Bugboys mission

[Willrow]

Very comprehensive reports Buggy - bet your getting the PC equivalent of writers cramp now...

Regards,

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

[bugboy]

Very comprehensive reports Buggy - bet your getting the PC equivalent of writers cramp now...

Regards,

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

I gte a bit carried away sometimes...............

[Wurzel]

Great that you got the Dukes Buggy and the Holly Blues are great too I've visited my Duke site three times with no luck and then my mate visited on Saturday and saw 4 Still at least that I know they're about now

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[kevling]

Buggy,

Nice shots of the Dukes. I am hoping to get to Bison Hill & Ivinghoe this weekend if the weather plays ball. Hope it won't be too late for some decent sightings.

Regards Kev

[bugboy]

Popped out for an hour inbetween thunderstorms hoping for a little bit of Holly Blue whispering. No luck, but I did find the next generation of Small Tortoiseshells having an afternoon snack

end of report (is that better Willrow )

[bugboy]

Since we are nearly half way through the year I thought I'd have a quick tally up of species seen so far, in order I've seen them:

1 Brimstone
2 Small Tortoiseshell
3 Red Admiral
4 Peacock
5 Small White
6 Comma
7 Green-veined White
8 Speckled Wood
9 Orange-tip
10 Holly Blue
11 Large White
12 Green Hairstreak (lifer)
13 Grizzled Skipper (lifer)
14 Dingy Skipper (lifer)
15 Small Copper
16 Small Heath
17 Brown Argus
18 Painted Lady
19 Pearl-bordered Fritillary (lifer)
20 Duke of Burgundy (lifer)

Not too shabby at all, and still a few more lifers lined up

[David M]

How many lifers have you got left amongst the UK endemics, Bugboy?

[bugboy]

How many lifers have you got left amongst the UK endemics, Bugboy?

About 20 or there abouts. Mostly the reginal specialties left now, where my mission starts getting interesting!

[peterc]

Well done, Buggy.

I wouldn't mind betting Glanville is next on your lifers' list . Hutchinson's Bank (I think that's the place) is not too far away

ATB

Peter

[bugboy]

Well done, Buggy.

I wouldn't mind betting Glanville is next on your lifers' list . Hutchinson's Bank (I think that's the place) is not too far away

ATB

Peter

Oh you're good! Them and Small Blue are the next ones

[Willrow]

end of report (is that better Willrow )

You just enjoy it all Buggy and let us know about your adventures with lots of 'lifers'

Best Wishes,

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

[bugboy]

Popped out for a few hours for a wander down Dollis Valley Walk in north London. Mostly cloudy and windy and not expecting much but thought I should pop by and see if there's any sign of 'Bob' the Purple Hairstreak cat. last time I checked he had hatched but no sign of him and the Oaks buds hadn't broken. Today the tree was in full leaf and although I located the branch easily enough still no sign of him so I will just cross my fingers and hope he's alive.

Whilst wandering I stopped off at various patches of Cuckoo Flower and Garlic Mustard to see how productive the Orange-tips have been, found 21 eggs and 1 1st instar cat without too much hassle (admittedly they are probably the easiest egg to find!)

This particular small patch had 9 eggs and the larvae

On a patch of Cuckoo Flower I discovered another 7 eggs:

including one with it's own personal body guard!

Grrrrrr!

Elswhere I also found 2 Small Tortoiseshell masses on the same nettle patch:

The only adult butterfly was a fleeting glance of a Speckled Wood high up in the trees but there were lots of one of my other favourite insects, Scorpion Flies:

Onother relatively pleasant day even if there was no sun or much flying

[David M]

Some excellent early stage images there, Bugboy. Enough to keep you occupied on a day when adults are more likely to be hunkering down.

[bugboy]

Some excellent early stage images there, Bugboy. Enough to keep you occupied on a day when adults are more likely to be hunkering down.

Thanks David, unless it's coming down cats & dogs it's always worth a little wander this time of year, there's always something to see if you know where to look

[David M]

Totally agree, Bugboy.

What are the next three species in your 'mission'?

I presume you're leaving Chequered Skipper for another time?

[bugboy]

Totally agree, Bugboy.

What are the next three species in your 'mission'?

I presume you're leaving Chequered Skipper for another time?

Yes Chequered Skippers await another year !

Next 3 planned are Glanvilles (the 'secret' site near Croydon is easy for me to get to). Small blues, hopefully find some of them this weekend with another dose of Dukes at Bison Hill and then next weekend off to visit Wurzels Marshies

[millerd]

Buggy,

You might well get to see Small Blues at both the Glanville site in Surrey and the Marshie one in Wiltshire. They were out at both last year.

Dave

[bugboy]

Stalking the Wall, South Downs Way Eastboune (this is probably gonna be one of my long reports so hope your settled!)

So it's been a over 20 years since I've seen one, before I started taking pictures so although not a lifer it's close to one since I didn't have any pictures of them.

I didn't know if there were any at my chosen site but being coastal with lots (of what looked like on google maps at any rate) sheltered sunny footpaths it seemed like a fair bet. Arriving onto the Downs the usual 2015 wind was blowing a gale and the first butterfly I saw was a windblown male Large White who managed to settle on a Dandelion for refreshments

I think it was the wind that allowed me to get so close, probably masked my movements.

I wandered around for an hour before I found what seemed like suitable habitat, a bare earth path sheltered from the wind on both sides but in full sun and sure enough I started to disturb them as I walked along. I'd forgotten how annoying they are to get close to, the least little thing sets them off and you end up with a domino effect as they all set each other off. To be fair it was between noon and 1pm so they were at their most active. I got lots of distant shots and blurs as my shutter set them off and settled for some sneaky ones as they fed on Buttercups!

I decided to kill a few hours and wander further afield to see what else was about. A couple of Green Hairstreaks were lurking at the edge of the shrubby paths

and The Speckled Yellows I'd seen at Abbots Wood last week were more approachable

A couple of Dingy Skippers showed up and one Blue flew at me (could have been a Holly or Adonis) and was gone in a blink.

On returning to the main Wall path at about 3 I found them to be a little bit more approachable and I could finally get a few close ups:

Difficult to do an accurate head count but I would hazard a guess between 10 and 20 individuals with a fair few very fresh animals.

Also seen was this oak Egger caterpiller,fully grown and in the middle of the path waiting to be squished so I popped him in the undergrowth:

a rather fat female Scorpion Fly:

and this tiny, sparkly little micro moth

Another great day out butterflying and lovely seeing Walls again. They took me back years when they were common as muck where I grew up!

[bugboy]

The Walls favourite place today:

[Pauline]

Those Scorpion flies are awesome/gruesome Buggy. I think I might have a photo of one but I didn't know what it was. Great shots of the Walls.