boy]

Hi Neil,

Great shots as always,just wondering if you've had a chance to see how the Pearl-bordered's are progressing at the Houghton Forest site you mentioned a few posts back.

I'm being a tad lazy and should be down there at some point in the coming week,I'm intrigued.

Thanks

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks Dave. If not already out, PBF should emerge tomorrow at Houghton, assuming they have got through ... it's a very small population.
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Back On Form

Like most Duke of Burgundy sites, Heyshott Escarpment suffered a set-back in the spring of 2012, as the sun barely shone through the flight season. However, this morning (4th May) I was left in no doubt that the population has almost recovered to its 2011 level. I started surveying with John Murray of the Murray Downland Trust, and by the time he left me, after we had only counted through the pits up the eastern margin of the reserve, we had already seen 26 Dukes. After 3.5 hours I finished with a tally of 59, including 5 females, 2 mating pairs and a dead male in a spider's web. I saw a bundle of 6 males in combat on the plateau and estimate that c.30% of the insects were no more than a day old. Many were still unsteady on damp wings. There are probably many more to emerge and it is already looking like a very good year for the site.

It was also gratifying to see a freshly emerged (male) Pearl-bordered Fritillary (PBF); probably the same individual as spotted here yesterday by B. rex. This species reappeared at Heyshott last year, for the first time since the 1990s. It is quite unusual to see a PBF continually scrapping with Dingy (c.70) and Grizzled Skippers (11)!

It wasn't just Dukes that were hatching this morning. I saw a total of 9 Green Hairstreak on the slopes, the majority of which were scale-perfect. In previous years I've only seen them in twos and threes here.

Other species seen today included Brimstone (6), Green-veined White (3), Peacock (2), Speckled Wood (2) and Orange Tip (1).

Greater Butterfly, White Helleborine and Fly Orchid are all now in bud, while Early Purple Orchid is flowering in good numbers.

[Katrina]

Excellent news Neil ! I am very tempted to go back and have a look at the abundance of Dukes.