www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Thanks Wurzel, yup just trying to keep myself not much more than a month behind! If your namesake hurries up and sorts it's sleeping bag out like Pete then he stands a decent chance of seeing spring, time will tell .

2nd August
The following day I had another go at getting a Brown Hairstreak within range of my camera… or at least my eyes. But just to mix things up, and to catch the little blighters by surprise I went to a different site, Ashtead Common. This is somewhere I’ve been meaning to visit for a couple of years and I’ve no idea why it’s taken me this long, it’s two stops before Bookham on the same line and like Bookham, it conveniently backs onto the station. Also I’d seen some images on social media already of some Hairstreaks here, so I knew there were some about.

Anyway the day promised to be a bit brighter than the previous one, although no less windy. It didn’t take me long to find some suitable Blackthorn to explore, complete with a decent amount of nearby nectar sources. Unfortunately it wasn’t being sheltered from the wind but I could see where paths had walked through the long grass to reach the Creeping Thistles by fellow enthusiasts. A few Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and a very old looking Marbled White were all that kept me company here though. A little bit of exploring soon found some more sheltered paths were more butterflies slowly started to appear, just no sign of the intended target for the day. I did spend some time with this marvellous insect though From the infrequently seen and very striking underside alone you might struggle to identify it as a Jersey Tiger at first. These seem to have had a very good year locally in the south east, if this site were called UK Moths I’m sure there would be several threads full of them! Another moth that caught my eye was this Rosy Footman, a species in the same family as the Tiger Moths. Having not had a sniff of a Brown Hairstreak by 12.30 I decided to go off and get myself a second dose of Grayling action for the year, and all things considered I made pretty good time, arriving at Chobham Common not long after 2. As always, Large Skippers were still around, no longer fresh but in significant numbers to suggest they still have a week or two before vanishing for another year. The Grayling soon started appearing as I got close to the hilltopping hotspot, this one gets a 2/10 for camouflage effort 7/10 for this one And I award this one 8/10 But top prize goes to this one, smashing the rest in a master class of effortless camouflage technique. Whilst feeding though, the eye spot stays on show keeping hungry eyes away from the body Elsewhere there was some flirting going on, giving me the chance for some upperside shots, such a beautiful butterfly. There were still a few tatty old Silver-studded Blue around and just before leaving a Painted Lady stopped by

I've not seen that view of a Jersey Tiger before - wow it's like an fake mock up of a moff I had fun with the spot the Grayling - I covered up most of the screen with a bit of newspaper to hide the 'reveal' shots

Have a goodun

Wurzel

10 points for the open wing Grayling shots. I missed the same opportunity a few years back,
too slow with my camera and it was gone !.

Trevor.

Fair play, BB, you've done superbly with that open-winged Grayling.

The tiger moth is pretty impressive too. It's not often you see the underside like that. I had no idea what it was until I read your text beneath.

Those sort of shots really make you wish Graylings opened up more often. No wonder they keep them for special occasions (like courtship!).

Cheers,

Dave

Great shots of the Jersey Tiger Moth. I have seen quite a few reports this year from down south. It has not reached the midlands in any numbers yet but I suspect it won't be long.

Well done with the open wing Grayling shots too. I struggled to get a closed wing shot of one last week in the blustery wind in Dorset.

Cheers,

Neil.

Thanks Wurzel, can't beat a few 'spot the Grayling' pics can you
Thanks Trevor, it was very much point and shoot and hope for the best with those courting Grayling, the sun had gone into hiding at that point and I didn't have time to fiddle with settings to get a faster shutter speed so there was a good helping of luck there too!
Thanks David, it took me an embarrassing amount of time to work out that Jersey Tiger too from the first view of the underside
You're right Dave, but then it's all the more satisfying when you get those shots
Thanks Neil. I reckon it's only a matter of time before you'll have Jersey Tigers frequenting garden. It wasn't that long ago when seeing one on the mainland was a big deal, this year I've had several none butterfly friends telling me about this brightly coloured moth they've seen. I think the 'heat island' effect of cities is helping them get through the winters and then the hotter summers allows them to spread out and colonise new locations.

7th August
Brown Hairstreaks seemed to be proving rather illusive at many sites for one reason or another this season but that didn’t stop me having another go at tracking down my first one of the season. Having found plenty of suitable looking habitat at Ashtead Common on my last outing I decided to give that place another shot. The weather looked set to be a mixed bag, mostly sunny to start but with increasing risks of heavy showers as the day progressed. The brighter conditions certainly made for a better start that my previous visit with plenty of activity, minus the target once again. I was particularly pleased to get a female Holly Blue given how scarce they’ve been for me this year. The biggest surprise was the appearance of a Chalkhill, presumably a wanderer (or possibly blown over, it was yet another breezy day) from the nearest colony, wherever that is. Along with the many reasonably fresh butterflies a few, shall we mature specimens were also around, some of the Silver-washed Frits must surely have been on their last tarsi. By midday the weather seemed to be deteriorating somewhat, the earlier sun becoming just a memory but I had enough time to catch the train a couple of stops down the line to Bookham, mainly to check on the progress of the White Admiral larvae. The only butterflies I came across here were a few Speckled Wood braving the now rather gloomy conditions.

At the nursery I was pleased to find Pete still snoozing, just his spiky butt on show Wurzel was unfortunately the first of my named cats to go MIA , presumably coming to a sticky end in the tummy of the vary many Tits that can always be heard here.
Dave was loitering on his pier over the aerial latrine and looked to have recently moulted into third instar. I was heading off to look at some other patches of Honeysuckle that often has larvae when my luck ran out and the heavens opened. For 10 minutes I did my best to shelter, more worried about the camera than anything else but all seemed good when it cleared and at the honeysuckle I found another larvae taking a dip. As this one looks to be happy out in all weathers, I christened this one Pauline! And then it was time to scurry of home before I got another drenching.

Good to catch up with those tiny White Admiral caterpillars, Buggy - I know I'd never find them again if I looked!

Dave

Good job the WA Cat was just one of my many Horcruxes Bugboy

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Nice work with those White Admiral cats, BB. The female Holly Blue is rather desirable too.

Thanks guys, here's the next installment of the WA cats along with the continuing saga of me 'V' Brown Hairstreaks (clue, they're still winning )

11th August
I decided to revert back to type with my next hunt for Brown Hairstreaks with another trip down Bookham way. It looked set to be a decent day, a warm sunny start bringing out plenty of butterflies, mostly browns of various species, with some of the Meadow Browns being rather eye catching. this one was particularly dark and male-like. A couple of hours searching all the likely spots though left me wanting once again, not even a flyby or a glimpse around the master trees of anything remotely Hairstreak like. If I’d hung around a bit longer things may have been different, but frustrated I wandered off to see how the WA cats were doing. Pete was still safe and sound and hadn't moved and Dave was inspecting the latrine… On the way to see how Pauline was I noticed a tendril of Honeysuckle hanging down in the middle of the path and perched on the only cluster of leaves was a new one, meet Trevor . Higher up I noticed another one which could only be reached by holding my camera at arm’s length, this one is James (B’rex) … at this rate I’m gonna run out of names ! Anyway Pauline was safe and sound, this time enjoying the sun. Male Speckled Woods loitered around in every sunny patch and I found a fully grown Comma larvae on the return back to Brown Hairstreak territory. Eventually I did find a Hairstreak, just not the right species and I also came across a Millerd who showed me some pics of a freshly emerged female he’d found whilst I was with the cats. I smiled through gritted teeth .

We joined forces to see if we could find another and we did, a female took off from some Blackthorn. We both watched helplessly as she flew across the path and vanished a little way further down, oh well at least I’d actually seen one at last !

A nice fresh Comma cheered me up a bit though Still time and I had had plans this year to broaden my range in the hunt for a Brown Hairstreak!

Pleased to see you're taking good care of me Buggy

"at this rate I’m gonna run out of names !" You could always resurrect Wurzel, the new and improved Wurzel Mark 2..."I'll be back!"
I know it wasn't a Brostreak but a Hairstreak of any species is always welcome besides I know that you got some in the end

Have a goodun

Wurzel

That's a great image of the larva undergoing an instar change, BB. Not often we get to see that.

The Meadow Brown is interesting too - looks like either a well marked male or a scantily clad female!

Not sure about taking good care Pauline, occasional checking in is the best I can do
Unfortunately Wurzel, I think I peaked with the WA cats on my last visit!
Thanks David, pretty sure that MB was a female based on the abdomen and the underside, see below. 19th August
Over halfway through August and all I had to show for my numerous efforts on the Brown Hairstreak front was one brief sighting. Today was the first day of a week long break from work with the last 4 days set aside for a trip into Dorset. Day 1 though was spent at Bookham (obviously), well the morning was, I had a few things to catch up on in the afternoon to make sure the rest of the week was free.

The day started warm and bright with a few speckled Wood flitting around in the shadier areas. There was however very little to be had here today. Gatekeepers were very much on the wain with just a few tatty stragglers left with the odd Meadow Brown mixed in, but nothing much to tempt me to point my camera at, until something smaller and brighter orange caught my eye. Wishful thinking made my heart briefly leap into my throat but it was too small and bright and its flight was just a little too erratic. Well at least I had a few photos in the bag! For the next couple of hours I wandered around but despite decent weather there remained very little to show for my efforts, in fact in first two hours I took pictures of just four butterflies and my total seen probably only just crept into double figures. I’m beginning to think the shift in flight patterns has now created an August gap. With not many adult butterflies on show I figured I should check on the youngsters. Unfortunately it would seem they had suffered since my last visit. Pete was still safely tucked up for the coming winter but Dave was missing, just a half-eaten leaf and empty pier was all I could find. Trevor was still looking healthy but James was also missing and further on I could find no sign of Pauline either, it’s a harsh world out there! (worth noting that both James & Pauline were living above head height making it impossible for me to get a closer look at any dead leaves, there's still a glimmer of hope they live on...) Last time I was here I also found a full-grown Comma larvae. It didn’t take long to relocate it, now transformed into a pupae. They're very confident in their camouflage. As I admired it I noticed something else drifting silently through the undergrowth (at this point a sinister horror movie tune should be beginning to play in your mind). It drifted closer, obviously looking for something, that something being what I was admiring and the camouflage is useless in this scenario. Her intentions were very different from mine but I captured the whole event. A gruesome but no less fascinating event to unfold just inches in front of me .

One last wander through Brown Hairstreak territory gave me a few more butterflies and one more day without a Brown Hairstreak to add to my years tally . It's looking increasingly like I shall be placing all my BH eggs into one basket on one day this year!

The drama of the Comma Chrysalis meeting its nemesis is an amazing sequence, Buggy. To be there just at the right time to record the moment is a great piece of luck - mostly you just find the little hole after the event when the butterfly fails to emerge. That wasp is a spectacular beast as well - any idea which species it is?

Cheers,

Dave

Fantastic if gruesome sequence of images Bugboy - I reckon that would make a worthy addition to Pete's next book Looking forward to seeing the following days shots

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Dave has taken all the words out of my mouth! My comments would have been exactly the same - great shots and do you know what the wasp? is?

That predator sequence involving the Comma pupa is quite extraordinary, BB. Very impressive, even though it surely means that no butterfly will emerge.

Thanks for all the comments about the dramatic Comma pupae 'V' wasp scenario , I was very lucky to be there to see it unfold. The wasp is I believe a member of the Pimpla genus which specialise in lepidopteran pupae. I've done a bit of reading up on them. It seems they aren't fussy over the species, it just needs to be big enough to feed their larvae. I think I witnessed her judging the size of the pupae too. She spent a bit of time fussing around on it with her antennae curled over so just the tips touched the pupae (you can see this most clearly in the second set of images). Looking back she seemed to be using them like a pair of calipers, judging the size and giving herself a 3D image of the pupae before she actually laid the egg. Unfortunately for the Comma, it was judged good enough for her baby . A very useful technique when pupae are often hidden amongst foliage.

20th August
I still had two days before heading down to Dorset and with nothing planned but chasing butterflies all I had to decide was where to go, back to Bookham or Ashtead looking for these damn Brown Hairstreaks or heading further south where reports were now coming in thick and fast of Long-tailed Blues. The latter won out, to be honest it wasn’t much of a competition!

Shoreham and Southwick were the chosen destinations. There was a slight autumnal nip in the air when I arrived at Southwick, a little before 9, but this wasn’t putting the local butterflies off, Small Whites were plentiful but it was the Painted Ladies that caught my attention. So far, I’ve not really had the pleasure of experiencing the major influx of them this year. They have turned up more often than average but no more than three or four in a day, now I had the pleasure of at least fifteen and probably more in varying degrees of age and wear & tear. A few were feeding on the knapweed on the slope at the centre of the site, but the majority, along with a couple of Red Admirals, were gorging themselves silly on the Buddlija’s near the oil storage plant at the eastern end. As the sun continued to warm the air a female Clouded Yellow appeared, my first on UK soil this year. She allowed a few shots before vanishing over the fence. Obviously, I also spent a fair bit of time picking through the BLEP, where it was clear I wasn’t the first person, judging by the trampling around it. It had mostly gone over with well-developed seed pods far outnumbering flowers and buds, but hopefully there’s some hungry LTB larvae munching away inside. A male Common Blue did cause a minor cardiac arrest and a couple of male Clouded Yellows provided a bit of exorcise for me. The only other species seen here was a female Meadow Brown. Next it was on to Mill Hill. My usual route around the horse field providing me plenty of reasons to stop and point my camera at things. Fresh Red Admirals invariable saw me first and darted off but there were also oodles of Holly Blues today who were much more cooperative. They seemed to be mostly females and there was a fair amount of ovipositing going on. Once on Mill Hill other Blues hogged my attention, some not too shabby Adonis with the occasional shabbier Chalkhill. I disturbed a mating pair, the male doing all the flying work so it was clear he was a Chalkhill but with fresh female Adonis around it was worth checking to see if I could ID the female, from a distance she looked in good nick, did I have a hybridisation in front of me? A closer view showed she wasn’t as fresh as I had first thought but I needed an upperside view to be sure of what she was. To my surprise, almost as if she could read my thoughts, she obliged as I was thinking this and showed that she was indeed a Chalkhill female. Meadow Browns and Small Heath were both rather frisky and just a single tatty female Wall was seen, basking here and there in-between helping to sort out the third brood. I caught this Small Heath during a cloudy spell practicing some sort of yoga move.
I sometimes wander further afield when I’m in this part of the world if I have time. A lane which runs under the underpass is lined with bramble and nettles with a couple of large Buddlija is always worth exploring if time allows. There wasn’t a great deal here today but a Painted Lady and a couple of Commas meant I didn’t leave empty handed. Still with a bit of time on my hands I headed back to the harbour to see if anything else had turned up. Nothing new was seen but the Painted Ladies were still out in numbers and with increasing cloud cover they were willing to pose nicely for me So no LTB but no less a good day