Bugboys mission

[Goldie M]

Hi! Bugboy, hope you see the Large Tort, we've not seen any GVW's either yet here but hope fully that will change soon.Goldie

[David M]

Good luck with any Large Tortoiseshell mission you undertake, BB. I'd love it if we could get evidence of this majestic butterfly's presence on UK shores again this year!

[bugboy]

Thanks everyone, there will always be a lot of luck in locating LT in the UK, they are there but they are so elusive. One has already been photographed in Sussex David, a month or so ago

Thanks Pete and no worries, I'm having trouble keeping up with my own PD never mind about anyone elses!

17th April, North Stoke.

On my last day of freedom before having to go back to work for the duration of this unseasonably warm spell (which, with military precision, was due to come to an end on my next day off), I decided another attempt at locating a Large Tortoiseshell was worth a stab. Other reports suggested the site had come to life since my last visit, so packing my wellies I left early and got myself onto a train that would get me there for 9am. Some early mist cleared as I traveled down, and the forecasted blue sky joined my arrival at Amberley station. The forecast had gotten a little worse as the days progressed, but I was still promised good weather at least until 1pm, plenty long enough to work the site over a few times. Whilst waiting for the butterflies to come to life I watched the plentiful birdlife, Pheasants by the bucket load in nearby fields, various birds of prey and countless small passerines all enjoying the onset of spring. I also had a fright when I caught sight of this ceramic toad perched by the side of a path

Just after 10 I started seeing the first butterflies, Peacocks and a few whites who turned out to be of the Green-veined persuasion.

It was all looking rather good until 10.30 when a huge bank of cloud cancelled the start of action and for the next 3 hours the sky looked something like this:

And no, that blue sky wasn’t heading my way, it was moving parallel to me. As if to further rub salt into the wound, some sort of topographical witchcraft was happening above my head. As the cloud bank passed over the ridge of the site it visibly broke up and dissipated .

Oh well if last year taught me anything it was don’t give up, I explored further afield than on previous visits, seeing the occasional butterfly, hoping the day hadn’t come to a premature end.

Finally, the sun returned, and I was greeted with an explosion of butterflies, Peacocks, Commas, whites and Brimstones all making the most of things. One of the Whites turned out to be the season debut of an Orange-tip for me. I took this as a good omen since last years Orange-tip debut was also a female and on the same day as I saw the Large Tortoiseshell here.

It was a short lived sunny spell though with more clouds spilling over me (the clear sky either side of me making me feel slightly cursed) and this was how the rest of the afternoon progressed, every time the action looked to pick up another cloud would send everything back to roost but despite all this I did manage to come home with a camera full of images to sift through, sadly though not a sniff of any Large Torts… and oddly none of its smaller cousins.

Poised like a WW2 spitfire ready to do battle with the Luftwaffe

Despite almost completely missing one fore wing this chap was still able to fly, albeit rather more feebly.

The usual Brimstone springtime shenanigans!

Pheasants everywhere!

I think I was spotted!

It was a good day for birds of prey, along with a couple of Red Kites and the usual Buzzards a Kestrel spent some time hovering near me and a Peregrine glided over.

It looks like there will be no Large Tortoiseshells for me this year but hey ho, it's always going to be a long shot

[Janet Turnbull]

I'm very envious of your Brimstone, Bugboy - I can't catch them with their wings open!
Is it an illusion or does that third Peacock have a much bigger eyespot than usual?
Shame about the LTs - hope you get another chance this year.

[trevor]

And there was me praying for some cloud so the Orange Tips would settle for a millisecond.
The recent fine weather has done wonders for Butterfly numbers around here.

Great report from Amberley, next year for an LT. or two ?.

I expect I'll see you around,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Great set of images Bugboy especially the poses thrown by the Peacocks, I know what you mean about Spitfire like Good work with the Brimstone shenanigans shot - I've never seen a courting pair of Brimstone I hope you have more luck with the LT next year...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Hi Janet, the trick with Brimstones is to find a courting couple, set your shutter speed as fast as you can get away with, and point and shoot. They flap their wings relatively slowly compared to many other species so it's quite easy to freeze the action once you've got them focused . Another trick is to find one having breakfast or mid afternoon tea and again point and shoot. That's the beauty of modern digital photography, you can afford to shoot off 50+ shots and not worry too much that 49 of them will be binned

Thanks Trevor. Oh the vagaries of our weather. I would have been happy with the odd fluffy cloud, just not 3 hours solid of it hanging over me, it really did put a lid on the temperature and activity. There's always a chance for a LT there, from what I've read, personal gut feeling and speaking to more knowledgeable people the site is close to perfect for them. The main problem is that about 90% of it is inaccessible, making locating an already elusive butterfly even more difficult to point that it's pretty much pure luck if you find one.

Thanks Wurzel. That surprises me that you've never seen courting Brimstones, I can almost guarantee seeing half a dozen or so every spring. I was watching a couple at work yesterday

18th April, Scorchio!

For the rest of this week I resorted to guerrilla style butterflying, grabbing my chances when I could and turning any negative situation to my advantage. Today's negative situation being a dentist appointment, just a check up, but you never know what those sadists might find! Anyway, it was in the middle of the afternoon giving me not enough time to return to work after but (assuming I got the all clear) enough time for an hour or two on my local patch. I escaped unhurt .

The forecasters had got it right about it being a scorcher, even at 4pm it felt uncomfortably warm and many of the butterflies I saw seemed to be struggling. I got my first glimpse of a specklie for the year, but he was disturbed by a dog walker before I could get a snap. I don't think I would have got a worthwhile image though, he was too busy temperature regulating to pose properly. In the same corner a supercharged male Comma was defending his patch against every flying insect, falling blossom petal or bird that dared come close. I managed a few snaps in-between angry bouts of aerobatics.

Elsewhere I came across more Comma and some Peacock but only a few would settle long enough or pose to make an image worthwhile, so I made the most that were willing.

Whites were plentiful, only one of which I managed to get close enough to photograph. The only other white I managed to get close enough to ID was a female Orange-tip but she escaped my camera. Two females now but still no males!

A nice way to forget about the earlier appointment

[millerd]

Bad luck again with your endeavours tracking down a Large Tortoiseshell. Nothing seems to have gone quite right... Spring butterflies and heat don't seem to mix, do they? I'm sure Orange Tips in particular are simply not geared to flourish in anything much over 22 degrees or so. Some nice shots there though of those prepared to brave the heat.

Dave

[Andrew555]

Great reports and shots Bugboy. Love the Brimstone pair.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Bugboy, we're struggling here to find GVW and Small Whites, even the Speckies don't seem to have arrived yet or the Holly Blues, nice shots of the Peacock's by the way and there's still time to find your Large Tort I think. Goldie

[David M]

Having a static line of cloud above your head with blue skies tantalisingly beyond is one of the greatest frustrations any butterflyer can have, BB.

That said, you nonetheless got some tremendous images of many of the spring species and I'm sure if any Large Torts are about, you are the man to find them.

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave, I see one turned up at Dungerness the other day, probably an immigrant.... I wonder if that means we're having another influx? You're right abut the heat, springtime butterflies heat regulating mid morning is something not often witnessed!
Thanks Andrew, I always stop to watch courting Brimstone, they look so graceful
You'll get them soon Goldie, it's still early days
Yes David, hugely frustrating but there's nothing you can do but sit it out with fingers crossed.

19th April, More Scorchio!

I attempted doing my transects at work but it became clear very quickly that it was just too hot to get results. I’d seen a good few Whites and Brimstones during the morning but by 1pm they were all seeking shelter and invisible to my eyes, so I shelved that idea and hoped I’d get better results the following morning. I didn’t have my camera with me, but I did manage one snap late in the day on my phone, much to the amusement of colleagues!

20th April, even more Scorchio!

I remembered my camera today and managed to sneak off for 10 minutes early in the morning to look for a speckled Wood I’d seen the previous day and get my first specklie snaps for the year. It wasn’t even 10am but he was already temperature regulating himself

Later in the morning during my transect I noticed a female Brimstone egg laying on an up to then, unknown Buckthorn.

Near the end of my Transect I found another unsuccessful courting attempt from a male.

Later in the day whilst doing some actual work (so no camera available) I stumbled across a holly blue and managed a few phone snaps.

I finished at 4 today which meant I might well have enough time (as long as it didn’t cloud over) for a bit of butterfly hunting on the way home at Tottenham Marshes. It didn’t cloud over and by 5pm I was seeing the first of dozens of whites. I think they were mostly GVW but It was still ridiculously hot, so none were willing to stop for more than a second or two. The first grounded butterflies I came across were a few Peacock and Comma but like the Speckled Wood that morning it was difficult to find one willing to open it open its wings for any length of time.

In the same spot mixing in with a couple of whites were two male Orange-tips, but I didn’t really have a hope of either settling for photo opportunities.

I moved on to some of the more open areas where Small Tortoiseshells often turn up, encountereing countless more whites when up from my feet flew a pair of Small Tortoiseshell. They didn’t fly far and were very easy to follow around. The female was definitely receptive, making no attempt to lose her suiter and in the hope of seeing a second Vassenid pairing in a week I ended up following them around for about half an hour. They were an exceptionally good-looking pair, the intensity of colour on both quite spectacular. The activity centred around a patch of lush Nettle growth and on the odd occasion when they flew off out of sight I’d just hang around and await their return. It’s always fascinating watching behaviour, and in this case listening too, the males head butting being clearly audible at close range.

My hope of witnessing a pairing though ended in near Shakespearean tragedy though. The female landed on a Cow Parsley flower head, giving the poor lovesick male nowhere to perch close enough to continue his headbutting courtship shenanigans. As he circled he took his eye of the goal at the exact second she fluttered off, leaving the poor male circling the flower in a desperate bid to re-locate her. In his single-minded search he blundered into a spiders web, his frantic fluttering then attracting another male which too ended up trapped in the web. The owner of said web was plenty large enough to cope with then so having observed him for so long (I almost felt like his friend) I felt obligated to step in and free them.

I returned to the spot where the Orange-tips were flying in the hope they had started to slow down but even at 6.30 it was still too warm. They were actually following the setting sun up the side of the hedge and now patrolling mostly above head height. All I could get were a few in flight shots as they dipped down.

Elsewhere the Peacock and Comma were more willing to open up now.

I left at 6.45 with butterfly activity not looking like it was willing to cease until the sun was well and truly set

[millerd]

You can almost feel the heat from those photos, Buggy. Unreal for the time of year (but back to normal now of course...). A very splendid pair of Small Tortoiseshells there. I always feel minded to rescue butterflies from spiders too - there will always be another meal along for them, hopefully a parasitic fly of some sort!

Dave

[Goldie M]

Well done Bugboy for rescuing those Tortoiseshell's, I hate to see Butterflies caught in Spider's webs especially Small Tort's Goldie

[David M]

What a marathon, BB. You blew away a few of your own cobwebs there by the look of things, as well as saving Tortoiseshells from them.

Is it just me or are Orange Tips proving particularly difficult to photograph this year? It's like they're all on Red Bull!

[Wurzel]

Great set of shots Bugboy, especially the Comma on perched and ready for combat I've seen the Brimstones flapping about but never them settling down and doing the more intimate aspects, oh well there's always another day

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks guys, it was a hectic week last week, trying to make the most of the good weather

22th April, starting to cool down but still Scorchio for April!

I managed to fit the new weeks transects at work today and got a few snaps. Early in the morning I saw a white feeding so grabbed my camera for a few snaps, this is the first white at work I’ve managed to ID, everything up ‘til now just hyperactive white blur shooting past.

I found a female Comma busy peppering nettles with her eggs

And some mating Speckled Wood, a first for me. They were desperately trying to escape the heat and my pictures were horribly contrasty, so it’s been tweaked rather savagely…

[Wurzel]

Great shot of he Specklies even if it’s been tweaked a little bit I’ve still no seen one this year

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Something I've only seen once, when a pair fell out of a tree in front of me! Very nice shot - the tweaking has really brought out the great patterning underneath.

Dave

[David M]

Given how common this species is, it's surprising how seldom one sees a pair in-cop so well done with that one, BB.