Bugboys mission

[essexbuzzard]

I think you have cracked it! I’m glad your visit to Essex, along with pure determination, paid off. Certainly better than any open wing CY I’ve ever taken!

[Wurzel]

That is a cracking last shot - kudos to you Bugboy That's the thing about butterflying is an underrated sport, I think we should push for Cloudy Chasing to be recognised in time for Tokoyo 2020

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Great series of images, BB, and as others have said, that last shot is something we've all practiced but have yet to achieve the clarity you have managed. Well done.

Oddly enough, I like the part open wing image of the female just as much.

[bugboy]

Thanks for all the comments . Needless to say I'm pretty chuffed with that image even if it was almost all down to pure luck!

19th October, the Cloudie odyssey continues (Part 2)

Two Tree Island is split in two halves by a road running down the center. The western half is mostly rough grassland with patchy scrub and at the far end has a saline lagoon where lots of waders sit out high tide. Today though, high tide was at 7am and 9pm so there was little point going there. Instead I wandered around the eastern half which is mostly covered in dense scrub and small trees. Amongst all the scrub is a significant amount of Ivy and on one sunlit patch I found bit of a feeding frenzy consisting of three Red Admiral, two Comma and a rather worn looking Peacock.

Spot the butterflies!

Mostly they stayed up high but occasionally one would descend to allow closer images. I spent nearly an hour with these guys, well you have to make the most of these last days of the butterfly season!

Whilst watching them I was briefly distracted when a small flock of Little Egret literally tumbled from the sky, quite a sight!

On the way back to the mainland and a final wander along Hadleigh Country Park I found another female Cloudie, this one in egg laying mode. She was very flighty so no closeups of her but here’s one of her eggs, not a brilliant image since it was on a steep slope of one of the sea defences but another tick for my ‘egg list’.

An egg being laid

Back in the Country Park the Cloudies were still active and so was the final species for the day, a rather tatty looking Brown Argus.

With the sun started to descend I followed one of the Cloudies as it seemed to be looking for a roosting spot, investigating any patch of foliage that had yellowing leaves until it found a spot he liked the look of. It was here that the colour scheme came into it’s own from both sides and answers the question of why they have such a brightly coloured upperside, it’s so they can look like a dead leaf from both sides… well that’s what I’m concluding from these images anyway!

Where's Cloudie?

Where's Cloudie again?

An excellent day out once again

[Andrew555]

Excellent Cloudie shots Bugboy, well done.

[Wurzel]

Brilliant stuff Bugboy Great shots of the Cloudy - really does show the wonderful camouflage that they possess Hopefully the butterflies will make it through the arctic blast due this weekend

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks, Andrew and Wurzel. I'm making the absolute most of these last days of 'summer'. They can't last much longer surely, the sun is barely in the sky long enough now!

20th October, More from Sussex (part 1)

Saturday came and another unseasonably warm day took me back to the south coast once more. I would say my last long day out butterflying of the year but I always say that and it never is!

Reading Millerds report the night before about another fresh emergence of Cloudies down Southwick way I stopped of there first in the hope of getting some more females but his females had already moved on. I suspect they move on so quickly to avoid inbreeding since every wave of emergent’s are likely to be siblings. I wouldn't be surprised if female Cloudies reject males for the first 24 hours? Anyway just four males were present this morning and a smattering of other species, singletons of Small White and Red Admiral plus three or four male Common Blues, one still in pretty good nick.

Like my last visit, the resident Little Egret was on call to once more provide some comedy relief. I watched him fly up onto his perch where he checked to make sure he had the place to himself, first to the right,

then the left.

I don’t think he was aware of his nemesis the Cormorant overlooking him like a prehistoric Pteradactyl.

Then a Black-headed Gull flew up to share the perch but very quickly thought better of it. Mr Egret, or Bob as he is now called, was not impressed! The Cormorant took notes from onfar!

Next off up to Mill Hill again. My usual detour around the horse fields proving rather fruitful, giving me some Speckled Wood, Red Admiral and one of the second brood Peacocks who all struck some good poses. I was particularly taken by the tatty old Specklie who seemed to refract the light like a rainbow through his faded wings!

More to come...

[millerd]

Another great set of shots, Buggy. I may have to have another trip to Bob the Egret's patch soon. That is a very fresh-looking Speckled Wood - I've not seen one for a while. Looking forward to what the "more" is as well...

Cheers,

Dave

[Maximus]

A fine selection of stunning butterflies in your recent posts, Bugboy not bad for late October

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave & Max. That Specklie wasn't the only surprisingly fresh butterfly as you can see below

20th October, More from Sussex (part 2)

A female Cloudie greeted me on the lower slope of Mill Hill and proceeded to taunt me as I walked along the lower path. Males as usual were also present.

At least I got her butt in focus!

The bottom corner was still acting as a butterfly magnet for what was still flying. A handful of Common Blues and Male Cloudies jostled for my attention, but that was taken by others this time. A very fresh female Brown Argus and some Meadow Browns who couldn't be more than a few days old, including a mating pair. I wonder if these are just very late developing insects that would normally have perished in the first frosts or genuine second brood?

I kept this record shot on account it shows the male having a double pupiled eye spot. Somethiong I've only seen in females before.

Next it was time to see if the Hemp Agrimony had any activity. Just one occupant but far from a disappointment. She looked so vibrant in the autumn sun I nearly put my sunglasses on just to look at her! Nearby a nice female Common Blue soaked up some of the unseasonably warm rays and then a Peacock replaced the Comma on the Agrimony.

Male Walls were loitering around the hedges and scrub near the top car park, mostly in various states of disrepair, although there was one very fresh one who gave me the slip. In total probably half a dozen were present along the top and lower ridge along with more Common Blues.

One final species was waiting for me back in the bottom corner, a single Small Heath gave me 11 species for the day. I wonder when this season will actually end

I finished the day chasing more Cloudies and capturing a hunting Kestrel, yet another wonderful escape from London

[millerd]

More splendid Cloudy shots, Buggy - and a smashing new Brown Argus as well. As you know I have often pondered the length of the Meadow Brown season and how it can only be one extended brood. After all, the first ones emerged five months ago now... Assuming the eggs laid by that mated female survive, will the caterpillars really take the entire summer to mature and pupate?

Dave

[Wurzel]

More cracking open wing Cloudy shots Bugboy And that fresh Brown Argus is a very nice late find I wonder if that really is a mating pair or whether the male is transferring nutrients as Essex suggested with his late MBs in cop?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave, It's definitely a puzzle though
Thanks Wurzel, given the age of both Meadow Browns I think we can be pretty sure it was a genuine mating going on

21st October, Bookham

I ended my 3 day weekend with an afternoon wander around somewhere I hadn’t been for a while. After the major cutting back I’d seen at my last visit I wasn’t expecting much but I just about came away with three species. First off, a female Brimstone wandered past without stopping but not long after her I caught sight of the familiar coppery glint I was hoping to find.

There were a few around of both sexes, centred around the last remaining patch of Devi’s-bit Scabious that had escaped the mowing. They were all showing their age but good to find them still active. Some of the females had noticeably reduced spotting.

At the Copper nursery all was quiet and many of the eggs had hatched. I couldn’t find any larvae although the signs of feeding activity were clear and very obvious.

The woodland was rather barren, not even an old Specklie but I did have a Red Admiral flyby. A quick check of Banks Common also found it to be similarly barren but with the addition of a shiny new fence line, perhaps with a plan to graze, something which could immensely improve this habitat if done properly.

Off course no visit at this time of year is complete with a quick Hairstreak egg hunt, I do love these tiny marvels of nature

[David M]

Fabulous stuff, BB. You’re ekeing out every moment of this productive year. Those egrets are wonderful and right now, I’d pay money to see half a dozen vanessids nectaring on ivy flowers – this group has practically disappeared from my area!

PS – love the moving image of the cormorant/egret/gull as well as the Cloudie.

Surprised your grass is still brown. Ours in south Wales reverted to a lush green in early September!!

[bugboy]

Thanks David, yes I'm doing my best . I think that field is all brown as it hasn't been grazed or cut in any way (other than by the resident Roe Deer) until they cut that strip along the edge to put the new fence in. There's probably green shoots low down but all out of site. Most my other sites are much greener now.

23rd October, Essex

After the results from my last Essex trip I thought I'd pop down there again for a few hours on my half day. Unfortunately cloud cover scuppered any chance of a double figure tally. Nevertheless when the sun did shine on the Ivy the Red Admirals came out to play again. Only one came low enough but she was a beauty!

As I was leaving a Comma wooshed past, blown by the stiff breeze, and attempted to land on the bramble hedge. This attempt failed and it instead ended up within the undergrowth. I last saw it fluttering around in there, presumably thinking "Well I'm here now, I might as well go to bed!"

The sun did appear for a longer session later on but it was far too late to wake anything up so I ended the day with just four butterflies of two species..... Sussex is spoiling me!

[Wurzel]

She is a cracking looking Admiral Bugboy Will this be it for the season or will some sun still tempt the butterflies out next week?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, she was a well behaved beaut! This cold spell doesn't look like it will last too long, back to double figure highs next week down there although a fair bit of rain is predicted. I reckon if there's enough sun though there will be a chance of some more sightings if anyones out and about.

24th October Part 1, the Cloudie upper side mothership!

Once more down to the regular Sussex hotspot to eek out the season for one more day, and what a glorious day it was. It started off a little grey but once it cleared up the temperatures soared.

I thought the early cloud was going to scupper the day with just singletons of Small White, Clouded Yellow and Common Blue found, all down at the far end of the site. The White did look quite nice halfheartedly basking on some Old Mans Beard/Travellers Joy/whatever common name you know our native Wild Clematis by.

As the Cloud began to break the Cloudie awoke and a second one appeared along with Katrina.

It was still a while before things really began to kick off though. My first helice of the season was seen by us being harassed by one of the patrolling males. He’d moved on by the time we got close enough for any images and found she had lead an eventful life, certainly closer to the end of her life than the start .

With the sun now fully out we made our way back to the grassy slope at the centre of the site where we found several more Cloudies and after a while a Trevor. My attention was drawn to one of a couple of fresh females but I failed to get the upper side I was after, just the usual couple of hundred identical closed winged ones!

Katrina had wandered off a couple of times to where the Everlasting Pea grows in the hope of finding a long-tailed Blue a few times (coming up blank) so thought I’d give it a go. No luck on that front but I did disturb another, noticeably smaller, female Cloudie and so ensued yet more failed attempts at a nice sharp female upper side. She lead me a merry dance and seemed to be looking to lay, eventually ending up back at the slope and Katrina & Trevor, where she finally found some suitable foodplants, and after a few eggs, an eager male found her.

This was what I was hoping for and it was time to glue my finger to the shutter button once again. It was interesting to watch the courtship, which wasn’t the one sided affair I'd expected. The female made no effort to escape, indeed she was harassing the male as much as he harassed her and it was only upon landing after several minutes of flight that the classic rejection pose was adopted. Anyway, I was very happy with what I found on my camera later in the day.

More surprises yet to come...

[Wurzel]

An even more cracking set of upper side images Bugboy but the Mr Green has to go to the Helice, something I've still not managed to see

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Katrina]

Sone great in flight photos. Was lovely to see you and Trevor. Looking forward to part 2

[David M]

You're certainly perfecting those in-flight shots, BB. What are you going to do with yourself now that the weather has turned cold, I wonder?