millerd

[David M]

I see that your Duke has very dark hindwings like the one that Pauline commented on in her dairy a little while back. It seems that there is quite a variation in markings in some individuals.

That was something I noticed too. The hinwings of that individual are almost completely black.

[millerd]

It struck me when I first saw it in the flesh too. I'll be interested in seeing Wurzel's photos from the same location taken the day before to see if he encountered the same individual. If you look at the examples I saw at the two Chiltern sites on Saturday (not to mention all the other examples posted on the site), there is a wide variety in markings. The females are generally more orange with brown markings than brown with orange markings, but even aside from this difference the males vary enormously amongst themselves.

Dave

[millerd]

A very late opportunity to walk around part of my local patch today - nearly six o'clock. Not much to see, but inevitably there were a couple of roosting Orange Tips, one female (below) and one male.

Both were stirred into activity by a brief burst of bright sunshine.

The female had quite a strong yellow cast to its upper hindwings, as some individuals seem to have.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Two more posts to go before I get to the Bentley Wood one Dave - sorry about that From what I can remember though I thought at the time that my Duke was pretty dark - sometimes you can see a black marking on the fore wings but not on my one/yours

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

I shall be patient, Wurzel - it will be interesting to see if it was the same individual or just a close relative.

Saturday 10th May. I was up in Rugby on one of my periodic visits, and with two out of three boys in tow headed off a few miles west to Ryton. The weather was not exactly promising, with strong winds blowing grey clouds quickly across, and only brief bursts of sunshine. We wandered through the woods, where it was very wet and muddy underfoot (so much so that they plan to close the wood to the public for eight weeks from 19th May to let it recover). Where one of the rides opens out a bit and bluebells are blooming, one of the boys spotted a Green Hairstreak. In fact there were two of them, down on the bluebell patch and side-on to the sun as usual.

Continuing out of the wood to the path alongside the meadow, I disturbed a single Grizzled Skipper, which unfortunately was caught by the breeze and whisked out of sight. After sheltering from a sharp shower, we returned back through the woods to the Country Park during a spell of sunshine, and en route came across another three Green Hairstreaks which this time were dancing around the scrubby trees.

There is a lot of straggly honeysuckle in these woods, but a very unscientific cursory glance or two revealed no White Admiral larvae. Other butterflies seen in not the best of weather were a Green-veined White in the woods, and Orange Tips and a Small Tortoiseshell near the visitor centre.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great Greenstreaks Dave - I can appreciate them this year now I've conquered them I'm keeping an eye out for the Bentley Small Pearls so we might end up meeting there - we've come close a few times before

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave, I wondered if you had made it to Ryton, with the strong winds I only ventured out for an hour at one of my local spots by Solihull. Glad to see you managed to see some butterflies despite the conditions.

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

Thanks, Wurzel - yes, the next Bentley trip will be for SPBF, but it's difficult to say when that will be. I have to bear Marsh Frits in mind as well for an excursion southwestwards.

It is always worth a visit to Ryton, Neil - the weather did just enough to bring those Hairstreaks out at the right moment. There seem to be four different individuals there too.

Monday 12th May. There were big showers around, but after work a big patch of blue sky hovered over my local patch. Too good to miss, but the walk was disappointing, with the sum of four GVW, three Brimstones, two Commas, two Peacocks, a Small White and an Orange Tip being all there was to see.

I hope the fact that quite a lot of the paths were underwater, and other areas very soggy, has not affected the later-emerging species. No Brown Argus, Common Blue, Small Heath or Small Copper seen yet.

Dave

[Wurzel]

That walk doesn't sound to bad to me Dave - it's more than I'm seeing on my stop-offs at the moment. Good luck with the Marshies

Have a godun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Wednesday 14th May: What a glorious day. I had resolved from the start to escape work after about four and head down to Denbies. For once the M25 was not a complete nightmare, and I was on the hillside just before five. I saw nothing in Steers Field, but immediately after passing through the gate onto the main hillside, I disturbed a Green Hairstreak from the ground, and then another. They took off horizontally and went down into the grass again, but I couldn't find either one: my efforts merely stirred a Small Heath into flight, and then a Dingy Skipper.

I set off across the slopes, aiming diagonally down to the opposite corner with the plan to come back along the bottom of the hill. Within a short time, I was seeing Adonis Blues, and it became apparent that they were widespread across the whole slope. By the time I had turned to walk back, they had started to gravitate generally to the bottom of the hillside, along with Dingy Skippers, Small Heaths and one or two Common Blues.

Finally I spotted a definite Grizzled Skipper as well, thought I had seen a few unconfirmed possibles before this.

Nearly back to the gate, it was clear that the blues were starting to roost, and characteristically they opened their wings for a last soak in the rays of the westering sun. Little blue jewels dotted the green.

Overall, I must have seen 20 or so Adonis Blues (including three or four females), half a dozen Common Blues, a Brown Argus, a dozen Small Heaths, those two Green Hairstreaks, around ten Dingy Skippers (a bit poor, really), one definite Grizzled Skipper, four or five Brimstones, two Peacocks and a Speckled Wood. There were also a lot of day-flying moths, especially Burnet moths.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave, some nice shots there, particularly like the Grizzled Skipper and the last Adonis Blue

Cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

Lovely images, Dave.

I'm tempted to see if Adonis Blues are out at Rodborough Common in Gloucestershire this Saturday (assuming the weather holds).

[Wurzel]

Great shots of the Adonis Dave I've been checking out one of my local sites a fair bit recently but still none - in fact I still haven't seen a Common Blue or Brown Argus
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

I'm sure they'll be out soon, Wurzel! This warm weather will bring everything out...

Friday 16th May: Following advice from Wurzel on their Wiltshire whereabouts, I headed off early in search of Marsh Fritillaries. Arriving on site around ten, I quickly found that they were already up and about, and in very good numbers. Over six hours, I may well have seen a hundred individuals. In addition, I have never seen so many Green Hairstreaks in one locality. They were everywhere, with males tussling around the hawthorns and females popping up in the grass every few yards and being chased by the Marsh Frits.

Add to that lots of Dingy and Grizzled Skippers, Small Heaths, a Brown Argus or two, Common and Small Blues (though not many of either), a few Peacocks and Orange Tips and a couple of Small Tortoiseshells flying manically around at the top of the hill, and you have a most extraordinary place.

What struck me was the amazing variety in colour there is with Marsh Fritillaries. I took a lot of photos, many of which were spoiled by the habit this butterfly has of basking under grass stems, but which clearly demonstrated the colour differences. These are the better ones! Just look at the difference between the third and fourth ones below...

Goodness knows what a typical one is supposed to look like! Most were recently emerged - in fact I found several which were still drying on grass stalks.

All in all, it was well worth the drive - the countryside looked splendid today at what has to be my favourite time of year.

Dave

[Lee Hurrell]

Beautiful Dave, lovely photos. They are so different! Like two species.

Best wishes,

Lee

[millerd]

Thanks, Lee! Beautiful creatures.

Saturday 17th May: Another excursion, another Fritillary. I have always wanted to have a look at Hutchinson's Bank, which has always boasted a good variety of butterflies, especially at this time of year. Added to this, it is really close to the end of one of the branches of the Croydon Tram system, so can be reached from me (Heathrow T5) for the price of a one-day travelcard. And now, to make the idea irresistible, it turns out that there are Glanville Fritillaries.

It took a tube, a bus, two trains and a tram, but I found my way onto the hillside before eleven. I had no idea where the Glanvilles might be found, so set out to explore. Dingy Skippers and Common Blues popped up everywhere, not huge numbers, but widespread and regular.

Brimstones were possibly the commonest species in fact, with females right across the slopes and males concentrated more towards the bottom.

I came across an area that had clearly been prepared with butterflies in mind, carpeted with wild strawberry and with regular scrapes and scallops sown with kidney and other vetches. Curiously I saw no Grizzled Skippers (though I was later told they are here), but did see Brown Argus, Small Blues, Small Heaths and a single Small Copper.

Wandering back to the start (the cutting), I encountered some similarly-minded folk with whom I walked down to the bridle path next to the main road - this is where Glanvilles had been seen earlier. A chap with eagle-eyes spotted one on the path, and it spent a good 30 minutes cruising up and down and posing on the bare ground very nicely. It recalled my first ever sighting of this species - in Greece, and on a remarkably similar dry path. However, despite patient searching, this proved to be the only one in evidence.

Other than those species mentioned above, there were still a few Orange Tips and Peacocks about, some Speckled Woods along the bridle path, and apparently some Green Hairstreaks (which eluded me completely).

It was then time to sample London's assorted public transport once again.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Some fabulous Fritillary action Dave I'm glad the Marshie site worked out well and the Glannie looks lush

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave, a great series of Marsh Fritillary photos Not a species that I am familiar with, I only saw them for the first time last year, but even than I noticed how variable they are.

Cracking Glanville shots too, another species that I have yet to see.

Cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

This site is becoming increasingly interesting, Dave. Clearly, someone has introduced Glanvilles here so it remains to be seen whether it's a viable location for them.

[millerd]

Thanks once again for your kind remarks - you can hardly go wrong with such photogenic creatures!

The Glanvilles are an introduction (or more strictly a re-introduction, though it is a long while since they flew here before). It is a warm site, with lots of the food plant, so who knows what may be possible. There's more about them in the May 2014 thread.

Sunday 18th May: much sunnier today, but a bit of a breeze too. Inspired by seeing ones and twos of Small Blue over the last couple of days, I decided to return to Totternhoe to see how they were doing there. Pretty well, is the answer! There was the usual concentration in the dozens around the spot under the cliffs, but they were spread out thinly everywhere else as well, even into the sheltered pit where the Dukes were to be found a couple of weeks ago (none today), which is some way off.

Several mating pairs were seen, attracting constant interference from other males.

There were also good numbers of Dingy Skippers, and frequent Green Hairstreaks too - females by their ground-hugging behaviour.

A couple of Grizzled Skippers were also seen, as well as plentiful Common Blues (including a couple of females), a few Brimstones and Orange Tips, the inevitable Peacock hanging on in there, and a Small Tortoiseshell too.

In the woods near the car park, I had seen a pair of sparring Speckled Woods: when I returned a few hours later they were spiralling in exactly the same spot. Such energy! Finally, I came upon this splendid beast of a caterpillar - is it a Drinker moth, or am I thinking of something else?

Dave