Susie

[Susie]

Butterflying has been limited today to those seen locally while I've walked the dog. Still plenty of meadow browns around, a few whites, some red admirals and small tortoiseshells and loads of large and small skippers. I'm still hoping to see a painted lady, I thought we were going to be invaded by them but I've yet to see one.



1. Peacock - 11/01/14
2. Red admiral - 05/03/14
3. Brimstone - 05/03/14
4. Small tortoiseshell - 09/03/14
5. Comma - 09/03/14
6. Small white - 01/04/14
7. Orange tip - 01/04/14
8. Holly blue - 09/04/14
9. Speckled wood - 09/04/14
10.Green veined white - 13/04/14
11.Dingy skipper - 21/04/14
12.Pearl Bordered Fritillary - 22/04/14
13.Duke of Burgundy - 24/04/14
14.Wood white - 26/04/14
15.Grizzled skipper - 28/04/14
16.Small copper - 28/04/14
17.Wall brown - 28/04/14
18.Small heath - 07/05/14
19.Brown argus - 10/05/14
20.Adonis blue - 11/05/14
21.Common blue - 11/05/14
22.Small blue - 12/05/14
23.Green hairstreak - 14/05/14
24. Marsh fritillary - 20/05/14
25. Glanville fritillary - 25/05/2014
26. Small pearl bordered fritillary - 31/05/2014
27. SWALLOWTAIL!! - 01/06/2014
28. Meadow brown - 08/06/2014
29. Large skipper - 08/06/2014
30. Large white - 08/06/2014
31. Silver studded blue - 16/06/2014
32. Clouded yellow - 17/06/2014
33. Dark green fritillary - 17/06/2014
34. Marbled white - 17/06/2014
35. Silver washed fritillary - 21/06/2014
36. White admiral - 21/06/2014
37. Purple hairstreak - 21/06/2014
38. Purple emperor - 30/06/2014
39. Small skipper - 05/07/2014

[Susie]

Gatekeeper at box hill today. Another one for the list.

[Susie]

And Chalk Hill Blue today

[Wurzel]

Full steam ahead Susie there can be only a couple more species left now for the challenge (Grayling, Silver Spotted Skipper and Brown Hairstreak?)

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Susie]

Hi wurzel, grayling are a bit of a treck from me so I am hoping for Essex skipper, silver spotted skipper, and brown hairstreak to complete my challenge. I may also find painted lady if I'm lucky. I am hoping to go looking for lulworth skipper and white letter hairstreak as extras

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Susie,
If you go for late Lulworths at Durlston you might not be able to avoid Grayling .
BWs, Neil

[Mildheart]

Susie

You missed Ringlet off your list.

[Susie]

Hello Mildheart,

Thank you, you are absolutely right I must have forgotten to add them to the list in all the excitement over HIM Just two more to go then.

Updated list



1. Peacock - 11/01/14
2. Red admiral - 05/03/14
3. Brimstone - 05/03/14
4. Small tortoiseshell - 09/03/14
5. Comma - 09/03/14
6. Small white - 01/04/14
7. Orange tip - 01/04/14
8. Holly blue - 09/04/14
9. Speckled wood - 09/04/14
10.Green veined white - 13/04/14
11.Dingy skipper - 21/04/14
12.Pearl Bordered Fritillary - 22/04/14
13.Duke of Burgundy - 24/04/14
14.Wood white - 26/04/14
15.Grizzled skipper - 28/04/14
16.Small copper - 28/04/14
17.Wall brown - 28/04/14
18.Small heath - 07/05/14
19.Brown argus - 10/05/14
20.Adonis blue - 11/05/14
21.Common blue - 11/05/14
22.Small blue - 12/05/14
23.Green hairstreak - 14/05/14
24. Marsh fritillary - 20/05/14
25. Glanville fritillary - 25/05/2014
26. Small pearl bordered fritillary - 31/05/2014
27. SWALLOWTAIL!! - 01/06/2014
28. Meadow brown - 08/06/2014
29. Large skipper - 08/06/2014
30. Large white - 08/06/2014
31. Silver studded blue - 16/06/2014
32. Clouded yellow - 17/06/2014
33. Dark green fritillary - 17/06/2014
34. Marbled white - 17/06/2014
35. Silver washed fritillary - 21/06/2014
36. White admiral - 21/06/2014
37. Purple hairstreak - 21/06/2014
38. Ringlet - 30/06/2014
39. Purple emperor - 30/06/2014
40. Small skipper - 05/07/2014
41. Gatekeeper - 06/07/2014
42. Chalk hill blue - 08/07/2014

[Willrow]

Thats an impressive list Susie...sign of a great Summer

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

[Susie]

Yes indeed Everything seems to have flown early this year and I am lucky to have had brief glimpses of many of our lovely butterflies. I'm nearing the end of my challenge for this year already and although I haven't managed to see everything I had hoped to see at the start of the year it has been good. My favourite butterfly experiences of this year have to be three firsts for me. Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary, Marsh Fritillary - and the most surprising - swallowtail.

[Susie]

A good butterflying day today. Went to Marlpost Woods, Southwater at lunchtime with middle daughter and woofer for a walk. Loads of meadow brown, ringlet, and skippers, flying and a few silver washed frits, red admiral and peacock about too. We watched a lovely courtship display from a pair of silver washed frits. I never tire of watching the male cartwheel around the female. Possibly one Purple Emperor sallowing but can't say for sure. The place was deserted apart from us, as it always seems to be now. Long gone are the days when you couldn't move for bumping into another butterflyer.

Late this afternoon I went to Denbies. Again it was good for butteflies. Marbled whites, meadow brown, ringlet, small skippers, dark green fritillary, small heath, red admiral, peacock, a single bright yellow brimstone, but by far the most numerous butterflies were the chalk hill blues. I had hoped to see them go to roost but although some were settled in the grass they weren't settled enough to let me close with my camera and the breeze meant any shots were haphazard. Still they were great to see, and the number of abs are building. I hardly saw any abs on Tuesday, now numbers of butterflies are up over all and I reckon abs are something like one in four in certain places on the hillside. There are so many unusual butterflies at Denbies that I guess they don't really count as they are so common so can't really be called abs as they are nearly mainstream. Ravens and buzzards were showing well too.

After my walk I thought I would treat myself to a well earned ice cream from the ice cream van before heading home (oyster, flake, strawberry sauce - yum!) when I was approach by a very sweet couple who were on a walking holiday and had lost their way. They asked if they could possibly have a lift into Dorking, where they would be staying for the night, as they had walked all the way from Guildford that day and didn't think they could manage much more. They looked plain tuckered out and I was pleased to be able to oblige, dropping them in the road by their B&B. They asked for a charity of my choice so they could make a donation to thank me for my kindness (it was on my way anyway so no trouble but they wouldn't take no for an answer) and so hopefully Butterfly Conservation will be getting a few more quid in its coffers .

[Katrina]

Triple well done Susie, good photos, good deed and fundraising!

[Wurzel]

Great selection of Chalk Hill abs Susie Good work on building the BC coffers too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Susie]

Good numbers of small torts, peacock and whites in the garden today. The odd meadow brown too.

[Susie]

I went to lulworth cove today with daughter and dog in search of lulworth skippers but the further west we drove the worse the weather got. The hot sunshine of home gave way to rain and nothing was flying. Eventually the rain stopped and a few butterflies were about but not the one I wanted

A short stop off at Avon heath reserve on the way back turned up some beautiful small coppers. I haven't seen many of them this year.

Despite the lack of skippers it was a lovely day out.

[Wurzel]

Sorry Lulworth didn't pan out Susie The good thing about Lulworths though is their long flight period so they'll still be around in a few weeks time and even longer at Durlston if you can wangle a second visit.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Susie]

Hi Wurzel, how long would you expect them to be on the wing for at Durlston? Yesterday was the second time I've been hunting for Lulworths (went to Portland a few years back) and failed to see them. I want to make it third time lucky and soon!

[Wurzel]

If I remember correctly Neil (Nfreem)saw them at Durlston on his holiday either last year of the year before and that was into mid August. I saw them at Lulworth itself last year when I was holiday there which was the first week of August. I think they were early this year but even so they should still be a around. If you check the website www.durlston.co.uk they have maps of the reserve and you might be able to phone in advance to ask if there are any Lulworths around. I hope this helps.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Susie]

Thanks Wurzel. That's really helpful. Hopefully I'll get another pop at them before it's too late this year.

As I write this the light is yellow and there are rumbles of thunder about. If you enjoyed last night's storm you might find this sight interesting. http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Susie,

Wurzel is nearly right I saw them at Durlston both last year and the year before in late early September. They were mostly getting past their best by then but one or two were not too bad, particularly in 2012.

I saw them mostly on the grassy slopes of the gulley which I walked to along the cliff path from the visitor centre. My diary posts with more details are below, scroll down to the Durlston reports.

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=5424&start=680

and

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=5424&start=280

It is also worth checking the daily sightings on the website link that Wurzel posted to see what is about.

All the best,

Neil