Hoggers

[Lee Hurrell]

Sadly, the Ice Cream Van wasn't there today (I usually have a celebratory "99") so I had to settle for one of my Marmite and Banana sandwiches instead

It's the small details that make these reports! I too have been known to partake in a celebratory "99", particularly at Denbies.

That dark, dusky PBF is a beauty, Hoggers. I only saw the one when I visited Abbots Wood on Tuesday 6th May.

Best wishes,

Lee

[Wurzel]

Marmite and Banana sandwich - sounds intriguing Cracking shots Hoggers especially the heavily marked PBFs

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Hoggers]

I remember an Ice Cream van parked at Durdle Door with particular fondness: It was several years ago and I'd just seen my first ever Lulworth Skipper so I treated myself to a "Jumbo 99" with lots of red sauce to mark the occasion!

I wondered if that boldly marked Pearl was a female?

Glorious weather today down here in Kent. On my dog walk I found two new butterflies, a Small Heath

And a Brown Argus

Just one of each.

I had a good look for Common Blues but no luck yet (Hopefully some will appear over the warm weekend to come.)

[Hoggers]

Fabulous weather down here in Kent but I haven't been able to get out chasing butterflies. Yesterday I went to a wedding, although I did spot a male Orange Tip crossing the garden of the reception venue (a butterfly hunter is never off-duty) and today I appear to have been drafted in to redecorate the bedrooms... But I asked for (and eventually was given) permission to walk the dogs.

And so with the Bosses parting words "And don't be gone all day!" ringing in my ears, I set off for my Patch.

It was already hot by 10am when I got to the fields. I thought that in the time available to me I'd try to find a Common Blue. They're plentiful here in season but today,despite checking the hot spots, I didn't see a single one. So they've yet to emerge on my Patch.

However, I didn't return home to resume my duties empty handed. While searching for Blues on the Birds-foot-trefoil I was astonished to find a single Green Hairstreak

In the thirty years that I've walked this Patch I've never seen one here before!

[Hoggers]

BLUE TUESDAY

Out with the dogs at 6 this morning I came across my first Common Blue of the year. Just the one, warming itself in the sun. I didn't have my camera on me but I took this encounter as my inspiration for the day and decided to visit a couple of sites where I hoped I'd be in with a good chance of finding more Blues.

First stop was Kingsdown, along the Warmer Road, for Small Blues. I'd teamed up with Brother Hoggles by this stage. We visit this area of shingle waste ground every year as it is home to a thriving Small Blue population.

Sure enough they were present in numbers

I saw around 30

Lovely to see

Full of vim and verve

Delightful little creatures

We also saw there, Small and Large Whites, Brown Argus, an Orange Tip, Small Copper and a Common Blue

I wish I could have taken a photograph of a Small Blue alongside the Small Copper because seeing them together at the same time really emphasised just how small Small Blues are!

After an hour with the Small Blues, Brother Hoggles and I set out for Lydden Nature Reserve at Temple Ewell, a fantastic butterfly site.

Within moments of stepping on to the hillside we saw our first Adonis Blue of the season

What a delight it is to see

We counted 12

Here we also saw Common Blues, Brown Argus, Brimstone, Speckled Woods , Dingy Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell and Large White

[Goldie M]

Great photo's Hogger's, they make me want to move South All these Butterflies people are seeing and nothing up here in the Blue shall we say, yet! Goldie

[Wurzel]

A great set of Blue shots and interestingly they show quite a rage in wear so there's hope that I'll be able to get out and see a few more fresh Small Blues

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Hoggers]

Hi Goldie, you won't be wanting to move South when all your High Browns start to emerge in July!

Cheers Wurzel, yes you're quite right some were worn, some fresh and some in between. It's a great site for them. I wish I could have got a photo of a Small Blue alongside a Small Copper: I thought Small Coppers were small!

It's been mild down here in Kent but wet and windy. The sky cleared this afternoon so hopefully tomorrow will be more like Butterfly Weather.

Gloomy though it was when I took the hounds out this morning I did bump into a Common Blue

They're just starting to show at this site.

And I was delighted to spot an all too rare Red Admiral in the garden

A welcome sight.

While I was up the garden I took a picture to show how it looks today

Quite a transformation on how it was before I began gardening for wildlife in 2012. I'm particularly proud of the Yellow Flags that you will see to the left of the picture: I "rescued" a clump from what is now a wilderness of concrete, brought it home and popped it in one of the new ponds that I installed last year. It has thrived and produced about 25 magnificent flowers.

(You'll see at the top of the photo that I also managed to snap the first Purple Emperor of the season...!)

And while I'm in "Catch Up" mode, of the 10 Blue Tit Chicks that hatched out in my nest box, sadly (and somewhat surprisingly given how mild it's been) only 2 have survived but both look in fine fettle and close to flying the nest

Ahhh!

[David M]

What's the name of the plant your Red Admiral is nectaring from, Hoggers?

[Hoggers]

Hi David, it's Allium - I bought a bag of bulbs in the Winter, planted them and they've flowered this year, beautiful purple scented globes that are highly attractive to butterflies, bees and humans!

[David M]

Thanks for the ID, Hoggers. Yes, I see how the flowers resemble wild garlic but the leaves look very buddleia-like.

You've certainly done your homework regarding plants that attract butterflies and you got your reward with that RA.

[Hoggers]

Walking the dogs this morning I came upon a curious little bird that was racing up and down the muddy edge of a pond and abruptly stopping to have a look at me

I'd no idea what it was and so took a few long-range snaps

I hadn't noticed its bright yellow spectacles until I looked at the photographs

My Observer's Book of Birds tells me it's a Little Ringed Plover "a rare vagrant now become a Summer visitor".

Not far from this chap I found several Common Blues which have now fully emerged here

Whilst watching the Blues I heard a Cuckoo and a Turtle Dove calling, so all in all a very pleasant start to my day!

Perhaps it was finding a Little Ringed Plover that prompted me to go down to Dungeness, although it wasn't rare birds that I was interested in but rather butterflies and in particular the Small Coppers.

I found the place in full bloom

And certainly there are Small Coppers to be found amongst the flowers as you can see, but those still present are rather worn and fewer in number

But those left still ornament the flowers

Nonetheless,there has been a "changing of the guard" at Dungeness for just as this first generation of Small Coppers is now in its dog days, so the Common Blues have taken over and are now plentiful

I also found this poor one which although able to fly had deformed wings

In addition to the numerous Common Blues I saw several Small Heaths

A Small Whites, 2 pristine Small Tortoiseshells, a Peacock

(which despite its condition was flying strongly!) 2 Red Admirals and, best surprise of all, 4 Painted Ladies

It seems there's some migration going on.

Back home I found 2 Red Admirals in the garden

So the day started with a Little Ringed Plover then went on to include Common Blues in profusion, my first Painted Ladies of the year and encouraging numbers of Red Admirals compared with last year: very nice!

[Neil Freeman]

Nice report and photos Hoggers

Looks like you had better weather down there than we have had this weekend, rain nearly all day yesterday and a dull overcast most of the day today.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Lovely Red Admiral shots Hoggers and great LRP - the yellow specks are diagnostic in separating this from Ringer Plovers (there are other ways but this is the most obvious)

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Hoggers]

Last friday I stopped in at East Blean Wood on my way home from work. It was cool and cloudy. I did find a Heath Fritillary but it was still wrapped up in its caterpillar stage!

Yesterday morning was warm and sunny. I took a walk around Orlestone Forest, eyes peeled for a White Admiral: no luck. But I did see a Red Admiral, Brimstones, Speckled Woods and an Orange Tip.

This morning on the dog walk I saw 4 fresh Small Tortoiseshells

And three Brown Argus

The Common Blue population has swollen to around 20, mostly males, with a mix of the worn

and the fresh

Good to see them on a rather gloomy day

Whilst there a Painted Lady came skimming through. I saw 4 last sunday at Dungeness, so looks like they're on the move again.

I've got quite a large number of bees visiting the garden these days, the most common of which seem to be Tree Bees. Now and again I find a bumblebee in distress: they'll sit there looking unhappy, unable to fly, waving a plaintive leg at me. A few days ago it crossed my mind that I might be of some help to them. I wondered if they might have run out of fuel so I put a pinch of sugar on a plate, dissolved it in a drop or two of water and put the bee on the plate to see what would happen. Sure enough, the bumblebee would get a twinkle in its eye when it detected the sugar,extend its drinking straw and take on fuel. Its wings then begin to flutter ever more quickly and soon there was lift off.

Not a terribly practicable method of rescue in the field, but for use in the garden it's quite effective.

[Willrow]

Nice report Hoggers, surprising what you can see on a 'dog walk' and keep yourself fit as a bonus!!!

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

[Hoggers]

Hi Bill, yes, it's certainly nice to combine the two and "I'm just taking the dogs for a walk" is my perfect cover for a bit of butterflying!

Using just that excuse I went for a rummage around in a large Stinging Nettle patch by the river where I take the hounds. I see plenty of Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks here so I guessed there might be caterpillars by now and as you can see I wasn't disappointed

I found large clumps of both Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars

I counted eight separate colonies of them in all.

Nearby there were two Brown Argus and a handful of Common Blues including the second female I've seen this year

I followed this couple for a while: the male was paying her court and tried on a bit of "abdomen curling" but she was having none of it.

[Wurzel]

Great reports Hoggers That Small Tortoiseshell really stands out, really contrasting colours.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Hoggers]

The butterfly that I most set my heart on seeing this year is the Marsh Fritillary. I've seen it only once before, some years ago, and I didn't see it well: just a single bedraggled specimen one cold day on Hod Hill. Since then I've intended to try to see them again but things never worked out, either when I was free to make the trip West the weather was against me or if the weather was favourable I couldn't go. I just wanted to see them in numbers on a sunny day, flapping around having fun.

Well, I have at last succeeded in doing just that

I went West with my Dad and Brother Hoggles yesterday. We got to Cotley Hill near Warminster just as the rain had stopped and as the sun came out and my goodness did we see some Marsh Fritillaries

We stayed in the area overnight so returned to the hill again this morning

It's a marvellous site for butterflies (but wear wellies if you're going now as the track up the hill is a river of mud)

As well as the Marsh Fritillaries we saw Dingy, Grizzled and Large Skippers (my first of the season)

And a Small Blue

But it was the Marsh Fritillaries that really made it for us

After filling our (Wellie) Boots on Cotley HIll we drove to Bentley Wood for out first ever visit there. Wurzel had kindly sent me some guidance on how to find the place (and most importantly the Eastern Clearing): thanks Wurzel, much appreciated.

So within an hour or so of watching Marsh Fritillaries on Cotley Hill we were soon watching Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries as well!

Several fresh ones

and we watched a female depositing eggs amongst the leaf litter.

It was so good to see them

(and we also saw a tired looking Pearl bordered Fritillary there amongst the Small pbfs)

It was a wonderful trip, one we had long planned for and one we will never forget

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Hoggers - glad to help out with directions anytime

Have a goodun

Wurzel