essex buzzard

[essexbuzzard]

Cheers Lee,i havn't checked my emails yet but i will take a look-i can't wait to find out what you have seen!

TUESDAY 8 JULY

With a change in weather forecast,it was a change of plan today,as we took the long drive from Lancaster,across the Penines and up to the north-east of England. We arrived late morning at Seahouses,and,after lunch,went on a boat trip to the Farne Islands. For any nature lover,a visit here is a must.

Traveling around the Farnes,several colonies of grey seals were hauled out on the rocks. They are used to visitors,and take relatively little notice of the boats full of people,or the clicking cameras.

Further round,many cormorants and shags were breeding. Rafts of guillemots and puffins were feeding on the sea. Gannets were passing through and,on the rocks,herring,lesser and great black-back gulls were watching over the colonies of sea birds.

Then we reached Inner Farne,an island were you can get off and walk around the bird colonies. Arctic and Sandwhich terns are the first to greet you,the arctic terns in particular are very defensive of their nests,a hat is advisable! This gives way to puffins,which nest in the underground burrows. Further up,on the cliffs,guillemots,razorbills,kittiwakes,shags and more puffins are seen,most of which are just a few feet away,giving great photo opportunities. The weather was good,and the many visitors,ourselves included, had a great time here. Time flew by and all too soon,it was time to board the boats again,and return to Seahouses,where,in the harbour,several families of eiders were present.

[essexbuzzard]

A few more pic's from Tuesday

[Pauline]

Brings back memories Mark. When growing up in the North East an Auntie took me to Seahouses as a birthday treat but never got to the Farne islands and didn't see a Puffin - which I have always regretted. I even took an evening cruise around the jurassic coast for that very reason but only 1 seen that night with the help of very strong bins. Great account and lovely photos.

[essexbuzzard]

Thanks Pauline. A bit of a haul from Hampshire but if you ever get the chance,you realy must go!

WEDNESDAY 9 JULY.

Today dawned clear,so a short road journey saw us at Meathop Moss by 7AM. Here flies the Large Heath. It's been several years since i've seen one,so this was a priority of mine in 2014. We soon began to find adults and,because of the early hour, some settled,with a bit of patience,for pictures. Many were already showing signs of wear,while others had bird-peck marks,a narrow escape from death. But a few were in good condition,and showed for the pictures below. By 9AM,though, temperatures were much higher,and the picture-taking for them was over,they being much more active by now. So we admired the bog plants,and many black darter dragonflies,before heading out.

[Wurzel]

Stunning markings on those Heaths Essex Cracking shots too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

WEDNESDAY 9 JULY (CTD)

Than onto Arnside Knott.Arriving 10.15,it was already clear it was going to be a hot day,and everything was already zooming around supercharged. We spent a coulpe of hours,but couldn't get near anything,so we went into the town to find some shade,and to get lunch.

Returning mid-afternoon,it was even hotter than before,and nothing landed,even for a few seconds,before 5PM. Several speeding fritillaries were seen,but identification was impossible.

We eventually saw several Northern Brown Argus,most were old males,but then a nice female which at last showed well for several minutes,giving good views.But overall the Knott was dissappointing,with far fewer butterflies than i remember from past visits. But in the evening,a few fritillaries settled,most were worn and all were Dark Green Fritillaries. The only thing present in good numbers were Grayling,with about 15 seen.

Anyone thinking of visiting,this place is crawling with ticks-i've never seen so many. So no shorts,unless you want to be pulling ticks for a week afterwards!

[essexbuzzard]

The only sniff i got of a High Brown Fritillary is this cropped picture,taken at full zoom,at a distance of about 20 or 30 feet,which landed for about 10 seconds after 7PM.I believe it is a HBF(to follow).

[essexbuzzard]

HBF (i think).

[lee3764]

Hi Mark,

I visited Arnside Knott on Monday 7th July with my 10 year old son, Robert and like you had no success with photographing anything as everything had new Duracell batteries in & were flying at speed without stopping. Ticks were everywhere too!! I would think from your photo that it IS a High Brown Fritillary judging by the look and shape of the wings on the upperside! We did also see close (ish) up a Dark Green Fritillary female with one of it's hindwings completely albino whilst the other 3 wings were normal! Hope you had a good time up North as we all did & ticked all the species boxes!
Cheers mate,
Lee Slaughter (and Robert)...Cornwall.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Mark,

I would go with HBF as well for that last shot, I can just make out the raised forewing veins of a male.

I have visited Arnide Knott the past couple of years in late July/early August for Scotch Argus and seen High Browns mainly in the lower clearings and down the Heathwaite path although they are past their best by then. I have had the advantage of staying up there for a few days and usually gone up the Knott between 09.00-11.00 and again after 4.00pm when things usually slow down a bit. When it gets too hot the butterflies are either in super speedy mode, as you found, or hiding away in the shade somewhere.

Cheers,

Neil.

[essexbuzzard]

Cheers Neil,that is exactly what we found. So on out last day,Thursday 10 July,we were on the Knott by 8AM. It was already very warm,and butterflies were active. But we did manage to see a few Dark Greens settled,and a nice Grayling was feeding on bramble. But by 10 it was too hot so,after a nice couple of hours,we headed to Bowness-on-Windermere for an early lunch. Trust me to find probably the only real Cornish Pasty shop in the Lake District!

After enjoying it,we were off to Liverpool for the afternoon where a breeze off the Mersey made it more comfortable. Then home.

Thanks Lee.With the concave edge and sex-brand just visible,this goes down as my only HBF of the year.

[Maximus]

Great Large Heath shots Buzzard and I agree thats a definite HB frit.

[essexbuzzard]

Thank-you very much for the feedback.

CATCHING UP

In the last two weeks,there has been a big emergence of fresh Peacocks,and the gardens and woods are full of them. There are still a few caterpillars about,too. We are so fortunate that this,one of our most spectacular butterflies,is also one of the commonest . Through a hand-lens the markings are exquisite. If the weather is good,they will feed up for another two or three weeks,then start looking for hibernation sites as early as mid August.

Plenty of summer generation Small Tortoiseshells are still to be seen,and there are lots of caterpillars on the nettles as well.It's been a pleasure to witness another great year for this lovely species.

The Ringlets are getting worn now,and most will be gone within a week-what a short life they have .Hutchinsonii Commas are still common in the evenings,and Purple Hairstreaks abundant. I must have seen hundreds,if not thousands,of these in my life,but i have never got a decent photograph. Large,Small and Essex Skippers remain common,as do Large,Small and Green-veined Whites. The odd Red Admiral is seen most days,and Silver Washed Fritillaries are common in the woods-i had the great pleasure of watching their courtship the other day-the female flying straight and the male looping behind. The hedgerows,and woodland edges and rides have plenty of Gatekeepers.

[essexbuzzard]

It's been another hot,though not always sunny week. On Wednesday,we went up to the Devils Dyke,near Newmarket racecourse. After a mostly cloudy,humid but windy day,it was hot,sunny and windy when we arrived. Straight away,there were Chalkhill Blues in the car-park,my first of the year.

By time we got onto the Dyke proper,there were hundreds of Chalkhill Blues everywhere,though they were impossible to photograph in the hot conditions. So we slowly walked along the Dyke up to the A14 and back,enjoying the flowers and the swallows and housemartins,which were probably scouping up my Chalkhill Blues!

By the time we got back,the sun was dipping,and at last the butterflies were slowing a little,giving me the chance to take a few pic's,and check the identification of the blues. Most were Chalkhills,but a few were Common,and it was nice to see a few Brown Argus,including 3 together in a roosting group-i havn't seen many BA yet this year. A few Marbled Whites were present,as well as my first new Brimstones.

Two kestrels were hovering over the Dyke.

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Essex, the Brown Argus is lush and the Chalk Hills roosting looks like a proper "butterfly Orchid"

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

WELCOME to August. We now expect to see the last species emerge tough,this year with early emergences,all our species were out by the end of July which has caused me a few problems as i can't keep up! We also now see a rapid shortening of the days,by the end of this month it will be going dark by 8PM in southern England.

The Scotch Argus is a species i have not seen for several years. Again with the early flight this year,getting the time right for a species whose closest colony is 300 miles away has been a challenge! Thankfully the weather has been favorable and,on Monday,we visited one of the English colonies.

Due to unforseen circumstances,we arrived at Arnside Knott later than we would haved liked,at mid morning. But it was a super day,slightly cooler than last time we were here,and it wasn't long before we were watching Scotch Argus adults in good numbers. In the sunshine,males were very active but when the sun went in,they droped to the ground. By afternoon,it was warm enough for adults to remain active during cloudier spells. We found a female that was laying eggs. The first was layed,as expected,on the foodplant,blue moor grass. But then she surprised us by laying the next egg halfway up a tree trunk! Many adults were nectaring,and some found marjoram attractive.

We spent most of our day enjoying these Scotch Argus,but wandered at times to see what else was around. Fresh Brimstones and Peacocks were seen,as were a couple of High Brown Fritillary females,one of which was feeding on a large betony patch. Graylings were again found,rather more faded by now. Fresh Walls had emerged.

By evening,we had had our fill,it was time to start the long journey home,and a chance to reflect on a rather good day!

Full species list; Small Skipper,Large,Small and Green-veined Whites,Northern Brown Argus,Common Blue,Peacock,Red Admiral,High Brown Fritillary,Speckled Wood,Gatekeeper,Grayling,Wall,Meadow Brown and Scotch Argus.

[millerd]

Lovely Scotch Argus pictures, EB. I missed you at Arnside by a couple of days, and missed seeing either NBA or Walls too. Looks like it wasn't quite as hot as Saturday was!

Dave

[David M]

Nice images, EB. I have never done this butterfly justice but I intend to go up north myself early next week to rectify that.

[essexbuzzard]

Thanks for your comments. Good luck next week,David,though you wont need it,as long as the weather is reasonable.They are a fantastic species,and it was great to see them again,after several years.

[Neil Freeman]

Great report and photos from Arnside Knott EB, one of my favourite places

I have been up there the past couple of years in late July /early August for Scotch Argus which is usually too late for NBA hence my earlier visit in June this year. I am thinking I may try a time somewhere in between next year and try for fresher DGF and HBF (hee hee!!, already thoughts going around my head for next year )

Cheers,

Neil.