www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

You were lucky not to have shouts of "Oi, Get off me land," which was the sound of my youthful birding days I've sent the PM with the details - good luck

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Sunday 25.5.2014 Rain, Deja Vu & Marsh Fritillaries

On Friday I took the day off in advance hoping to spend the whole day butterfly watching in good weather. I had the same plan almost exactly a year ago and again, as last year, the weather was against me I wondered, as I set off down the motorway in driving rain, whether I was turning into some obsessed nutcase My day out on Friday consisted of a couple of hours in the New Forest with an umbrella in continuous rain looking for Pearl Bordered and Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary, needless to say I found none. I gave up and returned home with my enthusiasm dampened. Sunday looked to be a better day, but I did not really fancy driving to the heart of the New Forest on the bank holiday weekend. I fear I may now have missed my chance this year of seeing these two species

Having never seen Marsh Fritillary before, this species was near the top of my 'must see', list for this season. Being keen to keep to my home county meant that opportunities for seeing Marsh Fritillary were somewhat limited I set off on Sunday morning with these two thoughts in mind, but the weather was a little disappointing to start with. I arrived on site to very cloudy, windy and cool conditions and it was at least half an hour before I saw any butterflies at all. The first sightings of the day was a Dingy Skipper which briefly flew up into the wind and then settled on a flower disturbing a Small Blue in the process, This was very encouraging as this was my first ever Small Blue and a very fresh one as well. For the next half an hour I searched but the sun hardly showed. Another Dingy Skipper a couple of Common Blues and a very worn Green Hairstreak was all that showed. This site is covers quite a large area and this was the first time I had visited so I was starting from scratch without any prior knowledge of the site. This is quite an open and exposed site as a whole but has some very sheltered dips and hollows. I pressed on and came across a sheltered area at the intersection of several tracks. I spotted a single Grizzled Skipper and another Green Hairstreak both in roosting pose with antennae positively drooping. I then spotted another Small Blue roosting on Kidney Vetch. I knelt down to take some pictures and soon the sun appeared and it opened its wings for a while before fluttering off. As I stood up and turned round all of a sudden in this small sheltered area there seemed to be lots of butterflies suddenly come to life One of these butterflies was, to my amazement, my first ever Marsh Fritillary and then there was 2 and then 3. They were all dividing their time between basking, feeding and chasing each other around. There were also several Adonis Blues and Small Blues I have seen Adonis Blues before but this was the first time I have seen them in Hampshire. I then became slightly concerned that I may not actually be in Hampshire as I was very close to the county border It was then that a couple appeared who turned out to be the wardens for the site doing their transect. I spent a while chatting to them and they confirmed that I had found one of the best spots on the reserve and that I was indeed still in Hampshire. Whilst chatting we also spotted a mating pair of Marsh Fritillary which made my day I was amazed at the size of the females abdomen (the butterfly not the warden ) I would be surprised if she could actually fly very far with a body that large, full of eggs. I had already had the dreaded call from my wife to say she needed the car so my time with the Marsh Fritillaries would not last much longer. On the way back to the car I saw my first Small Heaths of the year and also a single Small Copper. Although I did not get my full day of butterfly watching, I was very pleased with my Hampshire Marsh Fritillaries, Small Blues and Adonis Blues

This brings my total species for the year to 21

Total Count for the day:
Marsh Fritillary 6 (incl mating pair)
Grizzled Skipper 1
Dingy Skipper 8
Small Blue 6
Green Hairstreak 2
Brimstone 5 (4 male &1 female)
Adonis Blue 6 (5 male & 1 female)
Small Heath 3
Small Copper 1
Common Blue 3 (2 male & 1 female)

Hi Paul. Like the Marsh Fritillary pics. It's the only butterfly that I've actually left the county for - about 10 miles into Wilts., last year. I honestly felt guilty about doing that (and haven't repeated the journey since).
I did try PM'ing you with (detailed!) directions to the small DoB site, near Stockbridge Down. Message submitted ok, but when I checked back the following day it had completely disappeared... Not going to bother Pete with such trivia at this time of year.

You should still have plenty of time to find Small PBF - Pignall Inclosure being the obvious candidate.

Cheers, Jon

Hi Jon

Thanks for the comments I might just be able to get to see Small Pearl Bordered, if I can find the time of course.

Friday 23.5.2014 - Sunday 25.5.2104 Captive Speckled Wood and Purple Hairstreak

After a couple of days of shedding the final larval skin my captive Purple Hairstreak Pupa has now attained what I assume is its normal reddish and dark brown colour scheme. The Speckled Wood larva took a few days to shed for the second time (day 16-19). It is now in its 3rd instar and is growing quite rapidly

Great to see you got your Marshies And a mating pair too Good to see the Specklie is coming on.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel

Saturday 31.5.2014 Stephens Castle Down

I have not visited my local downland site for a couple of weeks so I thought I had better check in to see what was about. For a year or so I have had this site pretty much to myself It is a fantastic site, one which I still think has more to offer, I hope that comes across in my reports. I note that some higher profile local butterfly people have also posted reports on this site recently, I am glad that others are able to enjoy it but hopefully the place will not be overrun. I may have to seek out another site to call my own now

Sunday was already spoken for as it was my youngest sons birthday and Saturdays are always busy, so I had to make a late afternoon visit which is unusual for me. However, visiting at the end of the day puts a different perspective on things. Unfortunately the weather was not perfect as there had been almost complete cloud cover all day and by 4pm it was already quite cool and breezy. I was hoping for my first Brown Argus of the year and possibly a Large Skipper. A fresh Small Heath and a couple od common Blues briefly took to the air and just as rapidly disappeared into the long grass. There was not much going on in the usual areas when I arrived. No Duke of Burgundy, Dingy or Grizzled Skippers no Green Hairstreaks, no whites and not much else. With not much activity I took time to investigate some areas at the bottom of the slope that I had not investigated previously. I am glad I did because I found surprisingly good numbers of very fresh Grizzled Skippers as well as some Common Blue and Small Heath. There also seemed to be a lot of moths around. Once it became obvious that I had missed any prolific butterfly activity I set about looking for the spot where some of them roost at the end of the day. I have already found a reliable spot where Small and Essex Skippers roost, I'll check this out later in the year. I spent a while searching, every few steps stooping down to look across the areas of long Grass and seed heads to see if there were any little flags flying. Eventually I struck gold where there seemed to be Several Common Blues mostly on seed heads, occasionally one would take to the air flutter around alittle and then settle back down. At least I thought they were all common Blues. Upon closer inspection a couple of them were actually my first Brown Argus of the year. One particular individual seemed more active than the others whilst I was in close company with it. Despite the fact that it was now gone 6pm, there was total cloud cover and it was pretty cool this one individual was still keen to display, open winged to me. Could this possibly have been to do with my body heat in close proximity, I do not know. All the others that I could see around me had wings firmly shut for the night. No Large Skippers seen but I did find several Brimstone and Burnet moth larvae as well as Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock larval webs.

Great stuff Jack and great shots especially the Common Blue Good luck with the Smessex Skippers - won't be long now hopefully

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Saturday 31.5.2104 - Thursday 5.6.2014 Speckled Wood Larva

Last night I was a little annoyed with myself when I managed to delete the last series of pictures ( 2nd June) I took documenting the development of this larva This larva has entered its 4th instar and is now almost 20mm long. Growth has been quite rapid. This latest instar has also seen the larva attain much brighter colouration than previously.

Sunday 8.6.2014 Stephens Castle Down

The weather today was hot. I thought I would check out some areas close to my local downland site, in an effort to discover something new. However, I did not find anything noteworthy to report in these areas. I could not resist popping in to my favourite site just to check on latest developments there. For once it was not the butterflies that were the highlights of my visit. I found no Duke of Burgundy at all I found this quite surprising as this seems to be quite a late emerging site. There were still a few Dingy skippers and one Grizzled Skipper found. Plenty of Green Hairstreaks including several egg laying females. The Brimstones were also still going about their egglaying. I was expecting to see my first Large Skippers of the year and I was not disappointed. I thought there might be a chance of an early Dark Green Fritillary but he did not show. Red admiral, Common Blue, Small Heath, Speckled Wood and several Small Tortoiseshell made up the days tally. Small Tortoiseshell ranged from very ragged to fresh, is it possible for 2 generations adults to be around together As with my last visit there were plenty of day flying moths around including many which had me fooled into thinking they were Dingy or Grizzled Skipper. Mother Shipton and Silver Y Moths were seen as well as many as yet unidentified ones. Whilst I was wandering around the site I heard a buzzing coming straight for me though I could not see what the buzzing was. It landed on the underside of the brim of my cap, too close to my face for me to focus on it No amount of brushing away would dislodge my visitor. When I removed my hat to see what it was I was amazed to see a spectacularly beautiful longhorn beetle. My attempts to move it on from my hat were met with a moderately loud squeak. The beetle could make this noise by extending the joint between its thorax and abdomen and then contracting it. The Golden-Bloomed Grey Longhorn beetle (Agapanthia villosoviridescens) is apparently fairly common, although I have never seen one before.

How do you get those Mother Shipton moths to pose so nicely? They are always off on a mission whenever I see them That long horn beetle is certainly living up to it's name, a cracking looking beastie

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Saturday 7.6.2014 - Saturday 14.6.2014 Speckled Wood Larva

The last week has been a busy one for my Speckled Wood Larva, completing its larval stage. After attaining a more vivid bright green colour as it entered its 4th instar, at 37 days old (10th June) it became noticeably duller and translucent in appearance. At 38 days old (11th June) the larva hung itself up by the tail on a blade of grass ready to pupate. The following day the last larval skin was shed. The fresh pupa was initially very shiny in appearance, but within a couple of days had attained a less shiny and more colourful look.

Great, natural larval/pupal images there, Jack.

Thanks for sharing.

Paul, if you haven't already seen it, take a look at Ashley Whitlock's post on the 24th June (on the Hants & IOW BC sightings page http://www.hantsiow-butterflies.org.uk/news.php) - Stephens Castle Down is becoming quite the place to be seen

Cheers, Jon

Hi David

Thanks for the comments

Hi Jon

Yes I have seen a couple of Ashley Whitlocks Reports from Stephens Castle Down. I notice that Alan Thornbury has reported from there as well. If you have not visited I would definitely recommend it throughout the Spring and Summer. I have visited most weekends since Apri and I can not get enough of it I did not visit last weekend but Marbled Whites were out the previous weekend as well as Ringlets. I imagine Dark Green Fritillaries are out there now as well as Small Skippers.

I was hoping to be back working in Sparsholt during August again but that now looks unlikely. I will just be there now and again, I spotted my first Painted Lady there during a brief visit last week.

I have not found much time to post anything over the last couple of weeks so I have some catching up to do

Really good reports Jack, that longhorn beetle is a great find and your pupa shots are belters...well done

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

I'll be in the Sparsholt area, next week, venturing out from work, in my lunch break. If you'd like any site pointers, PM me, and I'll tell you some places worth checking out.

BTW, my one & only visit to SCD (I guess we can refer to it by an acronym now!), last year, I think I must have entered in the wrong area - few 'flies seen, and a treacherous bit of hillside to negotiate (opposite the Stud Farm).

Cheers, Jon

Thanks for your comments Bill and Jon

Over the last couple of weeks I seem to have fallen way behind with my diary So here goes for a brief catch up.

Tuesday 17.6.2014 Captive Purple Hairstreak

My single Purple Hairstreak pupa finally emerged on the 17 June. Unfortunately the newly hatched butterfly which greeted me when I returned form work had deformed wings and despite the fact that it took nourishment in the way of sugar solution it died within 24hours. This was the first time I have reared this species. I have learned a lot and although disappointed that it was crippled on emergence, I am pleased that it emerged 'in tune' with its wild counterparts. Despite the concerns raised in the recent 'ethics of captive rearing' thread (to which I did not contribute), I would rear this species again given the opportunity.

Thursday 26.6.2014-Saturday 28.6.2104 Captive Speckled Wood

On Thursday I noticed the first signs of the Pupa darkening which started with the wing cases, head and legs area. On Friday the wing pattern was quite distinctly visible. By Saturday morning the Pupa was uniformly darkened and by lunchtime the first signs of imminent emergence were apparent. The head, legs, proboscis and thoracic areas had lightened as if the butterfly inside had detached itself inside. Unfortunately I was not in a position to just sit and watch it but just an hour later I happened to glance over and the butterfly was out! It must literally have just emerged as its wings were still crumpled. I hastily gathered my camera and got the emergent butterfly into a more accessible position. This only took a couple of minutes, but by the time I was ready the wings were pretty much 'pumped up', albeit soft and floppy. The whole process from emergence to fully inflated wings must have been about 20 minutes or less. Life Cycle Overview

The egg was laid on 18.4.2014 and spent 16 days in that stage. The larval stage took 39 days to complete and 16 days were spent in the pupal stage. In total 71 days were taken to develop from the egg being laid to the the adult emergence. Whether these timing are typical I do not know, maybe someone could comment on that. From experience I would imagine that the spring brood is slower in development. I released the adult, which I think was male, into my garden on Sunday

Nice sequence, Jack. Shame about the PH. You did your best.

Sorry to hear about the PH Paul but well done with the Speckled Wood. The sequence of shots are excellent.

Great sequence of shots Paul,the Specklies looks in fine fettle and I like the way you've caught a purplish tinge to the hind wings Sorry to hear about the Purple Hairstreak I'd just put it down as one of those things

Have a goodun

Wurzel