www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Thanks, Wurzel - yes, there were quite a few when I visited your Hill... And now you say there are lots of Marsh Frits too! I feel another trip west coming on.

That spot is definitely a bit odd, David - I wish I'd got an upperside view now. That would have been interesting.

Tuesday 23rd May: I had an unexpected trip up to Rugby today, but was able to make the return trip at a leisurely pace. After a cloudy morning the sun was just breaking through as I came down the A423 at Southam. Naturally enough I pulled over into the bypass layby to check the Small Blue colony. I found about a dozen Small Blues, but there could well have been many more as the steep bank means I could only really look at the border at the bottom. I saw a couple of Brimstones and several Common Blues as well. However, the surprise for me was finding Dingy Skippers, as I've not seen them here before. More Small Blues were to come not far away at Bishop's Hill.

Dave

Lovely Small Blues,Dave. Hope to get some decent shots of them myself.
Going to Wurzels hill tomorrow, and possibly several days thereafter. Keep an eye on my diary
before risking a long trip.

Trevor.

Hi Dave, just catching up on peoples diaries, your local patch is doing rather well . If you're still searching for Small Coppers this year, look no further than Bookham

Thanks, Trevor - I shall look out for your reportage from the Hill.

Yes, Buggy, it's been good so far hereabouts, though no Coppers yet. I always forget Bookham before White Admiral time, and it's easy enough for a quick visit from here, or en route back from Denbies. Thanks for reminding me!

Tuesday 23rd May: Part Two. After the Southam bypass, with traffic rattling past a couple of metres away, it was only ten or fifteen minutes further down the road to drop into one of Neil Freeman's favourite spots at Bishop's Hill. Much quieter! The sun was well and truly out now, and it was getting very warm. As Neil described recently, you only have to step into the site to be aware of little silvery-blue insects fluttering everywhere. They were mostly in and around the patches of lush grass and flower growth here, but some strayed beyond into the area of abundant kidney vetch, shared with Common Blues, though the latter's territory was more up the hillside where there is extensive bird's-foot trefoil. On a previous visit a few years back I found Dingy Skippers, but saw only one fast-moving individual today. However, I did see a single Grizzled Skipper. The Common Blues seemed particularly fresh and bright – all males. The Small Blues were varied, some fresh, some quite worn, but there certainly were good numbers of them in quite a small area. There was still time for another stop off on the way home...

Dave

Cracking set of Small Blues Dave Looking forward to the final stop-off

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks, Wurzel - nothing very spectacular, but I find it very hard to drive past Aston Rowant on the M40 - you can see the whole hillside beckoning to you!

Tuesday May 23rd: Part Three. Yes, Aston Rowant. It was by now very warm and the butterflies were mostly highly energised (and to be honest, with the heat I certainly wasn't!). The first sighting was a female Green Hairstreak, scudding at low level over the grass - straight uphill. Next was the surprise of a Small Tortoiseshell disturbed from the path - my, did that butterfly move! I then moved into the realms of rock rose and Brown Argus - they were everywhere. It was only four days since my last visit, but numbers of these, and the Common Blues, had increased noticeably. I even found a fairly blue female CB (though it was nowhere near as spectacular as Buggy's recent find ). Finally, there were now good numbers of Adonis Blues down in the far bottom corner of the hillside, though no females just yet. Hopefully the summer brood will be good as well. As I plodded back to the car I stopped to take one last Brown Argus photo - well, it did pose rather nicely. Dave

Lovely set of Blues Dave, and the first Brown Argus was worth the wait, it's a cracking little BA with a slight white mark around the dark fore wing spot

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you, Wurzel. I hadn't noticed the hint of white round those forewing spots. Worth a look in the future, perhaps.

Only very brief venturing forth on Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th May, and not at all on Friday 26th. It was noticeable how the heat and strong sunshine actually kept the butterflies hiding or flying manically. The Holly Blues are still around in small numbers, but were not stopping at all. I was surprised to see three different Commas on one afternoon, and several Peacocks - the old guard hanging on in there - but no Orange Tips. I fear they have come to an end for the year. Red Admirals ruled the paths and glades along the River Colne, and Common Blues are appearing now over a wider area, and showing a particular liking for grass vetchling flowers (which look like miniature sweet peas). One was anomalously marked underneath. A small selection: Dave

Lovely photo's of the Brown Argus Dave, I believe the Northern Brown are out at Warton Craig , it reminded me when I saw your one with the bits of White Goldie

Thank you, Goldie - I should like to see the Northern variety at some point just to see the differences.

Saturday 27th May: Really windy today, though still very warm. I was confined to visiting my local patch so I set off with the target of finding some Large Skippers, which must be due any time. Sure enough, I tracked down at least two, one of each sex, both clearly very new. Common Blues were more numerous and widespread today, and a Brown Argus turned up in a spot some distance from the one I saw a few days back. There were also plenty of Small Heaths, beginning to look a bit tired, though. Nearer home, I found that a meadow area near the lake now also had Common Blues, despite the regular mowings that decimate the flowers. Very heartening. One of these was a very blue female, in which one of the males took quite an interest before she rebuffed him. The final butterfly seen was a fresh Speckled Wood, in lovely velvet chocolate colours. Dave

Hi Dave, just catching up on your outings. Looks like you made great use of your recent trip to Rugby with the stops at the Southam Bypass, Bishops Hill and then Aston Rowant on the way back
I noticed your comment on the low numbers of Dingy Skippers at Bishops Hill, just a few years back I would see good numbers there but last year numbers were down and I only saw a couple this year. Some parts of the site are suffering from scrub encroachment, mostly hawthorn, which is one possible reason.

That is a beautiful blue female Common Blue you found there and interesting to compare her with the male in the same photos

I also saw my first Large Skippers today, I have noticed in previous years that this species seems to appear all over the country at about the same time.

Cheers,

Neil.

Thanks, Neil. It's such a good route back from Rugby, with all the sites a stone's throw away. It does seem odd that there are so few Dingies at Bishop's Hill, considering how much foodplant there is on the hillside. The Small Blues continue to flourish though it seems.

Sunday 28th May: As rain was forecast later, I limited my day's excursion to Denbies. Most unusually, there was not a breath of wind, but it was very warm with hazy sunshine. Small Heaths were everywhere, and there were good numbers of Adonis Blues both male and female, but otherwise all I saw were a few female Green Hairstreaks pottering around near the ground, a handful of Common Blues and Dingy Skippers, one Grizzled Skipper and a single Painted Lady flying up the hillside far faster than I could dream of following. However, the Adonis were the stars, with little blue jewels all over the slope. Some were getting a bit worn, which curiously seems to intensify the blue somehow, making it more iridescent and electric, but there were still some fresh ones. I watched a male court a female, and she led him a merry dance before she escaped his attentions. There was another female which was clearly congenitally deformed, and unsurprisingly had an aberrant underside. Also of note were half a dozen Clouded Buff moths, a most attractive species whose wing markings are almost reminiscent of some kind of airline logo! Dave

Love the Adonis shots Dave, you certainly had a good day out Goldie

Looks like the Adonis first brood are thriving in the dry spring so far, I wonder how they'll fair in the second brood

You're having a good run with the aberrants Dave I had a Common Blue with similar merged spotting a few years back and I found that it made it quite obvious - I'd leave it and ahve a look at something else and then a quick scan around and there it was again, really easy to find

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks, all. Adonis are another species it's impossible to tire of. It was interesting to get some behavioural shots as well, including male and female together.

On the way back from Denbies, I followed Buggy's suggestion and popped into Bookham. Unfortunately, the skies had darkened by the time I arrived, and all I managed to find were a single Common Blue, and a Red Admiral, plus a Painted Lady which landed on the path in front of me but was too skittish to be photographed. It bounced off ahead of me and then away northwards much in the manner of Tigger.

Tuesday 30th May: With sunshine threatening towards the end of the afternoon, I managed to get a lift to Harmondsworth Moor and walked back. This is where I usually first see Meadow Browns, but none appeared today. However, there is loads of trefoil here this year, and unsurprisingly there were good numbers Of Common Blues. These including yet another extremely blue female, which I mistook for a male right up to the point that it opened its wings. There was also a very small (admittedly very worn) male, no bigger than the Small Blues I saw last week. I also found one Brown Argus and eventually managed a shot or two of a fresh Cinnabar moth, a very restless species. Walking home took me back through my local patch where more Common Blues were flying. However, I was also pleased to see the first second brood Small Tortoiseshell of the year flying energetically around - I didn't get very close, but just enough for this shot. One Comma was still basking in the late afternoon sun... ...but this time of day belongs to Red Admirals; these are a few of them. Finally, earlier on I took a shot of some newly flowering thistles, complete with an assortment of insects. Two Burnet Companions, but what are all the rest?
Dave

I've seen and identified those beetles before Dave, they look like they've been on steroids with bulging legs, but I can't remember the name (Camp..something)? It seems like it might be a good year for Painted Ladies as the world and their wife seem to be recording them .

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks, Wurzel - there seem to be two sorts of beetle and a fly of some sort there, but the one with green shiny thigh pads was the most interesting!

Wednesday 31st May: I had the afternoon free, so hoping the forecast of sunshine was accurate, I set off westwards and had another look around the Eastern Clearing at Bentley Wood. Despite warmth and intermittent sun, not much was flying. All the Fritillaries seen initially turned out to be worn PBF, and even they were difficult to approach. At last, a couple of much brighter individuals were spotted, but would appear and then disappear infuriatingly. Finally I found one of them basking under the cloud cover and waiting for the sun to come out again: a perfect new-looking Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. It would appear they are still emerging, but in very small numbers (though a fellow enthusiast told me they are actually better than last year).

It was now nearly four: time for somewhere else? At this time of year, the long hours of daylight meant a definite yes, so I headed even further west...
(to be continued)

Dave

Hi Dave, regarding your Thistle flowers, the beetle with Chris Hoy's thighs is Oedemera nobilis. Only the males have the swollen thighs so the other slimmer beetles may well be the females. The fly is a Conopid fly Sicus ferrugineus .

Looking forward to the next part of your trip, didn't go to a hill did you?

Yes, Buggy, I'd put money on it. After the disappointment of his previous visit
the hill would act like a magnet, especially as he's seen my bait !.