www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I was as surprised as you about the Marshies in the eastern clearing. I was lucky enough to be there when they were flying too.

But you got some shots that I did not. I particularly like the backlit individual. I am a sucker for these stained-glass window shots.

And the Greenstreak... How odd that it was there too.

Never seen Marshies. And the thought of seeing so many is very tempting. I tried to jolly a friend into taking a long trip this year but it failed. So I am going to plan it, probably a solo trip, next year. I know where to aim.

I struggle to keep my own diary anything like up to date, so you remain a great comfort to me. In many ways it is nicer to be seeing a few weeks after the event - thanks for the lead you show.

Lovely Butterflies Wurzel and Greens for those Pearls I missed out on Pearls this year and last and just got the SPBF by the skin of my teeth Never heard of Marshies in the woods before, I always imaged them in fields etc.
When I saw them it was in North Devon a place called Knowstone , I love that one of the Marshie ( your sixth shot) I've never seen the under side of a Marshie before. Goldie

Great reports Wurzel, and you managed some fantastic shots of those Marshies!

Cheers Ernie I was surprised by the Marshies but even more so by the Greenstreak, it seemed totally out of place
Cheers Peter My tardiness is a side affect of still working, but when the girls have left home and I retire I plan to post my exploits the very same day, it'll be something of a culture shock If you are planning a visit down this way for Marshies then let me know and I can provide the details of some great sites and also where to go in those sites
Cheers Goldie I was chuffed with that one as it fitted nicely into my 'stained glass' collection
Cheers Andrew They weren't too bad as I was a bit battle scarred after spending several hours in Ikea

Mottisfont 28-05-2018

So 13 years ago today my older daughter K was born, turning my world upside down but for the best! Today as part of an elongated Birthday celebration we headed over to Mottisfont for a picnic before a meal out in the evening and Splash Down and vegan Pizza the following day. The app said it was going to be cloudy with heavy rain showers and thunder from 2pm onwards. Again this was total bollocks and when we arrived it was delightfully warm and breezy and the sun was rapidly eating through the light cloud.

We set up on the lawn near the Ho-Ho (or Ha-Ha or Hi-Hi or whatever) and after various savoury munching tried to light all 13 candles on the cake. We’d get to 10 or 11 and the breeze would pick up blowing the whole lot out. So in the end we settled for just the one. Birthday wish made the girls both went off to explore, my wife had a catnap and I went off for a quick mooch of the bank on the opposite side of the Ho-Ho. It was looking mighty fine with tall grasses and Ox-eye Daisies. Flitting and around was a male Common Blue looking sky blue one moment and as the light changed it turned to turquoise. I also spotted a Bee Orchid hidden down amongst the high sward. As we left a poignant scene unfolded before us. There on the pristine bank were small children ripping up flowers while their parents filmed them presumably for ‘Insta’ whilst mothers trampled through to sit and hold their children for yet more ‘Insta’ shots while the vegetation below their posteriors was slowly crushed to oblivion . Slightly depressed we made our way up to the Walled Garden where the roses were in bloom, their fragrance trapped by the brick facades. The warmth and scent, plus the fact that trampling wouldn’t be an issue here as all stuck to the gravel paths lifted my spirits again. The girls went and did their thing while I wended this way and that. There were a few whites about, all the ones I saw that settled long enough were Smalls though there was a definite Large mooching and throwing its weight about. A Holly Blue kept jinking around leading me into a false sense of security and my second Red Admiral of the year cut across the garden to get to the woodland beyond. There were also several Mint Moths hanging about. It was all going really well until I got called back by K as my wife was feeling the heat. We packed up and sought refuge in the shade and before cooling down even more by taking the streamside path back towards the exit. What a fantastic day which was going to get even better as we were heading out later for a meal so no cooking of washing up!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wurzel, nice Mint Moth shots. I get these tiny little delights in my garden and they always brighten my day,

Kind Regards
Kev

Hi Wurzel,

That first Mint Moth photo is a cracker , they can be difficult little things to photograph in the daytime.

Cheers,

Neil

Wurzel, your pictures are amazing.

Sounds like you had a great day and all had lots of fun, especially you by the looks of the pics

Stay Hydrated.

Old Wolf.

Cheers Kev They're great when seen with the naked eye, and just get better when magnified
Cheers Neil They were right pains in the behind to be frank, I had to settle down on the path and get garb shots
Cheers Old Wolf Thanks for your very kind comment I always try and make the most of family days, my mantra is 'always take your camera'

Laverstock 31-05-2018

I’d missed my usual visit to the Tutors on Monday as it was a Bank Holiday however today I would possibly get two cracks of the whip as Little L had two classes – Maths first and English last thing. As we set off at 8:10 it was cloudy but still bright with the odd patches of blue sky showing through the haze. It had been raining earlier and the pavements were still wet but it still felt warm, muggy really. Having walked Little L in I carried on out through the French windows, hopped over the fence and I was away up the down scanning every tall grass in the sward for a little white flag. On the way a Green-veined White woke from its night time slumbers, Whitethroats churred, a Buzzard took off from the one the boundary trees and started slowly circling a rising on the barest of thermals and a pair of Bullfinch whistled mournfully.

It wasn’t until I was about half way up that I started seeing butterflies in roughly the same place that I’d found them a week or so previously. I started scanning and counting but had to keep starting as I would happen to look back at a grass stem and there would be a butterfly on it that hadn’t been there before. In the end I left it as a best count of 19 male and 7 female Common Blues but I scribbled this out in my notebook and just wrote ‘shed loads’! There were Common Blues all over the place. At one point I watched 9 on the wing at once in the same view. It was almost joyful if tempered slightly by a distinct lack of Biodversity; where were all the other species? Perhaps it was too late here for Grizillies and Dingies, too dull and the wrong sort of habitat in this area for Greenstreaks or damp for Small Heath or too early in the morning for Brown Argus? After a while I’d worked through the longer grasses and on the shorter turf I stumbled across a stunning female Adonis so the reserve suddenly became twice as biodiverse! She was a real beauty, fresh out of the box and I maned to move round and down the slope slightly so I could get an underside view as well. After this I checked out the next section of taller grass on the other side of one of the main paths. This too held good numbers of Common Blues including another tiny female which at first I thought was a Brown Argus. She seemed to be missing a section of one of her hind wings although I’m not sure if this wasn’t a deformity as the remaining part seemed to make an unusual angled shape? Along this part of the track the sward was much lower and there was a sea of buttercup and clover. An electric blue flash heralded the arrival of a male Adonis and a second one also did a fly-by- It was difficult to know which one to go for so in the end I settled for just watching the first and it moved from the shorter grasses to the even shorter grasses and clover on the main body of the track. This was great news for me as I could approach it easily, get some nice unobstructed shots and then move away without disturbing the butterfly. As I was doing this the sun crept though ever so slightly and lit the butterfly up. Right before my eyes it went from a pastel/powder blue to a vivid electric blue. After this I followed the path across the side of the down for a short way just seeing what I could find. Still no Brown Argus but Common Blues all over the place with a couple at least in every patch of yellow flowers. I also found a Yellow Shell and 5 Spot Burnet Moth and a Fragrant Orchid (I got wet knees from kneeling down to check the ID and it did indeed smell beautiful). Then my time was almost up so I beat a hasty retreat back to the Tutor’s. Hopefully the weather will hold out and there might be a Part 2 today…
Have a goodun

Wurzel

Love how you've captured that electric sheen on the Adonis Wurzel . For a second you had me all excited, thinking the 2nd brood was out, ...........and then I realised

Cheers Pauline You've sussed out my cunning plan (wait for the 2nd brood so my photos of the 1st don't seem out of place) but I was a bit too early executing it At least I was early for something

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Brilliant selection of Blues Wurzel. I like the variety you get with the females.

Cheers Andrew Female Common Blues are always value for money, you never know what you're going to get

Laverstock Down 31-05-2018 Part 2

After my early morning walk up the Down while the butterflies were waking up I headed home and spent the rest of the day getting jobs done so that when the time came for L’s next holiday class I could wander the slopes in a relaxed fashion. Throughout the course of the day the weather improved so much so that I was hoping for plenty of open wing shots rather than the closed wing ones I was getting in the morning.

On the walk up the slope this time it was a Specklie that greeted me and from there onto the Down proper. Straight away the butterflies were around and about with 2 Dingies mobbing a Common Blue. This is how it went pretty much wherever I walked with Blues everywhere, a few steps and then there would be a couple more, a few more steps and then a couple more and so on. There were also good numbers of Dingies but for the whole of the first part of this walk I saw only three species. I carried on right round the side of the Down reaching the gully on the far side adding Small Heath to the tally. As I walked down the gully there were four Dingies, three of which were involved in a mass brawl, two more Small Heath as well as a couple of Common Blues and several male Adonis. I also stumbled across a mating pair of Adonis and watched as another male tried to muscle in to no avail. It was all going better than expected. I was hoping to see a few Blues but nowhere near the numbers that I was seeing. To put it into perspective it felt like the blues were almost as common and ubiquitous as Meadow Browns are later in the season. Round the foot of the next hill were another pairing of Adonis and more males besides as well as Common Blues, 2 Dingies and a Small Heath or three. A late but not yet an ex-male OT also put in an appearance. I checked the time and I had 15 minutes to get back so I steeled myself to make the walk back and not get distracted. On the walk back I purposefully took the path at the bottom of the Down as it was in shade and so therefore I reasoned there would be fewer butterflies but despite this I still noted a few more Dingies, Adonis, a Small White and a couple of male Brimstones as well as the Common Blues all over the place. It seems that using the shade was actually a bad idea as an OT was also quite relaxed and approachable down here out of the sun so I lost another couple of minutes watching it nip from flower to flower taking nectar. It still seemed in good nick though slightly short in the wing margin department. Right at the very edge of the reserve a Common Blue wished me farewell until the next time…possibly tomorrow morning as it’s verbal reasoning or failing that Monday when it’s back to business as usual. Have a goodun

Wurzel

Your male OT is very late on the scene, and whilst not fresh,
is still in good condition. Perhaps still optimistically looking for Ladies ?.
My last OT sighting seems like a lifetime ago.

Hope you have six weeks of Butterfly heaven coming up !.
Trevor.

Great images of Adonis Blues, Wurzel - and that new species you uncovered - the Three-winged Blue!

Just catching up with things, Wurzel, and going back in time to May and your Marshie shots from Martin Down is just amazing, plus the three-Frit festival at Bentley Wood and then the Adonis. And an Orange Tip to... A staggering set of images - I think I'm going to look through them all again!

Cheers,

Dave

Cheers Trevor It was a bit late but he still had a fair bit of vim Trevor
Cheers Ernie I was a bit unsure about posting that image as I thought it might be censored
Cheers Dave I hope they were still as good the second time, there's some more coming up sooner rather than later

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Bentley Wood 02-06-2018

After the surprise visit last week I knew that the Small Pearls were out at Bentley and so it was that I was bombing over there first thing in the morning to get a few ready and on a plate for Philzoid when he arrived.

As last time there was a Speckled Wood to greet me on the way in but this time it was a Small Pearl rather than a Pearl that bombed by and back the way I’d come as I came up to the Visitor sign. I set to wandering around the top part of the Clearing and the little area just over the ‘bridge’. It threw up a few Pearls and a lovely Small Pearl which landed on a fence post showing off its livery to the best advantage. Fling around in the same place as a week ago there were also a couple of Marshies. So far things were looking good for when Philzoid arrived and the weather was lending a hand as well with the sun intermittently hiding away behind the clouds a grounding the otherwise incessant butterflies long enough for some shots. As I was shooting away at the Marshies another enthusiast came up and pointed at a small butterfly hanging about in the reeds and asked if it was a Small Pearl. Yep it was indeed, and it had shut up shot beautifully positioned with wings tightly closed revealing the stupendous underwing markings. As we moved towards it his dog got a bit keen and off it went, luckily not too far as the sun was having one of its breaks and so we were soon taking it in turns to click away from a variety of angles. Come on Philzoid you need to get in on this! A third enthusiast arrives and with him the sun and so the Small Pearl was offski. We talked and watched the Marshies and a Honey Buzzard flew over-head and as I looked back to ground there was Philzoid arriving from the car park. Once we’d seen a few Marshies we set off checking out the various other parts of the site though not really seeing much before ending up back in the centre of the of the Clearing. Once here we started watching and waiting and a few Pearls were seen before Philzoid finally got onto a Small Pearl. We also found something of an unusual species for Bentley Wood, a ridiculously blue female Common Blue. We then decided to settle down and really try to get one of the Small Pearls that kept buzzing around on film. It was a great idea in principle but we kept getting side tracked, or at least I did as a Specklie would pop up, a Marshie would sit nicely or a Pearl would land on a passer-by’s trouser and to top it all off a golden blur announced my first Large Skipper of 2018. Eventually one of the Small Pearls settled down long enough for us to get a few shots even if it was partially obscured by various reed stems. The trick was to move around until the majority of the reeds were out of shot. Having had success earlier in the morning I let the others that had gathered get their shots. Luckily another one was about and this one was playing much nicer, taking nectar here and there and most importantly it was taking its time. At one point it really endeared itself to me as it landed on a Spotted Orchid! As we were leaving a very fresh Grizzlie appeared to delay our exit and two Argent and Sable gave us a bit of a run around before we eventually managed to tear ourselves away and make for the next site… Have a goodun

Wurzel

The backlit underside SPBF shots are 100% brilliant Wurzel... and the others aren't half bad either! Brilliant.

Dave

Interesting and well illustrated as always Wurzel, some lovely shots - Phil