Bugboys mission

[Andrew555]

Very nice shots Bugboy. I like the Bluebell Brimstone, and the OT's are great.
Always like a 'multi-site' day.

Cheers

[bugboy]

Thanks Andrew, I think it's safe to say a Bluebell makes any butterfly picture that little bit better

4th May,

Another sunny day at work (my week off can’t arrive fast enough!) so it was another day of snatched opportunities. A lunchtime wander round one of my transects gave me a couple of Holly Blue flybys and a few better behaved Specklies.

After work I stopped off once again at Tottenham Marshes. Although time was getting on it was still warm and bright enough for plenty of activity. Whites abounded all over the place, mostly to active for a positive ID but both GV and Small were definitely present (I’ve still yet to see a Large this year).
After trying and failing to get a few snaps of them I made my way to my usual sheltered hotspot where I spent a good hour watching and chasing various species. GV made up the bulk of the Whites and they proved a little more approachable than the ones in the larger meadows.

Also in attendance were a couple of battle scarred Peacock who were both obsessed with the Cow Parsley when not battling over territory with some stroppy Commas.

At least three Orange-tip males patrolled back and forth but none settled. A couple of male Blues also dropped over the hedge briefly, mid battle, and vanished equally as quickly. A single female however settled on some Hawthorn budding blossom long enough for a couple of snaps.

Not a bad hour or so at all. Just the weekend to get through then a week of freedom

[essexbuzzard]

Good luck next week. If the forecast is correct, there should be some good stuff around by then!

[David M]

Lovely stuff, BB, especially the Peacock on the cow parsley. I never knew butterflies were keen on this plant; I've don't ever recall seeing any nectaring from it.

[Wurzel]

Lovely set of images Bugboy - that lemony Green-veined White is a real stand out butterfly

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Another good selection, Buggy. GV Whites seem to be abounding this year in particular.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Nice Butterflies Bugboy, I'm still looking for Hollie Blues Goldie

[Pauline]

Hi Buggy, some very artistic and creative poses there especially the Peacock and GVW. Lovely! Looking forward to seeing what you find next week when you've more time to explore.

[bugboy]

Thanks for all the comments, much appreciated . It's been a week since I've updated my diary and I'm running the risk of being overtaken by Wurzel, so I thought I'd better make a start documenting my week off. Suffice to say it's been hectic but ultimately very satisfying

7th May, part 1

The plan for my week off was to catch up on a few species not yet seen this year, hopefully a week of season debuts. My first day was set to be another scorcher, probably too hot for springtime butterflies, so get anything on camera would mean either getting out early or waiting until the sun was about to set! I had an eye test booked for late afternoon, so I couldn't go on one of my long distant trips but a hot bank holiday Monday on one of my local patches is most definitely a place to be avoided at all costs, you might as well go to Hyde Park, far too many people!

The chosen site was Hadleigh Country park where I'll hopefully find lots of White-letter Hairstreak in 6 weeks’ time. It’s also a pretty good place for Orange-tip so the plan was to get there in time to find them waking up.

Arriving just after 8, it was already warming up but the resident Green-veined Whites were still lolloping around. Sadly, the same wasn't true for the Orange-tips. The first one I saw was in full patrol mode, dashing all hope of any pictures, in fact I didn’t see one touch down for a second all day! Green-veined Whites were by a very long margin the most numerous species and unlike the Orange-tips I could have photographed every individual I saw for the first couple of hours.

Also flying were my first Large Whites of the year, who offered no photo opportunities, and a handful of Speckled Wood.

The park backs into some arable fields, not all of which seem to be used. In the 4 years I've been visiting there's one in particular that seems to have been untouched and is full of some sort of crucifer left to go to seed. Small Whites love this field and I spent some time following an egg laying female around trying to catch her in the act, with mixed results.

Back on the main path I spied a silvery blue speck fluttering along the hedge. She opened up but not in a particularly useful position.

Had I looked behind me I would probably have ignored her completely though. On the path were several large muddy patches, remains of the recent deluges, and it was at one of these I was about to have what can best be described as a ‘Millerd Moment’:

One in particular was so engrossed that he ignored all attention and disturbance, including several fast cyclists zooming past. He made an exceptional subject, and I got a fair few funny looks as I crouched over the muddy ground.

This mud, it would seem, tasted rather good, a couple of Green-veined Whites joined the mud licking party. A sure sign they were feeling the effects of the unseasonal heat.

The only other species I saw in the morning were two or three Peacock.

By midday even the GVW were impossible to pin down so with a few hours still to kill I changed tack and wandered over to Two Tree Island to see if there were any baby waders running around. A few Avocet could be seen on nests and a pair of Oystercatcher amongst others put on a good show near the hide but what did catch my eye was a female Small Tortoiseshell looking for somewhere to lay on the bank of nettles directly in front of the hide.

After half an hour or so relaxing in the cool of the bird hide It was time to head off to find out how blind I actually am, walking past countless more Whites and a smattering of Orange-tip.

[Neil Freeman]

Great shots of the Holly Blues and Green-veined Whites having their mud licking party

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

It's great to see a group of Holly Blues puddling together - I've never managed more than two together down like that and they didn't sit particularly close together. GVW puddling too - we're heading for a continental-style butterfly get-together at this rate! That would be good...

Dave

[IAC]

Very well done on the Holly Blue trio. Outstanding!! I could imagine that would have been quite exciting to see.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Bugboy I've never seen so many HB's together like that before they always seem to be single ones I find, Great shots Goldie

[bugboy]

Thanks guys, they were all initially on separate areas but as they got disturbed by various passers by they seemed to be attracted to each other and ended up in the tight cluster in the pictures. The Whites spent as much time squabbling with each other as feeding!

7th May, part 2

Well it turns that other than a bit of age related long sightedness (reading glasses are recommended) my eyes are fine, and since I’d seen three or four Holly Blues flying around the high street to and from the opticians, I decided to end to end the day with a wander round the Marshes for an hour. Hopefully the bank holiday hordes would have mostly gone by now.

I really was having a Millerd kind of day, Holly Blues were still out in good numbers but the heat even this late was enough to keep most of them too active for photography. Just one female taking a break from egg laying sat for me.

Whites and a few male Orange-tip were still in patrol mode, but a couple of female Orange-tips stopped to feed.

I couldn’t resist a few bird snaps, a Goldfinch looking particularly striking against the clear blue sky

Lastly, I had a couple of Small Tortoiseshell basking in the evening sun, it was still rather warm at 7 when I left, and I suspect it was only the sun vanishing over the horizon that would have put all the butterflies to sleep for the night.

A good start to my week off

[Pauline]

Just seen your recent posting Paul need I say more???!!! Really well done even if it was by accident

[bugboy]

Thanks Pauline, just another case of right place, right time

8th May, Pearly Abbots

Tuesday was set to be another unseasonably warm day so I decided to choose a woodland site to give myself a little shelter from the heat. I had a crazy plan that I'd be able to get to Abbots Wood early enough to catch the Pearls warming up. It didn't happen and as is now traditional I got hopelessly lost on the years first visit of the year, finding the Pearls , already super charged, almost by accident. Although they've only started emerging the site looks to have been well worked but I was pleased to see that people seemed to have been sticking to the paths through the clearings so hopefully there's been minimal fatalities from squishing to both Pearl species.

I resigned myself to having to wait until the end of the day to catch a Pearl not in motion, but at the far side of the largest clearing I could make out three tiny glittering butterflies knocking hells bells out of each other. My second season debut of the day turned out to be somewhat more approachable, not quite fresh but still photo worthy.

I willed them to settle on a Bluebell long enough for me to grab one of those classic shots but all I got was a dead bluebell head.

Once I got my fill of Hairstreaks it was time to go exploring to the sound of a springtime English wood. Blackcap, Garden & Willow Warblers and Nightingale all competing against the resident songsters.

I'd seen very few butterflies apart from Fritillaries and Hairstreaks, just one or two distant large Whites but as if to prove the opticians conclusion about my eyesight the previous day I somehow caught sight of a Brimstone sheltering from the heat, I've no idea how my peripheral vision picked him put from this!

My attentions disturbed him and after fluttering around for a bit he settled again, this time in an easier spot, although I still had to lay belly down.

For the rest of the morning and early afternoon I concentrated on the non butterfly inhabitants. Broad-bodied Chasers being particularly numerous.

A Blackcap and Garden Warbler sat quite well for me but the Reed Warblers who were singing away in the Reeds around the lakes kept out of sight. I was also rather chuffed when a noisy Nightingale showed well and allowed me to get quite close.

I did see a few more butterflies, a couple of tatty Peacock, a handful of Green-veined White and just the one single Speckled Wood

As the afternoon progressed the temperature showed no sign of abating but I hoped the Fritillaries would switch to feeding mode. Just like clockwork I saw the first one settle on some Bugle at 3pm on the dot and as they calmed down their numbers seemed to increase.
One plopped down on one of the narrow paths in front of me and promptly snapped it's wings shut. Within 30 seconds another flew past and practically dive bombed it, the first one was obviously a female. I didn't witness any actual mating though as another passing male shot down to be in the action and the trio shot off out of sight.

My run of bad luck was about to strike again though, I only managed about 15 minutes of bright feeding activity when the sky turned milky and then thicker cloud sent all my targets to an early bed .

Cursing my luck once more I took my queue to leave, but not before taking a snap of a Lizard who was trying to absorb the last of the days heat from a log whilst keeping his beady eye on me.

[trevor]

I know for a fact there is better to follow, Paul, ..............

[bugboy]

Here you go Trevor

9th May, Bugboys big day out. part 1

Wednesday's events have already been well documented but hopefully my account won't be too samey. Dave (Millerd) had offered to take me down to deepest Sussex where we were to meet up with Trevor and visit a few sites. I left bright and early to meet Dave at Staines at 8.30 for the drive down. traffic was a little problematic, but we eventually found Trevor’s place, in a maze of cul-de-sacs and after a quick chat we made our way to his local patch, the old railway line. Unfortunately, our visit coincided with some large dark clouds and not a great deal was about. A few Holly Blues were active in the brief sunny spells, but Dave's charms failed him this time and they stayed up high, but a male Beautiful Demoiselle posed well

A female Speckled Wood was busy looking to lay some eggs, behaving for all the world like she'd mislaid some keys and at the far end of the path I found a slumbering Orange-tip.

We regrouped and headed for Abbots Wood (it hadn't occurred to me the previous day this might be one of the days destinations). We arrived with little cloud cover to help subdue our targets (I was starting to think my run of bad luck might be jinxing the day) so after chatting to some fellow enthusiasts and chasing a few Fritillaries around and getting a handful of distant shots each we decided to head for High and Over.

More bad luck, there was a strong breeze blowing along the Wall hotspot. A Small Tortoiseshell toyed with us for a bit, doing a fair impersonation of a Wall from a distance and a single Small Heath, my first of the season, gave us a runaround but we moved on to try and find a more sheltered spot.

Along the sheltered path we were able to watch in awe as Dave demonstrated his whispering talents.

The Blue was quite happy to stay licking the leaf for sometime.

On the other side of the white horse there was again a distinct lack of Walls but we stayed for a little bit admiring the view. A single Mute Swan looked oddly incongruous as it drifted along the river down below and my zoom lens was able to pick out a pair further out, one of which was sat on a nest with at least 3 cygnets.

While we stood a single male Wall flew past, over the fence and down the steep slope. I did consider giving chase momentarily but figured I'd break at least one limb in the process!

It was mid afternoon now so I suggested returning to Abbots Wood where hopefully the Pearls would be a little more approachable. As we wandered back to the car park we found a male Orange-tip looking for a roosting spot, who gave plenty of opportunities for us once he’d found his bed for the night

[millerd]

It's great getting a different perspective on the day, Buggy! And there is more to come as well as that was in the end just a taster for the day...

Dave

[bugboy]

9th May, Bugboys big day out. Part 2

Our return to Abbots wood proved to be a lot more fruitful even with (like the previous day) cloud cover ending play early. Luckily for us Dave found one stranded on an Oak sapling, trying to soak up the dying rays to gain enough energy to join his siblings/cousins etc in the trees. In the end he failed and only had enough energy to flutter down onto the low undergrowth allowing all three of us to fill our boots with images.

Here's Dave branching out (get it ) and doing a bit of PBF whispering.

We nearly ended the day there when Trevor bid us farewell to walk home, and I would have made it home at a reasonable hour, but we decided a quick detour to Mill Hill would be worth a risk. It was cloudy but the light still seemed good enough to look for roosting Skippers, hopefully we'd be able to find both species.