dilettante

[dilettante]

Sunday 26th June 2011

Went to Alice Holt (Straits Enclosure) with my family and brother to look for White Admirals, Silver Washed Fritillaries and hopefully Purple Emperors. We met up with Matthew again who was able to show us the best places (and times) to look. The morning heated up very quickly, so all the butterflies were very active and not settling for long for photographs. I took loads, but nothing very spectacular, but I'll post a few here later.

WA were everywhere. It's been a while since I've seen them, so that was a great delight. Similarly the SWFs - such stunning butterflies, beautiful gliders and such a bright orange. We had one glimpse of a PE on the main ride as is zipped past. Then around 1pm we moved half a mile up the road to a known 'master tree' site and witnessed three PEs duelling (or should that be trielling?) above our heads, but no close views. Still great to see, of course.

In addition to the three target species we saw several fresh Red Admirals and Commas, Marbled White, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Green-veined White, Purple Hairstreak and a very sorry-looking Speckled Wood. A great morning all in all.

[Wurzel]

Sounds like a great morning butterflying - I too noticed that they were extremly flighty on Sunday - fully charged
Still I'm sure that there will be some great shots to look at later.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[dilettante]

Wednesday 29th June 2011

Following a tip received in the thread "White-letter Hairstreak near Cambridge?" I went to my local Park and Ride car park after work. I wasn't entirely confident about recognising elm trees, but went along with my camera and a pair of binoculars. Being a P&R site, I was worried about being taken for a bus-spotter

I saw Purple Hairstreaks on some of the old oaks there fairly quickly, but it took me a while to find an elm. I was scanning the trees through binoculars looking for elms, and was about to dismiss one as clearly not-an-elm when I saw a hairstreak duel going on. And then there were more - five or six all flitting around, before settling and becoming invisible. These were on some sort of poplar tree, which threw me, but I soon saw there was a shorter elm tree beneath.

A nice way to spend a sunny hour after work.

[dilettante]

A few underwhelming pics from Sunday at Alice Holt, Hants

#1 Silver-washed Fritillary


#2 Tatty White Admiral


#3 Oversharpened distant Purple Emperor!

[Wurzel]

You sound a bit unhappy about the PE shot but I really, really like it! I've only ever seen 1 definite and 1 possible, never photographed them (yet) but have read loads about them and your picture matches up with how I imagine them and expect them to be. It seems to be acting in a haughty, aggressive manner - just right for His Nibbs

Cheers

Wurzel

[dilettante]

Thanks, Wurzel. I'm my own worst critic

[dilettante]

Saturday 2nd July, 2011

After a late night dining and drinking with friends, it was a struggle to get out of be bed at 6am, but I was determined to get to Fermyn Woods early for the Purple Emperors. I had some useful tips in advance from NickB about where to go, so I had in my mind that I would be in the hot spot nice and early. We (my son and I) got there around 8am, and I soon realised (having parked in the wrong place) that I didn't quite know where I was going after all. Thinking peak PE time was running out, I got a bit stressed as we dithered about trying to get our bearings. In the end, I needn't have worried. As soon as I arrived at the place I'd been seeking (Lady Wood, just south of the main Fermyn Woods), I met someone who confirmed I was in the right place, and a minute or two later a PE landed on the path in front of me. That was the start of an amazing morning with plenty of PE sightings throughout the morning, and some sitting very patiently for photographs, even surrounded by four of five photographers. It was almost too easy!

14+ species in total seen:
- Ringlet (lots)
- Meadow Brown (lots)
- Speckled Wood (2)
- Small Skipper (several)
- Large Skipper (lots)
- Comma (5 or 6)
- Red Admiral (2)
- Small Tortoiseshell (1)
- White Admiral (5-10)
- Silver Washed Fritillary (1)
- Purple Emperor (5-8)
- Purple Hairstreak (several, all up high)
- White-letter Hairstreak (half! - only saw the tip of its wing on a high-up elm leaf)
- Small White, and probable GVWhite (many)

The pick of the many PE photos I took:

#1 Open wings, but no purple


#2 Mmm, horse poo!


#3 That's more like it!


Also saw my first Hummingbird Hawk-moth of the year, and heard a grasshopper warbler. What an amazing sound they make.

[Wurzel]

I hope you're happier with those PE shots cos they're great!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

I am planning to have a drive over to Fermyn tomorrow morning, will be my first time.
I notice you said that you parked in the wrong place. Do you have a tip as to where the right place would be.

Cheers,

Neil.

[MikeOxon]

On previous visits, I've parked at the entrance to the bridleway, opposite the gliding club, around SP964859. It's a fair distance from the Country Park centre, where there is a cafe.

I have seen plenty of PE along the bridleway (well covered in dog-poo) but I'd be interested to know more about Lady Wood. Do you approach by the same route?

I'm hoping to visit later this week.

Mike

[dilettante]

Here's a reply I just sent in PM to another member:

Have a look at this map.

Park at the green pin, opposite the Gliding club. (I didn't, and wasted some time trying to find my bearings). From there, follow the track into Fermyn Wood, but if you just want PEs, keep going. You'll emerge from the wood and the track goes between two fields. Keep following it and eventually it enters the second wood (Lady Wood). PEs could be anywhere from here on, but I went right at the first fork, and saw my first one shortly afterwards. On the map, I've put purple pins to indicate approximately where I went and saw PEs. As you go along the path, keep your eyes open both for flying PEs and ones that might be already on the ground, especially if there's some fresh horse, dog or fox poo.

The red pin is approximately the location of an elm tree where I saw the White-letter Hairstreak.

[MikeOxon]

Many thanks, dilettante,
Last year, I found WLH at the spot you marked (including a very white aberrant) and also PE along the same bridleway. I never went further towards Lady Wood but it seems that is well worth doing!
Mike

[Neil Freeman]

Many thanks for that dillettante, very useful.
I am going to drive over early tomorrow morning whilst the weather looks like holding.

Neil.

[dilettante]

Monday 4th July 2011

Having read that Chalkhill Blues were out at Devil's Dyke and elsewhere, I decided to check out Therfield Heath after work. After cycling home, I loaded up the car and headed straight out, arriving around 7:30pm, sun getting low in the sky but still quite warm and still. It was lovely being on the hill in the sunshine with very few people about, just a few late dog walkers and golfers. I headed straight for the hillside where I normally find CHBs and hunted for twenty minutes or so to no avail, so decided to head back towards the car and try to photograph some Marbled Whites. Then I spotted a pair of CHBs on a grass stem, looking like they were ready for bed: an opportunity for some underside shots:



Suddenly the male flew off and landed at the top of a nearby grass stem, turned upside down and opened his wings to the setting sun. Fantastic!





... and from the other side:



What a treat to see these beauties on such a beautiful calm evening. Normally I've only ever seen CHBs in the middle of the day when they zip around and never settle, and certainly not with open wings for any length of time.

After that I had a go at a roosting Marbled White:



... and with a 24mm lens. I always think of these wide angles as 'Padfield shots'


A glorious evening. I went home very happy (but hungry).

[dilettante]

Saturday 9th July 2011

Earlier in the week I went to Magog Down just outside Cambridge to look for Essex Skippers. I was fairly sure I'd seen some, but didn't have my camera so couldn't get independent confirmation. So today I went back to get some photographic evidence for the good people of ukbutterflies to judge.

The weather wasn't great: rather windy and occasional showers, but some sunshine in between. Walking along the side of the down (a large area of open grassland, formerly arable farmland) we saw a tremendous number of fresh Gatekeepers. Also Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Marble White, and many small (with a small s) skippers. Closer examinations showed most of the skippers to be Small (with a big S), but some looked like definite Essex candidates. They were hard to photograph: either they were being blown in the wind making them impossible to follow with the eye, or they were on top of grass stems swaying in the breeze and preventing steady focus, or they were deep in the grass making it hard to get a clear line of sight. Eventually I managed a few not very good shots, but good enough to post in the Identification forum for confirmation that they were Essex (thanks Guy!).

I've probably unwittingly seen Essex Skippers many times before, but this was my first confirmed sighting.

#1 Deep in the grass


#2 Distinctive antennae


#3 Feeding

[Gibster]

Eventually I managed a few not very good shots

Yeah right! Absolutely cracking way to record a new species! Well done mate

Gibster.

[Wurzel]

Some great shots that clearly show the ink pad effect!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Nice photos,

I know exactly what you mean about trying to get a good shot. I was doing a similar thing the other day, trying to identify Essex Skippers, at one of my local spots and the conditions were exactly as you descibe.

I managed to get one in the end but your shots are much better than mine.

Neil.

[dilettante]

Sunday 10th July 2011

I was going to go to Bedford Purlieus to try for a photo of White-letter Hairstreaks, but when I read NickB's report of Dark Green Fritillaries at Fleam Dyke, I decided I'd go looking for them instead, as Fleam Dyke is much closer to where I live, and I've yet to see DGF in recent years. With some helpful instructions from Nick on where to look, I decided to nevertheless park at the other end of the dyke to give me a good walk to get there.

Fleam Dyke is an ancient defensive bank built by the Angles to keep out the Saxons, or vice versa, I don't remember which. So it's a steep-sided bank left largely untouched yet surrounded by typical Cambridgeshire arable farmland, a long and very narrow wildlife oasis in the desert.

First off, I stopped to photograph Essex Skippers. Now that I'm an expert at identifying them (since yesterday , see my previous diary entry), I was surprised how many there were. I'd say about a third of the skippers I looked at were Essex.

#1 Essex skipper on a stick


Then I headed along the dyke, ticking off a very satisfying number of species along the way, including the usual browns, a lovely fresh Peacock, and this rather cooperative Comma. I think Commas are having a good year - I'm seeing loads of them:

#2 Comma


Eventually I crossed the A11 and reached the site that Nick had indicated to look for DGF, and it wasn't long before I spotted one on a knapweed flower. But it flew off before I could get near, and wow, they can shift! A little further on I saw another, and over the next hour or so, saw three of four (you can never be sure if you're seeing the same individuals). I didn't get very close with my camera as the terrain was not ideal! Typically I'd be on the path on the top of the dyke, and I'd see my target land on a flower some way below me. By the time I scrambled down the steep slope, trying to avoid tumbling down or breaking my ankle in a rabbit hole, I'd be just in time to see my quarry fly over my head. So I'd have to scramble up again, trying to keep one eye on a fast moving orange blur, and the other on the ground to avoid falling flat on my face. Anyway, I managed a few shots from a distance (These are cropped).

#3 Dark Green Fritillary, female


#4 (Not Very) Dark Green Fritillary underside


On my way back, I got this shot of a lovely fresh Brimstone - great to see them back again:

#5 Brimstone


and this Holly Blue, one of several dancing around a patch of ivy:

#6 Holly Blue


While I was photographing the HB, I met a couple of gentlemen who had come from Ely to see the DGF, so obviously news is getting about.

My species list for the day:
- Meadow Brown
- Ringlet
- Gatekeeper
- Speckled Wood
- Essex Skipper
- Small Skipper
- Large Skipper
- Red Admiral
- Peacock
- Comma
- Small Tortoiseshell
- Dark Green Fritillary
- Holly Blue
- Brown Argus
- Small White
- Large White
- Green-veined White
- Brimstone

18 species in all, not bad for half a day.

[dilettante]

18 species in all, not bad for half a day.

I realised I missed one:
- Small Heath

So it was actually 19 species.