www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Thanks Trevor. It wasn’t so bad at work, we were under strict instructions to take things easy but my flat was holding onto the heat with a vice like grip, shame it can’t do that in the winter !
Thanks Ben, it really is a top-notch site isn’t it, and so civilised with food and drink so close

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July 2022

Saturday 23rd. Now the temperature was dialled down a tad to just bloody hot, it was time for another break in tradition, a second trip to see Lulworth’s down in Dorset. Also breaking in tradition, I decided to head north from Swanage to start with, heading for Ballard Down. Gatekeepers and Small skippers were the staple on the path leading up to the Down but through the gate onto the Down itself, there was a very obvious change in grass structure with a very sudden appearance of lots of Tor-grass. The target was keeping a low profile at first, however a very good-looking female wall gave me a bit of a run-around, worth the chase though. More Small Skippers gave me a few false starts but eventually I started to come across the Lulworth’s. The males now, unsurprisingly looking a bit past it (only looking though, they were still full of beans when they encountered a female) but some of the females were looking non too shabby. I didn't stray too far from the path and came across perhaps a dozen or so. After an hour or so I walked back down, somewhat delayed by a fresh Grayling who was bouncing along the path. I managed a few shots in-between walkers who had begun to stream up the narrow path. As usual I garnered a few bemused looks . On the way to more familiar territory of Durlston I disturbed my first Cloudie of the year, perhaps fresh from Normandy. Once on the cliff top path I found the Lulworth’s to be out in force as usual There were the usual shenanigans between the sexes, but in one encounter it was interesting to watch the female turn on her eager suiter and for want of a better term, give him a clout! I think she’d been pushed too far that day! Bird life was slim pickings compared to my earlier visit, much of what I’d seen that time had now finished breeding and had returned to open sea to lead a more pelagic life until next spring. The Shags were still around, and a noisy family of Peregrine were a constant distraction. The latter were mostly too fast to capture on film, but a youngster did perch within reach on the cliff face. There wasn’t a great deal else about, some rather active male wall’s, Meadow Brown and Small Heath and a handful of Small Skippers. A few Common Blue and a lone fresh male Chalkhill were found in the gully by the lighthouse but the butterfly which attracted most of my attention that afternoon was this immaculate female Lulworth. Such a good place to spend a day, always something to see and glorious scenery to to enjoy it in

X 1,000 for those LTB shots you posted on the Sussex BC sightings page.
Was going to go today thanks to Neil's directions, but A27 shut, this meant that
my part of the world is cut off from heading west.

Some beautiful Lulworth shots there, Buggy!

Cheers,

- Pete

Great to see the Lulworths Bugboy - doesn't get enough coverage on UKB to my mind though obviously I'm biased Interesting behaviour shown by the female - I think I've seen something like that before, the female just have enough and are quite 'impolite'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

That last Lulworth is indeed a beauty, Paul, although you must have been fairly pleased with Grayling, Wall and Clouded Yellow too?

Definitely well worth the trip.

Thanks Pete
Thanks Wurzel, I guess that’s what comes from having a restricted distribution!
Thanks David, it was a very successful day all round

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July 2022

Sunday 24th. Just a few hours at Bookham to see how things were doing post heatwave. Although it had cooled a bit was still hot and just a few years ago would be considered a heatwave anyway. I found a few Small Copper, quite a rarity this year in my experience. I didn’t see any White Admiral and the only Silver-washed Fritillary were very much pale shadows of their former selves, a minor detail to the males though, who still hadn’t given up trying it on with any female they came across. I was surprised to find a reasonably fresh Large Skipper It was good to see a few fresh Brimstone and what looked like older hutchinsoni and new ‘starski’* Comma’s. It was the White Admiral’s though that I was most concerned about. On my last visit I found plenty of eggs and larvae, today I managed just one larvae and the vast majority of the Honeysuckle I find them on regularly had withered away to inedible crispy brown leaves. Doesn’t bode well for next year. *© Padfield

July 2022

Tuesday 26th. A surprise visit to Chiddingfold. For many years now I’ve thought the place was impossible for me to get too unaided without subjecting myself to a very long walk along country roads with no pavements. Turns out I was wrong, there’s footpaths leading from Chiddingfold village to the Botany Bay entrance. I was too late for the Emperor season but not for the second brood Wood Whites. It was decidedly overcast for much of the day, and a bit of light drizzle whilst waiting for the bus at Godalming, but once I got my eye in, I managed to find my first WW looking very dainty roosting on a small umbellifer close to the triangle. A slight occasional thinning of the cloud brought out some activity, making them a tad easier to locate and of course when a male came across a female the usual excitement ensued. Mostly though they were either found roosting or feeding in the borderline weather conditions which was very helpful for photography. They were a mixture of freshly emerged and slightly worn so it was probably close to peak flight, and I came across around 30ish individuals. Not a great deal else was seen, it being near the end of the season for most other species commonly found here, particularly having had to endure the searing heat of a few weeks ago. The final ones were seen weakly fluttering around the Botany Bay entrance, a female repeatedly making a break for freedom across the road before thinking better of it and returning to the gravel clearing here. Now I’ve discovered the route I shall definitely be making the effort to come here in Emperor season. Add to this the fact that a friend has recently started working with the White Storks destined for re-introduction in Sussex, and therefore access to Knepp has opened up for me, my Emperor seasons should see a vast improvement!

Great to see the Wood Whites Bugboy - I missed them this year but looking at the date I have no excuse Next year I'll have to make the visit.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Excellent Wood White pictures and observations Bugboy ! i really must try for them next season ...............been a while since i last saw them at Tugley wood (35 years !).....................Nice One !
Allan.W.

Mighty fine effort with sinapis, Paul. Always nice to see images of this dainty little species on here.

You did well with the open/part open wing shots, especially that fourth one down. Impressive.

If you’re lucky you might find me there next yearWurzel
Thanks Allen. 35 years is a long time, but it took me nearly 50 years to see my first!
Thanks David, they’re one of the easier species to capture in flight in my experience, unlike most species they can’t even outrun you !

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July 2022

Friday 29th. A three site day, my first port of call being Bookham where the initial excitement of finding a reasonably fresh Small Copper was soon forgotten with the nearby appearance of a rather hungry female Cloudie. Many pictures were taken! Small numbers of other species were found where Mint and Fleabane was still in flower, but it certainly wasn’t hooching with butterflies, and off course no early Brown Hairstreaks were found. I had another look for White Admiral caterpillars, finding none. Indeed I was hard pushed to find a single honeysuckle leaf that hadn’t been turned crispy. I’m not sure I’ll be seeing many adults next year. I also noticed much of the Sallow was showing signs of heat stress and a distinct lack of water, leaves were still mostly green, but they certainly didn’t look particularly healthy.

I'll always be distracted by a Red Kite, today I had a pair to admire as they played, dive bombing each other and displaying their amazing aerial skills. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My second site to visit was Ashtead Common, again the outside chance of an early Brown Hairstreak sighting went begging but there was a surprise visit from a Chalkhill Blue. It’s completely the wrong habitat so no chance of them colonising, but they do occasionally turn up both here and at Bookham in good years as occasional individuals from nearby populations try to disperse. He was too active to get a snap but feeding close by was a Small Heath doing that wing flicking thing they sometimes do and I managed a few half decent glimpses of the uppers. I can only presume it’s done for the same reason as Lycaenid wing rolling behaviour, to distract predators away from the real head. A couple of Brimstone were also feeding and who can ever resist a backlit one in late summer when they are far more approachable. This one seems to fall under the remit of ab. Hoefnageli with that row of dark dots/dashes on the underside However, with no Brown Hairstreaks to extend my stay it was off to introduce myself to my first Silver-spotted Skippers of the year over at Box Hill for the last portion of my day.

Tbc

Delicious open wing Cloudie shot.

Yes, a definite for that open-wing Cloudie, Paul! They are still too quick for me on take-off, and I've yet to anticipate where they will land again (when they flap more slowly).

I will also venture a for the Lulworths, one of the several species that I had to forgo this year unfortunately. That last strongly-marked female is a particular standout shot - unmistakable.

Cheers,

Dave

That open wing Clouded Yellow image is indeed superb, Paul, and the individual is interestingly marked too, especially on the hindwing submargins.

Good to see you captured that Small Heath with wings part open as well. Opportunities like that don't come around too often!

Thanks guys, as always, it’s a good 95% luck in getting the open wing shot. I hadn’t noticed it looked unusual David, but now you mention it I can see what you mean. I had a quick search and she seems to fit with ab radiata.

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July 2022

Friday 29th. cont. It’s always a good sign when Silver-spotted Skippers start appearing as you’re walking up the ‘spine’ of Box Hill, and today there were lots enjoying the warm sunny day, as always perching on the scabious which sways around in the slightest breeze. They do look good though! Over on the main hotspot there were lots zooming around like tiny missiles, stopping intermittently to feed or bask, occasionally long enough for me to sneak up on them. I followed one female around and managed to creep up on her just as she finished laying. I was surprised to see she had chosen a creeping thistle but then that probably isn’t that unusual. The egg won’t hatch until next year and since the slope is carpeted in Sheep’s Fescue it won’t need to wander far for its first meal. I imagine any bit of foliage will do as long as the foodplant is growing nearby, much like violet feeding Fritillaries do. A few Chalkhill’s were about but nowhere near as many as Denbies. The other pleasant surprise were the large numbers of Straw Belle moth that were disturbed. Every year since I first started coming here their numbers seem to have increased, at least on a casual basis of ambling around looking for the Skippers. Today for the first time I’m fairly confident I hit double figures.

August 2022

Tuesday 2nd. At this stage I’d lost count of how many Norfolk trips I’d had this season (five maybe?) Anyway, I still really wanted to see in the flesh a fully grown Swallowtail cat. I had a careful but good rummage through the reeds and Milk Parsley where all the previous larvae had been found but nothing. I figured I’d timed it wrong, and any remaining ones had now pupated. Oh well, always next year .

Butterflies were even scarcer today than on my last visit, largely due to the mostly overcast conditions, however the single most notable thing was just how dry and parched this ‘wetland’ looked! I spent quite a bit of time watching some Lapwing displaying on what was on previous visits was open water. Also here were a couple of Wader that I couldn’t place until one came and started foraging right in front of the hide, I’ve never seen Ruff before, so it was nice to have my first encounter so close. Back to butterflies, since there were some about. A female Brimstone was slightly unusual on account of one of her forewings being slightly smaller than the other (presumably it didn’t expand fully upon emergence). A more unusual find was this Gatekeeper who when I first saw him in flight really confused me. A few Comma, two Peacock, a selection of Whites and a single Painted Lady were found, plus a small number of Small Tortoiseshell were present, the offspring of the plagues I’d seen a few months previously. Here’s a Brown Hawker ovipositing. Before leaving I had one last look for a Swallowtail cat and right there looking back at me was a big fat green and black stripey thing, a surprise completion to the days mission!

What a splendid beast that Swallowtail caterpillar is! Hard to believe that this is what those tiny black newly-hatched little things would grow into... Very pleased that you finally found one.

Cheers,

Dave

I was feeling a little sad for you until I saw those last couple of images, Paul. What a great finale to your trip! It is, without doubt, one of the most impressive caterpillars of any butterfly.

Great stuff Bugboy - I'll certainly keep my eyes peeled at Chiddingfold next year
That Clouded Yellow is sublime, especially the open wing shot I would've commented before but work has been horrible so those shots and the Swallowtail cat cheered me right up

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks everyone, it is indeed a very impressive beast!

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August 2022
Wednesday 3rd. Bookham was calling again. As far as I was aware there hadn’t been any sightings of Brown Hairstreaks here yet but surely the first was due to appear. Although The Great Heatwave of 2022 had long gone there was still a normal heatwave and a general lack of rain to deal with and their usual Bookham tipple, Hogweed, had pretty much failed, just a few stunted plants were found here and there. Like my last visit butterfly life was mostly confined the patches of Fleabane and mint which had survived the heat. Some of the inhabitants were very much past their best Others were newer editions to the season. I did find one Hairstreak today, just not my preferred colour at this time of year. The following day I saw on a facebook post that a fresh male BH posed for another enthusiast!

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Saturday 6th. Well I now knew they were out, it was off to Bookham again for another attempt at finding some Brown Hairstreaks...

Hurrah, a fresh female….

Boooo, it was already too hot for her to pose and was very not ok with having a camera shoved in her face. I managed a small selection of shots that, in any other year would have been binned before leaving my camera before she buggered off over the hedge! An hour later a second one appeared but once again didn’t want to pose. She then went up into the nearby Blackthorn thicket to look for somewhere to lay, slowly going higher and deeper until I lost track of her. And there ends my Brown Hairstreak adventures at Bookham this year. Another Purple Hairstreak appeared and unlike the Browns was happy to pose. Elsewhere, other than a surprise visit from a male Chalkhill Blue, it was a pretty standard array of butterflies for a sunny August day. Maybe I'd have better luck elsewhere...