www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Doug.and myself had a very successful trip to East Blean woods today to see the Heath Fritillary.
On arrival we were surprised to find the traditional car park area, where this Butterfly was abundant
on my last visit in 2013, very overgrown. But with a little exploration we found an area of coppiced
Sweet Chestnut with plentiful Cow Wheat and many Heath Fritillaries flying. We estimated about 40
were seen.
We also had the good fortune of meeting a very keen Dragon Fly enthusiast, who kindly pointed out
a very rare Norfolk Hawker. I have included an image in this posting of this Male specimen.

TREVOR.

Nice report Trevor and good images of the wonderful Heath Fritillary - I'm very envious of your Norfolk Hawker as a keen dragonfly enthusiast too

Regards,

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

HI Bill,
We had a great day with the Heath Fritillary.
I can't claim to have found the Norfolk Hawker, it was pointed out to me. In Butterfly terms it sounded
as rare as finding a Camberwell Beauty in Kent.

Keep up the good work,
TREVOR.

Trevor,

Beautiful shots of the Heath Frits. I'm hoping to visit the Essex colonies soon, as they are now starting to emerge.
Well done with the rare Norfolk Hawker. i was hoping to see one last weekend at Strumpshaw fen, when I saw the Swallowtails. I did manage a Four Spotted Chaser and several damselflies though.

Regards Kev

Lovely photos of the Heath Fritillaries Trevor :)and a great first pic a butterfly i've not seen for a couple of years.

Mike

A big surprise in my garden this morning , a pair of Bullfinches investigating the trees and shrubs.
I can honestly say that i have not seen a Bullfinch for many, many years. I don't know if they are
now rare, but there is no mistaking the beautiful pink Male. They were once considered a pest by
fruit farmers for pecking off blossom buds. They can use my garden any time !.
As the forecast was for a better day,i drove over to Beckley woods, here i found the ' June gap ' in full
swing. But i did find my first Painted Lady of the year, plus three very worn Common Blues.
When i arrived back in Hailsham i paid a quick visit to the old railway cutting and found four
very fresh Red Admirals and many Speckled Woods harassing them.
I am going to watch this site very closely in the coming weeks because it looks a good environment
for White Admirals

TREVOR.

PS. I also found a pure white Spotted Orchid amongst hundreds of normal ones at Beckley.

Lovely Red Admirals Trevor and I can't remember the name for the white variant of Spotted Orchid but it's a beaut. I'm most envious of the Heaths though

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Glad you enjoyed the Bullfinch visit Trevor, they're not rare but like so many other British birds nowhere near as common as previously.

Nice images with your recent PD entries

Regards,

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

Once the cloud cover cleared this afternoon i went to Birling Gap to try my luck. But despite the sunshine it
was another day of a strong cool breeze, making photography almost impossible. I did however find my
first two Meadow Browns of the year, also a Small White , Large Skipper and many Common Blues.

TREVOR.

Great shot of the Meadow Brown Trevor - they never normally show their open wings until they're all battered and torn Cheers for the offer of info for the Heaths, Philzoid and I winged it in the end and it turned out brill

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I popped over to Abbots Wood for an hour this morning, where i found another Meadow Brown. But more
exciting was the opportunity to see and photograph my first ever sighting of what i think is a Beautiful
Damoiselle. In flight it was the most gorgeous royal blue. How common are they ?. If i had seen one
previously its something i would remember ! Comments welcome.

TREVOR.

Trevor,
Very nice picture of the Beautiful Damoiselle and a good find. This species is less widespread than the Banded Damoiselle in that it is more restricted to South West England, Wales and Southern Ireland (very rare/isolated to the East of the country where I am). It's breeding habit is more akin to flowing streams and rivers, but it is also commonly found in farmland and woodland too.

Regards Kev

That Demoiselle really lives up to it's name, never seen one myself. Like Kevling says, much more localised than it's banded cousin which is a bit more catholic in it's prefered habitats, but it is found as far east as parts of Kent in the south so Abbots Wood fits with its current UK distribution

Hi! Trevor, still catching up on my postings, your shots of the Heath Frits are great and also your news that they're doing well, when I went last year they were few and far between so that's great news Goldie

I do not intentionally go out looking for Dragonflies, but recently they have found me !
Todays offering is a Broad Bodied Chaser that landed very close to where i was standing.

TREVOR.

A short visit to abbots Wood produced my first Small Skipper of the year. Also today i noticed
that the Meadow Brown numbers are building, only Males were seen. AND another species of
Damsel Fly landed on a leaf just above my head. It must be my aftershave ! .

TREVOR.

Great Samll Skipper Trevor I'd like to get some shots of the Beautiful Demioselle so what aftershave do you use Trevor?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Very good Trevor, your recently discovered interest in dragonflies can only enrich your countryside and natural history interests.

Regarding you PM: male Beautiful Demoiselle do have on close observation dark brown-black wings, they appear under certain light conditions (as your image indicates) to be far more blue than they actually are, its almost impossible to do justice to the incredible colours of either demoiselle species in words. Whatever, we have to reach some agreement for ID purposes and generally both of the major British fieldguides describe the male Beautiful Demoiselle as having 'dark brown-black' wings, I would advise you to check out the Books section on my website (see link below) and then invest in the one that appeals to you the most, both are exceptionally good and you will find them a massive help in the field...and especially with 'general' colour descriptions which is a real minefield compared to our butterflies

Hope this helps a little.

Kind Regards,

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

This morning, in bright sunshine, i drove over to Birling Gap with two species in mind.
When i arrived the cloud was building and any gaps of blue sky were filling in, resulting in largely
overcast conditions. When the sun briefly appeared, later on, i caught sight of my first quarry, a
beautiful, fresh, male, Dark Green Fritillary ( one of two seen ) then within a few minutes the other
species i was after a Marbled White. There were more of these. but they only flew during the very
brief spell of sun. I also found a roosting Common Blue, and some Meadow Browns.

Things are getting livelier 1
TREVOR.

A couple of local sites were visited today, principally to look for White Admiral and Silver Washed Fritillary.
I don't think either species are on the wing just yet here in East Sussex, but it can only be a matter of days
before they appear.
The species i did find could, for the time being, be considered ' the regulars ' ie. Meadow Browns,
Skippers etc. Surprise of the day was a fresh Small Tortoiseshell imbibing in something unpleasant and
also a Stinging Nettle top covered in what i think are freshly emerged Peacock Larvae.
Bonus of the day for me was the opportunity to obtain my best ever Red Admiral underside image.

Happy Butterflying,
TREVOR.