www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

That LTB report was well worth the wait, BB. Excellent sequence.

The male Green Veined White is superb too. I don't think I've ever seen one with such enlarged forewing spots.

That's just plain greedy, Paul, two LTB's on one BLEP flower stem .

Pity the LTB party was cut short by the weather, it seems to have cut the season short too.

Trevor.

Thanks Dave, it's intersting reading reports from different viewpoints . I think it helped that there were so many flying around to keep us from stepping on each others toes
Thanks Wurzel, I reckon that one with the reduced underwing eyespot might be good enough for an ab
Thanks David, I've seen a few unusually well marked GVW's this season, I put it down to the up and down weather.
Sorry Trevor . Yea it's a shame the weather has collapsed in such a dramatic manner but I am still seeing butterflies, just have to pick the day and site with care and hope a big dollop of luck accompanies you !

2nd October
Well after that Long-tailed Blue fest it would seem my season had well and truly peaked... or had it! I had to wait another 11 days before I was able to get out again (bloody work and adult life!). The prospect of a homebred generation of LTB had prompted me to splurge my last days of annual leave in the first half of October, figuring it best to spread my options as wide as possible given it is October and there didn’t seem to be an Indian summer on the way. Having already seen a good few now though the pressure was off but that didn’t stop me wanting to go back and try for some more leading to today starting off as a carbon copy of my last day, meeting Dave at Tidemills again. The weather wasn’t quite as agreeable as 11 days previously, significantly cooler and with a stronger breeze. A female Common Blue caused us both a minor coronary but even a wander up to the site where we had seen so many before drew a blank, in fact there were no butterflies of any species there.

So with nothing going on here it was time to switch to the plan B and head off to see if anything was going on over in the hills of Brighton. As we took one last wander through the BLEP Dave saw a Cloudie, I didn’t see it but then over one of the ridges we re-located it. The cool, windy conditions aided us as it took breaks from feeding to bask giving us both something at least to take home if Brighton came up with nothing . An hour later after an invigorating climb from the train station we arrived at Whitehawk Hill to find a significant gathering, including several familiar faces, slowly pacing around as if they’d lost something rather valuable, which indeed they had. A quick chat with Katrina told us that less than a minute before our arrival a pristine male LTB had been lost. Everyone was spread out trying to re-locate it but it was a cry from EssexBuzzard (who had arrived shortly after Dave and I) that caused everyone to scarper to one corner and gather round a small brown butterfly hunkered down in the grass. Everyone got snaps but being hunkered down there were the inevitable annoying blades of grass, so EssexBuzzard was given the honour of being a hero for the second time by clearing away the offending blades and giving everyone a clear view. I think the gathering of people that almost completely encircled him must have warmed him up slightly by sheltering him from the cool breeze, and with a flurry of whirring camera and gasps from his adoring fans, he opened up again before 10 minutes after re-locating him he took flight and was lost once again. Only two butterflies photographed all day but still worth the day trip down to the south coast !

Definitely worth the trip, Buggy - and good to see that LTB from a better angle and sitting the right way up...

Cheers,

Dave

For just two butterflies, they certainly made the trip worthwhile. Nice one

Cheers,

Neil.

Definitely quality over quantity Bugboy (I think I said something similar on other peoples PD's but then it's so apt so repetition be damned ) an absolutely blinding/dazzling butterfly and quite easy to see how this single butterfly could make the day

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks for the comments , quality over quantity was definitely the theme for that day!

5th October
I’d been off work since my last outing, five days with the intention of making the most of the expected LTB emergence, but the weather had decided to well and truly mess up those plans. Today was a rather cool cloudy affair so I used it to check up on the Bookham babies. Both Pete and Dave were still safe and sound in their respective hibernaculums, although I think Dave does need to put in a bit more effort to seal his up, he does look a little exposed! No adult butterflies were seen, as expected for such a gloomy day in October but I did have a good search around for other youngsters. I paid particular attention to the Sallows where I’d found Padfield the Purple Emperor larvae last year (which is close to where I’d photographed the Empress earlier this year) and whilst I didn’t find any larvae I did find some nibbling which does look suspiciously like they have been here. Guy if you’re reading this, does this feeding damage look like PE activity? Also I found my first Brown Hairstreak eggs of the season without too much struggle, so I suspect despite the lack of sightings, numbers must have been not too bad. With more days booked off in the coming weeks I just had to cross my fingers and toes that the weather predictions of weeks of rain and storms weren’t going to come to fruition, and I would be able to put at least some of my time off to good use!

Good to see those Hairstreak eggs, Buggy - I feel a bit more hopeful about next year now. They are certainly a resilient species - I wonder how many more there would be if we didn't keep flailing and otherwise ruining blackthorn hedges...

Cheers,

Dave

We'd be looking at pestilence levels Dave, but a very welcome pest in my book!

6th October
The following day we were blessed with a bit of sun so it was off to the south coast to make the most of it. Newhaven Tidemills was, despite the sun, pretty much devoid of butterfly activity (it was rather windy to be fair) but the birdlife provided plenty of target practice. The Stonechats in particular, with their preference for sitting atop exposed perches, made excellent subjects. By 11 though it seemed wise to move on to another site to see if I could find any butterflies. I decided to head over to the fort on the other side of the Ouse estuary, bumping into B’rex on the way who was on the lookout for LTB. We both wandered over to the base of the fort where another patch of BLEP was found to be peppered with eggs some weeks previously. Now however the sun was just a little too low in the sky to light up this patch properly and the surrounding area, although sunny, was rather windy and like Tidemills, similarly devoid of butterflies. Time to switch to plan C! I bid farewell to James and caught the train over to Southwick to explore that tiny strip of green that so often comes up trumps at this time of year. Today was no different and I was soon watching three Clouded Yellows as they flew back and forth along the central slope, stopping regularly to feed on the few Knapweed flowers that were still present. Small Whites were around in good numbers further along the path and a single Large White also did a flyby, but my attention was drawn to the lazy flight of a medium sized orangey butterfly… A Wall, I wasn’t expecting that! Although I only stayed here an hour before cloud cover sent everything to an early bed, my species count rose to a respectable six species with singletons of Small Copper and Common Blue also found. A not too shabby end to the day

That Southwick site really does come up with the goods when everywhere else fails, Buggy. Glad to see the Cloudies in particular continue to favour it - you do wonder if they'd consider making it a permanent base considering how sheltered and warmed by the proximity to the sea it is. The female Wall was a nice surprise as well - hopefully ranging out to look for suitable egg-laying sites, so worth a look in the spring.

Cheers,

Dave

That really is a cracking late season site Bugboy - fresh looking Common Blues, Small Coppers in great nick and those Cloudies Great to see the Wall - must be a third brood surely? They used to have those at Keyhaven which might be a similar habitat?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Nice to be able to find Small Coppers, Wall Browns and Clouded Yellows on an October day, BB. Long Tailed Blue in addition would simply have been decadent!

Thanks Dave, I've said it before but that little patch really does hit above its weight. It will be interesting to see if any Walls turn up in the spring
Yes Wurzel, it is a great little spot and that will certainly be a third brood Wall. Many of the nearby populations (where she undoubtedly wandered from) routinely third brood now.
True David, Wasn't gonna stop me from looking though

9th October
I had another run of three days, provisionally booked off with LTB in mind but the weather had other ideas, a mixed bag of cloud, sunny spells, troublesome showers and a pesky wind. Heading east seemed like the best chance of avoiding getting a drenching today. Initially I took a wander along the south facing paths on Hadleigh Country Park on the lookout for some Clouded Yellow but the strong westerly soon put paid to that. Even if I did find one it’s unlikely I would have been able to pin it down for an image so I headed of to see if I could find some shelter from said wind on Two Tree Island. I had good late season results here last year where there are large areas of Ivy, I just needed to find a patch that was facing East but still catching a bit of sun. With the wind blowing the clouds along at a fair old rate, sunny spells came and went in the blink of an eye so whilst waiting for a decent sunny spell I did a bit of birding. The tide was out so waders were out of the question, being mostly several miles away out on the mud flats but It was time well spent because I managed by far my best Kingfisher image to date (they’re normally just a blue or orange dot in the centre of the picture!) Anyway, back to butterflies, In the perfect sunny sheltered patch of flowering Ivy I found myself three Red Admirals Who were joined after a while by a (probably second brood) Peacock And then a surprise appearance by a female Wall . Surprise for two reasons, I’ve never seen one here before (although I know they are present on nearby Canvey Island) and I’ve never seen one nectaring on Ivy either. On a nearby log a couple of Lizards were making the most of the autumnal sun After around 2 hours with the sun getting lower in the sky, sunny periods were becoming few and far between so I took that as my queue to make a move, stopping only to grab a couple of shots of a passing Small White.

Superb stuff, Paul.
A mrgreen for the Kingfisher, and a further one for the female Wall.
Your experience with the wind mirrored mine at High and Over. Could hardly stand up in the car park,
yet only yards into the dense shrubbery there were many Red Admirals on the Ivy, and in calm sunshine.

Always good to find an unexpected surprise like that Wall, Buggy. some great shots there.

Cheers,

Dave

Lovely shots BB, especially the Wall Goldie

Cracking shot of the Kingfisher Bugboy - you really managed to capture the electric blue on the back Lovely looking Wall as well

Have a goodun

Wurzel

That last post is a riot of colour, BB. Very nice. It's only 3 weeks ago but it may as well be 3 months, as things are looking pretty bleak for any continuation of the season.

Thanks for all the comments. I'll have to keep a close eye out for Walls there next year. I got very lucky with that Kingfisher, just two grab shots before she flew off, the other one had far more grasses obscuring her.

10th October
The following day I was out again. I’d booked the whole of the next week off too in the hope of seeing some more LTB’s but the current weather forecast (and they’re generally more accurate when predicting dodgy weather) was saying it would be a week of rain so it was a case of making the most of what sunny weather was available and today it looked like there’d be plenty down on the south coast and quite possibly my last day butterflying of the year.

It was actually pleasantly calm, barely a breath of wind, when I arrived down at Southwick. Still a bit cool and early for any Clouded Yellow that may still be present here but a rather nice female Common Blue kept me entertained for a bit. I wandered up and down the length of the site a few times, noting a few Small Whites and after half an hour a distinctly butterfly shaped yellow leaf basking on some privet, possibly one of the same individuals I’d seen on my last visit which was only four days previously. When he’d warmed up a bit he flew off to begin the days patrolling but was replaced by a very fresh Painted Lady. The next hour was spent mainly chasing Clouded Yellows around, I think I had three again, and it remained cool enough to encourage them to settle at regular intervals. The female Blue hung around the same corner too. As is almost obligatory these days in this part of the world, I had planned to head over to Mill Hill before heading home to see if there was still something in that bottom corner but I got a bit distracted by a couple of noisy Kingfishers flying around the marina. They came quite close a number of times but I was too slow to grab anything as good as yesterday. Well anyway I finally managed to drag myself away but I’ll continue this in the next post…

Once again a very nice array of butterflies from that sheltered haven by the sea, Buggy. The female Common Blues as well as the Cloudies!

Cheers,

Dave