Bugboys mission

[bugboy]

Thanks Goldie. I remember reading about your regular visits to Gaits Barrow. I probably could have made there in the end, especially since I had a spare hour. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but generally completely useless!
Definitely not for the likes of us eh Wurzel, obviously far too ‘common’ for HIM this year

...Hi! Bugboy, it's a pity you missed out on Gait Barrow, that's where I got most of my shots of the High Brown...

I popped into Gait Barrows a couple of times when we were up there this year, it is just down the road from the B&B we used and convenient for a stop off on the way back from elsewhere. Unfortunalty the weather was dull and cloudy on these occasions and all I saw was a couple of Speckled Wood. I also noticed how overgrown much of it had become since my last visits here a few years ago and some locals told me that High Browns have crashed there recently.

Cheers,

Neil.

On one of my early visits some years ago I got speaking to one of the recorders at Arnside Knott who was saying the numbers of HBF there were on a slow downward spiral. No idea whether this is still the case. I'd be interested to know how much of an impact high numbers of DGF may or may not have on the HBF. I don't know how much of a cross over in their ecology there is where both species are present (I'm sure it's been well studied though) but I do remember reading or hearing somewhere that SWF larvae can out compete DGF.

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And now by a slightly awkward twist of fate, my travels take me to Large Blue country

July 2022

Saturday 2nd. Time for my annual foray into Gloucestershire for the Large Blue. I’d booked the train earlier in the week when the weather forecast had looked ok. However as often happens, the forecast had evolved somewhat since that time, evolved in a downward spiral to rather horrid weather. When I arrived at Daneway Bank it was rather damp and gloomy. Roosting butterflies were all I was going to find.

At the far end I clambered up the slope and started rooting around in the Thyme to see if I could find some eggs. I didn’t but I did spend a bit of time watching some small red ants, wondering whether they are THE ants…

It was a whole hour before I stumbled across what I was looking for, a nice-looking specimen though so worth the wait.

I’d bumped into a couple of other enthusiasts (they’d made plans in advance like me), one of whom had never seen a Large Blue before, so she was very happy to see this one even if it was just sitting around in mild mizzle .

The three of us wandered around a while longer but the mizzle soon turned into drizzle which then turned into proper rain, so we made our way to the pub (such a civilised site) to dry off, my finding of the Blue earning me a hot chocolate of gratitude .
They only had the morning free, leaving me to continue watching rain. It lasted a solid two hours but at least I was somewhere dry where I could eat and drink

Eventually things started to improve, and I ventured out again. The Blue was still, unsurprisingly, where I’d left him. I loitered around as the clouds broke up at a painfully slow rate but eventually it was bright enough for his wings to open, which he did and immediately took to the air and charged off down the path! "You little (insert mild expletive)". Being a male though he soon came charging back and settled to reveal no black spots on the uppers.

Other species were responding in like, Marbled Whites being by far the most numerous species

Synchronised feeding

Juvenile mite 'rush hour'!

I found a second Large Blue near the top of the far slope which decided to dart off down the slope out of sight without letting me see any uppers.

A couple of bird species distracted me for a while. A pair of Siskin were rather active at the top of the Fir tree’s, the male doing some tuneful display flights

And a family of Redstart were being rather noisy, well the fledglings were anyway!

top: Adult male. Bottom: juvenile male

Annoyingly it had brightened up too late to make the most of the sun and with not a great deal of time left two more Large Blues appeared. One escaped the camera, the second didn’t and from the way it was showing interest in the Marjoram looked to be a female.

[Wurzel]

Lovely looking Large Blues Bugboy Interesting to see the 'no-spot' variant - I've seen them with a range of spotting before but never none I'm wondering if I saw one of those Redstarts when I visited?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Great effort that, Paul. Not too sure I'd have undertaken that trek when freshly returned from a long journey up north, but you must be delighted that you did, because that male arion is amazing - surely an ab.?

Good that the weather picked up a bit too so you could get a second go at the wildlife. Daneway is a fabulous place; one of the best in the country.

[bugboy]

I reckon so Wurzel, looks like you were there 11 days before me and the chicks I’d say had been out of the nest for a similar amount of time. The blue looks like an ab alconides .
Thanks David, I did give myself a day off the following day .

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July 2022

Monday 4th. After a day of rest it was back out for another go at finding an Emperor. The usual supporting cast were present: White Admirals, Silver-washed Fritillary and hutchinsoni Comma being the bulk but I did have a nice encounter with a purple Hairstreak early on, the warm morning bringing them down to re-hydrate on some dew yet to evaporate.

The WA and SWF were now starting to show their age but one of the latter had a bit of duskiness about him, borderline ab.

The Comma’s though were still looking rather nice.

A fresh male Holly Blue decided to sit slightly above head height but I still managed a few decent images.

Perusing the rides, eyes glued a few meters ahead at all times unfortunately gave me nothing of note on the Purple front but on the return walk a female SWF sitting to one side caught not only my eye but the eye’s of an unusual looking suiter. Looks like a pathological ab. but he looked very striking in flight. His advances were given the brush off.

In the end I spent half an hour getting a crick in my neck.

So that’s half the day gone...

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The second place to visit was fairmile Common to see if there were any more Silver-studded Blue about. Last time I managed just one male and from other reports it would seem most of the Surrey heathland sites were suffering this year, most likely the lack of rain and ensuing poor quality food a major factor.

Well there was certainly more than just the one this time, but nowhere near the numbers I’ve come to expect from this small site. Most of them were past their best and I only caught a few glimpses of some females but a couple of males were presentable.

[Katrina]

I like your first SSB shot - I thinks it’s all the flowering heather.

[bugboy]

Thanks Katrina

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July 2022

Tuesday 5th. The Denbies Chalkhill’s had been out for a week already so I was overdue a visit to catch them fresh. I left it late in the day so as not to spend a warm muggy day chasing them around on the steep slopes and got there a little after 3, staying to start with on the upper path where the males usually congregate and tend to be more approachable. There was plenty around, it would seem these hot dry summers we are having tend to agree with them.

I imagine this one has an ab. name attached to it!

There were plenty of fresh females around too.

This male thought he was onto a winner, he played it cool for a minute of so before ‘pouncing’… he failed!

A picture that speaks a thousand words

Marbled White were still around in reasonable numbers and a mating pair posed well.

A few worn Dark Green Fritillary were still active.

On one of the lower paths, I noticed the familiar figure of Millerd, also enjoying the marvellous display being put on by the Blues and various other species.

A very enjoyable couple of hours

[Wurzel]

Great set of shots I reckon that Chalkhill is ab.exclamationia certainly shouts out 'look at me!' You did much better with Purple Hairstreak than I did this year Bugboy

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Oh the fun we’d have if we were allowed to name abs eh Wurzel

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July 2022

Thursday 7th. My Purple Emperor season had pretty much already come to an end. There was precious little going on at Bookham based on what I was seeing, both in the flesh and on social media, so I decided to focus on some other rather specialist targets, namely Swallowtail immature stages. I’ve always wanted to see one of the big fat green stripey cats, nearly as much as I’d always wanted to see the adult, and this year I knew exactly where to look!

Having no experience with them I wasn’t sure how long it takes them to grow but I know now that one month gets them to 3rd instar. I found several in the end, mostly 2nd and 3rd instars I think but there did still seem to be a few 1st as well, indicating females were still laying eggs in the last week of June. Looking as they do like little bird droppings, they’re very easy to pick out on the green foliage.

Well now the target was safely in the bag, I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around a strangely quiet Strumpshaw Fen. I’m used to the place being alive with people and birdsong, so it felt quite weird with not much of either around. Dragonfly and damselfly season was also starting to tail off. Scarce Skimmers were common as they always are here, but all were showing their age now. All the males now had a dark patch halfway down their abdomen showing they’d all had their way with a female, the mark is created when the female grips the male during mating. I also found a Willow Emerald Damselfly

There were no plagues of Small Tortoiseshell this time obviously, and most of the butterflies I saw looked a little tired now but there were a few nice ones amongst them.

I also attempted some shots of Whirligig Beetles, not the easiest subject to get but a fascinating little thing nonetheless. They live within the surface film of the water and each eye is split in two, the lower half designed to see under water and the upper half in air.

The common Tern I’d photographed last time had found himself a partner who was now sat tight on eggs. (I’m assuming it’s the same one for convenience!) He was very proud, especially when he loudly announced (whilst hovering over his mate) how he’d successfully defended the island against a marauding gang of juvenile Gadwall!

[Pauline]

Nice immature stages. Did you return to see the big, fat, green, stripey ones?

[Wurzel]

"the mark is created when the female grips the male during mating." - I'd never noticed/realised what this was fascintating
The butterflies are those that might be considered an 'autumnal' collection - the season seems to be drawing to a close

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Pauline but you’ll just have to wait to find out if I saw a big stripey green one
‘Autumnal collection’ even though I’ve only just entered July, there’s a worry Wurzel

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July 2022

Friday 8th. A morning visit to Bookham gave me very little in the way of adult butterflies. The only butterfly of note to sit still for me was another thirsty Purple Hairstreak in but apart from a few WA and SWF doing a good job at avoiding my camera there was precious little else.

Here’s a Common Lizard who’s had a close call at some point.

I actually spent most the morning lurking in the darker recesses of the wood looking for the first WA larvae, finding good numbers of both eggs and freshly emerged cats.

I had another early start the following day, so I didn’t hang around for the afternoon craning my neck to catch glimpses of The Purple One!

[Katrina]

Great photo of the caterpillar. Is that an empty egg case by it?

[Wurzel]

"Autumnal collection’ even though I’ve only just entered July, there’s a worry Wurzel " Yeah the coming Autumn is playing on my mind and those butterflies are those I'd expect to see now even though they were back in July That second shot of the Purp is a cracker - I couldn't get close to any this year

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

..The only butterfly of note to sit still for me was another thirsty Purple Hairstreak..

I'd happily trade that experience for seeing no other butterflies at all!

Nice images of the early stages. Still plenty to keep us interested.

[bugboy]

They are indeed Katrina, I found the cats before they’d completely eaten the shell
Thanks Wurzel, I’d happily trade you some of this years Purple pics for some of your Brown ones, I had an awful season with them this year!
Thanks David. Swings and roundabouts though, you have Marsh and High Brown Frits on your doorstep!

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July 2022

Saturday 9th. My early start the following day was due to a break in tradition. My final day out on my two-week break, and before the worst of the insane heat descended, was a second trip to Daneway Bank. Since my earlier trip had been a bit on the damp side, I thought I’d give it a second go. It took an hour or so for the first one to show up but as always, the place is teeming with life.

Today I had the added bonus of bumping into David Simcox who was busy counting eggs and stopped to chat. As you would expect he’s a positive encyclopaedia of information on everything about the Large Blue and I walked off 20 minutes later knowing an awful lot more about them than I woke up knowing that morning!

It being near the end of the flight season it stands to reason that I only saw females, two seen an hour apart flitting around the same patch of Marjoram close to the entrance to the site and thankfully I didn’t have to sit out several hours for any rain.

Apart from them, the other pick of the morning was a rather striking female Meadow Brown ab. addenda.

I’d already planned to explore somewhere new for the afternoon but not before finding a nice place to eat back in Stroud. I’d had a look on google maps a few days previously to find a suitable spot to explore and plumped for Swift’s Hill Nature Reserve. Unfortunately, I hadn’t factored in the increasing heat, it was mid-thirties now and since Stroud sits in a valley, it’s uphill in nearly whatever direction you travel in! By the time I’d got to the reserve I was wilting quite badly and there was a) little shade and b) not a lot about and what was about was super charged to warp factor 9! I managed a Small Skipper with a bleached streak on the forewing, a Small Copper and a Common Blue.

Until next year Daneway

[David Simcox]

A great pleasure to meet you on Daneway this summer, it was very hot that day! I'm a long-term follower and admirer of your 'mission', long may it continue.

Best wishes

David

[Wurzel]

Great to see the Large Blues Bugboy but to be honest, what with my love of spot counting, that Meadow Brown surpassed the Blues for me
Sorry to hear you had a bad time with the Brostreaks - be warned there are a few more turning up in my PD soon

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thank you David, kind words indeed. The actual ‘mission’ did end some years ago now (to photograph every UK species) but I shall continue posting and postulating ideas about what I’m seeing.
Thanks Wurzel, and thanks for the warning, my BH efforts will be a blink and you’ll miss it event…

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July 2022

Monday 11th – Sunday 17th. My return to work coincided with the peak of the record breaking (until next year…) heat wave. These two things prevented any adventures into the countryside and I spent the best part of a week melting into a disgusting puddle of sweat (apologies if you're eating just now)! Anyway, I still managed to have a few lunchtime wanders. Gatekeepers were one of the few species revelling in the heat.

A Common Blue had stationed himself in a territory that had been used by others earlier this year and others since.

A pair of Green-veined White searched for somewhere shady to sit out the event

and lastly, I found a female Large Skipper busy laying eggs. Oddly during a resting period when she was settled on some nettle, she continued oviposturing
,

[trevor]

You mention the heatwave. Well like mad dogs and Englishmen I did go out in
the mid-day sun at Shipton Belinger. ( well over 30c ) Lucky you melting at work, that was my idea of hell.

Very much enjoyed your Large Blues, great stuff.

Trevor.

[Benjamin]

I too really enjoyed visiting Daneway again via your diary Paul. It’s been a few years since I’ve made the trip but you’ve reminded me that it really should be a priority next year - what a species. I think my last trip was a drizzly affair also, but given Large Blues are relatively easy to find at roost, it was still a very satisfying trip. Pub on site certainly helps as you say!