Andy Wilson

[Andy Wilson]

I spent about 6 hours at Knepp today. Conditions were cool and cloudy at first, but improved rapidly... apart from the wind, which was still gusting badly at times. My first few hours were fruitless, Emperor-wise, but I did get a little over-excited about some White Admirals, of which I saw about 6.

At about 3 pm, I met up with a certain Mr Oates, and, would you believe it, almost immediately we saw a shadow pass along the ground. We looked up and there was an Emperor up in the canopy. Matthew then showed me a few other favoured spots, but no one was in residence. Finally, however, we saw a couple of males in combat on the lee side of a line of tall oaks.

A lovely day out, but I have a lot to learn. Thank you to Matthew for his company and knowledge.

[essexbuzzard]

If you have a lot to learn, you have gone straight to the top with Matthew Oats as your teacher, Andy!

[David M]

If you have a lot to learn, you have gone straight to the top with Matthew Oats as your teacher, Andy!

Absolutely! I was fortunate enough to bump into Neil Hulme one morning at Botany Bay and his wise words of advice still resonate!

[Andy Wilson]

Due to other pressures on my time, I wasn't able to get to Knepp yesterday. However, I managed to escape for an hour in the afternoon and went to Knowlands Wood in Barcombe, which is just down the road from me. There were several White Admirals, including this nice fresh one which posed beautifully for me.

No Silver-washed Fritillary there yet, as far as I could tell, but it's a good site for them so hopefully they will emerge soon. Of course first prize would be to spot an Emperor, which as far as I know has not yet been recorded there.

[Wurzel]

Lovely fresh White Admiral Andy They don't often pose that well

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

White Admirals are particularly beautiful early in their flight period. I'm highly envious as I doubt I'll see this species in the UK this year and will have to make do with scrabbling around for the odd worn individual in France in a couple of weeks.

[Andy Wilson]

I made a last-minute decision to forsake the Purple Emperor for a couple of days and headed down to Devon. To make it worthwhile, we booked a room in the excellent Hunters Inn, right in the heart of the Heddon Valley.

After arriving on Thursday, we walked up the steep lane in Trentishoe Coombe. It was just after midday and there were several "big" fritillaries that were very active. I climbed up on to the bracken covered south-facing slope beside the lane and proceeded to hop around like an idiot, trying to get close to one of the very flighty butterflies. It's made a bit easier now by the National Trust's bracken flattening robot, which has made pathways through it, but it's still awkward and exhausting to clamber around. The flies and other nasties trying to bite you make it doubly unpleasant. Eventially, I got a few record shots of one individual from a distance, and inspection proved that it was a High Brown Fritillary. Box ticked, but this is a very hard place to go butterfly hunting.

High Brown Fritillary

High Brown Fritillary

We then decided to walk down the easy path to Heddon's Mouth to eat our picnic. The path is mainly shady, but when we got to a more open area close to the beach, there were several Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries flying around. However, these were very worn and faded.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Walking back up, I got excited when I saw another big Fritillary at close quarters. However, within a split second it took flight and landed much further away on some brambles. I got a record shot and was surprised to see that this one was a male Silver-washed Fritillary. Not what I was looking for, but the first one I've seen this year. Another box ticked.

Silver-washed Fritillary

On Friday morning, we walked up the valley through some woods. It was quite early, and there was little butterfly activity at first. However, after about 20 minutes walking, we found a sunlit clearing with a lot of brambles growing. My eye hit upon a big fritillary peacefully nectaring on a flower. Could this be my big chance? Could it heck! Despite trying to be as careful as possible, as soon as I lifted up my camera it was gone.

We hung about, and it became clear that there were 3 or 4 of them here. I never got close enough to any of them for a good picture, but I got some record shots that proved them to be High Browns.

We continued on our way and after a long climb we eventually made it to the coastal path, with magnificent views of the steep cliffs to the east and west, and the coast of South Wales visible across the water. There were some big fritillaries here too, but they were very active and never stopped. After a while we took the path back inland to Trentishoe and found one area on the bracken slope where a lot of thistles were growing. This was a bit of a hot spot for several large fritillaries, and after more gallumphing around in the bracken, I eventually got some more record shots that showed they were Dark Green Fritillaries.

Dark Green Fritillary

I apologise for the rotten pictures, but at least they show that I have bagged the 3 species that I needed to fulfill my self-imposed quest to see all 8 UK native Fritillary species in a season. Now I just need another Queen of Spain in Sussex as the icing on the cake!

[Janet Turnbull]

Well done on completing the Frit mission! I hope you manage to find a Queen of Spain

[Wurzel]

Great stuff Andy - It's great when you can finish a task that you've set for yourself Great going with the HBF, I've still to see a British one

Have a goodun
Wurzel

[Andy Wilson]

I visited Knepp this morning for the third time this season, this time with my wife providing a second pair of eyes that are sharper than mine. We wandered about for over 2 hours, seeing a total of about 40 Emperors up at tree-top level, and one that buzzed us at head height. Eventually, my wife tracked one down that was settled at head height in a sallow. This turned out to be a female, and she sat there contentedly for several minutes while I shredded my legs in brambles, trying to get a reasonably close-up shot of her.

Purple Emperor (female)

By now it was nearly 1 pm and the nearby Countryman pub was beckoning, so we trudged back north along Green Lane. Within 30 yards of the gate out onto Countryman Lane, I spotted a male on the ground among some horse poo. He flew up and buzzed excitedly around my legs for several seconds, as if he was trying to get rid of me. Eventually he settled right between my feet, and I got my first ever double-purple wing shot from directly above him. He was a little battle-scarred already, with a bit missing from his right forewing, but I don't care about that!

Purple Emperor (male) on the ground

He then flew up and landed on my wife, who proceeded to get a trousering. I'm told this is only the second such event ever witnessed at Knepp!

Purple Emperor (male) giving a trousering

[Wurzel]

A first double blue Something I'm still after

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Andy Wilson]

I visited Knowlands Wood near Barcombe, East Sussex again this morning. Since my visit last week, there has clearly been a large emergence of Silver-washed Fritillaries. In today's heat, they were flying fast and loose all along the woodland rides, and only very occasionally stopping for nectar on a bramble flower. I must have seen at least 30 individuals, all male except one female which looked as if she was egg-laying. The circle of life never stops. I also saw several White Admirals, about 20 in total, but they too were very active and difficult to get on camera. The best location for these is on the ride which goes westward from the clearing at the eastern end of the wood. There are several large patches of sunlit bramble on the right-hand side along here.

There was a myriad of Meadow Browns bimbling about along the rides and on the brambles, accompanied by a smaller number of Ringlets. There were also a few Marbled Whites. No Gatekeepers yet, as far as I could see.

I also spent a lot of time staring up at Oak trees. As far as I know, Purple Emperors have never been seen here, but I live in hope. However, there were a lot of Purple Hairstreaks up the trees and I was lucky enough to spot one at low level, giving me my first ever semi-decent photo of this species.

Purple Hairstreak

[Pauline]

Well done with that double purple Andy - better than I've managed so far and that PH is not to be sniffed at either - another difficult species. Sounds like you're having a whale of a time and after all, isn't that what it's all about?

[Andy Wilson]

Thanks, Pauline. It seems that all my Christmasses and birthdays have come at once at the moment. I am trying to get in as much butterflying as possible at the moment until my grandchildren arrive next week, after which I will be otherwise occupied for much of the time! I just need to get a nice shot of a WLH low-down. Maybe a trip to Brighton is in order.

[Goldie M]

Fantastic Butterflies Andy, all of them i'm hoping to see this year if Possible so here's a few more green's Goldie

[Andy Wilson]

What a month I've had! With all the excitement about the Black Hairstreaks at Ditchling Common and the population explosion of Purple Emperors at Knepp, I think we can declare the so-called June Gap dead, deceased, pushing up the daisies... (insert random Monty Python reference).

So now we have started July, I decided it was high time for another visit to Friston Gallops, my favourite site on the South Downs. I arrived at about 10:30 am and it was already 28C, but the heat was tempered by a fresh north-east breeze. What I love about this site is the species diversity. Within a few minutes of getting on to the open downland, I saw the following species: Comma, Dark Green Fritillary, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Marbled White, Small Heath, Small Blue, Small Copper, Large White, Small White, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Essex Skipper and my first of the year of both Gatekeeper and Chalk Hill Blue.

Chalk Hill Blue (m), Friston Gallops

Later, as I did my usual walk around the perimeter of the whole site, I added Green-Veined White and a solitary Small Tortoiseshell to the list, making 17 species in total. I saw about 10 Chalk Hill Blues overall (all males), but hopefully this is just the start of a large emergence.

[Wurzel]

Brilliant news Andy - I was walking on my local Down this afternoon wondering when the first Chalkhill would be seen

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

So now we have started July, I decided it was high time for another visit to Friston Gallops, my favourite site on the South Downs. I arrived at about 10:30 am and it was already 28C, but the heat was tempered by a fresh north-east breeze. What I love about this site is the species diversity. Within a few minutes of getting on to the open downland, I saw the following species: Comma, Dark Green Fritillary, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Marbled White, Small Heath, Small Blue, Small Copper, Large White, Small White, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Essex Skipper and my first of the year of both Gatekeeper and Chalk Hill Blue.

That's an impressive list of species, Andy, and even more impressive temperatures. No wonder butterflies are emerging in big numbers.

[Andy Wilson]

Due to holidays abroad and other family commitments, my butterflying has been non-existent for the last 6 weeks. Today, I decided to pay another visit to Friston Gallops before the season is over. Conditions were fairly sunny and warm, but there was a moderate south-westerly wind blowing in which caused many of the butterflies to hunker down in the grass. However, there were still good numbers of blues: Common, Chalk Hill and Adonis, and I reckon I must have seen about 50 of each. There were more females than males, which I guess is a sign that the flight period is coming to an end. The females were particularly numerous in the high northern section of the site, which had a lovely carpet of Horseshoe Vetch in flower earlier in the year. Hopefully, they are all busy making next year's butterflies.

As well as the blues, there were plenty of Meadow Browns and Small Heaths still flying, plus 2 Wall Browns, about 5 Brown Argus, 2 very tatty Small Coppers and an even more careworn Painted Lady. I drew another blank with Silver-spotted Skipper, which (for me at least) has always been absent at this site.

[Andy Wilson]

It's nearly mid October, and so far this year I haven't seen a single Clouded Yellow. On this lovely warm day, I went to Hope Gap near Seaford to try to put this right, and was almost immediately rewarded by the sight of one flying purposefully northward in the warm breeze coming in from the sea. Altogether, I saw about 15, including one that posed for me with the sunlight coming through its wings.

Clouded Yellow, Hope Gap

I also saw a surprisingly fresh female Meadow Brown, a Small Heath, a Small Copper and another comparative rarity this year (at least for me), a Peacock.