ernie f

[ernie f]

3rd June 2022, Noar Hill, 10-noon sunny

I was very concerned about the state of maintenance at Noar Hill last year but so far this year things have been OK. Butterfly and Moth counts are fair, birds and plants are as expected.

Today...

8 Small Heath
1 Brim
1 Red Ad
3 Dingy
2 Greenstreak
5 Common Blue
1 Cinnabar
2 Mint Moth
13 Six-Spot Burnet
2 Yellow Shell
5 C Carpet
2 Burnet Companion

But the true success story is the Small Blue. Last year Noar Hull set my record for this species anywhere. It stood at 64 total last year. Today I pretty much scoured the reserve, visiting all the places I have seen them in the past and I have broken my site and day records as a consequence. Today I found a total of 72 Small Blues in the space of a two hours search.

[Pauline]

I was at Noar Hill yesterday Ernie and agree that the numbers of Small Blue are exceptional - probably more than I have ever seen in one place. BUT, as you say, they were already doing well last season so I am unclear as to the reason so much work was carried out to benefit the Small Blue at the expense of the Brown Hairstreak. Granted, management have admitted mistakes were made (timing, insensitivity of contractors, etc) but it seems mistakes continue and lessons are not learnt. As far as I am aware there are still no measurements in place here re BH. I await apprehensively and would love to be proved wrong.

[David M]

That's good news regarding the Small Blues, ernie. Let's hope the Brown Hairstreaks have a similar resurgence later in the year.

[ernie f]

Pauline, David

I heard there were more Brown Hairstreaks flying at Noar Hill than I saw last year (which was a singleton!!!). They were a bit later in the season so it appears - but the works happened over a long period last year so I too wait with bated breath to see what has happened to them this year. The contractors had to move earth to either side of the main entrance path to get the diggers into the reserve and this totally screwed the Orange Tips who loved this area. I am sure the OT's will re-colonize after a few years though.

[ernie f]

My annual survey of the Silver-Studded Blues at the Broxhead Reserve started today (a bit late, but better late than never).

I only check-out the lek area even though they crop up almost anywhere on the reserve. I do this because from my accumulated data over the years I have been able to predict total reserve numbers from just those in the lek. However, if you remember, last year I wasn't able to predict because the numbers in the lek had crashed. Last year at the end of my survey I was extremely worried about their future here.

I am still worried but at least they haven't yet gone extinct here. Today I counted 23 males and 3 females. I am a little worried because the emergence of the females always trails the males and yet one of the females today (pictured) was already showing signs of wear so presumably had been flying for some time. This suggests to me the males started quite early too in which case seeing only 23 now does not look good. Still, you can't tell much from one data point so I'll have another go at them in a few days to see what happens.

Also, I saw a couple of Common Heath Moths. That too is well under expectations. Some years I have seen these in large numbers too on this reserve.

[Wurzel]

That female does look a little worn Ernie - hopefully it's because she's been skulking around getting roughed up by the heather whilst trying to avoid the unwanted advances from the males and the site hangs on.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

That male SSB is positively glowing, ernie.

Fingers crossed that they continue to thrive at that site.

[ernie f]

Wurzel

You are right. It was an early female. If I had been at this location and saw her when she was fresh it would have been my earliest ever female I would think.

David

I visited the site again today and I breathed a sigh of relief. Numbers are growing well!

[ernie f]

Broxhead

A spate of fine weather just at the right time for the Silver-studded Blues here. It's only been two days since I visited but already numbers have almost doubled.

53 males and 8 females of which I found two mated pairs. Much better than last year and we are still pretty early in their flying season.

One pair I managed to pick up.

The male of the other pair was doing a wing-roll.

It was not my proximity which caused him to do this. He was already doing it while I was quite a long way off. It was the rolling that drew my attention to them in the first place. He actually stopped for awhile when I got my camera a few centimeters away from him, but during my time taking pictures he started up again. When he did start up it was only then that I realized that sitting beside them was a small grasshopper!

[trevor]

Great sequence, and a good news story!.

Trevor.

[ernie f]

Trevor

The news is getting better still. Went to Broxhead again today. Now the count in and around the 'lek' is 78 male SSBs and 11 females of which one mated pair while I was there. In fact the numbers are currently increasing linearly at a rate not seen since 2018, which was a bumper year. While I was standing beside the mated pair, other males would try and muscle in but to no avail. I did not see this happen at all last year - they were too thin on the ground. I hope for good things if the weather holds out.

[Wurzel]

Great shots and great news Ernie - it's nice to hear positive news for once

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[ernie f]

Noar Hill

Other people have been seeing DG Frits so I went to see if I could find any and yes, I counted 5 here. No pics as when I went it was already 24 degrees and warning up even more so they were zooming around like maniacs. It hit 30 degrees today at 3 pm!

Complete record for today...

5 DG Frits
2 S Tort
4 C Blue
Loads of M White
Still a lot of S Blue
A few S heath
1 S White
1 L Skip
1 Brimstone Moth
2 Scarlet Tiger Moths

I saw one of the ST Moths flying, showing a blaze of scarlet from its hind-wings. Nice.

Plus the usual orchids - C Spot, Fragrant, Pyramidal, Fly, Musk, C Twayblade but no Frog Orchids that I could find which was odd and a little concerning.

[David M]

I visited the site again today and I breathed a sigh of relief. Numbers are growing well!

I see, ernie. Excellent returns and very reassuring (nice orchid too in your last post).

[ernie f]

Alice Holt for an hour today

Nice and sunny which brought out the butterflies just right.

12 SW Frit
9 W Ad
Loads of M Brown
3 Ringlet
1 L White
3 Comma
2 S Skip
5 L Skip
2 Red Ad
1 Cinnabar Moth

The White Admirals in particular were in force. I saw all 12 within 30 minutes of my visit (one way - I retraced my steps so of course couldn't count them on my way back!!!)

[ernie f]

Alice Holt - The Straits
I was only there for little over an hour and saw...

Too many M Browns to count
43 SW Frits!
15 L Skips
10 W Ads
7 S Skips (But I know there was a lot more but cannot be totally sure of numbers)
6 Ringlet
3 Comma
2 L White
2 Red Ad
1 S White
1 PStreak
1 Purple Emperor

1 Peregrine

My previous record count for SW Frits seen at any location was here along 'The Straits' many years ago. At peak I counted 42 then, so today I broke my record for this relatively short stretch of path through the woods.

If I add my counts together for today and my last report at Abbot's Wood the other day - also in Alice Holt, then I get a bumper crop of...
55 SW Frits
19 W Ads
... at Alice Holt Woods. And this in only two short walks. There are others so I will continue in future days to report.

Is this reflected in people's observations elsewhere? I am intrigued to know.

[trevor]

Both Abbots Wood, East Sussex and Chiddingfold Forest are host to many SWF and WA's,
Both species seem to be having a great year from what I have seen.

Trevor.

[David M]

...43 SW Frits!

Epic number, ernie, and a dash of purple thrown in too!

[Wurzel]

Lovely set of White Admirals Ernie And a spectacular number of Silver-washed it's great to read something positive butterfly related

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[ernie f]

Alice Holt Woods: Bentley Station Butterfly Reserve

Well it seemed I nice sunny day today so I decided to go to a place I had not visited for over a decade despite it being only 7 miles away from my house. The reason I avoided this location is because I found other locations in Alice Holt Woods that appeared to be better. What drove me back here was my quest to see as many SW Frits in one wood as I could. I have walked many of the paths of these woods in the last few days and my SW Frit total was gradually increasing, but not in leaps and bounds - however today I scored 13 individuals on my walk. Not bad at all, and this brings my total for this woodland this year to 95! I still have a couple of trails up my sleeve so I may beat a ton - who knows?

But there was lots of other stuff going on too. I saw almost every species possible for this wood at this time of year...

SW Frit
Small White
Large White
Marbled White
GV White
PStreak
Meadow Brown
Ringlet
Speckled Wood
Gatekeeper
Small Skipper
Essex Skipper
Large Skipper
Comma
White Ad
Red Ad
Purple Emperor (Two of them)

Red Kite
Brown Hawker
Golden-Ringed Dragonfly
Banded Demoiselle

I think the only butterfly species I didn't clock-up which is possible here at this time of year in the grassy areas is the Small Copper.

While I was looking up at one Purple Emperor and busy taking photos of it I didn't realize straight away that right in front of me was a Roe Deer! When I finally spotted him he didn't seem too perturbed by me. He just walked away.

I left the reserve proper and decided to walk up the tarmac path that skirts the reserve and goes up the hill toward the Arboretum. Loads more butterflies but what blew me away was my sudden encounter with a second Purple Emperor. Out of nowhere this one bombed past me at my knee height and stayed at that level, zooming up and down the path. One time he stopped on the ground so I ran forward to get some shots but he flew on. Luckily though, he perched half-way up a conifer for a while, so some fair shots there. Then a few minutes later, back to zooming about low down again. This time he dropped to the ground long enough for me to approach a little and be able to get a few shots in but only at a distance before he moved off again. I saw him a couple of more times flying past me, once overhead and once at shoulder height but then nothing when he dived into the deeper part of the woods where I could not follow.

This was my best P Emp encounter this year and it beats anything from last year too. It's pretty exciting when they bomb past you at breakneck pace.