www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Mating Orange Tips now....as well as a Painted Lady!!

Just shows there's still interesting stuff to be hunted down even if it feels more like March than May.

Thanks Otep, Wurzel & David.
It would seem there has been a Painted Lady invasion, at least here in Sussex.

To maximise the butterflying opportunities during my trip to Wiltshire, I planned a detour to see Dukes
on the outward journey, a visit to Cotley Hill while I was there, and Wood Whites on the way home.

Monday 10th May.

Kithurst Hill was 3 miles out of my way, a dedicated trip from home is over 80 miles return.
It was worryingly windy when I left home, and blowing a gale in the Kithurst car park,
fortunately the sheltered Duke site was out of the worst of the wind, and in full Sun.
The Dukes were easy to find and performed well for the camera.
Other butterflies seen were a very fresh Brown Argus, Dingy and Grizzled skippers and a male OT.

Trevor.

Nice Dukes, Trevor, it was worth the detour, good luck with the rest of your trip

A cracking set of Dukes Trevor - I'm hoping for some decent at some point over the next two weekends so that I can get to see them and I'm also hoping that they're still flying then

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Thanks Mike, the trip is actually over, back home today.

Tuesday 11th May.

I had a few spare hours after the school run, so I headed for Tilshead.
Here low cloud, a little drizzle and little Sun ensured my visit was brief,
just a solitary Dingy Skipper was seen. So I drove on to Cotley Hill, for a bit of a shock.
I had been warned that some habitat ' management ' had taken place, but was not
prepared to find both of the regular Marsh Fritillary sites completely bereft of vegetation.
Everything taller than a few inches has gone!. The areas concerned are the hillside overlooking the A36,
and the lower level patch higher up the main path, just off to the left.
Needless to say the only action I saw was right by the road, where a Red Admiral, a male OT,
and a very fresh, male, Holly Blue was found flitting between various perches.

Trevor.

Absolutely beautiful Holly Blue in blossom shot. I like the way the blossom is about as big as the butterfly

Thanks Katrina. That Holly Blue frequently changed perches before soaring
up to the tree tops. Unfortunately focussing was a problem on the blossom,
except for this shot..

I had planned another diversion on the way home from Wiltshire today.
This time to Chiddingfold Forest for the Wood White.
These were found in their usual locations, but some were right down in the vegetation.
About six were found along with Brimstones of both sexes, and several OT's.
Luckily the troublesome shower clouds previously encountered on the journey stayed away,
it's a long way back to the car at Chiddingfold!.
Another treat on the way to the car was a very fine Early Purple Orchid.

Trevor.

That's disturbing news from Cotley Hill, Trevor. Hopefully the other nearby hills (which have the same array of butterflies) will enable recolonisation should any species have been badly hit by the work that was done.

Good to see the Wood Whites out at Chiddingfold - I was there on Monday, and all I saw was a single Painted Lady (though I spotted the orchids). I shall have to return (instead of sneaking down to Sussex while you're away!).

Cheers,

Dave

Cheers Dave,
What does not prepare you for the shock at Cotley is that from entering through
the gate, and either walking up the hill or turning right through the trees, all
seems normal. It's when those two popular parts of the hill are first encountered
that the drastic clearance hits!.. Every bush/shrub/bramble patch has gone!.
To be fair the rest of the hill looks OK. We will just have to wait and see how the
butterflies respond to the cleared areas.

Your hard work during this period of poor weather is paying good dividends, Trevor.

Love the Dukes and the Wood Whites are enviable.

Not sure the habitat 'management' at Cotley has been carried out appropriately. Razing a whole area to the ground smacks of laziness rather than empathy with nature. Hopefully it will recover and become productive again.

Thanks David,
I have to return to Wiltshire on 20th May, so will visit Cotley Hill,
hopefully for the Marsh Fritillary. They should be out by then.

It would have been better if they had left a few ' islands ' of shrubbery at Cotley,
rather than clear everything in sight. What's done is done!.

Trevor.

Lovely Dukes photos Trevor and I am a bit jealous...but I shall bounce back. I want to see one of these butterflies but the weather is standing in my way. I am beginning to think I am in a race against time - though researching the species, they get in to June it seems.

Lovely set of Wood Whites Trevor - I was hoping to make a trip over there this year for the first brood but this weather has knocked those plans on the head - things seem slow to get going this year so I'm still playing catch-up

I found out what happened at Cotley - the farmer got a different contractor in and they were overly keen/ignorant of the importance of the site and massacred everything... There have been singleton Marshies reported from Battlesbury and Martin Down this week so they've yet to really get going. If you check out the Wiltshire Butterfly Conservation Facebook group they have some horrific images of the site on there

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel,
Below is a letter from Wiltshire BC replying to a complaint about the drastic clearance at Cotley Hill.

That explains that then, Trevor.

What I don't understand is that an organisation that calls itself "Natural England" would not research in advance the detail of any site it proposed to work on and consult any interested parties first. Surely they must have huge experience of managing scrub for wildlife in many locations and be collectively aware of the potential consequences. Or you would think so...

Cheers,

Dave

From what I can glean Dave, I think a contractor was hired and was allowed to get on with it.
If the weather allows I plan to visit Cotley again at the end of this week, will take some shots
of the site, and hopefully some butterflies too.

Keep well,
Trevor.

Looking at the Cotley Hill situation from a wider standpoint, it shows just how important it is to have metapopulations and corridors of connecting habitat to allow recolonization when time allows.

If you get there before me Trevor could you have a look on the other side of the Hill; through the gate and turn right through the wood? It's steeper but I don't know of they'll have treated it the same as the main side? Hopefully if the vegetation makes a come back the Marshies at Battlesbury and Scratchbury will repopulate Cotley

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Cheers Paul & Wurzel. Weather permitting I will take some shots at Cotley on Thursday
or Friday, though the forecast is awful for those two days.

Early this morning I popped over to Abbots Wood to see how the PBF were getting on.
My first encounter was with swarms of Green Long Horn Moths, there must have been thousands of them.
Pearls were thin on the ground, with about five seen, all were in middle age and showing some wear.
As the weather was reasonable, and very warm when the Sun shone I had hoped to see more.
Other finds were a very frisky Red Admiral, and a Crab Spider waiting for it's next victim.

As the morning was still fairly young I decided to move on.............

Trevor.