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Willrow wrote: FAO Michaeljf Re: Hailey Park & Forest Farm, Cardiff. Both White-letter Hairstreak and Purple Hairstreak seen recently at these locations. Have not personally visited either location this year yet, but my source of info is highly reliable, so don't give up at either location...cos' their just hidin' from you and DavidM BIll

Bill,
you're just a naughty man sometimes! I know they'd hide from me but not from David, surely! It would be nice to see the White-Letter Hairstreaks before this year turns into Autumn. Regarding Rodborough Common - it's a lovely spot, I only visited it for the first time earlier this year and was mightily impressed, not just for the butterflies but also because it was just a lovely bit of communal land for everyone to walk on. We've got to go and see Chalkhills / Adonis in the coming couple of weeks so may be tempted to visit there again.

Briefly - today we visited Bernwood Meadows / Forest / Whitecross Green Wood (Oxfordshire). Karen and I met up with Lee Hurrell and had a smashing time. Saw our first Brown Hairstreak of the year and got a bit sunburnt . More to come about the trip when I get the chance, unless Lee posts first!!

Michael

Sunny with cool breeze for a wander down North Norfolk coast. 1st stop Warham camp, counted 15+ male Chalkhill blues & 1 poss 2 females. Many gatekeeper & a few Red Admirals. On to short walk on coastal path from Stiffkey to the Whirleygig, 2 nice male Wall & several ringlet & gatekeeper etc. On to Cley west bank by coast car park where I had been told Essex Skipper are to be found. Very windy but did find a couple I hope, will someone plese confirm this photo is Essex. finally Wiveton down had many gatekeeper 2 peacock & this Grayling that looks quite different to those I saw in Cumbria recently & come to that also different to those I see at Holme.

Weather forecast good for central England so early start from Norfolk & arr Lindrick common 9am (thanks Selbypaul for good directions). Extensive searching found just 3 Scotch Argus & one of those very tatty. the 2 good ones went into hiding but did manage a few pics but not as good as we would have liked. 2/3 Marbled white, 2 Dk Green frits all poor quality. 4 nice peacock, 2 Red Admiral & one last SSBlue male. As weather looked better than forecast for east of A1 we made a last minute decision to try Chambers farm wood on way home to see if BH's were out. Just walked to 5 ways area, Found quite a few Purple hairstreaks in the ash trees (instead of normal oak trees) but no BH's. We did think we might have seen 2 possibles high in ash trees nearby on way down track but could not confirm. After the nice easy run north we had early in morning, the A17 was up to its usual tricks on way back but we were home by 4.30pm. Eric

nfreem wrote:but seeing your post has got me considering going that extra bit further to Rodborough Common instead

Hi Neil,

If you decide on Rodborough, go to Swelshill Bank for Chalkhill Blue. Swelshill is actually on Bownham Common, next door to Rodborough. Just go down the lane past Winstons Ice Cream Factory, keeping to right hand lane at the fork, Swelshill is at the bottom left of Bownham. Hope this helps in your decision making

Best Wishes,
Bill

Michaeljf wrote:Bill,
you're just a naughty man sometimes! I know they'd hide from me but not from David, surely!

I'm never naughty Mike Guess I'll have to pop down to Forest Farm and shake those Hairstreak critters up a bit for you...

Bill

PS. Glad you and Karen had a good day at Bernwood Meadows etc.

Bill,
thanks - any help would be useful. You know you've always got a second career in first-class low-branch tree holder if you ever want it

Just a few quick photos from Bernwood Meadows this afternoon as per my ealier post. Here's my only Brown Hairstreak seen - around 2:30pm - Karen and I were walking with Lee Hurrell, who was the first to point out that this is presumably a Male. We reckoned that it's so fresh it must have hatched out today (possibly even earlier this afternoon).

I'll post a full report when I have time but I thought I'd post this first as I'm knackered ! It was the only Brown Hairstreak we saw though we did far better with the Purple Hairstreaks. I'm sure it's still quite early for the BH's.

Michael


First and only Brown Hairstreak of our trip to Oxfordshire.


Lee was the first to point out that this is a Male! He opened his wings briefly before disappearing off into an Oak.

today, a speckled wood, a meadow brow, some red admirals and whites and a comma, it was lovely, i think it's the first comma i have seen

Tremendous images Michael! Your very fortunate to get even a reasonable sighting of a male, let alone a good photo, normally they take considerable neck-ache to even get a glimpse of one. It looks as if Brown Hairstreak is keeping in step with all our other early sightings this year, but it seems a bit strange as it's always been a real late summer species...'The times they are a Changin'...Bob Dylan

Bill

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your directions re. Rodborough. I am thinking if I get up and make a move early enough, I can visit Rodborough and maybe fit Prestbury in on the way home

Cheers,

Neil.

Lovely day at Prestbury Hill today. Lots of Marbled Whites and Gatekeepers, plenty of Dark Green Fritillaries and a Small Blue colony like a cloud of glittering confetti.

Silver Washed Fritillary, Small Skippers, Small Heaths, Large and Small Whites, Red Admirals, Speckled Woods, a Comma and some Peacocks.

My first Chalkhill blues just blew me away, I'd been worried i'd mix them up with Commons but the colour was amazing. Bumped into the warden and he showed us some Musk Orchids as well.

Fantastic day!

Lots to do today so I was up and out just after 7am to go to Finemere Wood in Buckinghamshire followed by Aston Rowant.

Purple Emperors have proved elusive to me so far and they continue to do so as none were seen either by myself or any of the half dozen or so other camera sporting individuals I chatted to along the main ride of this wood.

Purple Hairstreaks, by contrast, were very conspicuous, mostly in the canopy but a few came down to about 12 feet and I found one tattered specimen taking fluid from the ground.



Never seen this species so plentiful



Anyone telling me this isn't an Essex will get an appointment with an optician!



Huge numbers of dragonflies in the wood including this colourful specimen. Anyone know what it is?

The full tally of butterflies seen was:

1. Meadow Brown 100-200
2. Ringlet 50-100
3. Green Veined White 30-50
4. Purple Hairstreak 25-35
5. Hedge Brown 20-30
6. Peacock 20-30
7. Speckled Wood 20-30
8. Small Skipper 15-20
9. Large Skipper 10-15
10. Large White 10-15
11. Silver Washed Fritillary 10-15
12. Red Admiral 10-15
13. Brimstone 3
14. Comma 2
15. Essex Skipper 1 (probably more)
16. Holly Blue 1
17. Common Blue 1
18. Brown Argus 1
19. Small Copper 1

Left Finemere Wood about 1.30pm and was at Aston Rowant 40 minutes later.

It was quite blustery on the exposed hill and I feared I may not see any Silver Spotted Skippers as after quarter of an hour there was no sign of any. There were quite a few Chalk Hill Blues fluttering about, along with the odd Marbled White, Brown Argus and Brimstone.

I climbed the hill and started looking in the longer grass and sure enough, within a couple of minutes a large-ish Skipper fluttered into view. It was a male Silver Spotted, and over the course of the next hour I found 5 more males and 1 female.

It's the start of the flight season so I suppose numbers will shortly pick up, but I found these butterflies fairly hard to keep track of as they blended into the grassland when in flight (to compound matters there were also Small and Essex Skippers on the wing too).

Overall, there were 7 Silver Spotted Skippers seen, along with 30-40 Chalk Hill Blues. If you throw in the Marbled Whites and the single Small White and Small Heath I noted as well, then I managed to see 24 species today, which is a record for me (and, incredibly, I saw not a single Small Tortoiseshell all day!)

Some images:

Nice, fresh Small Copper:



Male Silver Spotted Skipper:



Same individual's underside (is it me or does this species possess an abnormally oversized proboscis?):



Single female seen:



Male Chalk Hill Blue:

Whoopy-dooo! Brown hairstreak on my local patch this morning as I walked passed with my shopping.

Squillions of red admirals around as well. Reminds me of the painted lady invasion of a couple of years back.

David M wrote: Huge numbers of dragonflies in the wood including this colourful specimen. Anyone know what it is?

It's a Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea), characterised by the broad yellow stripes on the sides of the thorax.

No argument about the Essex but, if you are offering a free optician session, I'll happily take it up!!! I've just ordered some Pentax Papilio binoculars, as I find it increasingly difficult to see insect details in the field.

Mike

David M wrote:Left Finemere Wood about 1.30pm and was at Aston Rowant 40 minutes later.

It was quite blustery on the exposed hill and I feared I may not see any Silver Spotted Skippers as after quarter of an hour there was no sign of any. There were quite a few Chalk Hill Blues fluttering about, along with the odd Marbled White, Brown Argus and Brimstone.

I climbed the hill and started looking in the longer grass and sure enough, within a couple of minutes a large-ish Skipper fluttered into view. It was a male Silver Spotted, and over the course of the next hour I found 5 more males and 1 female.

It's the start of the flight season so I suppose numbers will shortly pick up, but I found these butterflies fairly hard to keep track of as they blended into the grassland when in flight (to compound matters there were also Small and Essex Skippers on the wing too).

Overall, there were 7 Silver Spotted Skippers seen, along with 30-40 Chalk Hill Blues. If you throw in the Marbled Whites and the single Small White I noted as well, then I managed to see 22 species today, which is a record for me (and, incredibly, I saw not a single Small Tortoiseshell all day!)

Some images:

Nice, fresh Small Copper:



Male Silver Spotted Skipper:



Same individual's underside (is it me or does this species possess an abnormally oversized proboscis?):



Single female seen:



Male Chalk Hill Blue:

Hi David whereabouts at Aston Rowant did you see the SsS? I'm thinking of going tomorrow - were you north or south of the motorway?

Thanks.

Steve.

FAO MikeOxon - Thanks for the dragonfly ID, Mike. I don't think I've seen so many as I did yesterday (and there was no sign of any ponds/streams)

FAO Lawts - When you go into Aston Rowant from the car park on the NORTH side of the M40, you'll emerge onto the hill after you've negotiated a 50 yard secluded area with long grasses. The area I found most productive was a little further along. Near the top of the hill there's an area with longer grass, wild herbs and thistles. Four of the seven seen were in this 10m square spot.

If you stay still and just keep looking for Skipper movement, I doubt you'll have to wait long before you see one.

Hi David,

It seems your journey proved most worthwhile, 22 species in one day is pretty good going - over a third of the British list - well done.

Just to add to your Dragonfly ID request, it's a male, the female Southern Hawker is a totally different colour, she's a beautiful apple green and chocolate brown, she's a real dishy insect...

Bill

Willrow wrote: she's a real dishy insect...

So that'll be Ilyocoris cimicoides then? (apologies, you'll groan when you Google it)

I've a whole day off tomorrow, I'm heading for Bookham in search of Brown Hairstreaks, I think.

Cheers,

Gibster.

Went to Prestbury Hill this morning. I spent a about 3 hours wandering around both sides of the reserve looking for Chalkhill Blues without success. It was a pleasant morning nevertherlesss with the following in good numbers,

Meadow Browns
Gatekeepers
Speckled Wood
Marbled White
Small Heaths
Dark Green Fritillary
Peacocks
Small Skipper
Large, Small and GV Whites.

I also saw the following in smaller numbers,

3 Brown Argus
2 Common Blue
3 Small Copper
3 Large Skipper
2 Red Admiral
1 Small Tortoiseshell
1 Silver Washed Fritillary in the valley at the southern end of the reserve.

Being unsuccessful at Prestbury with Chalkhill Blues I decided to carry on to Rodborough Common.
Following Bill Willrows directions posted earlier, I headed for Swellshill Bank. I parked the car and wandered down the bank and within minutes had seen a couple of dozen Chalkhill Blues
I spent about an hour here and must have seen 50+ CBs although I did not keep an exact count.
Also seen here were the usual Meadow Browns, a few worn Marbled Whites and a solitary Dark Green Fritillary.

Many thanks for the directions Bill. I found the spot ok with only one wrong turn

I will put some pics on my personal diary when I have sorted through them.

Cheers,

Neil.

Gibster wrote:So that'll be Hyocoris cimicoides then? (apologies, you'll groan when you Google it)

Grooooaaaan.....well you certainly scooped me with that one Gibster

Bill