Neil Freeman

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Dave, that was my first visit to the southern part of the reserve. It was just as good for butterflies as the northern side with the added bonus of being quieter

Wednesday 30th July

After a morning of doing stuff around the house I decided to pop out for an hour or so to my local spot at Bickenhill.
During the previous few days I had noticed that Peacock numbers were beginning to diminish as they started to disappear into hibernation, I was only getting 1or 2 on my Buddleias now instead of the half a dozen or more last week. There were still plenty about at Bickenhill however, within minutes I had counted 23 busy nectaring on a couple of large patches of thistle, along with 7 Small Tortoiseshells.

Peacock - Bickenhill 30.07.2014

Peacock - Bickenhill 30.07.2014

Small Tortoiseshell - Bickenhill 30.07.2014

Small Tortoiseshell - Bickenhill 30.07.2014

Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and Large and Green-veined Whites were everywhere although I didn’t see as many Small Whites, the latter certainly don’t seem to be around in in the same numbers as the other two whites so far this year, at least not around here.
There was a good scattering of Common Blues around the site and in one corner I was pleased to find a Brown Argus. BAs are not that common around Solihull, I only ever find the odd one each year at most so I was chuffed to find this one here. It was a fairly fresh looking male so I reckon I will do a return visit in a week or so to see if I can find any more.

Common Blue - Bickenhill 30.07.2014

Common Blue - Bickenhill 30.07.2014

Brown Argus - Bickenhill 30.07.2014

Brown Argus - Bickenhill 30.07.2014

A few yards away there was also a feisty little male Small Copper doing his best to chase everything away from his spot. I took a couple of underside shots and then waited for a bit of cloud to come over for him to open his wings and get some topside shots.
These revealed that he was yet another blue spotted ab. caeruleopunctata (Sorry Pauline, I am not doing this on purpose…no Photoshop involved either ). This year I am actually seeing more examples with some degree of blue spotting than without, so for me it actually seems that the standard ones are the abs.

Small Copper - Bickenhill 30.07.2014

Small Copper - Bickenhill 30.07.2014

Small Copper - Bickenhill 30.07.2014

Small Copper - Bickenhill 30.07.2014

A good afternoon so far but walking back along the footpath to where I had parked my car I had an incident with an off the lead dog. A half grown Weimaraner came running around a bend in the path alongside the hedgerow and to be honest I think I startled it as much as it startled me. It then ran up to me and jumped up me and as I pushed it down it bent down and nipped me on the back of the calf. I shouted out something along the lines of ‘who’s is this bl**dy dog’ and the owner came into view around the bend in the path. At first he was a bit ‘bullish’ but when I showed him the bite mark, which luckily was not too bad and had not broken the skin, he became very apologetic, especially so when I mentioned about maybe reporting it (I haven’t)
An incident which spoiled the afternoon a bit and one which is unfortunately becoming a bit too common at some sites, in fact there are local spots that I simply won’t go to at weekends because of the number of dogs running around and the attitudes of some of the owners. I don’t care if they are ‘only being friendly’, I do not want them jumping up me, or barking and growling at me which has happened a couple of times earlier this year.

Oh well, rant over,

Bye for now,

Neil

[Maximus]

Brilliant Small Copper shots at Castle Hills Neil, especially ab caeruleopunctata I've struggled to see any SC until recently. Great report and photos from Aston Rowant too, very nice 'blue' female Chalkhill shots, the one with the blue hindwings must be an ab I managed a shot or two of our (reared) Purple Hairstreaks together, but to capture this in the wild takes some doing, great stuff

I'm glad you didn't get bitten too badly by that dog, I am also getting fed up with irresponsible dog owners. On a resent outing to Denbies, a dog cr%"ped on the footpath and the owners walked straight past, when I asked the guy if intended to pick it up, he replied bluntly, "no". When I said I would report this he said "go ahead, report it" They were an older couple who should have been more responsible, I'm getting fed up with having to clean the mess from our walking shoes, not easy with all the grooves This is just one incident from quite a few, OK rant over.

[Wurzel]

Cracking Small Copper shots Neil You are more than entitled to the Dog rant. Whilst there are plenty of responsible owners out there there does seem to be an increasing number of poor dog owners. I'm constantly surprised by how many rabid, snarling, teeth baring dogs are actually "just being friendly" , am I misunderstanding their behaviour

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks very much for the comments guys

Tuesday 5th August.
I have been pretty tied up since the middle of last week and over the weekend with house and family stuff so have not had chance to get out anywhere. Saturday was pretty wet anyway with rain all morning which didn’t stop until well into the afternoon and Sunday, whilst being dry all day was very windy.

Nevertheless, later on Sunday afternoon, I spent an hour or so in the garden and saw plenty of whites passing through as well as the usual 2 or 3 Speckled Wood taking to the air during lulls in the blustery wind.
There were also a couple of Holly Blues, one of which settled just long enough to get a part open wing shot. I am never sure with these if I am seeing different individuals or the same one coming round again and again

Holly Blue - Coverdale 03.08.2014

A single Red Admiral has also been coming and going for the past few days, the latest in a number of these that have been in the garden this year. I can tell this is the same one by the bits of damage and wear

Red Admiral - Coverdale 03.08.2014

The Speckled Wood presence is still continuing with some new individuals replacing the older worn and faded ones on a regular basis, which is typical for in my garden at this time of year. After some rain today whilst I was at work, It brightened up later and when I got home I counted at least 4 males identified by slight differences in markings. The 3 below were all fairly new plus there was 1 old faded individual that looked like he was on his last legs but was still very actively defending his little patch.

Speckled Wood - Coverdale 05.08.2014

Speckled Wood - Coverdale 05.08.2014

Speckled Wood - Coverdale 05.08.2014

Looks like a few more days of unsettled weather is on the way, fingers crossed for it not to last too long.

By for now,

Neil.

[millerd]

More splendid Specklies, Neil. You seem to have an endless supply for half the year - I'm very envious. Those Holly Blues do often go round and around and back to the same area, and a lot of their behaviour in the tees and shrubs is almost like a Hairstreak.

Like Wurzel, I understand your canine problem, having had several bad experiences and the odd rant myself on the subject. It's sad that so many people do not appear to understand the responsibilities that come with owning a dog and you have to question their motives for having one.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great stuff Niel - Coverdale produces again Is that the second or third brood of Specklie now?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Dave, yes, I am lucky to have a constant presence of Specklies in the garden every year , usually from late March or early April right through to September or sometimes into October with a short gap sometime in June.

Cheers Wurzel, these are second(summer) brood, Specklies don't usually have a proper third brood, at least not in my garden. Due to their unique ability amongst British butterflies to pass the winter as either larvae or pupae they have a drawn out emergence in the spring, which usually has me seeing spring brood in the garden from the beginning of April up until early June. The offspring of these then develop at different rates, which for me leads to the summer brood usually appearing from later in June and continuing right through to September without a break . This is just my experience of them in my garden in the midlands of course, broods and timings may well vary considerably down south or further north.

Wednesday 6th August

There was a another Red Admiral in the garden this afternoon on my return from work, a different and slightly less worn example to the one that had been lurking about recently. This individual has one antennae missing although this didn't seem to be giving him any problems as he disputed a corner of the nettle patch with anything that came close, usually one of the Specklies or a passing Holly Blue.

Red Admiral - Coverdale 06.08.2014

Red Admiral - Coverdale 06.08.2014

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Maximus]

Lovely Red Admiral shots Neil, especially the underside shot We have also seen butterflies with an antennae missing, which, as your observation confirms, does not seem to cause them any problems at all.

Mike

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks the comments Mike, appreciated as always

Friday 8th August

Since Wednesday, both of the Red Admirals have been around the garden during late afternoon but never at the same time. It is almost as if they are acting like a tag team with either one or the other guarding the nettle patch. On Thursday it was the more worn one that was there most of the time and then this afternoon the one with the missing antenna was around the most. If I hadn't looked closely and took some record shots I probably wouldn't have noticed that it was the two individuals and just assumed that it was the same one hanging around all the time.

Earlier in the afternoon, after finishing work at lunchtime, Jane and myself went around to my moms for our usual Friday afternoon visit. Whilst the women were nattering, I made the most of a nice warm afternoon to have a look around the park just down the road.

The most numerous species was Speckled Wood with easily a dozen or more being seen, mostly males in varying condition...

Speckled Wood - Langley Hall 08.08.2014

Speckled Wood - Langley Hall 08.08.2014

Speckled Wood - Langley Hall 08.08.2014

Speckled Wood - Langley Hall 08.08.2014

...and at least one female that settled briefly before being accosted by a male and taking off over a large bramble patch,

Speckled Wood female - Langley Hall 08.08.2014

A few Gatekeepers are still around, mostly looking well worn and faded now,

Gatekeeper - Langley Hall 08.08.2014

I was also pleased to see a single Small Copper here, the first I have seen here and which means that I have seen Small Coppers at all of my local spots this year

Small Copper - Langley Hall 08.08.2014

Small Copper - Langley Hall 08.08.2014

There is just a the tiniest hint of blue spots on this one, not much but it does continue the theme of me seeing at least some hint of blue spotting on most of the Small Coppers I have seen locally this year.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

That penultimate Specklie is lush Neil And you had a 'u5sp Hedge brown' I should have known about the Specklies - but I'd lost track of them from your garden as they seem to be in boundless supply

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Wurzel, not sure it is a 'boundless supply' but there is a steady flow of new ones

Saturday 9th August

After a busy Saturday morning as usual, I had a couple of hours free in the afternoon and thought I would nip around to a couple of local spots before the remains of Hurricane Bertha arrived. The conditions were warm with good sunny spells although the clouds were building up and there was a blustery wind.

First place I went to was Bickenhill where I followed the footpath to the usual meadows and where I wanted to look for Brown Argus after finding a single one here last week. Walking through to the meadows, I noticed that the Peacocks had mostly disappeared now with just a couple still on the thistles where there had been 20+ last week. There were still half a dozen or more Small Tortoiseshells around, bobbing about in the breeze or settling down in the grass which made it a challenge to get any decent photos.

Small Tortoiseshell - Bickenhill 09.08.2014

Small Tortoiseshell - Bickenhill 09.08.2014

There was also a good scattering of Common Blues, mostly looking a bit worn and faded now, plus at least three Small Coppers…

Small Copper - Bickenhill 09.08.2014

…including a larger and paler female. I must admit I don't usually see too many females of this species about, it is the males that usually stand out due to their feisty characters

Small Copper female - Bickenhill 09.08.2014

I was pleased to find three Brown Argus in the same corner of the meadow, which doubled the tally I have ever seen around Solihull in total up until now.

Brown Argus - Bickenhill 09.08.2014

Brown Argus - Bickenhill 09.08.2014

Moving on from here I went down the road to Shadowbrook Meadows. The two larger meadows here had been cut a few weeks ago and were largely devoid of butterflies except for a few Gatekeepers and Speckled Woods around the outer hedges. There are two lower and damper smaller meadows here which are not cut however but are grazed by cattle from late summer.
When I saw the larger meadows had been cut a few weeks back, just as the second brood Common blues and Small Coppers had started emerging, I was a bit concerned for the fate of these butterflies. I was pleased therefore to find at least a dozen Common Blues in the smaller meadows plus three Small Copper (including another female) and some more Brown Argus .

Common Blue - Shadowbrook 09.08.2014

Small Copper - Shadowbrook 09.08.2014

Small Copper - Shadowbrook 09.08.2014

Small Copper female - Shadowbrook 09.08.2014

Brown Argus pair - Shadowbrook 09.08.2014

Brown Argus - Shadowbrook 09.08.2014

With the clouds building up and looking darker and the breeze getting fresher I then decided to head home.

The Brown Argus at both sites were my highlights of the day, I had not seen this species around Solihull until a couple of year ago when it started to show up occasionally and now to see half a dozen at two sites shows that this is another species that is slowly spreading around here

With the remains of Hurricane Bertha dumping loads of rain outside as I write this I cannot see me going anywhere today (Sunday).

edit; after a wet morning the afternoon brightened up until it was quite pleasant and sunny but with a very blustery wind...I still didn't go anywhere though, took the chance to catch up on some stuff in the house.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Great Brown Argus action Neil I too spent the day catching up with work and looking out the window at the glorious sunshine Still that's a few Brownie points in the bag

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Wurzel, I earned a few brownie points last weekend myself but spent a few today

Wednesday 13th August

With most of my holiday from work for this year now booked up (which now includes another week in Dorset at the end of the month ), I had a couple of odd days left which I decided to use to break up this week and next by having the Wednesdays off.
With the weather for today looking to be ‘reasonable’ I took a drive over to Grafton Wood to see if I could find any Brown Hairstreaks.

Arriving at about 10.00am I parked by the church and walked through the farmyard and across the fields toward the wood. It was still quite cloudy with a bit of a breeze to start with but during the next couple of hours the sun came out a few times and it warmed up a bit...but probably not really long enough to tempt any Brown Hairstreaks down.

There has been a fair bit clearance work done at Grafton Wood over the past few years with non-native trees removed and rides opened out and it seems that Common Blues and Brown Argus have taken advantage of this as I saw more of both species within the wood than I usually do. In past years I have often seen both of these species outside of the wood but I was interested to see so many actually inside the wood today, particularly the Brown Argus, two or three of which I saw down nearly every ride and path I went down.

Common Blue - Grafton Wood 13.08.2014

Common Blue - Grafton Wood 13.08.2014

Common Blue - Grafton Wood 13.08.2014

Brown Argus - Grafton Wood 13.08.2014

Brown Argus - Grafton Wood 13.08.2014

Brown Argus - Grafton Wood 13.08.2014

Brown Argus - Grafton Wood 13.08.2014

Other species seen were Large, Small and Green-veined Whites, Brimstones, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood (lots of these), Meadow Brown and Gatekeepers, the latter doing their occasional trick of imitating Brown Hairstreaks, but alas none of the real thing.

Around 1.00pm the clouds thickened up again until it was wall to wall grey sky and then started turning darker so I decided to call it a day and head home, just in time as it started to rain a few minutes after I left.

No luck with Brown Hairstreaks today but there should still be plenty of time, this is actually the earliest I have ever been to Grafton looking for them, and my most successful visits have been right at the end of August or in the first couple of weeks of September.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Lovely Brown Argus shots Neil, like chocolate oranges I'm visiting Worcester this weekend - I expect we'll be heading out so any ideas where I could steer my sister in-law towards

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Lovely shots in your diary, Neil, as always Especially those gorgeous Brown Argus, they seem to be having a good year!

Mike

[Pauline]

I've got a lot of catching up to do on your diary Neil. Some lovely shots on this page starting with the gorgeous Peacocks and ST, the SC (with blue spots ) all the way through and especially that fantastic Speckled Wood on the Bramble and the Brown Argus. Smashing

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Wurzel, Grafton Wood is just a few miles east of Worcester along the A422. If you park at the church at Grafton Flyford follow the signs through the farmyard and across the fields to the wood. It is a bit of a walk and can be quite muddy but is fairly easy going and the wood is a great place on a good day.

http://graftonwood.files.wordpress.com/ ... fletmr.pdf

The Malvern Hills AONB is not far from Worcester, this is a large area and I don't know the best spots, never having been there myself, but my copy of '30 Butterfly Walks in the West Midlands' recommends the car park along North Malvern road at SO771470.

http://www.malvernhillsaonb.org.uk/

Hi Mike, thanks for your comments. Brown Argus certainly do seem to be having a good year around here, I have definitely seen more in the past few weeks than usual

Hi Pauline, many thanks, I nearly missed your comments as I was just posting my replies above. I have got a lot of catching up on everyone else's diaries to do myself.

Cheers,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Cheers for the info Neil I'll do my best to steer the clan in one of those directions

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Sunday 17th August

A couple of hours around my local spot at Castle Hills near Solihull on a reasonably sunny but very blustery afternoon produced the usual suspects, most of which were looking like they had been around for a while.
The wind made taking photos very difficult with most of the butterflies taking shelter low down in the grass or being whisked off as soon as they took to the air.

Most numerous species were Speckled Wood followed by Meadow Brown, although the latter were in far fewer numbers than at their peak a few weeks back.

Meadow Brown - Castle Hills 17.08.2014

Gatekeepers were also well down in numbers now with just a handful of tired and faded looking examples scattered about and the skippers are just about over now with just a couple of geriatric ‘smalls’ seen.

There were still a handful of summer brood Small Tortoiseshells hanging in there; it will be interesting to see how the next brood does here before hibernating. Last year there were loads, good numbers of which made it through the winter to make for a memorable re-emergence this spring.

Small Tortoiseshell - Castle Hills 17.08.2014

Half a dozen Common Blues were also seen along with a couple of male Small Coppers valiantly defending their favourite perches, again all looking a bit worn now.

Small Copper - Castle Hills 17.08.2014

Small Copper - Castle Hills 17.08.2014

A solitary summer Comma continued the theme of everything seen today(Sunday) being a hanger on from high summer.

Comma - Castle Hills 17.08.2014

Monday 18th August

Back home this afternoon after work I spotted a Red Admiral in the back garden jousting with a couple of Speckled Wood and basking in the sun between bouts.
I went out and took a couple of photos which showed him to be the same individual with a missing antenna that was hanging around a couple of weeks back and which a haven’t seen for a while now. Surprisingly he looks to be in almost exactly the same condition that he did two weeks ago.

Red Admiral - Coverdale 18.08.2014

I have compared the photos with the previous ones (taken on 6th August) which confirm that it is indeed the same one.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Beautiful electric blue showing on that Red Admiral Neil I suggested Grafton but didn't get my way - still there's always next years visit Cheers again fro the info.

Have a goodun

Wurzel