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Orwell Country Park, Ipswich - 30/7/20

Having encountered my first Brown Hairstreak of the year on my local patch, I paid a visit to another reliable Ipswich site.
As is the case with this species, they can be very elusive and so it turned out to be on this day.
However this site is excellent for a wide number of other species and the pick of the bunch was this surprise Clouded Yellow.
I'd seen them at this site previously, but with sightings of them quite low in Suffolk, it is always a pleasure when one puts in an appearance. I've been having a lean year with Common Blue, with only sporadic sightings of the odd male here and there. At Orwell Country park they were out in good numbers, including this pair in copulation. Kind Regards
Kev

Wow, I had no idea you had Brown Hairstreaks near Ipswich, what a great sighting!

Thanks Essex. The provenance of the Ipswich Brown Hairstreaks is up for debate, however they are a great butterfly to see. They have been around for a handful of years now and seem well established, using the A14 corridor between Copdock and Nacton.

Kind Regards
Kev

Kev - That's sneaky. You ask me to send you a Brown Hairstreak and now I find you have already seen them in your area and not only that - you got a backlit underside pic of a female. What?!?

Nice Clouded Yellow by the way. I have so far only seen one in flight this year. Blink and its gone.

Er - Could you send me one?...

Great shots of the Cloudy Kev - it's always great when they turn up as they you can never really bank on them A nice bonus for the year almost
Interesting looking Common Blue - it's got those black spots along the hind wing margin - nice

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Well done on finding the crocea, Kev. Seems they are quite widespread in England this summer. The way things are going they might outnumber Painted Ladies this year!

Due to personal reasons, it has been a year since my last activity on UK Butterflies and oh have I missed you all. Glad to be back with some posts at last.


Smardale Gill - Cumbria (2nd August 2021)

A much needed family holiday was spend in the Yorkshire Dales this summer and I took the opportunity to venture across the boundary into Cumbria for a trip to the beautiful Smardale Gill Nature Reserve near Kirkby Stephen. The target being Scotch Argus, a species I had not yet seen in the UK.
I had seen reports that a handful of adults had emerged, but the morning we chose was very warm and sunny and we hoped that our visit might coincide with the mass emergence. We were not to be disappointed.
As we pulled into the car park, we were treated to the sighting of Red Squirrel (another first for us). As we set off along the mile long footpath to the viaduct, another Red Squirrel was seen too. As we progressed, the tree cover gave way to sunny banks full of wildflowers and the fresh Scotch Argus appeared in good numbers, pirouetting up the grass stems after drying their wings. In the few hundred yards to the viaduct there must have been 200+ and they were mostly photogenic. We could have wandered much further, but we got caught up enjoying the mass numbers of butterflies. A number of other species were seen including Dark Green Fritillary. There was a report of a single Northern Brown Argus, but sadly I did not see it.
This has to be one of the nicest places in the UK I have visited for butterflies and would recommend it to anyone. Kind Regards Kev

Great report and images from Smardale Gill Kev.
A place I must visit one day, I've never seen a Scotch Argus.

Stay safe,
Trevor.

Good to see you in action again, Kev. I was thinking of you recently as I was planning a trip to look for your (our) local brown hairstreaks. I enjoyed little blues in Ipswich earlier in the year but haven't been able to get there during the marbled white season.

My sincerest sympathies if you have had a difficult year.

Guy

Brilliant set of images Kev - great to see you back in the fold and a great way to make a (re-)entrance Have a few of these as this is a species I've never seen

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Perhaps the most stunning backdrop to any butterfly site in the UK, Kev.

Great that you managed to check it out and even better that there were some beautifully fresh Scotch Argus there to greet you.

I really must get back up there myself sometime soon.

Thanks for the kind comments everyone.

Whilst enjoying the rest of my holiday in North Yorkshire, I did of course keep a look out for interesting butterflies.
At Lake Semer Water, I was pleased to find this Red Admiral ab. bialbata- with a white spot in red band. By the Ribblehead Viaduct there were a number of Green Veined White, including this little group 'puddling'. Kind Regards
Kev

That's a nice sight to see there Kev; a gaggle of Green-veined Whites I've not seen that many around my way this year so it's good to know they're doing well elsewhere

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

kevling wrote: ↑Thu Aug 19, 2021 9:39 pmBy the Ribblehead Viaduct there were a number of Green Veined White, including this little group 'puddling'.

Nice to see, Kev. One of the few British butterflies that can be relied upon to exhibit this behaviour (Small Blue would be the other main contender).

Hockey Woods - Essex

Rather late I know, but only now finding the time to process some of my summer photographs.
A much overdue day out was planned in June and I was drawn between travelling to Norfolk to see Swallowtails, or Hockley Woods, Essex for Heath Fritillary. The 'Heaths' won the day and my visit coincided with the emergence of good numbers.
It was blisteringly hot and my observations were that for open wing shots, you had to be quick off the mark. As they landed, their wings were open for just a couple of seconds, before being closed. I was fortunate to see several pairs in copulation though.
Kind Regards
Kev

Cracking shots of the Heaths Kev a species that I find tricky to catch up with One of the copulating pair has some interesting markings, a little bit melanic the variation in them is just brilliant

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

kevling wrote: ↑Sat Sep 04, 2021 12:14 pm..The 'Heaths' won the day and my visit coincided with the emergence of good numbers.
It was blisteringly hot and my observations were that for open wing shots, you had to be quick off the mark. As they landed, their wings were open for just a couple of seconds, before being closed. I was fortunate to see several pairs in copulation though.

Looks like you made a good choice, Kev. Whilst rare in terms of distribution, where this species does occur it can do so in huge numbers.

Nice to know this colony is thriving.

8th June 2022 - Bison Hill, Bedfordshire

Having only ever seen a single Duke of Burgundy in my life (at Bentley Wood a few years ago), it had long been on my butterfly bucket list to visit the Chilterns and see them. So at last, a friend and I took a visit to Bison Hill, on the Dunstable Downs last weekend.
We parked at the visitor centre which overlooks the gliding club and walked down to the now closed car park at Bison Hill. Within minutes, our first butterfly appeared, a Duke. As we walked the various paths that hug the hillside, we were treated to c40+ dukes, as well as 20+ Green Hairstreak (the most I have ever seen in one day by far), 20+ Dingy Skipper and 3 Grizzled Skippers. A good number of Orange Tips, both male and female were also enjoyed. It was a great day and a pleasure to meet local UK Butterflier Peter Collins, who shared an insight into the best places to look.

I'd like to start with a couple of Dukes which looked very light in colour. I'm wondering whether this might be an ab.leucodes? Kind Regards
Kev

Great set of shots Kev Sounds like a cracking spot for the Dukes - they seem to have had a good season and there was me feeling chuffed with the 8 or so that were seen today

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I saw my first ever Dukes not far from there, on Ivinghoe Beacon, when I was a teenager. It was an entirely chance encounter and I didn't know what to do with myself, I was so excited. There were also lots of little blues there - something you don't mention in your write-up. Funnily enough, I saw my first little blues of the year today, on your local site in Ipswich. No Dukes though ...

Guy