Padfield

[Wurzel]

Having come back from a reasonably productive week in the South of France and finding the lack of butterflies unsettling I can't imagine the butterfly- shock you're experiencing now Guy Bugboy's right though - if anyone can find a wandering continental migrant it'll be you

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

Good to see you posting again Guy, and I hope the move went as smoothly as possible. Yes, a lack of species in Britain is sure to take a while to get used to, as is the lack of mountains. Plenty of good birds on the coast though, especially with winter coming up- a few changes since you lived here. Something to look foreword too...

[Goldie M]

Love the shot of Minnie on the Wall Guy, I wonder what she's thinking I don't think she'll bother has long as your there for her Goldie

[NickMorgan]

Guy,
I am just catching up with the forum and see that you have moved back to the UK. I can understand that it will be a real change for you. I am sure that you will make the most of the (relatively) limited number of butterflies there, although you probably have almost double the number of species that there are in East Lothian!
I look forward to reading about your UK adventures.

[David M]

Good to see you and Minnie arrived safely, Guy. You’re both going to take a while to acclimatise, I’m sure.

I find it difficult enough returning home after a couple of weeks on the continent so I dread to think how hard it’ll be for you to come to terms with your seismic shift of environment.

I wish you all the best.

[Andrew555]

And all the best from me with your new circumstances Guy.

[Padfield]

Thank you, Trevor, Buggy, Wurzel, Buzzard, Goldie, Nick, David and Andrew.

I shall certainly make the most of the changed circumstances. I'm much less mobile than I was in Switzerland, being restricted to places I can reach on my bike from Woodbridge without leaving my dad too long - In Switzerland I had a pass for free travel anywhere in the country, by rail, bus or water, and made full use of this! But that just means a different approach to things.

One mission for this late summer was to photograph male willow emerald damselflies, Chalcolestes viridis and to find egg-laying scratches. Last year I was very excited to find a female (then another another day) and thought I'd made a discovery of national significance, only to find the species is now well established in the South-East and spreading. Nevertheless, it is a lovely insect and very interesting. My first two forays since returning to Suffolk turned up none, either male or female, but today's was more successful. I saw at least half a dozen, including two males. That's half the mission accomplished. Next to find those scratches ...


(female)


(the same female, showing the diagnostic spur on the thorax)


(female)

Their favourite spot for perching was a blackthorn bush:


(female)

High up in the bush I spotted a male, easily recognisable by the more slender, willowy abdomen, as well as the claspers:



Here is a male that came lower, perfectly camouflaged against the bush both by his colour and the transparency of his wings:



Of butterfly interest,my most significant find was brown argus breeding in my local meadow - where it certainly didn't breed in my youth!





Guy

[Old Wolf]

Hello Guy (and Minnie),
I hope the move went smoothly and you are both settling in. I am looking forward to reading all about your UK adventures

[Wurzel]

That first shot in particular is mighty fine Guy You seem to be settling in okay , you're back to finding 'new' stuff already

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[NickMorgan]

Guy,
It will be really interesting to hear about the changes you are seeing compared with what was flying in your childhood. There have certainly been a lot of changes in the butterfly species up here in the last 30 or 40 years and they area almost all positive. Hard to believe when you see what is happening to the habitat. I suspect that numbers are down, but possibly we have more enthusiasts out hunting down rare species and better means of communication.

[David M]

..I shall certainly make the most of the changed circumstances...

Looks like you're doing just that already, Guy!

I'd never even heard of that damselfly until you posted that sequence.

Hopefully there'll be a fair few late season butterflies to keep your spirits up over the next few weeks.

[Padfield]

Thank you again for your good wishes, Old Wolf, Wurzel, Nick and David.

I'll try and give a report on how Suffolk has changed in due course, Nick. In many ways it won't be easy, because I've changed too. In particular, I'm much better at finding butterflies and identifying them in flight at several hundred metres! In my youth I was, of the nature of things, a beginner ... But one thing is perfectly obvious, beginner or expert: there are far, far more people here now. I don't just mean the ones outside, enjoying the sunshine with their dogs, but the many more inside, living in houses where there used to be heath and woodland and using up remoter resources by eating, drinking, powering their tellies and all the rest. Don't get me wrong - I'm not a misanthrope. It's just the sheer, unsustainable numbers of my insatiable species that is so disturbing.

On a lighter note, and in the absence of any good butterfly spots, here are some shots of a ruff I found among the godwits and redshanks on the Deben:





At one point it had a go at a godwit, showing off that surprisingly long neck for a Calidris-style wader:



There have also been little groups of knot and greenshank around. This greenshank offered relatively close views:





The knots were further away, right across the estuary:



Sorry about all the birds! I hope I'll catch a few more butterflies before the season's out!

Guy

[Allan.W.]

Enjoyed your Willow Emerald post Guy ,and that you,d found a fair few ,here in Kent they were a bit slow starting ,but are now about in good numbers ,I haven,t looked for them for a while ,but I did manage a pair in-cop from last years site.
Marc Heath has posted some excellent shots (as usual !) on his website ,with pictures of a mixed pairing ie; Willow/ Common Emerald Damsels
and I think he also posted a shot of a Willow Em; laying on ,,,,,,,,wait for it ! Nettle Stems !!
Regards Allan.W.

[essexbuzzard]

Good to see your wader images, Guy. May have to get used to them this winter, in contrast to your usual pictures of Queen of Spain Fritillaries. If you think there has been an explosion in human population in Suffolk, down the road in Essex, it’s even worse...

[Wurzel]

Great set of bird shots Guy - the Ruff is great find and the second shot of the Greenshank in particular is a peach - you can see a water drop on the tip of the bill

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Guy, I sense disappointment in your return to UK, it does take some getting use to, we lived abroad for 10 years and when we returned it took some getting used to at first and now with all the extra people living here it's even more over whelming I think for people returning here. Also you'll find standards have changed, people don't seem to have a lot of patience these days

Love all your shots of the Damselflies they look great on the various fruits Goldie

[David M]

Nice selection of birds there, Guy. I suppose one thing you now have that you didn't in Switzerland is a seashore!! Looks like you're making the most of it.

[Maximus]

I agree with David there, Guy, that you’re certainly making the most of coastal Suffolk and the wader shots.
I’d also like to join other members of this community , in wishing you all the very best on your return to these shores.

Mike

[Padfield]

Thanks Allan. No mixed matings yet, but I have been seeing a lot of willow emeralds in cop over the last few days (pictures below).

Buzzard - it's going to be very strange for me, too, not seeing Queens of Spain in the winter months!!

Thanks Wurzel. I think I've still never seen a ruff in summer finery - only the rather motley individuals that come through on passage.

I hear what you're saying, Goldie. But I always try to make the most of things and I'm sure there's something fantastic just waiting for me to discover on my local patch!

David and Maximus, I'm glad you don't mind the bird shots! I've been so spoilt for butterflies over the last 30 years I've rather lost the habit of birding ... It's fun to get back to it.

When I've had a moment recently I've been searching for likely dragonfly spots within a short cycle from Woodbridge. The best I've found so far has turned up common and ruddy darters, migrant and southern hawkers, black-tailed skimmers, blue-tailed and common blue damsels and of course willow emeralds.

Here's a pair of willow emeralds in cop, male above, female below:





Yesterday there were dozens of pairs of common darters in cop (more strictly, in tandem), the males flying and dipping the females' abdomen tips in the water to lay. There are two such pairs in this shot:



This is a blue-tailed damselfly:



And this a common blue:



Here's a migrant hawker:



All those were photographed standing at the same spot on a lakeside edge. I have high hopes for rarer vagrants dropping in there! One of the darters perhaps ...

The butterflies still flying yesterday at that site were large, small and green-veined white, speckled wood, small copper and brown argus. It will soon be time for egg-hunting.

Guy

[Wurzel]

Greta set of images Guy, especially the first one, the depth of field is perfect on that one

Have a goodun

Wurzel