millerd

[Wurzel]

The untimely end of the Specklie is made even less bearable as the underside looks so beautiful - almost purple by the border Still that's the way of nature, interesting variation shown by the first Specklie BTW .

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

It was a very fresh one, sad to say, Wurzel. I noticed afterwards that the colours of the butterfly and of the spider are pretty well the same shades of brown - there must be a reason for this!

I imagine the dusky Speckled Wood is within the boundaries of natural variation: there is far more than you'd think, looking at all the photos posted recently.

Tuesday 16th September: Very warm today, and I was able to pop out from work into Bedfont Lakes Country Park at lunchtime. Initially, all I saw was a Small Heath, a Meadow Brown, a Speckled Wood and some Large and Green-veined Whites. However, the sun came out at the time I reached the western end of the path parallel with the railway, and the unmown areas of grass and flowers immediately came to life. I saw at least half a dozen fresh Common Blues, probably a third brood as the second brood were looking tired when I was last here four weeks ago.

The males were chasing each other vigorously about in twos and threes, completely overlooking the presence of a couple of females. Caught up in the tussles was an elderly male Brown Argus, resolutely defending his patch.

Finally, around the fringes of the conflict I spotted a fairly new Small Copper.

On the way back, a Peacock flew strongly in the opposite direction. Well worth nipping out for.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Great reports lately Dave, good to see stuff still hanging in there

...I imagine the dusky Speckled Wood is within the boundaries of natural variation: there is far more than you'd think, looking at all the photos posted recently...
Dave

I have noticed a lot of variation whilst watching and photographing the Specklies in my garden, in fact I tell individuals apart by differences in markings to keep track of them. The later brood(s) tend to be darker than the spring emergence but I have seen darker ones In the spring too. The males are always (usually) darker than the females as well.

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

Thanks, Neil. I follow all your Speckled Wood postings and the variety you get just in the garden is amazing. Your photos are stunning as well.

Thursday 18th September: I saw a good number of Speckled Woods on my local patch mid-afternoon today - a nice round dozen in fact.

With things generally tailing off now, it has actually become possible to count everything with a degree of accuracy. The one-two-three-many approach I end up adopting for most of the season is no longer necessary. So - the walk started with another Holly Blue fluttering high around a large area of ivy, followed immediately by a couple of tussling Red Admirals. Moving swiftly out to the meadow area (the itinerant folk who had lodged across the route for a week have as expected been moved off Heathrow's land...), I encountered a couple of Small Whites, three Small Heaths, and two female Meadow Browns.

One of the Meadow Browns finally stayed on the ground a while, and looking closely now at the photo she appears to have been in egg-laying posture. I wish I noticed at the time, so I could have searched for the egg.

The return journey threw up most of the Speckled Woods, a Large White high on a wild buddleia, and two more Red Admirals.

Dave

[David M]

Aah! Butterflies feeding on ivy. That's always the precursor to the oncoming of winter.

[millerd]

Please don't say things like that, David! It was 26 degrees here today, so winter felt a very long way off!
(You are right, of course. When the ivy flowers, summer is definitely over.)

Dave

[David M]

Things warm here too, Dave. It's a perplexing night here in south Wales. It has that air of an evening spent abroad when you meander back to your hotel at 11pm and it's still ridiculously warm and humid.

There's no wind, my bedroom window is wide open for the night and I reckon it's still at least 19 degrees outside.

Definitely not what one expects of a late September night.

[Wurzel]

You did better than me today Dave - I could only manage a brief Small Tort and a single Red Admiral on Ivy I hope the warm weather lasts until the weekend so I could squeeze in one more trip...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

It's another warm evening here, David. After the brief but violent storm last night it came out very warm and sunny after lunch and possibly even more humid with all the puddles around. There were still storms in the distance.

With barbecue scents wafting around now, it feels more like a Mediterranean than a Middlesex night.

Friday 19th September: after work I went to the nearest place worth a visit: Bedfont Lakes CP again. With 24 degrees at five o'clock and the sun strong, the butterflies had not quite settled down - in fact they were posing nicely. I found the Small Copper I'd seen three days ago and it showed no obvious signs of wear in the interim. The shots I managed today were (in my humble opinion ) rather more artistic, though.

I saw a few more Common Blues, eight today altogether and including two females.

In amongst them were at least two Brown Argus, neither of which were the male seen on Tuesday. Despite their advanced age, the male was still frantically pestering the female, but to no avail. Amazing energy!

There were also a couple of Small Heaths, one rather old, but another fairly fresh, and nectaring on ragwort.

This may be an evil weed in some eyes, but late butterflies can't do without it. The Small Copper returned to the same plant many times, as did the Brown Argus. A couple of Whites (one Small, one Large) completed the picture, which was in the end an outing without a Speckled Wood seen...

Or so I thought - however, I spotted one at the roadside near the cargo terminal as I waited at lights on the way home.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Love the Small Copper photo's Dave, the very last one is super, your also very lucky to see them they've vanished from around here now Goldie

[millerd]

Thank you, Goldie - I liked that one too. It is lovely to keep seeing them.

Saturday September 20th: ten minutes of sun today - I rushed out the door and managed to count 14 Speckled Woods, a Red Admiral and a Large White before the gap in the clouds closed.

Dave

[millerd]

Sunday 21st September: My first opportunity for a drive out a bit further in decent weather for a while, and probably my last chance to see another species this year. I therefore headed off down to High & Over, on the hills behind Seaford, with a walk to the coast and back and Wall Browns in mind. The path from the car park to the viewpoint was populated with three or four Speckled Woods, and at the viewpoint itself, there were two Walls flying around in the strong wind, never settling for a moment. I was hopeful of seeing some more nearer the coast, so I set off down the hill. As it turned out, I didn't see another butterfly until I was past the pub at the bottom (Cuckmere Inn nee Golden Galleon) and on the path to the sea alongside the river. Here I saw a Red Admiral, and then two more Walls. One of them settled a distance away (as is customary!) and all I could manage was a long shot - a male.

I carried on to the beach (where there were a couple of Large Whites) and then round and up the path further away from the river. This was quite sheltered and there were a good half a dozen Speckled Woods here, a Comma basking high on a tree trunk, two Meadow Browns, a Small Copper and a Small Heath.

A little further on I disturbed another Wall, a female, which was almost cooperative with photos though still denied any close approach.

After some refreshment, the remainder of the walk back up to the car was beset by cloud, and only a Green-veined White and a further selection of Speckled Woods was seen.

The days just aren't long enough any more!

However, it was a successful day, and I had seen my 51st species of the year. This has to be the third brood of Walls, and they all looked new. If the weather stays reasonable, I imagine they'll last into October.

Dave

[Wurzel]

A fantastic haul for the year Dave, congrats on the Wall/number 51 and great shots too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave, glad to see you got your Wall Brown(s), I was thinking that I was going to miss them myself this year until I saw a couple in Dorset the other week

Cheers,

Neil.

[Maximus]

Great that you got your 51 species, Dave

Mike

[Goldie M]

You lucky thing Dave still seeing Wall Butterflies, we've had great weather here no rain for a couple of weeks and we missed the storms but still the amount of Butterflies spotted is low, mostly we've got Red Admiral's and Speckled Wood, we did have a slight frost Sunday morning and a couple of cloudy days but nothing to warrant the disappearance so quickly of say butterflies like the Tortoiseshell etc which have been few and far between around here.

I can only think it's because they came out early, Your shots of the female Wall are great and I'm really envious Goldie

[millerd]

Thank you all. The 50 mark seems to be about the realistic limit - I find I have to trade off making one effort to see something against not seeing something else. And every year works out differently.

It was good to see the Walls, as I'd missed them in at least two spots earlier in the year and was heavily reliant on a third brood and well-timed decent weather. I just wish they were as widespread as they used to be.

The situation here is the same with the Small Tortoiseshells, Goldie - they and the Commas and Peacocks have all disappeared into hibernation, just leaving lots of Speckled Woods and a few Red Admirals. I had to go 75 miles or so to see the Walls! However...

Wednesday 24th September: The sun was back out this afternoon after some rare overnight rain - a bit cooler perhaps, but still 18 degrees when I popped into Bedfont Lakes CP after work around half four. Today, I had no luck finding the Small Copper seen last week, but there were a few Common Blues around and one Meadow Brown. The Blues were already roosting...

...but two of them were awake enough bask a little first. One of these was probably not all that old, but had suffered somewhat during its brief life, judging by its wings.

The other wasn't scarred at all, and really was a lovely sight for so late in the year.

Dave

[Pauline]

Well done with the Walls Dave - I've struggled to see them this year - but I really like the GVW shot

[millerd]

Thank you, Pauline - one day I shall get some shots of Walls as good as Neil's recent Mill Hill ones! The GVW was a bonus - it plonked itself right in front of me as the sun went in, but chose its background well.

Friday 26th September: Continuing warm round here, and the sun put in appearance after three o'clock. I was home in time for a walk round my local patch between four and five (the sun really is low by five o'clock, however warm it is, unfortunately). Nevertheless, during the hour, I managed to see one Green-veined White in a straggly bit of wild buddleia, one male Large White investigating bindweed flowers draping some riverside brambles, and two Small Heaths out on the grassy areas but looking rather tired now.

On top of this, there were four Red Admirals nectaring on ivy or scuffling with Speckled Woods over the best bit of sunshine...

...and no less than 17 of those Speckled Woods altogether. This has to be the largest single count of this species I have made here at any time since I first walked round this patch in 2007. They are beginning to show their age, though; I also found one in deep shade burrowing in the grass, which I took to be a female laying eggs. Almost all the rest were spiralling in threes and fours or perching high in various trees to catch the dying sun.

However, the biggest surprise after some weeks without them was the sight of two entirely separate Peacocks. No doubt the current weather pattern had somehow disturbed them from their hibernation niches.

Dave

[millerd]

A mostly cloudy couple of hours at Ryton Country Park on Saturday 27th with no butterflies at all. A quick look at the blackthorn revealed no Brown Hairstreak eggs this year (unlike this time last year). There are always some disappointents.

Sunday 28th September: walking back from breakfast at the local café in Stanwell Moor, I finally spotted a new third brood Holly Blue before disturbing it. I managed a couple of shots before my none-too-subtle attempts to coax it into opening its wings by shading it merely sent it up into a tree where it looked down disdainfully.

Elsewhere in a very brief look locally I saw a Peacock, a Small White, three Red Admirals and half-a-dozen Speckled Woods.

Elliot and I went a bit later in the day down to Box Hill. Sun and temperatures nudging 24 degrees made it seem like July, but despite a walk down to the stepping stones and back via Burford Spur, we saw nothing other than a couple of Speckled Woods - and then two Red Admirals back at the car park.

Dave