Bugboys mission

[bugboy]

Thanks guys, it really did stand out from the crowd. There's an ab. listed in the Cockayne collection, nigromarginata, which it does bare more than a passing resemblance to. I'm with you Dave & David, I think it's a better looking one than the Bentley one last year, he has more grace and subtlety about him, less is more and all that Wurzel !

[bugboy]

6th May Pearls, Whites and Walls part 2

Having found out that there were twenty Pearls seen earlier in the week I decided to head back to the main clearing. The sun was now warming the day up nicely, it was certainly high teens if not 20 degrees so I was certain I couldn’t miss anything that was active. Red Admirals and Green-veined Whites kept me company again along the paths back but I had very similar results at the clearing, just two active. One may well have been the same fresh animal seen earlier, the second a melanistic ab that often turns up here. I’ve been told this ab is a sign of inbreeding depression. If true it’s probably not a good thing that it regularly turns up here .

After finding no more I decided to make the move the Eastbourne and on to Beachy Head but as I walked around a corner behind the main clearing a couple of Whites caught my eye, one noticeably larger than the other. I was only able to grab a couple of record shots of my first Large White of the year though, I was distracted by a rather clumsy pair of Pearls in cop who crash landed in the middle of the path. In normal circumstances, I would have taken what pictures I could and left them alone but in this instance, I felt compelled to step in. There were several families and dog walkers out today and their choice of resting spot could well end in disaster. I carefully coaxed them onto my finger and moved them to some Bluebells at the edge of the path where they posed for me.

Time was getting on so I made my way back through the wood, not getting lost this time. Red Admirals and Green-veins being joined by a couple of Orange-tip flybys, and a Comma picking fights with passing Speckled Woods.

A couple of hours later, approaching Beachy Head the weather had changed for the worse . Gone was the warm sun, obscured by thickening cloud, and a chilly gusty breeze buffeted along Wall Brown Alley. I wasn’t particularly hopeful but thankfully there were still a couple of males active. The chilly air had certainly slowed them down and I was able to approach closely as they tried to bask in what was left of the sun. When that failed, they took to shivering to keep their flight muscles up to temperature. I must off arrived just on the cusp of what can keep a Wall active as not long after I noticed they started to look for roosting spots in the scrub along the edge of the path.

I normally go Wall hunting in the afternoon, after their midday maniacal behaviour since the colonies I know of are all too far away to get to early in the morning to catch them waking up and its interesting that they always look to roost on the south facing side of this path, rather than follow the sun. This deliberate behaviour is almost certainly so they get hit by the morning sun so they can wake up bright and early.

I did hang around for some time hoping the clouds would clear. They did but it was too little too late, leaving the path and therefore most of the Walls in the shade. I did find a couple of other things to distract me though, a Tortrix moth, Epiblema sp. It does look like it may be E. cnicicolana which is quite rare but I’m not experienced enough to confirm, there are a lot of little Tortrix moths that all look very similar.

Finally I found a web of young Lackey Moth larvae.

[kevling]

Buggie, Those mating PBF are beautiful. You certainly manufactured a nice spot on those bluebells.

Regards Kev

[Janet Turnbull]

Wonderful pics Bugboy! You had a good day. I hope they will be around for me when I go to Dorset in 10 days' time!

[Wurzel]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree over the ab A great shot of the mating Pearls These and SPBFs are the only British Frits I've still got find in cop so have aother

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks everyone,
They were very well behaved Kevling
With a bit of sun you should get plenty of Pearl action Janet
I'll concede that the Bentley one had a good underside Wurzel, this one's was normal. Also you'll have to hang out with me more often, I got both PBF and SPBF in cop last year

7th May, Walthamstow Marshes

After yesterday’s long trek across Sussex I treated myself to a nice long lie in, awaking to find thick grey clouds so any butterflying seemed out of the question. Things changed in the afternoon however, the sun came out and things warmed up quickly so I grabbed my camera and shot out to my local patch to see what was about. Yesterday I’d gone all the way to Sussex to find, amongst other things, Large Whites, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise to hear that the very first butterfly I saw as I walked through the kissing gate was, yes, a male Large White! He didn’t hang around for a picture but turning the corner I was greeted by a corner filled with fluttering whites. Closer inspection showed I had four Orange-tip, two of each sex, at least one Small white and several Green-veined at my disposal. They were all in feeding mode, probably having only recently awoken, and made easy targets as they gorged on Rape nectar.

Context

I stayed with them for about 15 minutes until the inevitable patrolling (or hiding if it were a female) set in so I moved on to check on the rape plants where I’d found Orange-tip eggs on a few weeks ago, on the way stopping to take some snaps of a Cardinal Beetle, managing to get him just as he was about to take off.

I found a single caterpillar who looks like he’s been feeding well. Sadly I live in a part of the world where people think flowers are put on this earth to be picked, even with this being a SSSI site many parts of my patch show a fair bit of negative human activity, litter being the main problem, but I fear many of the eggs I found a few weeks ago have gone due to the simple selfish act of picking flowers .

I wandered further to see if any Common Blues have appeared in their regular corner of Hackney Marshes, the same spot a Small heath turned up last year, but nothing was flying. On the return walk I was accompanied by several unidentified Whites and a few Orange-tips.

I found one female flitting around, who had taken a liking to Common Vetch flowers, and watched a passing male harass her. Expecting the usual abdomen salute from her, she certainly wasn’t a freshly emerged female, I was very surprised when she accepted his advances and they settled down to make babies. Can Orange-tip females mate more than once? This suggests they can.

I was also rather surprised to find at least four male Commas defending territories, not only that but they all looked to be in very good nick.

The final find was a healthy batch of Small Tortoiseshell larvae.

[Goldie M]

Unusual, shot of the mating Pearl's Bugboy, I've never seen them mating, I don't think I've seen many shots on UKB's of mating Pearls, they never seem to stop long enough to get shot's of single Pearls let a lone mating, great shot. Goldie

[bugboy]

Thanks Goldie, that's my second mating Pearls now, saw them last year as well but they were tucked away amongst the bluebells so the pictures were just record shots. Like most butterflies they hide away (or try to) when mating since they are vulnerable to predation when in cop.

9th May, Hutchinson’s Bank part 1

Over the past few days the forecasters have made allegations to varying degrees of sun in the afternoon. With that in mind I plumped for an afternoon exploring Hutchinson’s bank again, targets being Small and Common Blues which have both been seen here recently. Of course, there was also that taras Grizzlie I saw last time… I know, clutching at straws with that one !

For the first hour or so, the clouds hung like a bad omen, out of the breeze it wasn’t exactly cold but it didn’t feel warm enough for any activity and so it was that nothing was seen. I bumped into another butterflier during my wanderings, (whose name now escapes me but he’d come all the way up from Sussex) chatted for a bit and then joined forces looking for roosting Skippers and Blues. We wandered around slowly from the cutting over to the main scrape and it was here that we finally disturbed something. A tiny silvery butterfly fluttered low and landed a short distance in front of us. The clouds seemed to be thinning and after a while our first butterfly of the day, and my first Small Blue of the year even tried to bask, letting us know he was a very fresh and attractive male, most likely just having taken his maiden flight.

He fluttered around for a bit allowing us a range of snaps before we left him in search for more.

We separated in the scrape and I finally noticed a roosting Grizzlie. As I was kneeling down to photograph him I glanced to my side and nearby, on a dead knapweed flowerhead was a Dingy. I noticed the Dingy had a little friend hanging around

As we took snaps we could feel the air temperature slowly creeping up, with chinks of blue sky now appearing. At one point I stood up to stretch my ageing legs and, stepping back, I glanced behind me to find perched in plain sight an aged looking Grzzlie ab. taras ! Now I have no way of knowing if it was the same one as last time (that would make him at least 14 days old) but he did look tatty enough and he was in the same corner of the site.

My acquaintance had to leave shortly after, leaving me with the place to myself and with the clouds breaking up I had a good feeling I’d be seeing more goodies.

The intermittent sun had awoken a couple of Small Heath, who I found frolicking in the scrape along with several more Dingy Skippers and another, tiny Grizzled Skipper, barely larger than the Small Blue I’d seen earlier. One of the Dingy Skippers was a beautifully marked female, looking anything but dingy.

An aged male also took a liking to her, for somewhat more nefarious reasons no doubt, but she managed to lose him.

[bugboy]

9th May, Hutchinson’s Bank part 2

The warmed air had by now also woken up a few Peacocks and Brimstones, females and males respectively, but just as I was tempted by a basking Peacock a flash of blue scooted down the slope and vanished from sight. I followed in the general direction only to see it coming back up towards me and settle nearby, low down in the turf. I managed a few record shots before attempting a bit of gardening to get a clearer shot. Thankfully a passing cloud had calmed him down and I was able to get some nice shots of target number three of the day.

Butterflies seemed to be emerging all around me, this Dingy Skipper an attractive dark individual was quickly followed by another Small Blue, the underside spotting confirming it was indeed a second individual.

Ten minutes later I had my third Small Blue of the day, another fresh male.

Having got my fill of Blues I decided to make the move home, stopping briefly for a couple of willing subjects.

My attempt at an early start home though was thwarted when I saw a male Orange-tip on the path back up to the Tram stop. A passing female entered the scene and there followed the predictable shenanigans which had my finger glued to my camera shutter button.

They finally left each other alone only for a Holly Blue to appear, then a second and a third. Two females and a male. Their encounters were much briefer than the Orange-tip’s, a quick fluttering of wings sending the male on his merry way. They all flitted up and down the path, the females settling occasionally allowing me some nice shots, the best Holly Blues I’ve had this season… and I didn’t even whisper to them !

A good end to a day that certainly exceeded expectations

[MrSp0ck]

Some great sightings again, I will have to find the Grizzled ab for myself. A second trip without Mr Spock on site, thats another rare event.

There was a Surrey BC walk today, waiting to hear if they had as much luck as your visit.

The next few weeks should be good at HB, upto the Gatekeepers, when the season drops off so quickly.

I know you wander into Frylands Wood, the coppice area at the far end is now full of Bluebells and 1000s Early Purple Orchids

[bugboy]

Some great sightings again, I will have to find the Grizzled ab for myself. A second trip without Mr Spock on site, thats another rare event.

I'm sure I'll bump into you next time, the Glanvilles will most likely be out then

10th May, Dukes

I’m finding it hard to keep up with my own diary at the moment never mind about anyone else, I seem to have managed to squeeze in a lot of trips into not much time .
Anyway I was meant to work today, 8 til 6 but somehow managed to wangle a half day and after seeing that SimonC69 had seen some Dukes at Bison Hill, there was only one place on my mind to head for and an hour later I found myself arriving at Tring. Unlike most visits here I didn’t hang around too long at Aldbury Nowers, wanting to get to the Dukes before they had finished for the day. Orange-tips were active though, one of whom had had a rather eventful emergence, and for the first time this year I saw good numbers of Brimstone, close to double figures by the time I got to the other side of the reserve.

A few more sprigs of Garlic Mustard have popped up here and there, still mostly pathetic looking stunted growths but everyone fully loaded with Orange-tip eggs, laying opportunities for them are still at a premium here and even the sprigs in full shade are being used.

I made the walk to Ivinghoe beacon in record time, the glorious weather filling me with hope. I had several false starts on the paths leading up to the open scrub behind the car park, Dingy Skippers were out in good numbers but just turning the corner into the first hotspot a small dark butterfly flew across the path and settled, he was very dark and very fresh looking but unmistakably todays target. Once he settled I managed a few snaps before he vanished, so fresh was he that he hadn’t even had time to set up a territory!

Searching all the usual sunlit sheltered corners turned up no more so I moved into the sheltered gullies and scrub behind the actual Beacon, more Dingy’s catching my eye and I stopped to chat to a man who had just started doing his Duke transect. I found out he’d seen one here already and that he’d seen the first one this year a few weeks ago. I quickly found the one already seen, another freshly emerged male, who like the first one hadn’t yet set up a territory and was busy flitting along the path.

I then stumbled across another one, quite possibly the one from a few weeks ago, holding a territory and behaving like a typical angry Duke, chasing every bird, bee or butterfly that passed by.

Then the young whipper snapper appeared and they vanished like a whirlwind into the air. 30 seconds later the victor reappeared, the newbie. He buzzed around, stopped to feed and then left. Young Dukes nowadays, don’t know their born !

I wandered around for the next hour or so, eventually finding a total of six to end the day with, including a Duchess.

Also around were a couple of Green Hairstreak which proved impossible to get anywhere near to capture on camera, which was a shame since as far as I could see they were opposite ends of the spectrum, one was completely streakless whereas the other looked to be as fully endowed as the one posted by Kip recently.

The young Dukes were still active well after 4, typical youths, staying up late but I eventually I tore myself away and wandered back to Aldbury Nowers. The sun was quite low by now but the Orange-tips were still active and I found the same unfortunate individual as in the morning, fluttering weakly along. Despite his appearance, he had managed to navigate to the other end of the path, a 10 minute walk for me, very impressive!

[millerd]

A very nice selection of Dukes, Buggy - and the most determined Orange Tip I've seen in a while! Amazing resilience. I think a visit to the Chiltern Duke sites is definitely overdue!

Dave

[Wurzel]

Indeed as Dave says a great selection of Dukes Bugboy Also interesting to see the taras Grizzlie, cracking set of markings

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Your so Lucky Bugboy, you've got a Grizzlie ab and I'm still looking for my first Grizzlie Goldie

[Janet Turnbull]

You're lucky to get to the right places on the right days, Bugboy! Great photos and I'm looking forward to finding my first Dukes soon. Janet

[bugboy]

Thank you everyone for your comments

12th May, Bookham’s Babies

I had another half day on Friday and was in two minds as to whether to go out or not for the afternoon. It was grey and somewhat damp for most the morning but I decided to put my trust in the forecasters and hope the promised sun would appear.

Upon arrival, it would seem my luck was in with a few chinks of sun breaking through. My first thought was to check on the Brown Hairstreak cat I found on my last visit. Something rather odd was going on there which can be seen in a thread I started last night.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=9306
At first I thought he was dead but zooming in on my photo’s it looks plump and alive. I checked it just before leaving and it hadn’t moved .

Orange-tip cats were predictably easy to find and there’s still plenty of eggs and the first butterfly I saw was a female Orange-tip. As I followed her around, hoping to get a snap of her egg laying a tiny orange thing flashed from under my feet, Bookham’s first Copper of the year . He was very flighty so I only managed a few shots before he vanished across the swaying grass.

The afternoon was brightening up by the minute and next on the seen were a couple of egg laying Comma’s and another Small Copper.

Last time I was here I also tried to find my hatchling Purple Hairstreak but failed. Having seen Pauline’s pictures I felt sure that if it was still alive I should be able to find it. Well I looked and looked, easily finding the hatched egg but couldn’t for the life of me see the cat. Turns out it was looking straight back at me, I wasn’t expecting it to be so big !

I took a wander into the wood and was most pleased to find a Red admiral gorging on Bluebell nectar, looking stunning in the sun.

In the next glade I found a couple of male Comma’s fighting and basking

And then what I at first took to be a Holly Blue stopped by, dropping out from the trees.

When he went back into the trees, presumably looking for a nice meadow, I decided to try and find a White Admiral cat, still never having seen one in its post hibernation green livery. It didn’t take long at all to end that duck! Pictures simply don’t do them justice at all, spectacular beasts! I would say freshly moulted into final instar?

Returning to the scrubland a few more coppers were active, mostly looking pristine and whilst looking for Orange-tips during the cloudy periods I found a couple of Green-veined Whites, one still wet and only hours old, the other a more mature lady of perhaps a week old who I managed to capture just as she was about to take to the air, giving me my favourite image of a GVW to date.

Turns out I made the right decision on how to spend the afternoon and if the Coppers continue to emerge at this rate I may have to borrow Hoggers Copper-o-meter !

[Pauline]

Your diary is always of interest Buggy. I am impressed at you finding PH larva in the wild - something I have not yet managed despite having a colony in the garden. Happy I was able to help tho and reassuring to see it at the same stage as my captive ones. If you visit again before it pupates I'd love to hear about it as they don't seem to move far.

[Wurzel]

Great report Buggy and a lovely set of shots - Common Blue doing impersonations, Red Admiral on Bluebells and capped off with a lovely looking Blue Badger

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Great to see a Comma again, Bugboy, and even better to see a Red Admiral nectaring from bluebells - something I've never witnessed before.

[millerd]

Lots of little green faces, Buggy! Lovely Small Coppers (especially the second to last one), a splendid chubby White Admiral caterpillar, and the Purple Hairstreak caterpillar too. Excellent range of things.

Dave