www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Thanks Lee. I was particularly pleased with the tongue-lashing shot.
BWs, Neil

Dukes And Blues

On Thursday (23rd May) I returned to Heyshott Escarpment, to lead a small gathering around the reserve. We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours on the slopes, until the sky turned angry and we were forced into retreat after a thorough soaking. Unfortunately, this meant that much of the reserve went unsurveyed. However, we still saw Duke of Burgundy (13), Pearl-bordered Fritillary (2), Dingy Skipper (15), Grizzled Skipper (3) and Small Heath (3).
As I neared home the sky started to show blue patches over the Downs behind Worthing, so I headed to Springhead Hill in the hope of some Small Blues. I wasn't disappointed, and was soon watching 8 of these delicate little beauties as they enjoyed the afternoon sun.

Counting Dukes

The last two days (25th & 26th May) have been pretty typical for me at this time of the year, involving a mad dash to try and survey all of the Sussex Duke of Burgundy sites as thoroughly as possible. Although numbers will take another season to recover, there does at least seem to be a viable population remaining in the areas I've visited so far; sometimes only just. That's quite a relief after last year's weather, but I do have doubts that the national tally will remain unaffected by the 2012 washout. I recorded 55 Dukes over 6 different sites and on some of these the butterfly is still emerging. Along the way I'm seeing reasonable numbers of Dingy Skipper and Green Hairstreak, although the Grizzled Skipper isn't faring quite so well. While searching an area of Rewell Wood today I saw 7 or 8 Drab Looper moths, so they seem to have weathered the storm quite well. These frail looking insects are a lot tougher than we give them credit for.

Another Drab Day

Yet again it's overcast and damp outside, so I'll brighten things up with a recently taken shot of a Drab Looper from Rewell Wood. OK, it's not the most attractive of moths, but I've come to love it, mainly because it often accompanies a woodland walk looking for Dukes or Pearls at this precious time of year. Tomorrow needs to be sunny.

Hi Neil , hope you are well . Did you see on the Sussex BC website , the report of a Wood White at Sheffield Park . This is surely many miles from known Sussex localities for this species although last time I was there around 4/5 years ago I thought the habitat was very suitable .

Hi Mark,
I'm hoping that the observer will return to photograph the species at this location. Until then the distribution map for Sussex must remain unchanged.
BWs, Neil

Sussex Kipper wrote:I'm hoping that the observer will return to photograph the species at this location. Until then the distribution map for Sussex must remain unchanged.

Well said that man! The accuracy of our records is paramount, and know that some folks get very annoyed when I suggest that their record is suspect unless they have photographic evidence (the most angry chap was one who claimed to have seen a Large Blue near Nottingham!).

Cheers,

- Pete

Park Corner Heath & Rowland Wood Reserves

Yesterday (29th May), during a brief visit to our Park Corner Heath & Rowland Wood reserves, I counted 6 different Pearl-bordered Fritillary including a freshly emerged female. After disappearing for a few years it looks like the PBF is back to stay. Small Pearls are yet to emerge and may not show until the second week of June. Other butterflies included Grizzled Skipper (2), Small Heath (2), Green Hairstreak (1), Holly Blue (1), Large White (1) and Brimstone (1). This was my first visit since the winter and the place looks fantastic. Unfortunately the weather collapsed soon after I arrived, but I'll be back very soon.

Dukes On The Wane

Sadly, the Duke of Burgundy season is now on the wane and my 2013 survey of all Sussex sites will probably be complete by the end of next week. However, there are still some highlights to be enjoyed, such as the count of 9 males at Harting Down this morning (31st May); none were seen here last year. This site is mountain goat territory, and very seldom visited by anyone else, so it's a great place to escape from the crowds and just melt into the landscape. The views across the West Sussex/Hampshire border are spectacular; this morning they were enjoyed to the soundtrack of skylarks and a distant cuckoo.
After a disappointing count (2) at a private site, I headed to Heyshott Escarpment, where once again I was alone with the Dukes. Although I managed a healthy count of 18, including the beautiful female pictured, the numbers are now dropping off. The Duke is no longer the most common species on the slopes, overhauled by both Dingy Skipper (37) and Small Heath (46). The latter seems set for a good season. Other species included Pearl-bordered Fritillary (1), Green Hairstreak (3) and Grizzled Skipper (3). If you haven't had your fill of Dukes yet, get out there this weekend.

Floral Fringe Fair & Recorders Weekend

Large herds of free-roaming people joined the Longhorns, Tamworths, Exmoors, Fallow and Red Deer over the weekend (1st & 2nd June), as Sir Charlie Burrell's Knepp Castle Estate hosted both the Floral Fringe Fair and a Biological Recorders Weekend. I led a total of 4 guided walks and was ably assisted by Matthew Oates on the Sunday, who attended the event primarily to give a couple of talks celebrating his 50th year in pursuit of butterflies.

It was nice to see a couple of familiar faces, but most of the 100+ attendees had no particular passion for butterflies, or knowledge of Butterfly Conservation; hopefully a few will take their curiosity a little further. Butterflies were in quite short supply so close to the house, but we did manage to see Small Copper, Common Blue, Green-veined White and Peacock. The Recorders event (thanks to Penny Green) kindly supplied a few moths, so these provided some welcome 'insurance' and as always pleased the youngsters.

On the Saturday evening I returned to Knepp for the Recorders BBQ. Amongst others, it was great to finally meet up with butterfly charity walker/pan-species lister/birder/UKBer Gibster (a.k.a. Seth Gibson). After a moth walk around the Bothy and lake a handful of us jumped into Charlie's Pinzgauer off-road vehicle and headed out onto the Estate. At this time of year it is generally only the unpaired Nightingales which are particularly vocal and, as always, the experience of listening to them was heightened when other distractions are smothered by darkness. I've heard countless Nightingales before, but standing in this remote meadow illuminated only by starlight, while listening to this spectacular performance, was simply magical.

Upper Thames Branch [Dennis Dell, Berks/Bucks/Oxon] reporting for the 1st time!
Dukes are found only on downland in our region [with one isolated report from a Chiltern's wood this season]. The lower slopes of Ivinghoe Beacon are well managed by the National Trust [well done Matthew and colleagues!] and are species rich. It represents probably the best locality for the Duke in this region; numbers somewhat down compared with the best years: just 19 were recorded on the best day this year during the 3rd week in May. A private site on Lambourne Downs, Berks, is also excellent: about 20 were seen there yesterday.

Hi Dennis,
Good to hear from you. You might also be interested in this http://hamearislucina.blogspot.co.uk/, run along similar lines to the Purple Empire.
Best Wishes, Neil

Springhead Hill, 2nd June 2013

Both before and after attending the Floral Fringe Fair on Sunday, I managed to fit in an hour of butterflying at Springhead Hill. Much has changed here since Simon Mockford (South Downs National Park Authority, formerly SD Joint Committee) and I started managing the site back in 2005, and it is still improving today. Those who have visited this year will have noticed that we have cleared more deep hollows and trenches up by the car park, although it will take a couple of years (and a little help) for downland flora to become established over the scree. These areas will provide additional breeding habitat for Dukes and a protected roosting area for many of the butterflies on site, particularly the Small Blue. We're not finished yet and there are some more exciting plans in the pipeline. The only downside is, that by opening up the wonderful panoramic views of the Weald below, there has been a marked increase in dog fouling of this delicate and precious habitat, guaranteed to enrich and ultimately degrade the flower meadow.

Managing a site the size of a postage stamp does sometimes necessitate 'gardening'. Of course effective management for habitat specialist butterflies must be done on a landscape scale, but it is also important to occasionally focus on a small 'flagship' site such as this, which allows those with restricted mobility to access the very best chalk grassland butterflies without mountaineering or walking long distances. Trying to keep so many species (I've personally recorded 38) happy in less than a hectare is a tricky juggling act, but it's well worth the effort. I should point out that some of those species are only very occasional visitors to the site, and others occur in very low numbers.

During my visit I was pleased to see that Small Blue numbers are now increasing (22), the first Common Blues are emerging (3), and the Duke is still on the wing (1). Other species seen include Dingy Skipper (3), Grizzled Skipper (1), Holly Blue (1), Small Heath (3), Speckled Wood (1), Orange Tip (1), Brimstone (1), Large White (1) and Green-veined White (1).

Some nice pics indeed!

Thanks Nick. See you in a Northants Wood soon!
Best Wishes, Neil

Grizzles Still Emerging

We may be into what many call the 'June Gap', a quiet period in the butterfly calendar in most years, but many spring species are still emerging. Yesterday (3rd June) I started off in woodland on the Norfolk Estate, where the Duke of Burgundy is still about in low numbers. This is an early site and all of the 4 individuals seen were old males nearing the end of their innings. However, most of the 6 Grizzled Skipper I saw were in mint condition. I was left in no doubt as to how fresh some of these were, when I noticed coffee coloured meconium fluid on the grass below a female butterfly. I also saw a newly hatched Dingy Skipper.
I then headed to the BC Park Corner Heath & Rowland Wood reserves, for an unsuccessful hunt for Small Pearls with my daughter. While wandering around the woods we came across BC Sussex member and snake-charmer David Bradford, who was snapping away at a beautiful immature adder. At this point Mia insisted on being released from the backpack and became totally enthralled with her first snake. Later in the afternoon we also saw the famous PCH Black Adder, so now she's an expert.

Making Hay

The spell of warm, sunny weather we have enjoyed through late May and early June is fantastic news for some of our rarer spring species. Duke of Burgundy, Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Wood White will all have had the opportunity to spend long periods out egg laying. As long as we don't see a summer drought, I'm optimistic that the numbers of these and other species will bounce back strongly next spring.

Although most Duke populations in Sussex peaked a week or more ago, the later sites on cool NW facing slopes are still producing freshly hatched females. Yesterday I counted 46 Dukes over three adjacent sites, including two mating pairs and a couple of females with only very minor wear & tear. Let's hope the egging continues for another week or more. We needed this.

Some beautiful images again, Neil.

I've still yet to ever see a 'Duchess'. Where are the best places to look? I spent about an hour in the midst of the male leks at Rodborough Common yesterday but no joy. Surely the females must pop by occasionally otherwise the males would be rather wasting their time.

Totally agree with your comments regarding the weather. By the beginning of next week we'll have had 10 days of ideal conditions for mating, laying, etc. This surpasses anything we received in 2012 when I doubt we even went 7 days at any stage from April through to the end of August.

As you say, it augurs well for 2014.

Love the Duke on the dandelion Neil ...... and a few of the others aren't too bad either

Thanks David. As far as tracking down a Duchess is concerned, the middle of an active lek is probably not a great place to look. Any virgin female that gets anywhere near a lek will be accosted in a very direct and discourteous manner - blink and you'll miss it. Better to look later in the afternoon in areas where suitable food plants are abundant, well away from the lekking areas. As males generally go to bed soon after 3 pm (the odd ones will remain active later), females can go about their business with less hassle than earlier in the day. I regularly see them out egg-laying at 5 pm, particularly a little later in the season.

Thanks Pauline. I'm very trying.

BWs, Neil