www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Great selections Callum, especially the Scotch Argus and Adonis.

Great to see that Graylings are still about, Callum. Makes me wonder whether I still might catch up with then in my area before the end of August!

Thanks Wurzel! I also saw my one and only Glossy Ibis at BGM - I wonder whether it was the same one...
Thanks Andrew, thanks David. Last year I saw fresh Graylings at Hollesley on August 31st (I remember because it was transfer deadline day and the mobile coverage wasn't good enough for me to get minute-by-minute updates on Arsenal buying no players and selling no players ).

22/08/2018 - Denbies Hillside

Wednesday's only real task was to transfer from Ipswich to Salisbury for the next bout of Speckled Wood sampling. The forecast was warm but overcast pretty much all day, but after a morning sat in queues around the M25, we fancied a break and some leg-stretching regardless of the weather! So we pulled off and made our way up to Denbies.

The forecast was pretty much spot on - warm and muggy but no sign of the sun. To our surprise, the warmth was enough to get quite a few butterflies up! The first to cross my path was a female Adonis Blue.
That was shortly followed by this female Chalk Hill Blue. My first Chalkie of the year, taking me to 50 species in 2018 (the first year in which I've hit this mark!).
If there was any doubt in my mind as to the identity of that female (and there was lots! ), then I could be completely confident in the several males I soon found. All slightly worn, making them almost white at first glance.
I spent a happy half-hour chasing Blues up and down the slope, finding many further Adonis (less fresh than those at Pinfarthings a couple of weeks back, but still lovely!) and a couple of Common, plus some Brown Arguses, to go with the Chalk Hills.
As is always on chalk, there was plenty of interest besides the butterflies: a Treble-bar moth, a couple of Rufous Grasshoppers, some nice fungi which looked from some angles rather like they were mimicking Carline Thistles, and lots of empty Roman Snail shells (despite our searching, we didn't find an occupied one!).

Great set of shots Callum even if the butterflies are starting to look a little past their best Lovely colour on the second female Adonis Callum
Also the fungi seem inside out , the gills are on the outside

Have a goodun

Wurzel

ps the Glossy I saw was in 2002 (I think - it was a long time ago )

23/08/2018 - Shipton Bellinger

After finishing fieldwork for the week, the year, and the study, we were able to squeeze in a brief visit to Shipton Bellinger on Thursday morning before hitting the road back to York. The target here was Brown Hairstreak - something of a bogey species for me. Many thanks to Wurzel and millerd for helping me with directions to, and around, the site.

Weather conditions were OK but as soon as we arrived it became clear that things were not going to be as simple as hoped - a sled-dog racing event was in town, and this was the view of the hedge that is supposed to be the brostreak hotspot...
Each of those caravans came with its own pack of Alaskan Malamutes. "These are working dogs, not pets - don't approach them without the handler's permission", said the sign. Oh well! There were other spots to search.

Plenty of browns about, including some surprisingly fresh Meadow Browns and a large emergence of Small Heaths.
I even found that with fieldwork done I could once again take pleasure in just looking at Speckled Woods!
And did we see a Brown Hairstreak? Well, yes - a classic hairstreak sighting! A single individual, perched high up in a hawthorn, well beyond the range of even my 'birding' lens, and not interested in descending. Here's the record shot - I'll have to return next year to try for better!

That's one more male Brown Hairstreak than I've seen this year, Callum. I also see you've had a trip to Denbies - always worth a visit if you are anywhere nearby. Did you see any Silver-spotted Skippers? There were a few whizzing about a couple of days earlier.

Cheers,

Dave

Sorry to read of your disappointment with the Brown Hairstreak.
I believe that Doggyfest at Shipton is an annual event and always clashes with the BH season.
You could always try Sussex if you are down South at the right time. There are some excellent sites here.

All the best,
Trevor.

A male Brown Hairstreak this late in August is an impressive sighting, Callum! Shame your attempts to track down females were stymied by potentially dangerous dogs.

A male Brown Hairstreak this late in August is an impressive sighting, Callum! Shame your attempts to track down females were stymied by potentially dangerous dogs.

Hi! Callum, you've seen more Butterflies then me, we've had about two hours of Sunshine here in two weeks, today we've got the Sun hope fully some thing will arrive in the garden Glad you saw the Hair Streak Callum, must give you a green for that Goldie

Thanks Wurzel! That sounds about right for my Glossy Ibis as well.
Thanks millerd! Very pleased with the Brown Hairstreak, my first definite sighting (after a fly-by last year that could have been something else!). No Silver-spots unfortunately, though we were looking. I think the weather was too cool and cloudy - most of our blues were flying fairly reluctantly and spending long periods trying to bask.
Thanks Trevor, David - not really disappointed as we got to see one, and as David says, a male at this point is a decent record!
Thanks Goldie! Yes, it's been pretty grey and grizzly in Yorkshire when I've been back at weekends, hence the lack of PD updates last weekend! I've been glad of the opportunities to get down south for some sun.

25/08/2018 - North Cave Wetlands

Not a huge amount to report from yesterday's visit to NCW. Conditions had a distinctly autumnal feel to them, and that was reflected in the butterfly fauna. A couple of brief sightings of Painted Ladies fuelling up for the long journey south, but no photos to show for it. Even the small number of second-brood Common Blues are starting to look pretty tatty.
The lack of butterflies meant we spent a little longer with the dragonflies. A nice range of hawkers on show, including these Migrant and Southern.
Finally, this Little Grebe found a good fishing spot right in front of us!

Sorry Shipton didn't deliver the promised bucket load of Brostreaks Callum but at least you got a record shot . The Dog sled thing is an annual event and I would have warned you about it but I thought that it had already happened as there had already been a dog show event here earlier in August and I thought incorrectly that they were the same thing Next time if I'm around give me a holler/PM and I'll come on over and make sure you get your quarry - I generally just step over their tape lines and check out the main hedge anyway

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Conditions had a distinctly autumnal feel to them, and that was reflected in the butterfly fauna. A couple of brief sightings of Painted Ladies fuelling up for the long journey south, but no photos to show for it. Even the small number of second-brood Common Blues are starting to look pretty tatty.

That’s pretty much the way I’m seeing things here in south Wales, Callum. For me, the second half of August is now part of autumn.

Thanks Wurzel - I may well take you up on that offer!
Thanks David. Certainly has been feeling autumnal this week, though today summer showed it still has a little to give!

02/09/2018 - Strensall Common

I'm not expecting much in terms of butterflies from any of the local sites from now on, so with the weather today being gorgeous (much better than forecast), we decided to head along to Strensall where we could combine my UKBMS transect with another round of dragonfly-learning.

Butterfly numbers were about as low as expected, with only four species recorded on the transect. However, one of those was Small Copper, with quite a few individuals seen, and several of those very fresh.
The most numerous species by far was Speckled Wood. The habitat here is surprisingly open for this species to be doing so well.
If butterfly numbers were on the low side, the same certainly couldn't be said for dragonflies! The most abundant species was Black Darter - a new one for L, and I'd only seen the females before.
On the way out we saw this one, which gave us some pause for thought. I think it is an immature Ruddy Darter.

Hello Callum,
A shame on the clash with the dog event but at least you have the small consolation of actually seeing one.

The second Adonis female photo (Denbies 22/08) is a beauty

The Small Copper seems to be doing quite well at the moment, lovely shots of yours Callum I've still not seen a Black Darter

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Old Wolf! Sometimes I think the duller conditions can really bring the best out of the less colourful butterflies. C.f. my roosting Common Blue on 25/07 - another picture that I was really pleased with!
Thanks Wurzel. A colleague of mine counted 42 Small Coppers on Walmgate Stray this lunchtime, annoyingly I had left my camera at home and the weather's not going to be good again til Thursday! The Black Darters are fab, though. Like many of our dragonflies - a bit of a northern speciality! I've learned this summer that what the south gains in butterflies, it loses in dragonflies.

It's strange how Small Coppers seem to be so common in many areas right now. If there was one foodplant I'd expect to have suffered as a result of this summer's long, dry spell it would have been sorrel.

Somehow though, this hasn't handicapped phlaeas in the slightest. Perhaps the butterfly's early stage predators took a bigger 'hit' than the butterfly itself?