Bugboys mission

[David M]

..The recent run of warm autumns and late winters seem to have encouraged strong third broods of Walls along the south coast but it will only take a blip one year with a cold autumn to knock them for six. At the end of the day they can only respond to what the weather hands them, and the current weather pattern seems to encourage a successful third brood, but who knows what will happen over the next few year..

Absolutely, BB. The weather pattern has become SO consistent at this time of year you wonder whether this is the reason why the instinct kicked in to begin with.

You're right, an awful year would do great damage, but somehow I struggle to imagine that happening.

When I was a kid we expected temperatures of 12 or 13 degrees in mid-October. For quite some years now they have been in the range of 15 to 20 degrees and this has regularly persisted into the first week of November.

I guess it'll take another decade or so before we can judge whether it has had a long term positive effect.

[bugboy]

Thanks guys, and there's still butterflies to be seen out there!

9th October, Essex Cloudies

For a change of scenery on my half day I hopped on a train down to Hadleigh Country Park and Two Tree Island for the afternoon. Since it’s a mere stones throw from Canvey Island where Essexbuzzard had recently found some Clouded Yellows, I hoped I’d come across some here too. Two Tree Island was more birds than butterflies. To be fair I don’t think there’s much management to the land (it would certainly benefit from some cutting or grazing), it looks like most of the management goes into encouraging the waders.

The tide was in when I arrived but the large winter flocks of waders have yet to arrive. Nevertheless there were reasonable numbers of Redshank, Ringed Plover, Lapwing and Dunlin along with a sprinkling of Grey Plovers with various others voicing their presence out of sight.

A snipe making a run for cover

Ringed Plover

Butterfly wise I had just one probable Red Admiral flying south across the estuary, a Small White flyby, a Specklie and a distant sighting of a white which may have been a helice Cloudie.

On the way back to have a look around the country park I stopped to watch some Black-headed Gulls enjoying an afternoon bath, and they really were enjoying themselves!

At the Country park I quickly located a frisky Cloudie, or rather he located me and promptly vanished without so much a bye-you-leave. A common Blue also made a brief appearance but he was as equally as uncooperative.

A wander along the main path which faces due south ended up giving me several Cloudie flybys. How many I was seeing I have no idea, I only saw two at any one time but it was a Migrant Hawker Dragonfly which gave me the first chance for a snap, looking very photogenic and autumnal in amongst all the red berries and aging leaves.

It was shortly after him that a Cloudie finally decided to refuel and gave me the chance to get close. He wasn’t in the best condition, looking like he’d picked a fight with a bramble thicket.

As time wore on others became hungry or began looking for roosting spots, paying particular attention to trees with yellowing leaves, mostly still teasing me but one fresher male allowed for some nice backlit shots.

The final species for the day was a single tatty Small Copper who payed me a brief visit, a bit too frisky for a photo, but leaving me with a total of 6 species for the afternoon .

[millerd]

Some decent Clouded Yellows, Buggy. That area is another one that traditionally seems to "trap" incoming migrants that then go on to breed.

Cheers,

Dave

[essexbuzzard]

I’m glad Essex was successful for you, buggy. If it’s warm, I always find early and late in the day most profitable for taking Photos of Clouded Yellows, which are not always the cooperative of butterflies, especially the males.

[Andrew555]

Great efforts with the Clouded upper wing shots Buggy. And some lush lookers from Shoreham.
I like the birds as well, particularly the Gold Finches.

[Wurzel]

Cracking Cloudy shots Bugboy - the back-lit ones in particular The running Snipe looks a bit comical with it's over-sized bill

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks for the comments guys . I've always thought Snipes to be very comical looking birds no matter what they are doing Wurzel, but I do think they would suit a Benny Hill tune when running

10th October, and still the butterflies keep coming.

Deep into October and the best day of the week weather wise, for once, fell on my day off. Rather than going to Mill Hill or Southwick again I decided to browse Newhaven Tidemills and also do a recce of a nearby nature reserve I've never been on.

As befits a day in the middle of October, things started off rather slowly and I spent the first hour birdwatching until butterfly life began to appear. A small White got me off the mark and then very fresh examples of Wall and Cloudie gave me the slip. They appeared in front of me out of nowhere, had a brief skirmish and proceeded to fly off in opposite directions, leaving me dithering as to which one to follow and losing sight of both. It was a Common Blue I stumbled across who gave me my first butterfly shots of the day.

The Wall, a male and as predictable as the tide, turned up in the same spot after a short circuit of the area. I only managed some long range shots though, flighty as ever and my long autumn shadow made it impossible to sneak up on him, but still close enough to conclude they are still emerging here

Doing a couple of circuits of the site I had a few Red Admiral flybys, and the occasional Cloudie patrolling. I suspected there were no more than two today.


The next species willing to sit was a fresh out the box Red Admiral, no more than a few hours old and clearly still practicing this new flying malarkey it had suddenly developed.

Late morning and I was preparing to leave when I got distracted by another Common Blue. He wouldn't sit still but then the biggest surprise of the day appeared in the form of a reasonably well conditioned Brown Argus, taking me to six species. He was the first of this species I’ve seen here, although to be fair I only really come here late in the season.

After a few snaps he got in a scuff with a tatty old Small Copper who seemed to appear simply to have a quick fight and then vanish, little thug! Who'd have thought I'd be seeing a Small Copper/Brown Argus fight in the middle of October! Species eight turned up shortly after in the form of a decrepit Small Heath, just about clinging on to life.

then, just as I was leaving, species number nine dropped by to bid me farewell.

The next site was Castle Hill Nature Reserve near the fort on the other side of Newhaven Harbour. I'd been browsing the south coast on Google maps a few nights previously, looking for little pockets of green along the south coast within easy reach that might be worth investigating, and this one seemed like an obvious choice. With its rather exposed aspect with a southerly breeze blowing there was precious little for me to train my camera on as I wandered around the scrubby grassland and hedgerows. Nevertheless I did wrack up five species, Red Admiral, Small Copper, Speckled Wood, a Wall and the most numerous species, Small White. The views wasn't too bad though

I still bad a bit of time on my hands so I returned to Tidemills for another hour, locating what was probably the same Wall as in the morning as well as fleeting glances of 2 or 3 others. The Argus was still in the same spot, keeping the Common Blue company and I saw 2 Cloudies at the same time, confirming what I'd suspected that morning.

And just to prove it's always worth giving a White a second glance, when this one settled it turned out to be a Green-veined, giving me a double figure tally for the day. Like the earlier Red Admiral she looked very fresh indeed.

The birds were also rather well behaved today!

[millerd]

That fort area looks as if it might be worth another visit at different time of year, Buggy. All these uncultivated coastal spots seem to have something interesting.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Funnily enough Bugboy when I saw it that was the tune that went through my head That's a great haul for October - strange to still be seeing Small Heath even if it does look on it's last tarsi

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Fantastic couple of trips out you’ve had lately, BB. The Clouded Yellows and Wall Browns are nice, as is the scenery, but that Brown Argus is the pick, especially given the time of year.

[trevor]

Those Wall Browns look nice and fresh, I found a brand new male last week.
At this rate we'll be into a fourth brood.
Good to see you getting value from your ' Southern ' tickets.

Keep well,
Trevor.

[bugboy]

Definitely worth a visit during peak flight times Dave, I think I only explored a small corner of it too
It's kinda weird seeing any butterfly so late in the year Wurzel , I'm still in shorts and t-shirt when out and about and it's fast approaching November!
Thanks David but he wasn't as fresh as the one seen at Mill Hill on the same day !
Lets hope they don't try and fit in a 4th brood Trevor, that will kick start the developmental trap all over again! Either that or we'll be chasing Walls at Christmas


17th October, more Cloudies

Wednesday had been looking good since the weekend and I’d pencilled in a trip down south to further extend my season. Seeing Dave Cook’s report on the Sussex BC website the night before buoyed me even, and checking the forecast once more as I left the London flat as the sun was rising things looked good, warm with sunny spells, perfect conditions. So it was with much dismay and annoyance that I arrived at Southwick under grey sky and an updated forecast with predicted cloud all day !

It looked like I was in for a hard slog to make the trip worth while and in the first hour all I found was a very fresh Common Blue and a Trevor who was similarly disappointed by the conditions.

The pair of us mooched along the waterfront, looking despondently at the bright sky just a mile or two offshore. You know you’re clutching at straws when you get excited about a Small White, no offence to any Small Whites out there of course. At one point we found a very active Painted Lady, tearing around the place like a mad thing. It did settle briefly on some Privet blossom but not long enough and it was last seen shooting south across to the power station and presumably onwards to France.

Gradually things looked to be improving though, and by 11 the cloud front had retreated enough to allow hazy sun to warm the ground. The butterflies responded in kind as it retreated even further until we were at last bathed in warm sun. A very fresh Red Admiral posed well and the snoozing Common Blue was now very active.

Whites fluttered here and there but the day really belonged to the Cloudies, at least five and yet again all males. In my attempt to get some more open winged shots I ended the session with over 900 images, mostly all very similar to each other and with a good selection of empty flower heads in amongst them. I still need to practice a bit more with this upper side malarkey but it looks like there is at least a weeks’ worth of decent weather left to play with… that is if the forecasts are to be believed.

Providing a bit of comedic relief was this Little egret looking a little perturbed & annoyed by the presence of a Cormorant who really didn’t seem to care he was getting evils from his perch mate.

I left shortly after 1 when the cloud returned and the butterflies all but vanished. It’s kind of ironic that a butterfly called a Clouded Yellow seems to vanish at the first sign of cloud .

Good to bump into you again Trevor and I'm glad your brought the sun with you!

[trevor]

On arrival we both thought we had wasted our time. But as it turned out the day
was one of the better ones in recent weeks.
At least you managed a partial Cloudy upperside, which is nice and sharp.

Good to meet you again, on what turned out to be a great day.

Trevor.

[Wurzel]

That's a pretty good haul Bugboy and cracking open wing Cloudy shots I share your frustration with the weather forecasting as it invariably changes at the last minute and generally to the worse case scenario You'd think by now with all this A.I. they should have this sorted

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Brilliant day by the look of it, Buggy - great Cloudy shots. I'd have joined you if I hadn't been discouraged by the grey, very wet and dismal conditions here that persisted for most of the day...

Dave

[essexbuzzard]

I was also considering it, could have been a UKB reunion! But I too was discouraged by the weather. And the weather forecast.

[David M]

Patience pays off, BB! Living by the coast, I know full well the frustration experienced when bathed in cloud with blue sky less than a mile offshore!

I'm delighted you got your Cloudies and well done with the egret/cormorant images - made me chuckle.

[bugboy]

Thanks for the comments, from the looks of it Southwick was the only place with some sun last Wednesday!

19th October, the Cloudie odyssey continues (Part 1)

What was originally meant to be just a few hours in the morning chasing Cloudies until they warmed up down in Essex again, ended up being an all-day event, I think this chasing Clouded Yellows may have become a bit of an obsession this year...

A bright sunny morning with a distinct nip to the air greeted me and it wasn't long before I found the first of my targets for the day. As has become the norm for me this year, it was a male, and still being rather cool he allowed much photography, indeed he could possibly become the single most photographed subject of the year as I tried again and again to capture the upperside. He never flew very far and I followed him for over half an hour along the entire length of the path and halfway back again. When I finally left him I checked my camera to find nearly 400 images...... whoever invented digital photography deserves a knighthood! 99% of these images were consigned to the bin on account of being identical or off empty leaves and patches of bare path etc but managed enough to be content with....

After him I went for a wander in patches of grassland and hedgerow that in season would be alive with butterflies. Today I found a single Speckled Wood, quite a fresh Common Blue and a fungi that perhaps someone can ID for me?

Next up was a Red Admiral who spent most its time taking up moisture from the damp ground where the sun had yet to clear the hedge.

Returning to the path, things had warmed up considerably and there was now more than one Cloudie around and looking far more active than earlier. I focused on one who looked very fresh. It stayed too far ahead to obtain anything more than a distant shot but when it doubled back and flew close past me I noticed blotches on the wing margin, Hallelujah! a female at last. Through dogged persistence I managed to obtain evidence too!

Rather than going home straight away as I had planned though, I decided to have a wander over on Two Tree Island instead, stopping to photograph a saucy Cloudie who was flashing me some upperside as he basked, another Common Blue and a ridiculously fresh female Small White.

Unbeknownst at the time, I had a nice surprise waiting in my camera from the earlier session with the first Cloudie.

Think I cracked it !

[trevor]

You definitely cracked it with that last shot.
It's a great shame that they never display their beautiful upper side
when at rest or nectaring. That's nature, but very frustrating.

Trevor.

[millerd]

That's a great final shot, Buggy - well worth the patience and the effort of going through the myriads of near-identical photos. The exact moment before take-off. As Trevor says, why can't they open up and bask that way like sensible species?

Cheers,

Dave