Willrow

[Wurzel]

Cracking report and images Willrow I find that when I'm out butterflying I can just forget everything, I become engrossed and can feel the endorphins flowing It's almost like doing meditative yoga, especially getting the shot lined up.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Nice shots Bill, especially the Marsh Fritillary on the Bluebells, lovely photo

Mike

[Willrow]

Thanks kindly Wurz and Mike, your comments are always very appreciated, my apologies if I don't always reciprocate with your own excellent reports where does Summer time go

Best Wishes,

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

[Willrow]

Spent a day at one of my local patches Parc Penallta, Near Ystrad Mynach, Glamorgan last Wednesday (11th) primarily to check out 'my' Chimney Sweeper colony, pleased to report their doing okay, this is a very local macro moth in South Wales and those I saw all looked mint fresh and I noticed one still had a bit of a curl to it's wing-tip.

Chimney Sweeper

The female Common Blue are I believe for some reason looking rather extra blue this year or is it my imagination?

Female Common Blue - extra blue???

There was certainly no shortage of coupled Common Blue, last year saw them in much healthier numbers than in some recent years and lets hope this trend continues for this beautiful species

In-cop Common Blue - love worn!!!

During my search along a mature path I came across a lovely Buff-tip macro moth, I've had many come to light, seeing them out in daylight on bracken though is a real delight, what a fascinating species this is, a broken twig perhaps

Superb Buff-tip

The local Caerphilly County Borough Council office staff must have one of the finest working views in the country; looking down on what was until some years ago habitat that held a small colony of Marsh Fritillary - I've suggested many times that a scheme is created to re-introduce them - but finances are tight and prevent it at present

What a view for the 600+ council staff to enjoy!!!

The underrated Meadow Brown

Another underrated species Dingy Skipper

The two species above might not be exactly colourful yet both have that certain something about them, the Dingy Skipper is usually very obliging when it comes to having it's photo taken but the Meadow Brown usually shuts up shop a very aware species.

My good fortune with the macro moths continued when I noticed a Shears nectaring, you can see where it got it's name from by studying the photo below.

Note the scissors pattern on mid-wing

I'm still seeing good numbers of Brimstone wherever there are flowers to suit it's palate, then it can be watched at ease, some are showing signs of wear and tear...a tough life

Brimstone on clover

My day ended almost as it began with Common Blue and I noticed a fiesty male with a not fully formed wing it's misfortune still didn't deter it from either quick flight or territory defence and I spent an age admiring it's pluck

Deformed wing but still quite capable of quick flight

Another 'love-match' in the making with a pair of Common Blue seen courting as I headed back to the car...and hey!...I'm actually starting to catch up with my Personal Diary dear people

Another pair of Common Blue heading for matrimony!!!

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

[Neil Freeman]

Cracking reports and photos Bill, looks like some great sites around your area.

Its not your imagination, there does seem to be an uncommon number of blue female Common Blues around this year

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots and report Willrow - especially like the Shears as I've not seen one of those before Your very blue Common Blue is very blue indeed - you could almost mistake it for the Irish form.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Those are very blue females, Bill. Lovely photos of something equal to any blue butterfly in my book.

Dave

[Willrow]

Thanks lads, nice comments

Regards,

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

[Willrow]

My adventures moved on to Haddon Hill, Exmoor on Thursday the 12th, to spend some time with Heath Fritillary which I had failed to find a couple of weeks earlier at Bincombe, believing that their emergence in Cornwall would also herald their emergence on Exmoor...mistake but on this visit I knew they were out The view from the car park is a very pleasant one and a few Exmoor ponies very obligingly grazed away unconcerned as I took a photo of the view presented behind them.

Exmoor Ponies

Twenty minutes walk from the car park and I had located my search area and the warm morning sun had helped me find my first butterflies of the day Green Hairstreak which appeared in excellent condition and a couple posed nicely for some images - not for long though because a 'turf war' was going on and the males were acting very 'macho'

One of the 'mobster' Green Hairstreak!!!

My first couple of Heath Fritillary were soon found as they busily moved through the bilbury and bramble, they frequently paused to take on bramble flower 'fuel' before continueing on their busy way. I do like this species and there's also something special about this lovey habitat that suits them so well

Open winged pose from Heath Fritillary...

Classic Heath Fritillary pose

Among the bilbury as I searched for the HF I disturbed a species of macro moth that has long evaded me - Wood Tiger - this is a significant species record for me because it means I have now finally managed to see all of our British tiger species and this was my bonus for the day

My final British tiger moth...found!!!

Few habitats are devoid of Large Skipper or so it seems and whenever they take time out from scrapping they provide lovely image opportunities especially before they get themselves beat up...and now its sounding as if I'm describing Exmoor as being akin to downtown Chigago in the 1920's...

Male Large Skipper

I must have seen well over a dozen Green Hairstreak in an area about the size of two tennis courts and most of them were in fine fettle, the species seem to have had an exceptionally good year, perhaps the best I can remember

One more lovely Green Hairsteak poses on fresh bracken

I left Haddon Hill just after lunch, during my visit I saw probably 18 to 20 Heath Fritillary and I can categorically state here that compared to Bincombe...Haddon is a real dawdle

On my journey home I decided on a diversion to visit Collard Hill in a vain yet hopeful attempt to see the years first Large Blue but I knew I was being overly optimistic because last year they didn't appear until the 14th (which by coincidence they also did this year!) and apart from the wonderful setting the hill was rather quiet.

New info board Collard Hill

My visit wasn't without its interest though because I did come across a Painted Lady that was pretending to be a Grayling and to be rude about her she was hardly painted up at all, a drab worn example of the species

Pretending to be a Grayling...

My 'bonus' species for Collard was a Thistle Ermine micro moth, this can appear to be more like a macro moth especially when seen in flight and is rather typical of the difficulties presented to beginners in differentiating correctly between the macro and micro moths...so just stick to butterflies

The stunning Thistle Ermine

After spending sometime in quiet contemplation on the hill, I reluctantly left the splendid view behind and strolled back to my car, in the lovely flower meadow along the footpath I saw just a solitary Greater Butterfly Orchid in an area I usually see several and so I ended my visit with a snap of this beautiful flower and then headed back home, a full day behind me...much enjoyed

Greater Butterfly Orchid

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

[Wurzel]

I read with relish about the Heath Frits at Haddon as I have been targeting them for the last couple of years but they're just that little bit too far Mind you next year I have offered to take my wife away for the weekend...to Exmoor The Greenstreaks look in good fettle for this time of the year and the Wood Tiger is a great looking species

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Willrow]

Mind you next year I have offered to take my wife away for the weekend...to Exmoor

I'm sure your missus' will be delighted to go with you on a Heath Fritillary hol Wurz...what more come a woman possibly ask

Thank you for the nice report response

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

[CJB]

Hi Willrow,

Great pictures of the Heaths, which is one I am yet to see!

It will take a rebooting of my WMS (Wife Management System) before I can head to Exmoor!

Flutter on!

CJB

[Willrow]

Super summer weather during the early emergence period for the much threatened High Brown Fritillary saw me venturing to the Alun Valley, Near Bridgend and its always a great pleasure to return to this relatively unspoilt location that has defied the odds and still retains healthy populations of not just HBF but also Dark Green & Small Pearl-bordered Firitillary. There are several reasons why the HBF have survived at this location beyond essential habitat requirements; much of the site is on private land, it's secluded and has hard to access terrian, another reason is the superb work done by Richard Smith and the hard-working volunteers of Butterfly Conservation

Although much of the Alun Valley is privately owned, butterfly enthusiasts that understandably wish to see this rare and threatened butterfly can do so by visiting the publically accessible Old Castle Down, Near Ewenny (Grid Ref SS903 760) where it can be found along the tree line among bracken, scrub and bramble, this area is also relatively comfortable from a searchers point of view compared to the rough and tough terrain of the Alun Valley.

Below I have included two habitat photo's of the same area, one from last year the other from this year, I firmly believe that habitat management should include annual record imagery to refer to over time, one photo is worth a thousand words and by comparison you can often see what you got right and what went wrong the digital era has been an immense advantage to the record keeper.

HBF habitat late June 2013

Same HBF habitat late June this year

When the weather is hot both near relatives HBF & DGF are positively hyper with males of both species hunting out females, the males of the former species seemed to check out any pathway cut through bracken that the habitat management had provided, the scent of females was obviously much stronger down low and I eventually saw at least a half dozen High Brown Fritillary in-cop and took just one photograph as a record rather than disturb any future generation production

High Brown paired on a bed of petals!!!

It always proves difficult to count these similar species in flight, their seriously powerful flyers only rivalled by the larger Silver-washed Fritillary so its easier to count an aggregate of both and on this occasion at least 60 were on the wing and showed no sign of ceasing their relentless activity

Dark Green Fritillary on Marsh Thistle

High Brown Fritillary at rest...at last!!!

Apart from the HBF & DGF there were also several Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary out and about and also many Large Skipper seen 'sun-bathing' on the bracken, how can anyone possibly resist photographing these overlooked little butterflies and there appear to be lots more females about now.

Female Large Skipper

As I left the site I noticed a single Bee Orchid tucked away on the side of the track, luckily it had managed to avoid any clumsy feet

One lucky Bee Orchid!!!

I can never spend too much time in the Alun Valley and feel very fortunate to have it near enough to home to pay regular visits, I shall return in the next week or so, I'm constantly adding more to my understanding of these beautiful fritillaries but only time spent will allow that.

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

[Wurzel]

Fantastic stuff Willrow - those HBFs look lush Do they show a penchant for any source of nectar in particular as DGFs always seem to go for Knapweed?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Willrow]

Great pictures of the Heaths, which is one I am yet to see!

Many thanks CJB, not so far from Gloucestershire for a visit to Haddon Hill, and thoroughly recommended

Fantastic stuff Willrow - those HBFs look lush Do they show a penchant for any source of nectar in particular as DGFs always seem to go for Knapweed?

Thank you Wurz Marsh Thistle is the favoured 'purple' food plant of DGF, but most bramble flowers are acceptable to HBF...we like to spoil em'

Kind Regards,

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

[Neil Freeman]

Great reports and photos Bill

I stopped off at Haddon Hill last year on my way to a few days in the Heddon Valley, much easier than Bin Combe which I also visited whilst down that way. Your photos are stirring memories and already putting thoughts into my head for next year

Saw loads of HBF and DGF in the Heddon Valley and noticed that whilst both species would use both Meadow Thistle and Bramble flowers, the DGFs were mostly on the Thistles whereas the HBFs seemed to prefer the brambles.

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

Lovely series of reports and photos, Bill. That Painted Lady at Collard looks very much like the one I saw there on 15th. My (limited) observations of HBF and DGF at Arnside agree with Neil's thoughts: the former prefer brambles, the latter prefer purple flowers. I use it when I'm up there as a first guess for which they are!

Dave

[David M]

As you know, Bill, I'm very familiar with that Alun Valley landscape and what strikes me is how much more 'lush' it looks this year, no doubt due to the wet winter/spring this year. The stream that bisects this site was dry this time last year, but it is flowing freely right now and the water table is clearly much higher than in 2013, which would explain the preponderance of water-loving umbellifers in the flat part of the meadow behind the tree cover in your images.

It'll be interesting to see how this affects the numbers of Fritillaries in the lowest part of this site. My guess is that with fewer marsh thistles they might be less numerous in this particular spot but to counter this, the 'greener' vegetation on the Down itself may afford the larvae from this year's generation an increased chance of survival.

Every year throws up surprises and I'm looking forward to at least half a dozen visits over the next 6 weeks to 'take stock' of what's happening.

[Willrow]

Your photos are stirring memories and already putting thoughts into my head for next year

Go for it Neil, you can never start planning a butterflying adventure too early...and thanks for your response

My (limited) observations of HBF and DGF at Arnside agree with Neil's thoughts: the former prefer brambles, the latter prefer purple flowers

These are greedy unfussy Welsh Frits Dave...they will accept anything on offer thank you for your input.

Regards to you both,

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

[David M]

Absolutely have to agree with Neil. It's rare to see DGFs on bramble but HBFs seem to love it.

That said, neither can resist marsh thistles, although from my observations these two frits' preferences are rather like those of Meadow Brown and Ringlet - DGFs are 'open space' butterflies whereas High Browns tend to favour areas where there is a bit of 'cover'.