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Cheers Wurzel & David, Sorry about the migraine Wurzel!.

Today I had a day on the Isle of Wight with an old friend.
We visited the steam railway and Ventnor Botanical Gardens, and I have to say
that the Island was absolutely useless for butterflies today, possibly due to the heat.
The only cause for excitement was at Smallbrook, where the train terminates. Opposite
the line is an unmanaged meadow, which I am sure was heaving with Dark Green Fritillaries,
but they were too far away for positive ID.
The one wildlife highlight today was one of the famous Wall Lizards, at Ventnor BG, which
posed perfectly for the camera.

Trevor.

Nice pose, Trevor - living up to its name. Really appropriate to see a Mediterranean species during the current bout of weather too.

Cheers,

Dave

Hi! Trevor, I'm trying to catch up on a few posts Great shots of the Purple Hair Streak, I've looked here for one but not been lucky yet Goldie

Great capture of a wiley beastie Trevor Is that the same species that are found in Dorset?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Having been very unwell since Wednesday and also confined by the post heatwave storms and rain,
I decided to risk a local trip today. My destination was High and Over for summer brood Wall Browns.
As I made my way from the car park I made an accurate count of seven males, then the Sun broke through,
and mayhem ensued with male Walls seeing off each other, and chasing the many Hedge Browns present.
I came away confident that the summer brood is doing very well there this year.

Trevor.
Wurzel, I believe there are Wall Lizards living in the Portland Quarries, Sand Lizards are found on Dorset Heaths.

Great set of Walls Trevor especially the second swarthy individual You did well to capture so many shots

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Great shots of the Walls, Trevor - never an easy one to get close too. You may have helped me decide where to go once I get back from the soggy north (and the unseasonal wind forecast for the middle of the week has died down a bit!). I hope you're feeling a lot better too - nothing like a bit of English countryside and a few choice butterflies to give you a lift I always think...

Cheers,

Dave

Cheers Wurzel & Dave. Thanks Dave, I'm on the mend, but a little weak after five days without food.

This morning I went over to Ditchling Common, with Doug. Neve to seen what around.
We bumped into Dave Cook and Kirsty Gibbs and had a tour of the area.
It was good find a fresh male and female Common Blue. One amusing incident occurred when Dave
found a female Silver Washed Fritillary on an egg laying mission. After depositing many eggs in
the proper places, she flew around us and promptly laid an egg on Dave's trousers!.

Trevor.

I bet you all had a good laugh Trevor Lovely Common Blue shots Goldie

Although there are Grayling locally, I really like to see them on Heather.
A reliable site for Heathland Grayling is in Pirbright, Surrey. A 72 mile drive from home.
Despite a journey largely in sunshine, there was very little on arrival. but several
Grayling were found quite quickly but always landed on the ground, and promptly dropped their forewings.
Another Sussex enthusiast, Patrick Moore, arrived as I was searching and we were later delighted
when during a brief spell sun the Grayling became very active, with many chases taking place,
including a chase of four. It was noticeable that the behaviour of the grayling changed as well
as many now chose to nectar on Heather, with exposed forewings, as opposed to grounding.

I also had three trouserings, one on my back, and Patrick had a thorough shirting ( see image ).

A very rewarding day,
Trevor.

Lovely shots of the Grayling Trevor, I never seem to get good shots , they always seem to melt into the back ground of the stones etc. Goldie

I popped over to Park Corner Heath this afternoon to see if any second brood
Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries were present. Two, a male and a female were
found on the patch of Heather by the former hut.
In Rowland Wood, among the many Gatekeepers, an immaculate Painted Lady
was found nectaring on the Fleabane. In the North of the UK, Painted Ladies
are being reported in huge numbers, but so far this has not happened in my area ( yet? ).

Trevor.

I found my first female Brown Hairstreak this morning, at Steyning.

Lovely shots Trevor and well done. What is the situation over there?

Nice to see, Trevor. I had a brief glimpse of one on a visit to Steyning last Friday (actually in the lane up from the bowling club), but it was too quick for me to photograph. Some fresh Walls, though, contrasting with the worn ones later at Mill Hill.

Cheers,

Dave

Thanks Pauline & Dave. The one concern, over this way, Pauline, is a total lack
of Small Tortoiseshells. I have only seen four in East Sussex this year!.

I had a very enjoyable few hours in Rowland Wood this afternoon.
The highlights were several fresh Painted Ladies and a stunning ' blue '
female Common Blue. Probably the best example I've ever found.

Trevor.

Great set of images Trevor - good to hear that you're mended and out again with an electic collection of butterflies Pretty envious of the Brostreak as I've still to track one down - they're playing hard to get at Shipton on top of emerging late

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wonderful to see that fresh, female Brown Hairstreak, Trevor. Those Graylings are delightful too. They gave you a good performance!

Thanks Wurzel & David, I hope to see a few more Brown Hairstreaks in the coming days.

Once again, like last year, I have managed to photograph all five UK Hairstreak species
in Sussex this year. The Black and Purple in particular gave the best opportunities ( so far ).

Nice full house of Sussex hairstreaks, Trevor.
I suspect that Steyning will under-perform this year, as the Dexter cattle have absolutely hammered the Blackthorn again . Unfortunately, they seem far more keen on browsing this than grazing the coarser grasses as requested.
BWs, Neil