www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I've been doing some catching up and reading a lot of your diary at one go! I always enjoy browsing through pictures and think you did remarkably well at Collard in view of the queues - I think I'd be too nervous to take anything reasonable under such conditions. I also like your 'indicator lights' method with Skippers. 'Smalls' can be very deceptive but when you see a 'real' Essex, the inky blackness of the tips is usually pretty definitive. It's a bit like Adonis Blues: "is it one, is it one?" until you actually see one, and then its obvious!

I'm also impressed by the trouble you take in assembling your posts. Do you have a secret method for adding a large number of photos - I always restrict the number of images I post, because of the faff of loading them all!

Mike

Hi Wurzel,

Another couple of great reports with cracking photos, I really like the first Hedge Brown from Bentley Wood and that valesina is a stunner

Cheers,

Neil

Wow Wurzel. Just seen your valesina. Stunning butterfly and photo!! I've also never seen one either.

Hi Wurzel,
I am also loving that Valezina. I have never seen one at Bookham Common, Surrey although the female SWFs do vary in colour a little.
I think they reckon up to 5% of SWFs in some southern woodlands are of this form,
best wishes,
Philip

Lovely SWF valesina, Wurzel - I join the others green with envy as I haven't ever seen one either!

Nice one.

Dave

You hit the jackpot there Wurzel. Fantastic Valesina and I join the queue of folk who have not yet seen one Just wish I'd known about the sighting 10 days earlier and I would have been straight up there

Cheers Mike for your kind comments If in doubt with golden Skippers call em a Smessex The main cheat that I use when posting is to write the text in Word and then cut and paste it in. As for the photos I haven't found a short cut yet so I either take sups of beer while waiting for each photo to upload or if I'm feeling fit I do 20 press-ups between them
Cheers Neil I was struggling to choose my favourite from those two myself and the valesina won out...just
Cheers Bob I got lucky with that one
Cheers Phil I remember reading somewhere that they can be as high as 40% in a population
Cheers Dave They can be found at Bentley Wood most years often further in around Donkey and New Berryfields Copses.
Cheers Pauline I saw a report today from Black Dog Woods of 5 Greenish Silver Washed ST 824488 if you fancy a trip out

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I agree with the others, Wurzel - excellent valesina photos!

Cheers,

- Pete

Wurzel wrote:As for the photos I haven't found a short cut yet so I either take sups of beer while waiting for each photo to upload or if I'm feeling fit I do 20 press-ups between them

Apparently, the next "release" of the forum software (phpBB) allows multiple file uploads. Not sure when it's being released though.

Cheers,

- Pete

Cheers Pete - Bentley has been pretty good for Valesina over the last few years WRT the update I'm slightly concerned that it won't be good for my health - far fewer press-ups

07-07-2014 Lunch

Buoyed by my morning perambulation I headed out during lunchtime and took my usual route encountering a couple of Small Tortoiseshells by the fences on the way to the back path. Once there I was surprised how tall the grasses have grown over the last couple of weeks. They’re so tall they almost covered the path rendering it invisible. It was handy for finding the butterflies as they weren’t aware where the field ended and the path started.

I saw about 8 Smessex along the path with the additional of one a piece of Essex and Small although only the Small Skippers posed for me. Also on the walk were good numbers of Meadow Brown that would drop down onto the path and then flutter up in surprise as I approached. The Brambles further along held lots more Small Torts which ranged from really fresh to showing signs of wear and tear. On the way home I stopped off at The Devenish to search for Chalk Hills. As I was on a mission I tried to ignore most things whilst scanning the hillside for the ghostly blue of the Chalk Hills. Alas it was still not to be as they haven’t emerged yet – I’ll have to keep checking as I would really like to see my first Chalk Hills at this site. In the end I couldn’t help but ignore all the butterflies that were flitting around me and so I succumbed and bagged myself my first female Hedge Brown of the year. Have a goodun

Wurzel

Not seen a female Hedge Brown yet. I always think this heralds the beginning of the end of summer.

Those Chalkhills can't be long, Wurzel - they're out in droves on the Downs over this way
Nice to get a female Hedge Brown - there's hundreds hereabouts but the heat is keeping them mostly tightly closed. And no abnormal spots on show either: I'm waiting for your post with this year's crop!

Dave

Cheers David I know what you mean about the end of the season I always feel the same when Silver Spotted Skippers are reported - mind you there's still another month or two to go yet and maybe we'll get lucky and have an Indian summer with 3rd brood Walls
Cheers Dave I'm still looking at every Hedge Brown I see but the best ones are always up at Ffos-y-ffin at my Outlaws - but I'm visiting them soon

09-07 2014 Field and The Devenish

I took advantage of the good weather and headed out to have a look at the small Field in the local housing estate as by now the Smessex should be out in good numbers. As I walked up the path towards the field a Small Tort caught my eye as it was in an unusual posture. I approached it half expecting it to nip off as I’d gotten too close to quicker but it stayed there appearing to cling on for dear life. Eventually it moved on and approaching the nettle leaf all became clear as there was a lovely clutch of eggs. On the field proper there were all the usual suspects but I eschewed most to focus on the Skippers and over the next 20 minutes I managed to find members of all three species. Although the odd other species did slip through the net. The Large Skippers seemed to be well past their best apart from the odd female which still looked in reasonable nick. Next in terms of wear were the Small Skippers with the thick dense orange colour fading and scales missing. The Essex are the best looking glittering if they caught the light just so. Happy with the Skipper haul I headed back to work ready to face the next onslaught. I also made a quick stop off at The Devenish on the way home. It was a hive of activity with Browns all over the place. When I walked through the Meadow they would explode from the grass in front of me and then fly around before landing a few steps ahead, to then repeat the procedure as I continued to make my way to the large Bramble just over the stile. This was entertaining but frustrating as it meant making an accurate count pointless.

I checked out the Bramble and Ringlets, Meadow Browns, marbled Whites and Hedge Browns were all feeding and flitting about never sitting still long enough for me to select a target. A quick run up to the top of the Down still didn’t produce a Chalk Hill but I’ll persevere. On the way back to car my way was blocked by the H Comma which had decided to take on the role of Gatekeeper. Have a goodun

10-07-2014 Martin Down

Having seen my first DGFs I was looking forward to catching up with them again so I again got changed at work and after the meeting flew over to Martin Down to make the most of both the good weather and also the evening light. Loading up in the car park I decided to try the hollow at the start of Bokerley first and so off I set. There were some bits and bobs flitting around, the odd Smessex and Meadow Brown as well as the obligatory Small Tortoiseshell. I carried on down into the hollow where swathes had been laid flat by previous visitors. So to avoid further disturbance or damage I tried to stick to the paths through the swathes of grass or use the paths already trampled down. It was tricky work as the butterflies weren’t hampered in the same way as me and they would float lazily above the grass heads like a ship on the ocean. Meadow Browns, Smessex and Marbled Whites were all around and so I tried to get my eye in on some Frits as that was what I’d come to see and more specifically to see if I could get a good closed wing shot. Cursing both the wind; which would always seem to catch the butterfly just as it was closing it’s wings sending it rocking all around and the blades of grass that would always suddenly appear across my shots l took a bit more of a wander round in the hollow. I was impressed with the sheer numbers of Smessex that were around buzzing up all over the place. Butterflies were also starting to congregate and flower tops would hold three Smessex or 2 Meadow Browns. Slightly less irked I got back to DGF mode. As if to welcome back into the game a fantastic smoky female appeared. When she caught the light there was a purplish and then greenish sheen over the wings so at times I thought I’d discovered a Green Dark Green Fritillary. She was simply stunning! But my “wait by a Knapweed and see” technique whilst allowing close ups wasn’t effective for the under wing shots. Mind you I was happy with what I was getting...if only they’d close their wings a bit more. Again I was struck by how many Smessex there were around. And now as the evening wore on I would come across groups of 20+ Smessex all clustered together among the grasses. Safety in numbers I suppose as the darkness is no friend. The wind was a now more of a pain than ever as it was starting to get really gusty plus it was blowing clouds that were blocking out the sun. All butterflies would disappear down into the grasses to suddenly erupt once the sun would reappear. So I took to waiting and snapping and managed a couple of under wing shots. It was just unfortunate that the individuals I happened across had nicks in the wing or were really old and tired looking. It was getting to the time of the evening when most activity had ceased and the butterflies were all bedding down. I noticed that the DGFs would disappear down low amongst the grasses and were rendered invisible. I was getting tired and hungry now so was just thinking about giving up when the greenish tinge on one DGF stopped me short. Finally I got a semi decent under wing shot just as I was packing up for the night and I was actually winding my way homewards. There must be an easier way of getting those gorgeous closed wing shots regularly rather than just relying on getting lucky? I need to get a method sorted for next year... Have a goodun

Wurzel
p.s. – extra points for spotting the 2 Groundhogs songs...

Hi Wurzel

I love your Dark Green Fritillaries from Martin Down The female and the last 2 male open wing in the grass shots are superb. I am very envious as this is one of my favourites, I seem to have missed best of them this year Your Marbled White threesome is also great

Catching up again Wurzel lovely shots especially the DGF's
'Darkness is no friend' is the only one I know

Mike

Female DGFs are just amazing in contrast to the males - the one I saw at Denbies the other day was huge - easily as big as a SWF and dwarfing the Chalkhills around it. Lovely shots, Wurzel - and the other song is "like a ship on the ocean"?

Dave

Cheers Jack Sorry you haven't caught up with DGFs this year, but that's one of the good things about butterflies - there's always next year
Cheers Mike I sometimes wonder what would happen if I ever actually catch up with my PD One point for "Dark..."
Cheers Dave DGFs are massive ginger beasties Excellent knowledge of the grandfather of Grunge

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Bentley Wood 13-07-2014

Having only the briefest if glimpses of His Nibbs last weekend I thought I better have another try for Purple Emperor so off I headed to Bentley Wood again...
Once again it was quiet in the car park and so I made off down the main ride towards the cross roads. I’d arrived early and it was pretty cool so I was fairly confident that I wouldn’t see much until I was further into the wood but I still switched constantly from scanning the path ahead and the tops of the trees. I’d gotten down to just past the hotspot and couldn’t understand what had happened as huge swathes of Bracken had been trampled down flat. It was quite shocking to see and saddening especially when a Ringlet forlornly fluttered across the gap. There were some butterflies here amongst the devastation; a few Large Skippers, Ringlets and Meadow Browns as well as Hedge Browns and a couple of Silver Washed Frits. At the cross roads I headed left down towards Donkey Copse noting a fresh Peacock, White Admiral and another couple of Silver Washed on the way. A familiar figure was up ahead, Jenks, and so we caught up and then settled to down to keep a look out for His Nibbs on the corner. Various bits and pieces passed by – a White Admiral, Silver Washed and eventually some Purple Hairstreaks jinked around forward and backwards higher up. Meadow Browns and Hedge Browns were all over the place and kept me occupied while we waited for an audience with Him. A brief foray further along the track produced more of the same with the addition of another Peacock before I arrived back at the corner to be informed that He had out in an appearance. Eventually with the clock ticking onwards towards ‘home time’ the unmistakable figure cut across the sky as He flew from one side of the track to another and disappeared among the tree tops. This may have been only a brief view but the bat like cut of His jib made it confirmation of my previous sighting and so a definite addition to the Yearly Tally. No shots but there’s always next year. Wishing Jenks well I made my way back to the car park stopping very occasionally for anything that caught my eye. I was back on the main track just beyond the trampled area when I saw a female Silver Washed behaving oddly. She was flying low to the ground, staying in the shade and tightly circling the trees occasionally perching on them. I eventually sussed out what she was doing as I was able to stalk up to her. She would land wings perpendicular to the trunk and then swing her abdomen round to lay eggs in the cracks and crevices of the tree. I’d always assumed that they’d la them on the ground on or near Violets as they’re the larval food plant so I’m guessing that the first thing the cats do is crawl or abseil down to the ground once hatched? Witnessing this behaviour for the first time made my day and any lack of Purple shots was soon forgotten. In the afternoon I took the girls to the park and the little wild area held a Smessex and a Small White landed on the Lavender that lines a neighbours garden. And so ended a rather enjoyable day.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wow, interesting to hear about the Silver Washed Fritillary. I would have thought they laid their eggs directly on violets, too. I wonder if this behaviour is normal and if any other Fritillaries do the same. Great pictures of it's under wings, too!
I have been looking at your pictures of Smessex Skippers. I am going through the same dilemma with some I saw in Spain. I am erring towards Essex, but the antennae aren't as obvious as on yours.