millerd

[millerd]

Yes, Trevor, very productive: 23 species for the year round here now, though some have been very poor in numbers. The sun was just too strong for that Holly Blue to open further, unfortunately, and I couldn't get in a better position as it was in a neighbour's front garden...

There might still be a few Wood Whites about, Buggy, but Chiddingfold isn't easy by public transport I know.

I was passing the entrance today (7th August), so I popped into Bedfont Lakes Country Park. Things started pretty well, with two Painted Ladies spotted almost immediately.

However, it rapidly became rather disappointing. Areas where Common Blues normally fly in good numbers had none at all, and overall I only found two (one male and one female).

In fact they were easily outnumbered by Holly Blues, with perhaps a dozen seen.

There were also one or two Brown Argus, and a few Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns, plus a single Peacock.

Even the Whites were in relatively short supply.

Later on, I had a shorter walk locally than yesterday. The clear winners today were the Holly Blues, and I counted over 20 in a circular route. A few stopped to nectar on bramble or to sit in the shade - not many stayed out in the sunshine.

There were also a few more Speckled Woods - they really are making up for their absence earlier in the year.

It was a bit later today than yesterday, and a few Commas, Red Admirals and Peacocks were becoming active - they are often absent in the middle of the day.

I didn't get as far as the open meadow area, so didn't check on the species usually found there, but I suspect a repeat of yesterday (in much windier conditions) would have followed.

Dave

[MikeOxon]

A nice collection of species, Dave. Like you, I have noticed an absence of both Common and Chalkhill Blues from sites where I normally expect to see loads. We must hope that enough eggs are being laid to provide for a recovery next year!

[Wurzel]

Great Painted Lady Dave There may be fewer numbers of the blues about but everything is okay as you're still whispering the Holly Blues down

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thanks, Mike - you are quite right and my trip out today was shocking in that regard.

Thanks, Wurzel. The Painted Lady on the ground was immaculate and I suspect locally hatched. No shortage of Holly Blues yesterday, certainly, but they were most reluctant to come down generally. Weak sunshine is best.

8th August. A less warm day, a bit breezy, but reasonable sunshine. I took my smallest son to Box Hill and then Denbies.

At Box Hill, we ambled across the slope to the east of the viewpoint slopes, and sure enough, reasonable numbers of Silver-spotted skippers appeared.

What was noticeable was how tall the grass was, which bodes badly for next year as the skippers like short turf next to bare patches and paths - thee was very little of that anywhere. What was worse was that we saw not a single Chalkhill Blue. They haven't been over-common here in recent years, but there have always been a few. There were also only a handful of Common Blues, plus the odd Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.

We then walked round through the woods to Burford Spur, seeing several Speckled Woods en route.

Out on the open slopes, the story was similar - Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and a handful of Silver-spotted Skippers. No blues at all, but a redeeming feature emerged in the form of a female Dark Green Fritillary. Though settling readily, it chose to stop deep in the grass and was very difficult to get close to.

All in all, quite worrying for a prime butterfly site on the North Downs.


Denbies was windier, and walking down through Steers Field, I saw nothing until nearly at the gate where the first few Chalkhills were hopping from one clump of marjoram to the next. Though nothing like the numbers of some recent years, there was a reasonable showing of this species, and they are still emerging, judging by some of the new individuals seen.

In the middle part of the field where the rabbits keep the grass short, there were at least half a dozen Silver-spotted Skippers.

Though I didn't cover the whole of the main slope, I didn't see any second brood Adonis, or in fact any Small Heath. Once again, over most of the hillside, the grass was unusually long. Walking back to the car, I saw another Skipper - though the underside of the antennae look fairly dark, they are not inky black so I think this is a Small Skipper.

Dave

[millerd]

Another local walk today while the sun shone this morning, and it was good to see that there were at last a few more Common Blues around.

One or two were very small, including a male no bigger than an average Small Blue.

There was also that rarity, a brown female. However, there was no confusing it with a Brown Argus, as it was so dark on the wing and did have a handful of blue scales.

There were perhaps a dozen genuine Brown Argus too.

In the same area where I had seen a Small Copper a couple of days ago, another individual appeared, which is even more encouraging - not just a stray one-off, then.

There remain good numbers of Meadow Browns, quite a few female Gatekeepers, an increasing number of Small Heaths and one or two Skippers (one was definitely of the Small variety).

Leaving the meadow area, in the more wooded parts by the river I saw Peacocks, Red Admirals, Speckled Woods, Whites (mostly GVW) and a handful of Commas.

I watched one feisty Comma fly numerous sorties against a large brown dragonfly, which seemed a particularly hazardous idea considering the size of the thing.

And of course, there were numerous Holly Blues, certainly the commonest woodland/hedgerow butterfly seen today.

Dave

[MikeOxon]

Walking back to the car, I saw another Skipper - though the underside of the antennae look fairly dark, they are not inky black so I think this is a Small Skipper.

I would go for Essex Skipper from that photo, especially as there seems to be a male lineola scent mark showing through the wing. Super pic, whichever it is.

You need some more expert opinion

[millerd]

Thanks, Mike - I'm still not sure either way to be honest...

I've been away in Yorkshire for a few days again. The sun shone at some point on each day and things had inevitably moved on from the last visit three weeks before. On Thursday 11th, it was afternoon before butterflies appeared in my sister's garden, and the buddleias became adorned with Large Whites and various Nymphalids.

One of these was a Painted Lady - my sister said a Painted Lady had been a regular visitor over the previous week, but she suspected there might be more than one. Compared to those seen recently down south, it was small - no bigger than the Peacocks, perhaps the size of a Small Tortoseshell.

Dave

[Pauline]

Lovely shots of the Painted Lady Dave, especially the last one. I've only seen 2 this season.

[millerd]

Thank you Pauline - I think I've been lucky with the Painted Ladies as I've seen them in several different spots now. If only some Clouded Yellows would turn up too...

12th August was a lovely sunny day, especially after lunch. I counted 27 Peacocks at one point on the various buddleias, plus two or three Red Admirals and numerous Whites. A couple of Holly Blues and a very worn Meadow Brown drifted through the garden, and one pristine male Brimstone made an appearance.

There was also a Painted Lady, and I am pretty sure it was not the same as the one seen the day before.

Later in the afternoon, we went out to Allerthorpe Common. The main path through the woods into the heathland was bordered by tall stands of willow-herb, and we soon spotted a couple of Peacocks, a Red Admiral and a few Speckled Woods. Looking ahead, we could see a particular clump of willow-herb had a lot of activity around it - when we got there, the relatively small area of flowers was host to at least 20 Brimstones. there were near enough equal numbers of each sex and it was intriguing to see males and females nectaring on adjacent blooms when next spring they would be chasing one another and spiralling into the sky. What was particularly odd was to have so many in such a small place, when there were many equally sunny spots up and down the path.

Aside from the congregation of Brimstones, there was nothing else of real note - lots of Small Skippers were still flying, perhaps a dozen Peacocks, plus a few Meadow Browns and female Gatekeepers, but there were no Common Blues or Small Coppers.

However, a single new Comma put in an appearance, in deep rich dark orange winter plumage.

Dave

[bugboy]

Nice Painted Ladies, I'm seeing them on virtually every trip out now too, all fresh home bred editions as well! Come on Clouded Yellows, I'm closing in on the half century of species this year!!!

[millerd]

Thanks, Buggy - I'm still hopeful of those Clouded Yellows. The weather's ideal for a few to hop the Channel at the moment.

13th August. Most of the day was taken up by walking all round the walls of York during which a few Peacocks were seen on bits of wild buddleia. Later on, we popped down to Calley Heath, which is right on the A1079 but virtually hidden unless you know where the gate is. Almost immediately the first orange jewel appeared, followed by several others - I managed to identify six different individuals, but there were probably more across the site. In previous years, there have also been Brown Argus, but it was possibly between broods, or they have disappeared. Also seen were Meadow Browns and Large and Green-veined Whites, plus a Painted Lady and a Comma scrapping. Needless to say, the Comma came off best and maintained its territory while the Painted Lady soared away at high speed.

Last of all was a very new-looking Small Tortoiseshell.

However, the visit was made by the Coppers.

Dave

[bugboy]

Cripes, I thought you'd been to dungerness for a bit there!

[Wurzel]

That last Copper is a beaut Dave Just catching up after a very hot (and virtually butterfly free) week in Lisbon. It seems that you've discovered where all the Coppers have been hiding

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thanks, Buggy and Wurzel - it's the first time I've seen more than one or two Small Coppers at a time for ages. A very small site too - compared to the vast shingle expanse of Dungeness.

Before heading back south, there was time to capture a few more shots of the garden butterflies, including the Large White larvae decimating the nasturtiums.

number one suspect...

... caught in the act

There were lots of Peacocks, a few Red Admirals, and the Painted Lady seen in previous days.

Dave

[millerd]

The long trek south on Sunday 14th August culminated in a traffic hold-up on the M40 caused as a knock-on effect from something worse which had shut the M1. It was quite late, but the sun was out and it was pretty warm, so I diverted at Aston Rowant and had a walk across the northern hillside. One advantage was being able to see how the queue was doing, of course!

The butterflies were starting to go to roost, and in quite a few cases were electing to have a final sunbathe before bedding down. There were quite a few Chalkhills around, but new specimens were very much at a premium; however, Brown Argus and Common Blue were also now in better numbers, and overall much fresher in condition.

I saw quite a few Silver-spotted Skippers, but they were surprisingly active given the time of day, and extraordinarily difficult to follow in the late golden sunlight.

Once again, though, the shining star of the slopes had to be this fresh Small Copper. Nothing I could do then (or subsequently on the computer) could capture the intensity of the orange colour of this butterfly. It also sported splendid tails - not all do by any means.

Dave

[Wurzel]

The is a lovely 'tailed' Copper Dave

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Don't think I've ever seen a Small Copper with such pronounced tails before, Dave. Mind you, any Small Coppers at all is welcome in my part of the world right now!

[millerd]

Thanks, both. As we've seen from Hoggers' continuing studies, there is a lot of variation in Small Coppers, and the length of the tails is just one aspect. Highly noticeable in this one!

After a bit of a gap, it was time to see how the local patch was going. On 15th August I set out late afternoon as usual into warm sunshine. Within half an hour I had exceeded a total of 20 Holly Blues, and stopped counting. This matches the last couple of years, and sooner or later the books say there should be a crash as their parasite gets the upper hand, but at present they are everywhere.

As well as a few Red Admirals, ageing Commas, and Whites, Speckled Woods popped up in the wooded bits and Meadow Browns continue to dominate the open meadow areas, still with the odd fresh individual.

I found reasonable numbers of Common Blues and several Brown Argus, but no Coppers today.

However, Small Heath are building again, and amongst them was one on fleabane, flicking its wings partially open from time to time as they sometimes do when nectaring.

I then spotted a mating pair, managing contrasting shots - one from the shady side and one in the sun.

Not something I've captured often before with this species, and to find them not buried in the grass was lucky too.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave,

I seems that you are to Holly Blues what Hoggers is to Small Coppers

Lovely images of the fresh Small Copper, those tails soon get shorter with wear. Great shot of the Small Heath pair as well. Both species that have been in very short supply around my local patch so far this year.

Cheers,

Neil.

[essexbuzzard]

Hi Dave,I can only echo what you said about Denbies . I was there a couple of weeks ago,and I said in my PD how tall and thick the vegetation is. It now looks totally unsuitable for the Adonis Blue. But,perhaps , they can find just a few small areas,grazed by rabbits , that will keep them going...