Wurzel

[Maximus]

Superb Small Copper shots, Wurzel

Mike

[Wurzel]

Cheers Paul I was doing so well earlier in the year and then I had a manic summer and now work keeps getting in the way, but I will get there in the end
Cheers Dave As it turned out it wasn't quite the end and there were one or two more little delicacies to come
Cheers Neil I was in the same boat as you Neil with almost a month between butterfly photos, until a couple of days ago Just as I was catching up...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

...As it turned out it wasn't quite the end and there were one or two more little delicacies to come...

I knew it! I shall wait with bated breath, Wurzel!

Dave

[David M]

I knew it! I shall wait with bated breath, Wurzel!

Me too! I normally get frustrated by late reports, but at this time of year, one has to latch onto everything one can get!!

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave and David There's only a few - but while I was sorting them out I discovered a few more from much earlier in the season when it was really busy as well - so it might see me through until Xmas

November 2014

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Larkhill 17-09-2014

Once again I made a quick stop off on the way home hoping for another Small Copper incident. As I pulled into the car park a Small White flew by and then something small and orangey fluttered past and disappeared as I got out off the car (a Small Copper?). A quick stroll up the North bound path revealed nothing so I headed back and along the West bound path. I stopped for a worn male on the edge of the path and it was quickly joined by a female. She was fluttering low down near the edge of path and I wasn’t aware of why until she then fluttered to another piece of vegetation and did the same crawling around. This time I knelt down and watched more closely and then I saw her curving her abdomen round and laying an egg.

Later down at Copper Corner there was another worn male but instead of a Small Copper today there was a Specklie but it didn’t stop for any photos.

Work 18-09-2014

Having been successful at Larkhill I felt that something would have to give at some pint and so it was this morning with another ‘no-show’ during my morning stop-off. I carried on to work, planning to get out and see what I could find at break time. Unfortunately I didn’t catch any smokers but I did manage to confiscate 2 mobiles, an iPod, 3 different sets of earrings and also get a few shots of a Red Admiral. It was feeding on some Ivy near one of the Smokers Hang-outs.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Just catching up with the posts, I've had my daughter here this week and we were out every day, unfortunately not for Butterflies

Your Copper shots are great Wurzal nothing to report here , not even a fleeting glanceGoldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie It's all gone quiet down this way too Good job I'm behind on my posts

The Devenish 21-09-2014

This was one of those stolen hours of peace in a hectic and full on weekend. What with eczema creeping up my arm and one eyelid also cracked and itchy/sore I really needed a break from all the stress of endless marking and planning that comes from work during the first term back. So I was lucky enough to escape for an hour or so over the lunchtime to The Devenish.

Once there I headed up the short path and over the gate to the small paddock area. Straight away I found some butterflies with both a Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell doing a brief fly by. The Peacock landed but only long enough for a quick approach a couple of distant shots and then it was away again. Something higher up in the surrounding tree caught my eye which became a Red Admiral and when I stood back it was suddenly apparent that the one was actually three!

As I was enjoying the trio of Red Admirals an orangey butterfly bombed in and disturbed one of them – a Comma. It landed and then standing back and craning my neck to see it in repose again revealed another, this one slightly higher up and overseeing his lair below. Slightly lower down a Red Admiral was also watching over it’s airspace it was almost as if they’d divided the column of airspace up into chunks – airspace partitioning. Over at the gate there was a third Comma which was much lower down and just in reach if I balanced on the gate, locking my feet around the bars. Luckily a Specklie hove into view, hassled the Comma and made it take off so it landed even lower down and much more in reach.

From the Paddock I moved up through the tree covered tunnel and over the gate into the Orchid Meadow. An angry orange blur metamorphosed into a Small Copper and a Blue Badge one at that. Also here was a worn Common Blue which despite putting on a good show of nectaring didn’t appeal as it was so worn and faded I kept finding my lens being pulled back to the BB Small Copper

I carried on up to the Bramble area which was very quiet now and on up the Down pleased with the days tally; six species and counting although there was very little flying. I skirted along the lower slope along the edge of the taller vegetation and the sun came out and with it the butterflies. There was one and then another Small Copper which would settle for a few moments before one would take off and hassle the other, a pattern which continued until all the time I was there. Whilst here a Small Heath and Large White both flew by and a Brown Argus stopped for a while, catching the light on its fading wings. Up on the very top of the down yet another Small Copper was fluttering by, ragged wings tips hinting at its vintage and it then raced down the side of the hill, possibly to hassle the pair below.

Old timer

Back in the Orchid field as I headed homeward there was yet another Small Copper a Brown Argus, possibly the same as earlier (although the Blue Badges seemed different?) and all to soon I was back in the car and heading back to reality...
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Lovely shots once again Wuzal, some times it's good for us when your late with your postings we're still getting your Butterfly shots when there's nothing much to see other wise Love the Small Copper shots.
My daughter is also a teacher so I know what you mean about hassle, she came up here to us for a break. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie I'm starting to run out of my backlog of postings believe it or not, but there might be a few extra hidden away on the hard drive

Larkhill 22-09-2014

Another week and another quick stop off at Larkhill although it really feels like the season is almost at an end here, plus as the workload mounts I won’t be able to stop as frequently. This afternoon there were no more Small Coppers they seem to have been and gone. Instead there were only a couple of Common Blues remaining on the Golden Rod. They were certainly getting on a bit and so I was tempted to wonder if they had some sort of wing crutches .

Larkhill 25-09-2014

I didn’t get back to Larkhill until later in the week and that was only for a very brief stop on the way to work as there were some more large blobs in the field just past Airmans Cross. Once again they were the pair of Great Bustards, but this time I think they must have had a bit of a bust up as although they were in the same field they were emphatically facing in opposite directions.

Hopefully there may be a few more visits left and I might be able to get some closer views of these magnificent birds.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Interesting, Wurzel. So as to get some idea of what I'm looking at, just how big is a Bustard?

Dave

[Maximus]

Once again very nice Small Copper shots, Wurzel and it's nice to see that the Great Bustard reintroduction programme is going well

Mike

[Wurzel]

A Great Bustard could be considered as possibly the heaviest living flying animal, the male can be up to four times heavier than the female and can stand between 2'11'' and 3'5'' tall and a wingspan between 6'11'' and 8'10'' - so pretty huge
Cheers Mike If the untagged one is Wiltshire born then it's going great guns

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

HI Wurzel,
As i only joined UKB. in Sept.this year's postings have to be retrospective.Next year i hope to be on time.
i've still to get the hang of posting pictures!.i'll pester my Daughter to post some of my Cotley Hill shots.
There is even one of a Green Hairstreak on my shirt!
Best wishes TREVOR.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzal, don't think I've ever seen a Great Bustard, must be interesting to watch them take off Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trev I look forward to the Greenstreak T-shirt
Cheers Goldie I've only ever seen them in flight once, generally they just leg it

28-09-2014 The Devenish

What with the house work done and clement weather I took a brief lunchtime trip out to The Devenish just to see what I could see or if there was actually anything left as there is a definite feeling of the end of the season being in site. I didn’t hold any great hopes as Larkhill has been getting quieter and quieter and most species there are now in a very worn state.

I started off at the Paddock area as the bare soil and Ivies there might have held a vanessid or three like the last visit. I was proved right almost immediately as when I clambered over the gate a small orange blur was there to greet me. A Small Copper which was basking on the bare earth where I thought I might find one. I think it was a different individual from my previous visit here a week ago as it was in very fine fettle. Over along the tree-line there was a Comma high up and a Specklie in a much more accessible elevation.

I moved on through the tunnel and out in the Orchid Meadow and a Mustard yellow colour had my heart in my mouth. t followed the usual Clouded Yellow procedure and took off almost as soon as I spied it. Luckily it didn’t fly too far and so I was able to approach to within a metre before i started getting my shots. I was surprised at how fresh it appeared and I also got to wondering whether it was an immigrant or a local hatching? My musings were cut short as it had obviously refuelled and so was off again, they can really motor!

Up on the side of the Down a female Brimstone posed nicely; backlit with the abdomen in shadow between the closed wings. As I took a few shots I again got to musing and I realised that I hadn’t taken any shots of a Brimstone for an age, possibly not since the mad rush during my first sightings in the spring. I had another look around the side of the down, checking the tracks that cut across diagonally and the remaining nectar sources but this part of the reserve has gone from one of the busiest to the quietest. The Bramble had also been quiet on the way up by now housed a cracking Comma with a practically perfect ‘C’ lying on it’s side.

Back in the Orchid Meadow there was another Small Copper with blue badges – possibly the one I’d seen here on my last visit? There was also an even more aged Brown Argus, which climbed towards the top of a twig and posed nicely amongst the dead leaves looking like it had just climbed the stairs and reached the top.

A final check back at the Paddock added a male Brimstone high up in one of the Ivy trees. It was trying to blend in and look like one of the leaves only while it was on the upper side it stuck out like s sore thumb, bright yellow on a dark green background. There were also a couple of Red Admirals and a further 2 Commas. All in all a pretty good haul for almost October...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Paul Harfield]

Hi Wurzel

Your Brimstone is particularly nice It looks like my season has pretty much finished now so I look forward to your October intstallments

[Neil Freeman]

Nice ones Wurzel

Between work, catching up on domestic stuff, and the autumn weather, my season has been over for some weeks now. The weather around here has not been quite so benign as it apparently has been in some other parts of the country, although there has been a bit of sun, usually when I have been at work (at least I am now in an office with a window so I can see what I am missing )

With a couple of proper ground frosts last week it has begun to feel proper nippy in the mornings....Winter is Coming .

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Paul My October installments were few and far between as work took over, it's a pain when that happens
Cheers Neil It's been very quiet down this neck of the woods recently so I think it could be all over here too, good job I have a few posts still left in reserve.

30-09-2014 Larkhill

Autumn marches on and my visits are starting to become less frequent and much less rewarding. Morning stop-off’s are virtually pointless as the weak morning sun isn’t hot enough until I’ve been at work for a good few hours so butterflies are roosting well out of sight.
This brief afternoon visit was also looking really bare until I’d decided to call it quits and head for home. Then I looked at disgust at a piece of littered paper. Only it wasn’t paper it was a pair of Small Whites in cop!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

HI Wurzel,
Your part of the world sure makes for a great Butterflying day out.i will return !!
TREVOR