Bugboys mission

[David M]

More great images, BB. Things are 'hot' round your way right now. Keep on pursuing the Purple Hairstreaks. This time next year they'll probably be back to their normal frustrating behaviour.

[bugboy]

I have another very nice Gatekeeper ab. waiting in the wings Wurzel which I think you might like
That's the principle I've been working on David, my hard drive is going to be creaking under the weight of images of Hairstreaks by the end of the season, especially if the Browns have a good season as well!

4th July, not staying local.

I fancied a trip to the south coast, hopeful to find my first Clouded Yellow of the year. Mill Hill was the end target, but I have got in the habit of stopping off at Trevor’s late season hunting ground of Shoreham Harbour at Southwick when I go there. Here Whites abounded, all three species but that was as close to yellow as I got.

The mercury was already climbing but each Small White was closely studied as best I could just in case there was mannii amongst them, there wasn't. Flying with them were also some Skippers. I couldn't pin any down, but my gut was telling me they were Essex.

As usual the birdlife posed well here, and the more eagle eyed amongst you may notice what the Greenfinch is perched on. Wild Fennel, there's a lot here, just waiting for a passing visitor from across the channel .

After an hour or so it was off to Mill Hill. The route I take follows a footpath around the horse field before you cross the bridge. The edges are rich in thistle, nettle, Bramble and Ivy growth and so make good hunting grounds for a variety of species. Last year you couldn't move for Red Admirals, today Small Tortoiseshell were active along with dozens of Gatekeeper, but in the heat, there was little chance for pictures. Further on speckled Woods showed up in the shadier areas and some fresh Peacocks gave me the run around. Looking down on me was a comma so he got snapped, another one for Wurzel!

Across the bridge Marbled White, mostly past their best, started to show up and another Small Tort posed in semi shade. Here I also found a surprisingly tame Silver Y, they’re normally a distant blur before you’ve even thought about raising your camera!

On the slope it was the usual suspects although no Chalkhills, which I was secretly hoping for. It was however blazing hot so nothing much was sitting still.

Here too all three White butterflies were present and some lemon-yellow ones too, but no deep yellow ones were to be found.

I moved to the top car park to see what was going on here. It was much the same but the stiff breeze that had been a bit of an irritant all day was somewhat stronger here. I'd also hoped some early second gen Walls might be about, but they too were absent. I did chase a Meadow Brown who had some bleaching but in-between getting blown ragged he never sat right for me, this is the best I could manage. another fresh Tort also proved to be a challenge

There is a lot of Greater Knapweed up here, which the butterflies obviously love, and sitting in the middle of all the normal purple flowers was a plant sporting white flowers, it really did stick out like a sore thumb!

On the return trip around the horse field I had better luck with the Vanessids including my best effort yet at capturing the inky blackness of a Peacocks underside .

[Wurzel]

Looking forward to the Hedge Brown ab Bugboy, though part of me hopes it's not too MrGreen inducing I know what you mean about the 'blackness of the Peacock' when they're flying sometimes and you catch the underside you can be forgiven for mistaking it to be a bat .

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Andrew555]

A fantastic selection Bugboy. Love the fresh Purple Hairstreak, jousting Emperor's and Ringlet ab.

[bugboy]

It's a bit of a wait until I get around to the Gatekeeper Wurzel, but as a connoisseur of the species, I think you'll find it worth the wait
Thanks Andrew

10th July, Graylings.

One of my highlights from last year was capturing egg laying Graylings in the act (for the newbies the pictures are here viewtopic.php?f=29&t=8077&start=1360) and I promised myself to attempt better images this season. With that in mind it was off to my regular Grayling hunting ground, Chobham Common. I'd deliberately waited for a day that wasn't blisteringly hot and with a bit of cloud cover to calm the main targets down. As a habitat that is able to cope with water shortages I hoped it wouldn't look as bad as the meadows I've frequented recently but even here things looked more parched than usual. There was however a lot of life here to capture my attention. The edges of the site are lightly wooded in places and have therefore not been subjected to as much blazing sun as more open areas, and in the gaps where thistle grow, it was a hive of activity, with Whites and Skippers making up the bulk. Large Skippers do well here and regularly hang on into early September. Today's lot all looked very fresh.

Incoming!

All three common Whites were here and although I was here primarily for Grayling, what sort of fool would pass on a backlit male Brimstone!

Overlooking all this was a Comma. These backlit Commas are becoming a bit of a theme recently.

After getting my fill of the support cast I made my way to my favoured hilltopping spot, on the way finding a particularly finely marked Green-veined White.

It didn't take long for me to get buzzed by a male Grayling. As expected there were several here, dotted along the path defending borders against intruding males. Just down the other side is the spot where I find the mated females, an open flat area where nothing much grows bar the LHP. After much searching though I was unable to put up any females, it would seem I'm a little early so I returned to play with the males. I do like Grayling, they really make you work hard but once they relent they let you get right up close to see the intricate underside and those wonderfully alien eyes. An added bonus today was finding a freshly emerged one who had yet to learn how to use his wings properly.

Time for the annual 'spot the Grayling' competition.

Lowland heaths are also good places to find some of the rarer Odonata. I’ve never really deliberately gone looking for them until today though. The first sighting was a mating pair of Keeled Skimmer. In the past all I’ve managed is an old faded female.

The smaller pools have all long since dried up but there are some larger ponds which still hold plenty of water. Here various blue Azure Damselflies were joined by Large-red Damselflies… or so I thought until I checked one of the images I’d just taken, she had red legs. Large-reds (a common species) have all black legs, Small-reds (a much rarer and localised species, and one I had never seen before) have red legs.

This required further investigation, in particular the more overgrown far side of the pond which I thought appeared very appealing if I were a Damselfly. I was right, several sat amongst the reeds, including a mating pair.

A very satisfying tick! As an aside you know your verging on a drought in the UK when you start to see butterflies mud puddling!

I couldn’t resist a few more Skipper snaps before leaving.

Hopefully the female Graylings will be out on my next visit.

[Janet Turnbull]

'Spot the Grayling' had me looking hard for several minutes, Bugboy! And a very fine capture of the red-legged damselfly.

[millerd]

Found it! Yes, they can disappear in an instant, those Graylings. Great shots of that new boy, Buggy, and also of the skippers. The two puddling make a cracking photo.

Dave

[David M]

Well BB, seeing those butterflies 'puddling' must make it a heatwave officially now!

It's quite bizarre how your Large Skippers last so long. Ours here in Wales have already disappeared; even Small & Essex are nearing the end.

[Wurzel]

I'm sure I commented this morning Bugboy but as Little L was moaning the heat, having to do an 11+ practice test and how hungry she was I mightn't have clicked the submit button I think that what I wrote was...found it but you'll have to take my word for it so as not to ruin it for anyone else Also those are really fresh Large Skipper - is that a second brood or just a late emerger?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Janet, Rather chuffed to find those Damselflies
Thanks Dave, they were both pretty obsessed with with drinking those Skippers!
David & Wurzel, with regard to the Large Skippers I think Chobham Common is just a very late site. I never come here until the Silver-studded Blues are out so I don't know when they start emerging but given I can find them here as late as August they must start emerging a good few weeks later than the national average. Also bear in mind I'm a few weeks behind in reports

12th July (part 1), another day, another visit to Bookham.

Another trip to Bookham today and another day in the company of Millerd. I started the day walking around all the spots where I’d found Brown Hairstreaks eggs last winter, hoping I might come across a freshly emerged one. None were found but there were the usual false alarms flitting around in the cool overcast weather.

After a bit I bumped into Dave and we joined forces looking for anything Hairstreaky, but still no luck. Moving on into the woods we found plenty of life, mainly Silver Washed Fritillary, the relatively cool conditions making a pleasant change not to have to chase them around. As the morning progressed the cloud thinned and began to break up which increased the activity but they were still on the lazy side, mainly occupied with feeding on the Welted Thistles which seem to have loved this heatwave, although the males did start becoming a little more amorous. Both Dave and I spent ages following a selection around in various clearings, taking hundreds of images between us. It was very difficult to pic my fav images, so I cheated a little bit

The now ubiquitous Purple Hairstreaks put in regular appearances, not as numerous as previous visits but still enough to draw my attention.

Also present were a fair few Large Whites which have started to become increasingly numerous of late, no doubt the second gen numbers have been swelled by migrants from the continent.

Here and there the odd White Admiral would sail through and when a passing Holly Blue showed up he was Inevitably drawn down by Dave and allowed some nice close ups

Dave offered to give me a lift over to Denbies since I had yet to find my first Chalkhill of the season, but on the way to the car park he noticed a small Oak that seemed to be alive with Purple Hairstreaks, several egg laying females which would pose nicely in-between laying eggs.

[Wurzel]

Cracking stuff Bugboy especially the in-flight SWFs- brill Still waiting for this Hedge Brown...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Great SWF combo shots, Buggy! For the most part a great deal better than mine as well, particularly the in flight ones.

Dave

[Janet Turnbull]

Gorgeous pics of the SWFs Bugboy - and I'm so envious of your P.Hairstreaks - I can't seem to find any!

[bugboy]

Patience Wurzel, I'm getting there as fast as I can
I wouldn't say better Dave, just different
Thanks Janet. You need to come down here for those Hairstreaks, you can't move for the bloody things this year!

12th July, (part 2) Denbies Chalkhills

At Denbies we were in entirely different conditions as to the morning. Blazing hot sun greeting us with most inhabitants in hyerdrive and not opening up much as all. A Chalkhill flew past on the upper slope, always a good sign as far as numbers are concerned, and a pair of Small Copper were too busy knocking hells bells out of each other to worry about sitting for a picture. Near the gate my eyes were drawn to a rather large fly sitting quietly on a dead grass stem. It was an ovipositing horsefly, a proper horsefly as opposed to the Cleg flies that are the bane of us. These ones aren't so keen on human blood apparently. It's those incredible eyes that fascinate me, surreally psychedelic .

My first picture of a Chalkhill was sitting a short way away and turned out to be the ab which seems quite common here, a male with red upperside spotting.

The weather made more poses few and far between but there was some rather nice Brown Argus to keep us entertained. He was actually tiny, more the size of a large Small Blue. He was still perfectly marked though.

The next inhabitant to catch our eyes was a particularly sandy coloured Small Heath. Several seen throughout the afternoon looked similarly sandy coloured, perhaps an adaptation to the parched conditions?

Amongst the Chalkhills which littered the hillside are several Common Blues, equally as active. Occasionally a Chalkhill would settle long enough for a snap, this one perhaps an ab?

We wandered the length of the hillside, praying for just a bit of cloud cover to calm things down a bit. We got it and were rewarded by the sight of a fine example of a Brown Argus.

Of course the weather God's rarely listen and soon the cloud cover had thickened so much it was sending everything to roost. It wasn't until we were halfway back that it thinned enough again to wake things up and we eventually found basking Chalkhills aplenty .

Joining them were some rather nice Commons too.

And finally a few odds and ends that provided a little bit of variety for the afternoon

an unusual pose, caught at the moment of lift off.

I couldn't resist this pretty little thing, a Lace Border.

This is the female that we watched lay the egg which you can see in Millerds account of the afternoon.

Probably the victor of the earlier skirmish!

Another excellant day

[Old Wolf]

Found the Grayling....eventually

That Brown Argus is a fine specimen and I love the SWF pics. A right haul of great shots. I particularly like the backlit Brimstone, seeing the body through the wings is pretty amazing.

[Wurzel]

I agree with Wolfy that is a dandy Brown Argus And hat is a cracking shot of the Marbled White, brilliant pose

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Guys, it was a 'fresh out the box' to use a Wurzelism!

14th July, a day in Dorset.

The time had come to make my now annual pilgrimage to Dorset to see that diminutive south coast speciality, the Lulworth Skipper. As with the previous two years I went to Durlston Country Park near Swanage.

It’s a fair old trek for me to get there so everything was shooting around in the blazing heat when I arrived. I quickly found the target species along the coastal path just past the visitor center, I've found other skipper species tend not to drift down here so there's not many problems with getting an ID, it was just that none would sit still.

My main hunting ground is the meadow that looks onto the lighthouse. Last year you couldn't move for Skippers with Lulworths being overwhelmingly the most numerous. As with everywhere this summer I was struck by how parched the place looked and butterfly numbers certainly seemed significantly lower, whether as a direct result of the heat or everything had emerged early and I was just seeing the tail end of things here, I couldn't say. Lulworths were relatively easy to find, common but by no means as numerous as previous years. Mixing in were the other Thymelicus and all were reticent to open up which made positive ID a little trickier much of the time.

Essex (I think) & Lulworth

Lulworth

Lulworth

Lulworth

These would have been some fantastic Large White shots if it hadn't of been for frolicking Lulworths gatecrashing in!

Making my way down into the gully, I managed a few more species, common and Small Blues and at least 3 male DGF were here as well as more Skippers and Browns. Still I was disappointed by the general density of numbers.

Lulworth

The climb back up the slope was rather tiring, like the butterflies I was beginning to struggle in the heat and it was with some disappointment that I left earlier than I had planned, finding a female Wall on the return walk along the Coastal path.

Lulworth

Lulworth

Lulworth

Lulworth

Lulworth & Small

[Padfield]

Brilliant pictures of the small reds - a species I’ve never seen.

Keep looking for Padfield’s progeny. Where there was one 5th instar cat there will have been lots of 1st instar the year before, and as a rule the same sites are used year after year.

Guy

[Wurzel]

Great to see my fave butterfly getting some coverage Bugboy I got mine from Lulworth itself about a month ago and even then there were some past there best

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Some fabulous specimens there, BB, but pride of place has to go to that Brown Argus - a simply stunning example.