Re: Bugboys mission
Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 2:36 pm
Hutchinsons Bank, 22 May (part 1)
Another day, another lifer or two! Today was all about Glanville Fritillaries and it didn't disappoint. I get to the site at about 11 and with only 3 hours to spare I worry perhaps I'm too early to make the most of it. I needn't have worried, within 10 minutes I disturbed 2 males basking on the path. Despite the hazy sun the site is very warm, its micro climate seems to be around 5 degrees warmer than surrounding areas, so they were very active and not easy to approach.
With reports of double figures at the site I move on down towards the main scrape which is even warmer, stopping to take a few snaps of a cardinal Beetle as he dithers about whether to take flight or not: He finally made his mind up: Getting to the scrape the first butterflies I notice are several male Common Blues, my first of the year: No females about as far as I could tell, and like the Brown Argus I saw a few weeks ago, I witnessed 2 males trying to mate each other: There was also a Brown Argus periodically harrassing the CB's and Dingy Skippers were very active as well.
caught this pair as they tumbled in front of me, note both have their proboscis's extended: But the main focus was the several Glanvilles flying about. The cloud had thinned a bit and they were proving more difficult to approach now. I love how they seem to leap out of the pictures though:
Another day, another lifer or two! Today was all about Glanville Fritillaries and it didn't disappoint. I get to the site at about 11 and with only 3 hours to spare I worry perhaps I'm too early to make the most of it. I needn't have worried, within 10 minutes I disturbed 2 males basking on the path. Despite the hazy sun the site is very warm, its micro climate seems to be around 5 degrees warmer than surrounding areas, so they were very active and not easy to approach.
With reports of double figures at the site I move on down towards the main scrape which is even warmer, stopping to take a few snaps of a cardinal Beetle as he dithers about whether to take flight or not: He finally made his mind up: Getting to the scrape the first butterflies I notice are several male Common Blues, my first of the year: No females about as far as I could tell, and like the Brown Argus I saw a few weeks ago, I witnessed 2 males trying to mate each other: There was also a Brown Argus periodically harrassing the CB's and Dingy Skippers were very active as well.
caught this pair as they tumbled in front of me, note both have their proboscis's extended: But the main focus was the several Glanvilles flying about. The cloud had thinned a bit and they were proving more difficult to approach now. I love how they seem to leap out of the pictures though: