Maximus

[Maximus]

Cheers Wurzel, Shipton is a great site for Brostreaks, could that be because it's not managed



13th July 2014


Today, in spite of much searching a local site for second brood Dukes, we were only able to relocate the same male we saw five days ago, we saw no others. He was still in the same location, defending the same territory, I wonder if he has encountered any females? He's still in remarkably good condition, and was spending much of his time feeding on various nectar sources.

[Wurzel]

Absolutely cracking under wing shot Mike, you don't often see it as fully exposed as that so the black streaks contrast nicely

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

I'm still finding it hard to reconcile myself with Dukes in August!!

A noteworthy sighting for sure!

[Maximus]

Obviously the date heading my last posting should have read, 13th August 2014!

Cheers Wurzel

Thanks David, I find seeing Dukes in August is strange, but nice

[Maximus]

Magdalen Hill Down - Second visit, 7th August 2014


Following the enjoyable visit to MHD on 1st Aug. we decided to make a return trip to try to find the Painted Lady we had seen just as we were leaving the site. This time upon reaching the top of the down where it is more exposed, the breeze was quite strong, so taking photos was going to be more challenging this time! The Buddleia bush by the notice board had a couple of skittish Red Admirals nectaring on it's blooms, and also this male Brimstone, which was beautifully backlit..

As we made our way along the hilltop path, Brimstones appeared to be very numerous, as were Small Tortoiseshells. There were still quite a few Chalkhill Blues and Brown Argus, but the Common Blues were beginning to fade, and this time we only saw one Small Blue. What a difference a week makes!

Chalkhill Blue female

Chalkhill pair

Fresh Brown Argus

Brown Argus pair

Red Admiral female

Making our way back towards the entrance, we detoured along a path leading downhill which was overgrown with masses of Field Scabious and Knapweed. We reached a style and were about to climb over it when a Painted Lady flew in and settled on a Scabious right next to us and began to nectar. The only problem was the tall flower was rocking badly in the strong breeze, which unsettled the butterfly, and made getting a photo very difficult. A second Painted Lady appeared near the first and as I followed it and tried to get a shot, I noticed a yellow triangle among the flowers on the other side of the fence, a Clouded Yellow, in fact there were two..

So we found our Lady, in fact we found four, but only got one reasonable shot, because they disappeared while we were following the Clouded Yellows!

[Pauline]

Lovely shots of the Clouded Yellow Mike - you make it look easy!

[Maximus]

Thanks Pauline, it is


I missed adding this image from the MHD 2nd visit post. I saw the Dragonfly carrying a butterfly, which turned out to be a Meaow Brown. Not sure which species the Dragonfly is, but the Meadow Brown was alive when the DF first settled, but It looks like the DF needs the meal!

[Wurzel]

That final Cloudy shot is awesome Mike Did it hold it's wings open for long or was it a one off shot?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Cheers Wurzel I'd like to say half an hour but it was a one off shot

Mike

[Maximus]

On our recent trip to Noar Hill, we also saw two Clouded Yellows, including this male sheltering from the wind, in a Hawthorn bush..

Today we found this larva on one of our potted Blackthorn, on the patio. Online ID confirms it as Grey Dagger moth, amazing colouration..

Larva's posture when I disturbed it, in taking the photo

[Maximus]

Noar Hill Blues


When checking through my photos following several visits to Noar Hill , I noticed that the female Common Blue butterflies here display a fair degree of variation in their upper wing colouration. These range from the almost uniformly brown females, with just a slight dusting of blue scales on their upper wings, near to their body, to those with increasingly larger amounts of blue on their upper wing surfaces. There also are some outside of this range, perhaps just 'one-offs'.

Brown females

Some blue

More blue

A one-off female Common Blue

[jenks]

Maximus said "I missed adding this image from the MHD 2nd visit post. I saw the Dragonfly carrying a butterfly, which turned out to be a Meadow Brown. Not sure which species the Dragonfly is, but the Meadow Brown was alive when the DF first settled, but It looks like the DF needs the meal! ".

Great photos. Nature in the raw ! Meadow Brown being eaten by (I would say ) a male Keeled Skimmer.

Jenks

[David M]

Are ALL those images of female Common Blues?

[millerd]

What a splendidly varied selection of female Common Blues - the last one is an absolute gem. They are much underrated in my book.

Dave

[Pauline]

I agree - an amazing array of variation in the female Blues but what really astounds me is the Dragonfly with the butterfly. I would love to see that but even if I did I don't think I would get a shot as good as that one Mike

[Wurzel]

That final Common Blue is anything but common Mike, it's a cracker, more of a Ghostly Blue

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Thanks for the ID, Jenks, much appreciated

They certainly are, David, nothing common about them

Cheers Dave and I agree with you, they are very underrated!

Thanks Pauline I've never seen a Dragonfly with a butterfly before. I've a feeling that should you see see this yourself, you would do ok with the shot

Cheers Wurzel definitely not common, Ghost Blue sounds great



Old Winchester Hill - First visit, 16th August 2014


Having not yet paid a visit to Old Winchester Hill during 2014, we decided to put this right and have a look for second brood Adonis Blues and Silver-spotted Skippers. This site is a late site for SSSkipper, so we hoped that we might find some in good condition. One of the problems at this site is that it is very exposed to the wind, which hit us as we walked out of the shelter of the car park and onto the open down. I have long wanted to get a decent shot of a SSSkipper perched on the top of a Field Scabious, but this was going to be a tricky task today! In spite of the wind there were plenty of butterfly species on the wing, and the first we saw was a Painted Lady with a small nick in her hind wing, nectaring on wild Marjoram..

..followed by a Red Admiral, battle scarred but with an extra white spot in the orange band..

Smessex Skipper in good nick

Brimstones were everywhere, both Male and Female

Worn SSSkipper with a worn Smessex in the background

Best conditioned SSSkipper we saw during our visit

Then there were the Blues..

Male Chalkhill Blue in very good shape

A very bright male Common Blue

Female Common Blue

at last, right under my feet, was a male Adonis Blue, the only one we saw..

Adonis Blue

This Adonis Blue male looked freshly emerged, so we decided we would have to make a return visit soon, as the wind had kept the SSSkippers down in the grass and more Adonis Blues would probably emerge

[David M]

Nice to see some very beautiful and fresh looking butterflies at the end of August!

[Pauline]

I love your cat shots Mike but that Dragonfly with the butterfly is really special. That is something I have long wanted to see but I reckon even if I did I wouldn't get a shot anywhere near as good as that

[Andy Wilson]

Nice Blues! As for the Adonis, here in East Sussex they seem to be emerging slowly, and I think (hope!) the best is yet to come.