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Alice Holt Woods (again)

Well if I didn't think so before - I have finally proved it to myself. I'm an idiot!

I was banging on yesterday about seeing almost every species that Alice Holt had to offer for this time of year except the Small Copper.

I had forgotten all about Peacock and Holly Blue hadn't I?

Guess what I saw today on my walks in the woods?

2 Peacock and one Holly Blue! Ha!

So that's 19 species in a single woodland. Not bad. But I still didn't see a Small Copper there.

My quest to burst through the target figure of 100 SW Frits in Alice Holt was met and exceeded today. I chose paths not close to paths I had walked before and found 6 more. That gives me a total this year for this wood of 101 individuals!

And the icing on the cake was the pair 'making babies'.

Great to see the Emperor Ernie I've struggled again to see any down on the deck so next year it'll be Savernake of bust!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Glad you had that experience with the Emperor, ernie. It's almost like a drug - deep rush of adrenaline leaving you on a high for days!

Wurzel, David

You never get tired of them. Even at a distance when you see them up in the tree canopy against the sky.

Silver-studded Blue annual survey of Broxhead Common Lek

Well they are not over completely at this site but nearly so. I have enough data from regular counts to indicate the flight-period curve this year so it's time to compare results from previous years.

Not too much to say this year except that my worries last year about them becoming extinct at this site were unfounded. I may have got a bit ahead of myself this year when I saw them increasing quickly. At the time I thought they may get back to the phenomenal numbers of 2018 - but no. They peaked at around 133 individuals (119 male & 14 female) on the 22nd June which means they bounced back from last years dismal result to the 2020 numbers which peaked at 135 (118 male & 17 female) on the 26th June.

Folly Hill today for the Grayling.

Every year I visit here, especially one spot which I call their lek because there are always males jousting here. There is a pine tree on a hillock and around this tree congregate a few individuals itching for a fight. There is always one who commands the high ground. Every generation that occurs in this location has one that does this and I always give him the title 'The King of the Hill'. Typically if I stand there long enough the 'King' will fly over to me and perch on my trousers. I got 'trousered' three times today in the space of an hour.

There are always contenders though and they get into whirling aerial battles. Today one of them loved perching on the pine cones on the ground. Because of this I called him 'Conan the Barbarian'!

There were however 5 individuals in the lek and I spent a happy hour chasing them and having them try to evade me in their usual way of slipping behind me.

Two decided to perch on trees. I have seen them perch on trunks before like one did today but also today I spotted one fly up to a branch and look down at me from above.

Another one successfully chased off a dragonfly. They have no fear, these critters.

ernie f wrote: ↑Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:21 pm...Every generation that occurs in this location has one that does this and I always give him the title 'The King of the Hill'. Typically if I stand there long enough the 'King' will fly over to me and perch on my trousers. I got 'trousered' three times today in the space of an hour...

Great story, ernie. Graylings are such engaging creatures and yes...feisty too!

Great to see the Graylings somewhere different than down on the deck Ernie - when I was in Portugal a few years back they were all over the place and were very rarely on the deck but over here I only have a couple of shots of them elsewhere. They're a real value for money species as they have great behaviours to watch, cryptic patterning and a certain panache

Have a goodun

Wurzel

So there I was craning my neck up at the treetops at Noar Hill hoping to see Brown Hairstreaks.

Not a sausage.
And no Brostreaks either!

A couple of Meadow Browns were flitting about round my feet but I didn't pay them much heed. There was a nice Red Kite flying over my head and a Goldfinch perched looking down at me from above.

I continued to look for movement in the trees. If you stand where I was for about 10 minutes - if they are there you will see them. I didn't.

Last year I only saw one Brostreak in the entire reserve all season and was worried for their future. I remained worried today.

Those Meadow Browns persisted around my feet. I glanced at them. Nope - wrong, they were probably Gatekeepers after all, coming down to the ground to gather salts from the chalk path.

HOLD ON - wait a mo...
That's not a gatekeeper!
There were two of them. Twice as many as I saw last year.
And when the sun angle was right - they showed up some very peculiar colouration.

Same time and place as yesterday.

This time I looked for the Brostreaks on the ground rather than in the trees and guess what I found...

A Meadow Brown and a Gatekeeper!

Where were those two Brostreaks from yesterday? Yes - you guessed it - up in the trees! Just to fool me I suppose.

And they didn't come down this time so yesterday may have been a bit of a fluke.

Did see a mint moth up close basking on a leaf. I always have difficulty separating P aurata from P purpuralis and today was no exception. Can anyone advise?

Numbers of butterflies and species count wasn't high but there was a nice variety...

Peacock
Holly Blue
Common Blue
Brown Hairstreak
Brown Argus
Small White
DG Frit
Small Heath
Painted Lady
Meadow Brown
Gatekeeper

Oxenbourne today for the 'Flying Teddies'
Our Number 1 cutest butterfly!
And a match made in heaven. Chalkhill Blues and Carline Thistles.
And what's this. An Essex Skipper egg-laying?
Plus a Clouded Yellow zipping around. It was pretty warm when I went so it didn't stop. Instead it had great fun 'buzzing' me. Zooming right up to me and evading me at the last second with only inches to spare as if to say "Bet you can't take MY picture mate, ha, ha, ha, ha, wheeeeeee".

Cracking set of shots and interesting behaviour from the Brostreak I saw the same thing yesterday morning and put it down to it being too warm - the one I saw fluttered into the grass seeking shade

Have a goodun

Wurzel

These temperatures are making butterflies do strange things, ernie. They are extremely active between 830am and 10am and then they start to get overheated and, presumably, go and sit things out.

Empathise with your Clouded Yellow experience - had one myself this morning very similar.

Wurzel, David

Temperatures down a bit now thankfully after the rain. Still feels like summer, but starting to look a bit autumnal in places.

Every year I make at least one trip to Old Winchester Hill. The three target species are SSSkips, Clouded Yellows and Adonis Blues. I had already seen the Skips and Cloudie at Oxenbourne this year but hadn't seen any Adonis yet. Well to cut a short story even shorter I got a tick in each box but didn't get a pic of the Cloudie.

My past attempts at taking pics of Hummingbird Hawkmoths have been quite poor. This is because I keep my camera on a standard setting almost all the time which is useless for this particular moth. And when I do get a record shot, look down to set my camera for a better photo and then look up again, invariably the moth has vanished into thin air.

Not so today!

Today I found a Buddleia which harbored seven of them and they largely stayed put on that bush and the one next to it. Someone ought to have told them this is a Butterfly Bush - not a Moth Bush!

Nicely ' frozen ' Hummingbird Hawk Moth Ernie. I managed some shots of one today,
but nowhere near as successful as yours, great to see!.

Trevor.

Well done with the HBHM Ernie, I especially like the first shot against the sky

Cheers,

Neil.

Cracking set of shots Ernie especially the third from last one - frozen in time It looks like we've gone into Autumn but Summer will be back with a vengeance next weekend

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Great images of the hummingbird hawk moth, ernie. These insects zig-zag about like crazy meaning it's usually very difficult to get clear shots of them.