Re: millerd
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 9:32 pm
Try Sunday, Wurzel - looks a better day all round than Saturday.
26th July
An early escape from work, which allowed me to head off up the M40 to Aston Rowant. I arrived on the slope to the north of the motorway at around four or so, and was quickly surrounded by butterflies. I don't think I could ever conduct a formal transect count because I'd lose track of them so easily, especially in these numbers. Where to start? The first thing that specifically caught my eye was a Large Skipper chasing a Meadow Brown chasing a Small Tortoiseshell. Then there was a Dark Green Fritillary (one of five or six seen) being hassled by another couple of Meadow Browns. Then I noticed nearly every marjoram flower had either a Chalkhill Blue or a Small/Essex Skipper on it - and the ragwort sported Gatekeepers and the occasional Small Copper. And that doesn't even take account of the Marbled Whites, many other white butterflies, a Brimstone or two, Peacocks, Small Heaths and one or two very tatty Common Blues. Burnet moths abounded, Silver Y moths whizzed about madly, and many other smaller moths were around too. It was an amazing sight. However, what I came to see was the Silver-spotted Skipper. In recent summers, I've visited on cool days with intermittent sunshine. This makes the SSS easy to find, as they bask on the bare patches of ground: rabbit scrapes and sheep paths, mostly. They are also less likely to burst into flight. Today was different - they were extremely active. I don't think I've ever seen them with quite so many other Skippers around either, and they are very different in the air. They look almost green in the sun, and move in such irregular patterns they are almost impossible to follow in flight. You have to keep your eyes peeled and trust to luck. Fortunately, there were plenty flying - a rough estimate of those I saw would be 30 or more across the whole hillside, including several females. They were sparser in numbers away from the ends of the slope, which curiously is where there were more of the other Skippers. Dave
26th July
An early escape from work, which allowed me to head off up the M40 to Aston Rowant. I arrived on the slope to the north of the motorway at around four or so, and was quickly surrounded by butterflies. I don't think I could ever conduct a formal transect count because I'd lose track of them so easily, especially in these numbers. Where to start? The first thing that specifically caught my eye was a Large Skipper chasing a Meadow Brown chasing a Small Tortoiseshell. Then there was a Dark Green Fritillary (one of five or six seen) being hassled by another couple of Meadow Browns. Then I noticed nearly every marjoram flower had either a Chalkhill Blue or a Small/Essex Skipper on it - and the ragwort sported Gatekeepers and the occasional Small Copper. And that doesn't even take account of the Marbled Whites, many other white butterflies, a Brimstone or two, Peacocks, Small Heaths and one or two very tatty Common Blues. Burnet moths abounded, Silver Y moths whizzed about madly, and many other smaller moths were around too. It was an amazing sight. However, what I came to see was the Silver-spotted Skipper. In recent summers, I've visited on cool days with intermittent sunshine. This makes the SSS easy to find, as they bask on the bare patches of ground: rabbit scrapes and sheep paths, mostly. They are also less likely to burst into flight. Today was different - they were extremely active. I don't think I've ever seen them with quite so many other Skippers around either, and they are very different in the air. They look almost green in the sun, and move in such irregular patterns they are almost impossible to follow in flight. You have to keep your eyes peeled and trust to luck. Fortunately, there were plenty flying - a rough estimate of those I saw would be 30 or more across the whole hillside, including several females. They were sparser in numbers away from the ends of the slope, which curiously is where there were more of the other Skippers. Dave