millerd

[millerd]

4th August

This afternoon turned into a glorious sunny interlude between hail and thunder. My sister took me to a spot called Allerthorpe Common, near Pocklington in the East Riding. Mostly coniferous woodland, there were also cleared patches of sandy heath bordered by oak and birch. Altogether, we saw 14 species of butterfly (listed below), including a veritable feast of Small Coppers. The heathy area was host to most of these - we gave up counting after 15 or so. Also of note was a colony of Purple Hairstreaks in a group of more mature oaks - my sister was completely unaware that the species could be so easily found, not being used to wandering along with eyes cast skywards, I imagine! Altogether, there were:

Small Copper (lots)
Purple Hairstreak (at least 5)
Small Skipper (lots)
Large Skipper (2)
Speckled Wood (2)
Gatekeeper (lots)
Meadow Brown (a handful)
Ringlet (4 or so)
Whites Large, Small and Green-veined (all seen in low numbers)
Brimstone (2)
Comma (2)
Small Tortoiseshell (1)

Dave

[millerd]

1st - 5th August

Garden interludes in Yorkshire

It was nice to be somewhere where Small Tortoseshells still regularly appear on garden buddleia.

Dave

[millerd]

5th August

Time to return home, and more directly than on the way up. A break was taken at Donnington Park services on the M1/A42 junction, where there is a sizeable green area left wild beyond the manicured picnic lawns. This was too much to resist, and a break between hefty showers allowed exploration. There were good numbers of Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns, plus both Small and Essex Skippers (though not the best, these photos do show the difference between the male sex brands of the two species). A couple of second brood Common Blues completed the picture and though the sign by the entrance advertised Small Coppers, we didn't see any.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave,

Nice photos from up north, I have yet to see second brood Small Coppers locally to me. I plan to go looking later this week.

It is also interesting to see that Small Tortoiseshells seem to be doing better in the north than they are further south.

Cheers,

Neil F.

[millerd]

6th August

A bit of a miserable end to the afternoon, so I didn't expect much of a local walk. However, the spits and spots of rain didn't stop some of the Meadow Browns from flying, nor one or two Gatekeepers. And the damp and gloom seemed to make no difference at all to the local Red Admirals, which were actively swooping and soaring, chasing each other and rising to any overflying bird - as well as buzzing me repeatedly and landing on my camera hand at one point. I did not see a single Red Admiral during my Yorkshire trip and it was good to see them continuing strongly here just west of the airport. I counted seven along a small section of tree lined riverside.

A rather nice green cricket appeared in the foreground and distracted me at one point...

Dave

[millerd]

Hi Dave,

Nice photos from up north, I have yet to see second brood Small Coppers locally to me. I plan to go looking later this week.

It is also interesting to see that Small Tortoiseshells seem to be doing better in the north than they are further south.

Cheers,

Neil F.

Thanks, Neil - the Coppers were a revelation! I have hardly seen any down south this year, and to see so many in one place was great. What would they (and lots of others) do without Ragwort, I wonder.

Dave

[millerd]

9th August

After work I trundled down through the sunshine to Dawney's Hill to see the Graylings. There were plenty around, but despite the fact they kept landing on me, creeping up on them was not so easy. I was surprised to find half a dozen or so Silver-studded Blues still flying as well, worn almost to the point of whiteness in some cases. Also seen were Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and a single Common Blue.

Quite a few photos, I'm afraid, but the Graylings are a lovely subject.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Dave - the last couple show the context very nicely .I encountered Grayling for the first time last year and almost couldn't wait to try and find them this year as they are sublime in their subtlety.
By the way I really need to ask you what cologne you wear - as now you've added Grayling to your "butterflies Dave wears" collection

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave,

Those Grayling shots are making me , a butterfly that does not occur anywhere close to me. I saw quite a few at Arnside recently but found them hard to follow on the loose rocky slopes.

Cheers,

Neil F.

[millerd]

Thanks for the kind comments, chaps.

As for the "cologne", Wurzel, I really can't comment! There is something on another site about the chemical that attracts Purple Emperors - possibly identified as methyl mercaptan. The Wikipedia entry makes smelly reading...
But Grayling are attracted to trousers of all types for some reason. I have never been amongst them without having them land on me.

I have seen Grayling at Arnside too, Neil, and they are almost impossible to get close to on the scree. And incredibly well camouflaged. In contrast, the Surrey heaths are nice and flat! However, they don't offer the other butterfly delights of Arnside, sadly.

Dave

[millerd]

10th August

Leaving work a bit early, I braved the Friday afternoon M25 to go to Denbies. It was still very warm at 4.30 and unusually not particularly windy. The Chalkhills were down in number on ten days ago, but still plentiful, and there were now many more females about. A high number of mating pairs were in evidence and much courtship behaviour. The heat ensured few opened their wings, and as the sun went down, instead of heading off to the long grass to roost as I've seen before, many butterflies simply roosted on the flowers upon which they were nectaring minutes earlier. There were other species: I saw a couple of Common Blues, a Small Copper, a Brimstone, several tired Marbled Whites, plus reasonable numbers of Small Skippers, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers. The most notable feature was the lack of any Adonis Blues as yet (and I didn't see any Brown Argus either).

Dave

[millerd]

11th August

A lovely day, and a chance to visit a spot I had not been to before - at least not with a view to looking for butterflies. I went down to High and Over, on the South Downs behind Seaford and overlooking the Cuckmere River estuary. The intention was to see Wall Browns, a species I rarely see, as I'm based inland. I remember them from the distant days of my youth in North London and Somerset, and especially later from the years I lived in Dover; however, aside from three very brief sightings at Great Orme's Head, Hurst Castle and Mill Hill over the last five years or so, I've not seen them at all.

The first thing today was the strong easterly wind. This made things a bit difficult for photos, but at the top of the slope down to the river there was a lot of butterfly activity. I saw Common Blues, Brown Argus, Holly Blues, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Small Heaths, Commas, Small Tortoiseshells, a Peacock and... probably the single commonest species, the Wall. This was the encouraging bit. The downside was that the wind exacerbated their tendency not to linger in any spot for very long, and certainly not long enough for a decent photo. Many were rather worn, but a few were quite fresh. It was odd for me to see them bobbing around the hedges and paths like any old common butterfly, with no appreciable difference between these and the hedgerows and paths nearer home - where you would never see one. I walked down to the river and along to the pub at Exceat for a little refreshment - and there were Walls down there too, by the main A259 road, and a Chalkhill Blue in the pub garden. Then came the walk back up the hill...

A successful day - I saw what I came down to see and got a good chance to see Wall behaviour and attempt to pick them out from the Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers with which they flew and often tussled.

Some photos (but not so good, I'm afraid).

Dave

[Wurzel]

You still got some good shots of a damn tricky butterfly. They're hard because they're so flighty, have good camo on their underwings and seem to have quite powerful flight- at least those are my reasons for finding them do difficult to photograph

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

12th August

Thanks for the encouragement, Wurzel! Though it's all been made worse by Pauline's beautiful shots

A brief stop at Box Hill today whilst entertaining a small boy who had decided to be completely bored by butterflies. He'll come round again soon...
Around the hot and sunny viewpoint slopes in a welcome breeze, we did see a few Chalkhills and Silver-spotted Skippers, plus some new Common Blues and a single female Dark Green Fritillary too. Nothing stayed still long enough for a photo, including Elliot.

Dave

[millerd]

14th August

Had to go into the big city today to meet my eldest son off a train at Euston. Whilst enjoying a coffee in the entirely concrete forecourt area, I spotted a Speckled Wood flying purposefully through from east to west. I would have thought the only reasonable nearby habitat would have been in Regent's Park, but I suppose some of the little squares in this part of the capital might host the odd colony.

On returning home, we had a walk around my local patch near Heathrow. Things are slowly changing - we only saw a very few Gatekeepers and no Skippers. Red Admirals were about in good numbers, but now were largely attracted to various wild buddleia bushes, instead of scrapping along the paths. They were joined (I'm pleased to say) by half a dozen Peacocks. In the open areas, Meadow Browns persisted undiminished, but flying amongst them were the second brood Common Blues, just up to double figures in the smallish area investigated. There were a handful of Whites: all we got close to turned out today to be Small ones. Finally, we saw a couple of Holly Blues, a worn hutchinsoni Comma, and a single Purple Hairstreak flying in characteristically unsteady fashion from a bramble blossom up into the top of an oak.

Dave

[millerd]

15th August

While I was at work today, my largest son Toby walked along the path next to the River Colne between Stanwell Moor and Colnbrook. He reported spotting several Small Tortoiseshells, Common Blues, and Small Heaths, and then really annoyed me by showing me the video of the Painted Lady he'd seen. I have yet to encounter one this year...

Dave

[Wurzel]

I too haven't seen a Painted Lady this year but they are supposed to come in numbers cyclically like Clouded Yellows aren't they? Sounds like your largest is a chip off the old block, you've taught him well

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

15th August

....and then really annoyed me by showing me the video of the Painted Lady he'd seen. I have yet to encounter one this year...

Dave

Ouch, hard luck Dave Well done Toby

I have only seen the one Painted Lady so far this year, a rather tatty one a few months back now.

Neil F.

[millerd]

16th August

This afternoon, I insisted that Toby take me to the place where he had seen the Painted Lady. Naturally enough, it was no longer there, despite there being plenty of wild unkempt buddleia and a good deal of thistles of many types to keep its interest. Oh well...
We counted the Common Blues over a mile of path and reached over 25, all but one being males. This is is the first week of the second brood, and there are no doubt more to come. We also saw the first of the Brown Argus second showing, a total of five widely spaced out, all males and very active. Peacocks were also now out in good numbers - we must have seen a dozen altogether, mostly nectaring alongside three Small Tortoiseshells and a couple of Red Admirals and Commas. One of the latter was precisely where we had seen it two days ago. Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and Small Heaths provided the brown contingent, and for the whites, we encountered a male Green-veined foisting his attentions on a female (I think from the pose these were unwelcome, but I'm not sure), plus a few Small ones.

Dave

[millerd]

18th August

I managed to persuade the boys to have a picnic at Denbies today, but none of us felt very energetic in the heat. There were certainly plenty of butterflies, with female Chalkhills now perhaps more numerous than the males - and there was courtship activity everywhere you looked. I had set out hoping to see Adonis Blues, Silver-spotted Skippers and perhaps a second brood Dingy. However, the last of these was absent, and I was worried the first on this list was too until I spotted a single male close to the gate as we plodded back to the bottom of Steers Field. When he landed, he did his best to burrow down into the grass - a reaction to the heat, perhaps? Nevertheless, only one is a little worrying at what should be a peak time for them, even allowing for a late season. Silver-spotted Skippers were encountered fairly regularly, but were impossible to approach. Also seen were Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, a Speckled Wood, a Brimstone, a Peacock, a Small Copper and a handful of Small Heaths.

When we arrived home, I popped out around the local patch. Most notable was the sudden appearance of numerous Speckled Woods that just weren't there two days ago, and some female Common Blues amongst the males.

A few photos: all undersides - nothing was opening up much in the heat today.

Dave