millerd

[David M]

Fabulous shot of the Little Owl, Dave. I've never seen one in the wild in the UK.

[millerd]

Thanks for the confirmation of IDs, chaps. I was pretty surprised by that owl, not expecting to see something like that on a wire in the open in broad hot sunny daylight! You are spot on about Holmfirth, Wurzel - though I think Compo, Cleggy and co. would have found the straw-coloured countryside pretty unrecognisable last week. The town still makes much of this particular claim to fame, and I have to say that Compo's Fish & Chip Shop is well worth a visit (plenty of other purveyors of food and drink are available...).

Back home, and hotter Heathrow weather. I gave 8th July a miss and ventured out onto my local patch for the first time in a while on Monday 9th July when there was a bit of cloud. Lots of butterflies around as you might expect, with large numbers of various Whites, Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns in particular.

The first second brood Common Blues were out, and surprisingly outnumbering them almost four to one were second brood Brown Argus - I counted 27 in various different places.

All these two species were a bit on the small side, and the male blues looked to my eye to be a deeper less shiny blue than their spring forbears had been.

Also new were a selection of Peacocks, one of which had some unusual dark spots on the forewings, a new Brimstone, and of course no fewer than 17 Holly Blues.

Several mating pairs were seen of different species, including Gatekeepers...

...and Green-veined Whites.

Last but not least was today's guest moth, a first for me in these parts, a Jersey Tiger.

Initially seen in spectacular gaudy flight on the wing, it was hard to find when settled in the shade. Which is the idea of all those stripes, of course.

Over 200 butterflies of 15 species were seen over two hours - which curiously didn't include a single Small Heath.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Just been catching up on your travels Dave, particularly enjoyed your reports from Arnside, I will be up there again in a couple of weeks

I knew that WLH were supposed to be at Arnside Knot but my visits have usually been too late to see them there.

Cheers,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Cracking lush shots, particularly of the Brown Argus Dave I'd be chuffed with the Jersey Tiger - I've not seen one of those

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

That latest post is a feast of colour, Dave. Interesting to see Peacocks emerging again - I suspect we'll be blitzed with them for a couple of weeks before 95% of them suddenly disappear.

[millerd]

I may be popping into Arnside again in about ten days time or so, Neil - we may coincide as we once did before! Fingers crossed the Scotch Argus will have started to emerge.

Cheers, Wurzel - the Brown Argus round here are amazing, and currently very small indeed. The moth was a bonus and a first sighting here though I've seen them at Durlston and in the Greek Islands.

Thank you, David. Lots of Peacocks around at the moment and some are acting territorially rather than feeding up. There may well be second brood in late summer - it's happened before here.

Tuesday 10th July and time to go looking for Chalkhill Blues down at Denbies. Luckily, there was still some cloud about while I was down there, so the butterflies did open up a bit. I saw dozens over the hillside (certainly not plague proportions by any means), along with Brown Argus, Common Blues, several female Dark Green Fritillaries, lots of fading Marbled Whites, endless Meadow Browns, Small and Essex Skippers and a Small Copper. I also spoke to a couple who showed me a photo of a WLH they had taken right in the far southwest corner of the site, but I couldn't locate it.

Next stop would be Box Hill, where a couple of slight surprises awaited me.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great stuff Dave, I'm still waiting for the Chalkhills over this way, they like me are behind Your second Brown Argus has the little white ring around the cell spot, ab snelleri (or some such)?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[CallumMac]

The Small Pearls were a real bonus (and the unexpected DGF too), and like those at Arnside occupy a different sort of habitat and behave differently to those down here in the south of England. They just fly with all the other common butterflies. I don't know how widespread they are over the NYM - Callum may have an idea. PBF on the other hand are very restricted up there.

Sorry for a slow reply! As I understand it, SPBF can crop up pretty much wherever the habitat is suitable across the NYM (though no guarantee that they will). Not quite a wider-countryside species but certainly widespread. Fen Bog is pretty much THE place to go looking for frits within the park, though, as it's got pretty much the highest density of both SPBF and DGF.

[millerd]

Thanks, Wurzel - are you still waiting for the Chalkhills in real time or in Wurzel-time? It's interesting that little white ring round the forewing spot - they are sometimes quite marked, especially amongst the ones up at Aston Rowant.

Thanks for the info, Callum - fascinating to see how habits and habitat differs between northern and southern populations. Also good to know what a hotspot Fen Bog is, though getting the overlap between all three notable species might not always be so easy.

10th July (continued). From Denbies, across the valley once again to Box Hill and a cup of tea. I walked down past the members' car park with its prominent elm tree and along the path by the old fort. To the right is a mix of brambles and wild raspberries (the berries are minute this year), and a nicely posed Comma caught my eye. As so often happens, it set off at the last minute after something, but sitting close by on another bramble leaf was the now familiar figure of a White-letter Hairstreak.

There were several on the vegetation in this sheltered little corner - I assume they came from the elm by the car park.

I then wandered out onto Burford Spur, where the Marbled Whites had already nearly disappeared and the DGF were reduced to a handful of females.

Common Blues were around, but as yet no Chalkhills here. I walked round to Dukes via the welcome shady path along the top of the slopes and the results were similar (though I came across two Red Admirals and several Speckled Woods en route): faded Marbled Whites, new Common Blues and fading female DGF - with the addition of Brown Argus and two Chalkhill Blues.

To finish the day I went back to the WLH spot and found them still bumbling around. I was then aware of a graceful larger shape gliding over the brambles, where it stopped and turned into a female White Admiral. It was a very amenable insect, completely ignoring my presence, but unfortunately not responding to my gentle attempts to "herd" it next to the hairstreaks for an unusual combo!

A couple of other miscellaneous bits and a view across to Denbies vineyard to end on.

Dave

[Andrew555]

A brilliant selection from your recent reports Dave. Particularly like your Chalkhills, Brown Argus and WLH.

[Wurzel]

In real time Dave, though I saw my first this afternoon, posting come September Great series of shots Dave, your fantastic range of sightings show how effective it is to just get out there as much as possible

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thanks, Andrew - more Chalkhills to come...

Cheers, Wurzel - I'm glad the Chalkhills have appeared down your way too. You're right, getting out somewhere (almost anywhere) is what seems to do the trick. And strangely things come to you when you least expect it... That's Fritillaries in Yorkshire, two sets of unanticipated WLH sightings and I wasn't expecting that last White Admiral either.

Wednesday 11th July: Northwards for a change today and up to Aston Rowant where the first Silver-spotted Skipper has been seen. Well, in the heat and sunshine even if I had seen one I doubt I'd have kept track of it - and as it was I definitely didn't see one. Plenty of other things to see, and at the end of the visit I'd clocked up 23 species (three of these in the car park and one of them very unexpected indeed). Chalkhill Blues now predominate across the slopes here, though there are patches where Common Blues are more frequent, and others where you'll find more Brown Argus. Chalkhills first:

They were emerging all the time - I found one that was still at its point of emergence into the world, with a drop of white meconium on the grass beneath it and lower down still a mad scurry of red ants. It was very docile, but after it stretched its wings wide I moved on.

Small Coppers were also emerging, and the first I saw was amazingly dark orange and heavily marked. It looked like a red jewel from a distance.

Others weren't quite so eye-catching.

A few other miscellanea...

The most interesting bit came when I got back to the car park. I looked up at a few oak trees to see if they were inhabited by Purple Hairstreaks (they were, naturally!), when a large dark butterfly glided from the top of one tree to the top of another. Another enthusiast who was also watching looked at me and said "Was it? Wasn't it?" However, about fifteen minutes later, the big black butterfly appeared again, and made a longer flight between trees. This time I could clearly make out the backlit wing pattern, and coupled with the way it flew, it was clearly a Purple Emperor. They certainly get around...

I then managed a few Purple Hairstreak shots...

...before a largish orange butterfly appeared at ground level, making short bursts of powerful flight between the scrubby thistles. This was a Painted Lady, making egg-laying sorties.

In the first shot of the egg, you can make out another (blurred) at the top left. Both were very blue, unlike the one I'd seen laid down at Collard Hill in June.

Quite a day really!

Dave

[Wurzel]

"Quite a day really" - I'll say! Twenty three species including 2 Purps, Painted Lady laying, lovely bright Small Coppers and Chalkhills a plenty

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Ah!...Aston Rowant, I really must get myself down there soon, I haven't been for a couple of years now

Great sighting of the Purple Emperor, it seems that quite a few species are dispersing quite widely in the recent heat.

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

Yes, definitely the highest species tally anywhere this year, Wurzel, despite the lack of the Silver Spotted target species. The Imperial appearance was probably worth two points, though.

Give it just a little while to let the Silver-spotted Skippers get established, Neil, and the second round of Adonis to appear. With luck there might even be a Clouded Yellow or two - they like this hillside and tend to arrive here and venture no further. Fingers crossed!

Thursday 12th July: Southwards again to Bookham, and on the trail of a different wild goose that had been reported but turned out to be hiding from searches at any rate - Brown Hairstreak. I bumped into Bugboy once again and neither of us had any luck on this score. However, the woods were still thronging with other things, especially Silver-washed Fritillaries. Initially, a mix of cloud and hazy sun kept them amenable and perched on various tall thistles along the rides. There were males and females in close proximity, showing little interest in each other and it was only when the sun came out more towards the middle of the day that we saw a few become amorous. Though some of the females looked reasonably fresh, I suspect most had been mated and they therefore displayed only passing interest in males doing their best to shower them in scent scales.

Purple Hairstreaks were still frequent, and still low down very early on; perhaps fewer down low than the previous week.

These were potentially confusable at a distance with the various Holly Blues that were wandering along the track and then flying up to perch on the foliage at the sides - honorary hairstreaks in my estimation anyway.

And as ever, a selection of the other species on offer.

With plenty of day left, we elected to head down to Denbies before the sun took over the day completely - again. However, the morning really belonged to the Fritillaries.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Great Butterflies Dave, what a selection I'm just catching up on posts, Chalkhills are out in force here , it's been great to see them Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cracking Frit shots Dave, especially the final one You're right about the Holly Blue Dave, it's the species that behaves where the Hairstreaks end and the Blues begin

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Those last couple of posts are a feast for the eyes, Dave. I see you're back in Holly Blue mode...you may well have them hypnotised again for a little while, I suspect? There could be good numbers over the next week or two.

[Pauline]

Your diary has kept me entertained whilst I take my coffee break Dave. Some great shots there - that SC positively glows and the Chalkhill with meconium, well, how many other shots like that have you ever seen? My favourite tho' is that Painted Lady egg-laying and shot of egg - how I would like to see and record that

[bugboy]

There's a lot of very familiar butterflies in that last post . I've not even gone though mine for that day except for getting rid of the obvious blurred and duplicate shots.