www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Callum - I went to Daneway Banks yesterday. Looks like we missed meeting up by one day! Great shot of the Large Blue by the way.

Thanks Ernie. I often wonder in places like that if I'm talking to anybody I 'know' from online! I was going to go on the wing-roll thread to add my observations of Large Blues doing it, but it looks like you've already got that covered!

Today's trailer for the upcoming PD entries. Things should calm down tomorrow as I leave Devon behind and seek a couple of days of solitude in Dorset to recover.

Today's trailer. One of those days when you start praying for a bit of cloud to slow everything down!

Another trailer. I travel home tomorrow, and begin the process of writing PDs over the weekend!
I've been having fun trying to quickly select only one favourite image from each day's butterflying this week as I've travelled around Devon and Dorset - a harder task than you might think, especially when most days have featured several species worthy of inclusion! Therefore, with one day to go, I propose a bit of a game for anybody interested...

I've posted a photo each day from Saturday to today (Wednesday) and intend to do the same tomorrow, provided my planned stop en route home is a success. The first part of the game is to identify the species (easy) and guess the site (hard!) for each photo. Let's say one point for the species, one for the broad location, and one for the exact site: so for Saturday (where I've already given the game away), you would get a point for saying "Large Blue"; two points for "Large Blue, Cotswolds", and the full three points for "Large Blue, Daneway Banks".

So that is four photos - Sunday to Wednesday - offering a maximum 12 points. Let's say there are also double points available for guessing the species and site of tomorrow's post before it goes online, taking us to 18 points! And in case we need a tie-breaker, you can also guess the total number of butterfly species I've recorded on my jaunt this week.

Good luck - have fun - I look forward to your guesses!

I know how hard it is to select a fave of the day! But today's Grayling is lovely. Wouldn't have a clue about locations though - no good me trying to guess!

Haha, maybe that was a bit mean as nobody's stuck their necks out to have a go! Feel free to have a guess as I start to fill in the PD over the next few days. I'm back in Yorkshire now, and although I spent almost the entire day in the car, it still produced one extremely memorable butterfly encounter...

23/06/2018 - Daneway Banks

With a long drive to make from East Yorks to East Devon, Large Blues in full flight at Daneway Banks, and sunny weather forecast, I sensed this was finally my chance to meet this most famous of British conservation success stories. I got up extra-early, to maximise the amount of time I could spend on site, and drove straight through from home to the Daneway Inn without stopping - an experience I'm not in a hurry to repeat! - to arrive just before 11am.

Entering the site, I didn't really know where best to look, but I could see a likely-looking couple working along the bank to the left, so I decided to take their lead. Walking through the gate, I saw something flying. It was blue... it was large... it was...!
"This is going to be easier than expected!", I thought, so of course this individual immediately disappeared over a hedge and I failed to see another for a good 20 minutes! I moved further into the site and discovered the reason why - the crowds were in another part of the site. I think my first individual was an early emerger of the Marjoram brood.

Having found several fresh individuals flying in the top field, I spent a good hour thoroughly enchanted, and managed a number of photos with which I was quite pleased.
A particular highlight was capturing a female in the act of seeding the next generation!
As always, it wasn't all about the rare 'top hit' species! I also enjoyed seeing good numbers of Marbled Whites, Small Heaths, and Ringlets...
...and my first Small Tortoiseshell of the summer brood...
...whilst this female Common Blue was undoubtedly the most heavily suffused with blue that I've ever seen, quite spectacular.
Alas, all too soon it was time to hit the road south again! I was quite overwhelmed by my brief toe-in-the-water at this fantastic reserve - this grasshopper seemed to sympathise...!
I will be back!

Great stuff Callum I had a very similar experience the first time I visited Daneways; we found one and then it seemed to take what felt like an age until the next one Looking forward to the next stop on the tour

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Well done with those Blues, Callum! The early start was well worth it. I love the 'commoners' too - that female CB outshines her rare cousin

Thanks, Wurzel & Janet. In pure rarity stakes I have now seen more Large Blues than completely blue-form Common Blues in my life - so the 'commoner' wins out in that regard too!

24/06/2018, am - East Budleigh Common

Sadly, this was always going to be the hardest day of the trip south: trying to fit some time outdoors around 'visiting hours'. My parents and I were staying in a pub a little way south of Exeter, and only a few minutes' drive from Woodbury Common, so I suggested that a morning trip up there to look for Silver-studded Blues would still allow us to be back for coffee-time.

I had read (on this site!) that the part of Woodbury known as East Budleigh Common was a good place to start looking, so that's what we did. I didn't really have any more detailed info than that, but happily it only took 10 minutes or so to spot our first SSB - a crisp, fresh male. My Mum in particular was very taken with this dainty blob of blue!
We didn't have very long to spend, and so in total we saw only four SSBs - all males.
There were plenty of Ringlets and Large Skippers dancing along the trackside as we headed back towards the car.
And on returning to the car-park, we found a Silver-washed Fritillary dashing about. It briefly paused to nectar on a Bramble, allowing me to grab one of those frustrating almost-in-focus shots!
24/6/2018, pm - Dunsford Meadow

After lunch we had a little longer to play with, so we decided to head to the Dunsford reserve. We used to come here to walk my Grandad's dog in dappled sunshine along the River Teign, but more importantly, it's listed on this site as having High Brown Fritillaries in the glades and the open SSSI meadow! Dad and I left Mum reading her book with feet dangling into the river, and went a-seeking Frits. By this point the day truly qualified as 'stinking hot', so of course whilst we saw good numbers of Fritillaries, they were all dashing about madly! We definitely saw Silver-washed and Small Pearl-bordered, and as one butterfly paused for a moment only to nectar on Marsh Thistle, I fired off a single frame. One of those serendipitous moments when the light, focus, and composition are all perfect first time, but sadly confirming this one as "only" a Dark Green!
As we walked back, a smaller Fritillary - no, wait - a Comma! - alighted on a leaf in front of us and posed for some pictures. I'm not entirely convinced by markings alone that this is a hutchinsoni, but to be flying so early in the summer, it surely must be?
Not a hugely productive trip, but given the hot weather, not so bad as it might have been.

25/06/2018 - Dartmoor

On Monday morning, I was up bright and early to see my parents back up the road (via Daneway Banks!) before heading off myself to meet Richard Fox on Dartmoor. Richard was one of my PhD supervisors, and is an ongoing collaborator; he had kindly offered to show me Dartmoor's best butterflies whilst catching up on projects past and present. I arrived at 8am at Aish Tor to find Richard already there; he said the fritillaries were already at full speed in the heat of the morning, but all those he had gotten a clear look at were the much longed-for High Browns!

Spending the best part of an hour wandering along the tracks strimmed through the bracken, we saw quite a few High Browns, as well as smaller numbers of Dark Greens and Small Pearl-bordered. With the butterflies on Duracell, it was of course impossible to photograph them; this was the best I managed, but I am far from happy with it, so I guess I'll just have to try again next year!
Once we'd filled our boots, Richard suggested driving across the top of the moor to the Lydford Old Railway reserve; Heath Fritillary had had a good year there this year, and he reckoned there was a chance of one or two late-flying individuals still being on the wing. This was another species I'd never seen so I was pretty keen!

After a couple of false Ringlet-shaped alarms, suddenly there was a Heath Fritillary! Unlike its larger cousins, it was happy to sit and very approachable.
Wandering up and down the top of the bank, we eventually decided there were at least 5 individuals flying.
We returned to the National Trust tea-room for coffee and cake, and hashed out some technical details of our latest study (using the UKBMS and BNM data that many of you have no doubt contributed!). We decided to head back via Great Plantation, to check for White Admirals. Walking into the wood, we had gone only a few metres before we saw a Silver-washed Fritillary. As with the HBFs and DGFs, these were supercharged and impossible to photograph, so I decided to try another site for them later in the week.
There were several SWFs around, and they were very soon joined by at least 3 White Admirals. Richard had to head off to do some "real" work but I decided to stake out the large patch of bramble where we'd seen the first SWF, in the hope that one of the Admirals would eventually get thirsty. It took a while, but it worked!
So, a five-Frit day with White Admiral to boot! Now that's something.

Mouthwatering stuff Callum! I was wondering if the Silver-studs were from Devon but I didn't want to chance my arm as I couldn't remember the name of the site That DGF shot is totally rocking

Have a goodun

Wurzel

26/06/2018, morning - Alners Gorse

On Tuesday it was time to leave Devon behind and begin mosying eastwards, with a couple of nights in YHAs allowing me some flexibility before my ultimate destination of Weymouth. Having failed to take that perfect SWF photo for two days running - and being slightly dissatisfied with my White Admiral as well - I decided to try and do something about it, and so I headed to BC's Alners Gorse reserve near Yeovil. I first visited here last year during peak Purple Hairstreak season, which was an incredible experience, and also saw a valezina on that visit.

Although not a very long drive, Dorset roads are slow, so it was almost 10am before I was walking down the slope into the reserve. There were lots of Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites flying in the meadow, but worryingly they were all supercharged already, and the ponies were huddled under a tree for shade! I headed straight to the row of buckthorn where I'd seen the PHs last year. Sadly this year's visit was probably a week too soon, and I saw 'only' one (before last year's visit I would have been delighted to see even one PH - how spoilt I've become!). It drifted down from the top of an oak before seeking shade under a leaf, just within reach of my zoom lens.
There were one or two White Admirals, and about the same number of SWFs, all dashing about madly, and I started to doubt my chances of a good photo. Fortunately I got chatting to another photographer who directed me to a patch of brambles off a public footpath a few hundred metres outside the reserve - I would never have found it on my own. Arriving there, I was almost immediately greeted by a White Admiral posing nicely.
There were also four or five SWFs (at least) jostling for position and stopping to nectar with enough regularity that I could pick out particularly nice bramble flowers and be reasonably confident that a fritillary would arrive before long!
The only danger was in dallying too long to take the photo - it seemed that the most appealing bramble to each fritillary was "the one that's already got a fritillary on it"! I caught this one just moments before it was ambushed...
With the day only getting hotter, and no sign of the PHs descending, I decided to cut my losses and head on to the next site, with the idea that I might return for another try once the temperature started to drop in the evening...

26/06/2018, afternoon - Lulworth Cove

I was planning to stay the night in the Lulworth Cove YHA, so I decided to head straight down there and try my luck on Bindon Hill in the afternoon, reasoning that there would be a good chance of a sea breeze to cool the air and encourage things to fly. That proved to be correct, but of course the pretty stiff breeze made sharp photographs that much harder to take!

Arriving on Bindon Hill, I began following skippers. The first couple turned out to be of the Large variety...
...and then a couple of Smalls.
As the old saying almost goes, "third Skipper Lulworth", and I soon found pretty good numbers of Lulworths happily nectaring on Bugle.
I spent a while following the Skippers on both this side of the Cove, and on the section of coast path to Durdle Door, and managed to get some nice images showing off the 'starburst' wing markings.
This image demonstrates nicely the size contrast between the 'Small' Skipper and the even tinier Lulworth!
I headed back to the YHA over the summit of Bindon Hill, where at least four Dark Green Fritillaries were nectaring on a large patch of thistles. With the wind now buffeting the hill, I entirely failed to take any sharp pictures - but I quite like this one, where the focus fell on a neighbouring Small Skipper!
26/06/2018, evening - back to Alners Gorse

I did pop back up to Alners in the evening, but it turned out to be a mistake; rather than coming down in the cool evening, the butterflies had headed further up into the trees! I saw a cloud of at least seven White Admirals jostling for position at canopy level beside an oak tree, but the only butterfly to stray within range of my camera was this Comma.
There were a few dragonflies around, and my best picture of this evening visit was of a Black-tailed Skimmer.

Greta to see someone else feature Lulworths Callum, they can sometimes seem to be the forgotten species on UKB. I might have seen some of those Lulworths myself as I was there the day before

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi! Callum, you've posted some great shots , lovely Butterflies Goldie

Thanks both!

Wurzel wrote:Greta to see someone else feature Lulworths Callum, they can sometimes seem to be the forgotten species on UKB.

Yes, it's strange - I guess they have the unfortunate combination of being roughly as restricted to a few sites in a small range as a Swallowtail, whilst also being relatively small and drab. I find them quite charming though.

Since you were also at the Cove, perhaps you might be able to corroborate something I observed! On Bindon Hill, I noticed that at least half of the Skippers (of all three species) were carrying Trombidium breei mites. I've never really noticed high densities of these mites on anything other than Marbled White before (though I know they can be found on a range of species). However when I moved over to Hambury Tout, just the other side of the valley, I couldn't see a single mite, despite equally high densities of Skippers - but there also seemed to be fewer MWs. Could the large population of MW on Bindon Hill be transferring the mites onto other butterfly species?

"I find them quite charming though." Being a Dorsetian they're obviously the best species in the country if not the World

When I visited I only got have way up the cliff path from the Eastern side of the Cove and most of my shots came from the beach. Interestingly I don't recall seeing any of the mites on the Lulworths that I saw though Ill go back and have a proper book though your hypothesis of transference from the MW certainly sounds plausible

Have a goodun

Wurzel

27/06/2018 - more Dorset rambling!

On Wednesday I decided to draw on the excellent advice of all you lot, heading to three of the sites you kindly recommended. First up was Durlston NNR. Although it was still hot and sunny, the strong wind that was buffeting Bindon Hill on Tuesday had not gotten any weaker! There wasn't a huge amount flying round the cliff path, except this (just for Wurzel )...
...which might be my best Lulworth effort yet, and a few Marbled Whites.
Heading into the meadows, there were a few extremely ragged Blues flying about.
Conscious that the site has both Adonis and Common, and both had been reported still flying a week prior to my visit by millerd, I did my best to get record shots that would help me to ID them later. This was the most 'Adonis-ish' of those I saw, but I can't entirely convince myself it's not Common. Any thoughts?
There were good numbers of Burnets flying, including this pair of Six-spots getting frisky.
From Durlston I decided to move on to RSPB Arne in time for a mid-morning coffee and cake at the reserve cafe. Well, that proved to be the best decision I made all day - not because the huge slice of marble cake went down well (although it did ) but because as I arrived at the cafe, there was a flash of bright yellow from the butterfly garden outside...
Now, this is another which I'd like opinions on! It seems quite pale, and there is only one white dot on the hindwing underside. Is it just a paler-than-normal Clouded Yellow, or perhaps an f. helice, or maybe, just maybe, even a Pale Clouded Yellow?
I spent a couple of hours wandering the reserve in search of Silver-studs, picking up my first Gatekeeper of the year, and a nice Green-veined White.
In the end I only found one SSB here, and although I watched him posing nicely on a series of heather flowers, it was too far from the path to photograph.

So, I decided to move on again, closing in on my final destination of Weymouth by heading for Portland and Tout Quarry in search of greater numbers of SSBs. To my surprise, the first butterflies of note I saw here were several very fresh Graylings, which posed nicely among the moonscape rocks of the quarry.
Wandering deeper into the quarry, I did indeed come across a couple more male SSBs.
I still hadn't seen a female at this point, and I momentarily thought I'd found one as something very small and brown flew away from me and settled on a rock. However, extraordinarily, this was the first of three extremely tatty Dingy Skippers. It seems too early for these to be of a second brood, but for them still to be going at such a southerly - and microclimatically hot - site is equally remarkable to me.
Eventually I found my female SSB, but with her situation making me unwilling to risk disturbance and her positioning not great, this was the best I could manage...
Heading back towards the car-park, there were a few Scarlet Tiger moths flying about, doing their utmost to convince me they were Red Admirals!
So ended my Devon/Dorset sojourn - a highly productive few days with several species I'd never previously had the privilege of seeing. Only the drive home remained, but I had grand plans for that, too...