Bugboys mission

[bugboy]

Thanks Guy, I shall continue to look for the babies, they must be there somewhere!
Thanks Wurzel I think their flight period is creeping forward every year. They'll be regarded as a spring species soon at this rate ! (ps. not long to wait for that Gatekeeper ab. I've promised you )
Thanks David, some more below

16th July, Bookham

Another trip to the Hairstreak infested Surrey woodland. On the off chance there might be an early Brown Hairstreak I made the effort to go to all the spots where eggs had been found over the winter. Unsurprisingly no adults were seen although a few orange butterflies did turn my head.

Other Hairstreaks were yet again commonplace. The first Purple ones dropped down in front of me as I got to Banks Common and I managed several shots of one doing what I’d suspected they’d been doing all along, supping up moisture.

With another stupidly hot day on the cards most of my targets were getting rather active but I did find one Small White behaving oddly, holding his wings bent forward. I’ve seen this a few times in various species but I’m none the wiser as to why they do it, it’s as if they’ve entered some trance like state? There’s enough minor wear and tear in the fringe to show he wasn’t fresh out the box. He pose in a normal position for some nice backlit shots before he eventually fluttered off, seemingly none worse for wear.

Walking to the wood, the Hairstreaks continued to turn up along with a various other species.

Silver-washed Fritillary were still active, looking a little tired but still worth a snap when one threw an attractive pose.

A particularly fresh Red Admiral also caught my eye

And Hairstreaks were still around in all the sunny glades.

Another uncomfortably warm and muggy day meant I was only going to stay for the morning but on the way back to the station I found a rather strange looking Speckled Wood. In flight it was clearly a Speckled Wood but it’s flight pattern and shape just seemed a little odd, rather small and elongated. It was only when he landed that I realised I was looking at just half a Speckled Wood! His lack of wings didn’t hinder him in holding a territory though. Even a passing Harvestman looked on in wonder .

I couldn’t resist a few Brown Argus before leaving, they seem to be spreading here this year, I don’t remember seeing them here in previous years

[Old Wolf]

Great pictures as always Bugboy.

I am very envious of all the PHS action you seem to be getting. I am still drawing a blank in this regard

[Wurzel]

Cracking set of images Bugboy How did that Specklie manage to stay airborne I too have seen butterflies in that unusual posture, seemingly in a trance, the best of which was a male Brimstone. On that occasion it was because the sun went in and the temp suddenly dropped so perhaps it was because the butterfly was too hot in this case?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Old Wolf, Those Purple Hairstreaks are still on the wing at Bookham, albeit now looking decidedly worn and in much reduced numbers.
Thanks Wurzel, its definitely a head scratcher, I've still not come up with a reason why they adopt that position sometimes

17th July

I went back down into Sussex for another attempt at finding some Clouded Yellows again. Stopping off at Shoreham Harbour again on the way. All three common species of White were again common here, along with a surprise visit from a Marbled White, presumably a wanderer from inland. I also managed to pin down some of the Skippers which all turned out to be Essex. Meanwhile, littering the bramble were loads of Brown-tailed Moths, busy laying eggs. I also disturbed a handful of Common Blues here, both sexes, the first I’ve seen here this year.

After an hour it was time to head of to Mill Hill again. This visits wander round the horse field en-route threw up a rather nice Painted Lady who sat well for me.

There was more activity to catch my attention near the bottom car park with several Common Blues and a rather nice female Speckled Wood jostling for my attention.

Moving onto the slope, heading towards the bottom corner, Chalkhill Blues started to appear in low numbers and it was here I found a surprise, a second gen Dingy Skipper.

A few past it Marbled White mixed with similarly conditioned Meadow Browns, various Whites and some rather attractive fresh Peacocks kept me entertained here.

There was as yet no sign of any Cloudies so I moved up the slope towards the top car park. Like my previous visit here it was somewhat breezy but in a few sheltered spots I found plenty more activity,

And it was up here that I found something that a certain west country chap has been waiting patiently to see for some time . I spent a fair amount of time grabbing shots, battling against the wind.

One more circuit on the lower slope failed to turn up any Cloudies but I did find a second Dingy

Despite not seeing the target it was still a very enjoyable day with plenty to see and a particularly fine ab.

[Wurzel]

That ab was well worth the wait, what am absolute cracker!! Is that a 'multiocellata'?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Allan.W.]

That's A Glorious Common Blue female Bugboy ,and the (Excessa ?) Gatekeeper,s an excellent find also.
Regards Allan.W.

[trevor]

I have to agree, and what is more your Gatekeeper is well worth a mrgreen .

Trevor.

[bugboy]

I'm glad she was worth the wait Wurzel , looks good for multiocellata to me
Thanks Allan, I find most Common Blue females irresistible these days!
Thanks Trevor

18th July part 1, Bookham.... briefly

I had plans for the day but these were changed when I heard from Millerd that second gen Wood Whites were out at Chiddingfold. Dave offered to give me a lift there so we agreed to meet at Bookham and head off mid-morning.
We bumped into each other at the usual spot, near Banks Common and agreed to meet up again in an hour at the car park. I went looking for an early Brown Hairstreak again, finding a gorgeous dark Comma on the way.

A rather unusual occurrence happened for the next 40 minutes or so, a large dark cloud drifted overhead, threatening rain, something I'd almost forgotten what feels like. It did actually try and rain, but in the most pathetic, useless way possible, just a few drops made it to the ground . Unsurprisingly there wasn't a lot about but I did find a rubbish attempt at camouflage, back to camouflage school my little spidery friend

At the car park I killed a bit of time looking for Purple Hairstreak eggs, finding three, one of which I had to take home with me due to me accidentally snapping of the twig whilst fiddling with camera settings .

I also disturbed an irresistible female Green-veined White

I thought this visit to Bookham was going to be the first for some time not to have a Hairstreak sighting but the cloud cover thinned just enough and Dave found me crouched down near the car park as I tried (and failed), to capture the sheen on a male as he crawled through the grass, looking for moisture.

Time to head off, next stop Chiddingfold and my first second gen Wood Whites .

[Wurzel]

That is a ridiculously yellow Green-veined White Bugboy A real beaut that one is Looking forward to the Wood Whites

Have a godun

Wurzel

[Janet Turnbull]

We found a similar white spider in my daughter's garden, Paul. She was guarding an egg ball. We put her in a red plastic container to see what would happen and she spun a web, suspending the ball in the centre. Later we introduced a second spider with an egg sac. As a social experiment it was a bit of a disaster as one spider ate the other and stole her eggs!

[millerd]

Just catching up, Buggy - that was a profitable trip down to Mill Hill! The Gatekeeper is a stunner, and second brood Dingies are a good find as well. Looking forward to your selection from that excellent trip to Chiddingfold, including something I didn't get a shot of!

Cheers,

Dave

[bugboy]

Isn't she just Wurzel, and that's toned down a tad, my camera exaggerated the colour in the overcast conditions, she looked positively psychedelic according to my camera!
That spider is a Crab Spider Janet. They come in a variety of colours, normally blending in with their chosen flower, normally...
Thanks Dave, It's always worth a trip down south . It was tough picking the shots from Chiddingfold, I did get rather snap happy, especially with so much courtship going on!

18th July, part 2 Wood White city

At Chiddingfold it was rather cloudy. Despite this it was warm enough for the Wood Whites to be active, indeed almost too active. Thankfully there has been a good survival rate from the spring brood and as we walked towards the main hotspot Dave commented he had never seen so many of them here so there was still enough willing to sit still.

Other Whites and Brimstones were active here but Wood Whites were overwhelmingly the most numerous butterfly. They mostly seemed very fresh and this was displayed when I found one still drying its wings, sitting just above its empty pupil case. Both of us spent some time with this individual, it's not often you see this in the wild!

Continuing to the meadow more Wood Whites were joined by a fair number of Silver-washed Fritillary and a single Purple Hairstreak.

I wanted to go and find the Oaken Wood entrance since Google maps showed there was a bus stop nearby, giving me a possible route I could get there under my own steam.

This turned out to be a fortuitous decision as along with more Wood Whites, Brimstones and other odds and ends a rather large black & white butterfly gracefully swooped down from the trees and landed at the edge of the path in front of us. There was momentary confusion as we debated what it was. We quickly concluded it was an Emperor, far too big for a White Admiral, but it was huge and further discussion concluded it was in fact an Empress, my first ever sighting of one . Frustratingly I hadn't bothered to take my zoom lens from my bag, not really necessary for Wood Whites after all, so I was torn between getting a few distant record shots with my macro or faffing around changing lenses. I did manage a run of record shots (which all look rather similar) before she took off and soared around, landing once again at the edge of the path, this time in long grass but not long enough for us to get a decent look. By now I had my zoom lens out but we had to just watch as she glided up and down the path a few times before vanishing over the tree tops with barely a flap of her huge wings.

When we got to the Oaken Wood entrance there seemed to be no sign of any bus stops. Hmmmm, back to the drawing board with that one then .

On the return walk we decided to a head count of Wood Whites, there’s not many butterflies you can out walk at a leisurely stroll so double counting was unlikely, managing to reach the dizzy heights of over 120. Bearing in mind this was mostly in overcast conditions (and when things did occasionally brighten up more materialized from almost nowhere), the real total could easily have got closer to 200. Safe to say they've had a good season.

There was plenty of courtship going on all afternoon, and the occasional mating, females getting a good tongue lashing here, there and everywhere it seemed . One female in particular seemed to be very popular…

It wasn't all good though, the lack of rain was having a negative impact here, large cracks had appeared along many of the main paths (in places it actually looked like an earthquake) and much of the foodplants looked to be struggling, so unless it rained soon we may be looking at a significant collapse next spring. Fingers crossed the recent storms arrived in time !

[Wurzel]

Fantastic set of images Bugboy I reckon you have a cracking ab in there as well. In your second shot the butterfly in the middle of the shot doesn't appear to have the black tips to the wings, and again later with the in the 3rd and 4th shots from the final sequence

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, I'm not sure if those females are abs. I know the second brood is normally very weakly marked in the female (contrasting with the male who tends to be more heavily marked in the second brood), but if memory serves me right I think every female that flashed us uppers was similarly very plain, perhaps a symptom of the heat?

19th July, more Graylings

I spent a few hours a Chobham again, searching for female Graylings again. As usual there’s plenty to distract me on the way to the Grayling hotspot. Todays first spot was an egg laying Small Skipper. Although the antennae were clearly visible, the choice of food plant would have been enough to ID the species, Yorkshire Fog.

When she flew off I had a look to see the result of her labours. You have to be extremely careful if you try this since the eggs aren’t glued in place like most species, just wedged inside the grass sheath.

Elsewhere Large Skippers are still on the wing in numbers here, and still emerging judging by some individuals

Also feeding here was a nice fresh hutchinsoni Comma

The Graylings have started to spread out since my last visit, popping up along the paths at regular intervals, meaning laying flat on the ground to get anything decent was the only thing to do.

At the hotspot I found a nice dark individual amongst several other males but no sign of any females as yet.

Oh well still time to get my shots

[trevor]

Love your Grayling on Bell Heather, just the sort of shot I'm after.
Unfortunately Heather does not grow on chalk !.

Great shot,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cracking set of Grayling shots Bugboy especially the one on Bracken

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Excellent shots of the Small Skipper laying, and the resultant eggs. Getting a Grayling to sit on the heather long enough for a photo was pretty good as well! They always prefer to sit on me...

Cheers,

Dave

[Goldie M]

Hi! Bugboy, catching up on my posts, love the Wood Whites they look like flower petals, so delicate , great shots Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Great sequence of Grayling photos Bugboy

Seeing your shots has made me realise that I rarely see Graylings on heathland, my sightings are usually on limestone rock/scree (Arnside) or Chalk grassland (Lulworth/Durdle Door in Dorset).

Cheers,

Neil.

[bugboy]

Thanks Trevor. Whenever I see Grayling on sites without Heather they just seem out of place to me. You'll have to take a trip north into Surrey to find them on the heathlands there, they're just about peaking now
Thanks Wurzel, makes a change from Heather or sand and gravel
Thanks Dave The Graylings sometimes threaten to sit on me but they don't seem keen on my hairy legs
Thanks Goldie, they are very delicate little things
Thanks Neil, I'm so used to seeing them on heathland that they don't look right on any other habitat

20th July, Box Hill

The next species on my 2018 hit list was the Silver-spotted Skipper. With the first sightings cropping up for a week or so, it was an early start to catch them warming up at my closest site, Box Hill. It wasn't another sunny day for a change, the day starting off rather overcast but still a little muggy.

It was cooler than recent days, just borderline conditions to find a few butterflies active this early in the morning. A few Ringlet, Marbled White and Meadow Brown's were readily disturbed. The former two now looking somewhat jaded, that latter now starting the second wave of emergent’s which mysteriously happen on chalk download sites.

Roosting blues were also easy to find here and there and readily took flight if I invaded their personal space too much.

I also discovered the closet I’ve come to getting a Cloudie so far this season. I was unlikely to find the occupant unless I disturbed it though...

There were allegations of breaks in the cloud cover mid-morning so I headed over to zigzag road, where on the lower slope the SSS generally reign supreme at this time of year, but a slow wander along only gave a couple of very brief dark orange blurs as they vanished up the slope.

I moved on up to the upper slope where Chalkhill Blues are usually the dominant at this time of year. They were certainly not put off by the overcast conditions and the slope was littered with males soaking up the warmth, positively glowing in the soft light.

Another butterfly sitting with wings bent backwards.

A couple of females lurked here and there, keeping a low profile from the hordes of males and a few Common Blue and Brown Argus completed the Lycid mix.

SSS don’t often come up this high but it was here I got my first proper audience with one.

The promised sun never really appeared, the cloud cover did thin at times though and moving back down to the Skipper territory again this seemed enough for a bit more activity, managing half a dozen or so more sightings with enough sitters to keep me happy .

I had planned to spend the afternoon Hairstreak hunting at Bookham, but that was a rather short-lived plan. There were a few Common Blues around but I left when it started to drizzle.