August 2020

[zigzag_wanderer]

Well I called it...but it wasn't that difficult to call.

My 30th species snapped in the 3 fields behind us was always likely to be a Clouded Yellow.

Saw my first one there on Monday evening but it flew off even before I could get the camera out. Pics below were taken around 6:20 pm tonight. They're not great but I couldn't get too close.

Not sure what if anything will get me to 31.

[MrSp0ck]

A lovely Female Clouded Yellow, all the ones that flew through Hutchinsons Bank recently were male, so no chance of offspring in a months time from those.

[Stevieb]

A few days in Lancashire gave me the opportunity to photograph my 50th species of UK butterfly, Scotch Argus. Many thanks to David M for his usual spot on advice. Arnside Knott.

♂ 10th August

♀ 9th August

9th August

9th August

♀ 10th August

10th August

Grayling 10th August

♀ Common Blue 10th August

[zigzag_wanderer]

A lovely Female Clouded Yellow, all the ones that flew through Hutchinsons Bank recently were male, so no chance of offspring in a months time from those.

Yes - it was lovely. On closer inspection it seems to have a bit of left hind-wing damage, but that didn't stop it shifting. I read on the Sussex BC site that people are seeing up to 12 on jaunts on the Downs. I'd never seen one (knowingly) until about 5 weeks ago, and now I've seen 4 (or possibly only 3 if yesterday's was the same as Monday's).

My son now lives in Croydon so I'm definitely going to try and visit Hutchinsons Bank with him some time. Glanville season for sure !

[Allan.W.]

Not much to report butterfly-wise for me ,at present,when i have been able to get out its just been too hot ! so a few bits of pieces
while i have been out looking at other things ,first a couple of moths ,i watched a moth shoot across the garden and land on my shed latch ,as i approached it pulled its wings in tight ,a mint condition Silver y moth (Autographa Gramma ) ,secondly ,a moth i,ve long wanted to see ,twenty years ago catching (or even seeing !) a Jersey Tiger moth was a non starter ,but now some moth-ers are catching 50+ in a single session ...................I
was really happy to catch the one.

Yesterday i had a trip to the Long Pits at Dungeness (Kent ) for the sixth time of asking ,to try for the rare Lesser Emperor Dragonfly , as i walked along the edge of the pit ,i noted Emperor ,Migrant Hawker ,Common Darters , and a couple of Brown Hawkers ,but no Lesser Emperor ,on reaching
the spot where they are generally drawn too .i noticed a male Emperor ,in hot pursuit of a slightly smaller Dragonfly ,and after a couple of super fast
fly-byes i managed to get it in the Bins ,and sure enough a Lesser Emperor ,its Bright blue central "belt" showing up really well ,i sat and watched him for about three quarters of an hour ,and he came in very close ........for a look !
on the Dungeness butterfly front ,there were a few Common Blues ,Small Heaths ,various Browns ,but best of all 3 fresh 3rd brood Small Coppers.

Today i visited a Wood near Crundale to look for some Broad -Leaved Helleborines (Orchids) ,but my timing was well out ,i found about 20 ,well down
on other years ,and all but one ,had finished...............even that one was pretty scraggy !
Unusually right smack in the middle of this site ,is a tiny (about half the size of a footie pitch ) piece of downland ,i spotted a few Browns ,and two
or three Common Blues and small and Green -veined Whites ,and then a surprise .........3-4 Chalkhill Blues ,i was still looking at the Chalkhills ,
when i got an even bigger surprise ,and found several male Adonis Blues and Brown Argus .
Moving across the road to a different section of the wood ,which i rarely visit ,I stumbled across an even smaller ,section of Downland ,this bit had one or two Chalkhills as well (but no Adonis ) also a Holly Blue ,and incredibly a single Wall ,and a single female Silver -Washed Frit !
On the way home ,i thought i,d have a flying visit to a nearbye site to see how the Adonis were faring ,and happily they seem to be just emerging
with 8 males and one female seen,something else that i did find were several Robberflies of two species ,including Britains largest fly ....the Hornet
Robberfly............i saw 5 of these ,the other ,now i,m not certain here ! (and happy to be corrected !) I think are Downland Robberfly ,reckon i saw aound 10 of these ,including 3 pairs.

Regards Allan.W.

[zigzag_wanderer]

I'm seeing a lot of Silver Y and Brimstone moths in my fields Allan, we even had a Silver Y in the kitchen the other day. but I've never seen anything as striking as Jersey Tiger.

Every time I do a circuit of the fields this last week or so I'm disturbing very large numbers of small white moths which do a short dive for cover on the underside of a grass stem (more like straw now - as shown below from today complete with Small Copper). They all seem to be of the same type with what looks like a yellow stripe down their sides.

Those robberflies are something else though.

[Allan.W.]

Hello zig-zag ,thanks for the comments, the Jersey Tiger is a stunning moth isn,t it ,i believe that there is a valley in Rhodes
known as the butterfly valley,and in years gone by Jersey Tigers used to emerge en-masse..................quite a sight !
I wonder if your moths are Grass Veneers (sp;) have a look on the internet. As for the Robberflies they,re lethal little beasties and regularly prey
on butterflies (take a look at the pics on Neil hulmes diary................Superb ! )
Regards Allan.W.

[Allan.W.]

Caught several Grass veneers in the trap last evening ,this could be what you,re seeing in your
meadow Zig-zag. Regards Allan.W.

[zigzag_wanderer]

Hi Allan,

Thanks a lot for that - I will try and get a close up pic over the weekend (weather dependent) - but that could well be it ! They're certainly that shape and with an obvious stripe.

I've probably shared most of the moths I've seen in those fields for ID on here, apart from the single one that I knew (Cinnabar) and the ones that are pretty easy to ID via the internet (Silver Y, Brimstone, Mother Shipton, Oak Eggar, Clouded Border).

I did get this mint moth pretty much exactly this time last year - when I saw it I thought I'd latched on to a very small rare butterfly !

[Ian Pratt]

Not strictly butterflies, but I managed to find and photograph a very rare visitor to the UK in Bouldnor Forest on the Isle of Wight on August 7th. It is a southern migrant hawker dragonfly. It is essentially a Mediterranean dragonfly but found in parts of western and eastern mainland Europe. The species has been seen in two locations recently on the Isle of Wight. The first sighting in Wootton was the first ever sighting of this dragonfly on the Isle of Wight.

[jenks]

This dragonfly was found on Waldegrave (aka Priddy Pool) above the Cheddar Gorge, Somerset in July 2018 and I managed to see it and photograph it with a small digital camera. My photos serve only as a record shot but is a reminder to me of how bright the blue was ! Great find, Ian, and stunning photos by you.

Jenks.

[Allan.W.]

Excellent find Ian ,they really are stunners arne,t they ,lucky enough to see some ,here in Kent a week or two back ,but the little B+++++s just would not settle for me !..........................Nice pictures . Regards Allan.W.

[Ian Pratt]

Thanks guys. I was pleased to find it. Sometimes I am in the right place at the right time.

[walpolec]

They are different! Pararge aegeria insula: Somewhere between the northern subspecies we are used to seeing (tircis) and the southern European one (aegeria). A great image.

Dave

Thanks Dave,

I’m now on a mission to grab some more images for the species pages! Got this underside one, but only had my phone with me at the time. Does this look any different to the normal UK version?

[zigzag_wanderer]

Great photos of the dragonfly Ian. A lot of instincts come out blurred when I take them - even when they're totally static - so that top picture in flight is a thing of real beauty.

I went out in the local fields today to snap those white moths. There were still loads about and I make you 100% correct on your call Allan - Grass Veneer. Thanks !

Saw some other moths too if anyone can call them. Moth A looks similar to a Riband Wave that has been previously ID'd on here for me.

Butterflies seen: 2-3 Small White, 1 GV White, 1 Large White, c. 20 Gatekeeper, c. 10 Meadow Brown, 4-5 Small Heath, 1 Holly Blue and 2 Purple Hairstreaks....one of which (a female) I nearly trod on, but my son spotted on the path. I think it just needed to warm up a bit then it flew off to its oak. Nice 25th birthday treat for my son as he'd never seen one. He is a fantastic spotter though - really useful to go out with. I'd have never noticed it on the ground. You can also see he does more DIY than me (or nail biting).

I didn't see any other blues today, so the Holly was taking advantage of the CB's usual territory.

[Allan.W.]

Hello Again Zig-zag ,i,m not so sure that the top moth is Riband wave ,your moth seems to show broader wings than Riban d Wave,
and the lines on the wings don,t appear to be kinked as in Riband ...............my thought is Cream Wave ,or plain wave ,may be wrong ,interested to hear the views of others .
Your second moth is definately Yellow Shell ,and your third looks like Straw Dot,......Happy to be corrected !
Excellent shots of open winged Purple -Hair; on hand !
Regards Allan.W.

[Matsukaze]

Pretty certain the first of the grass-moths is Agriphila selasella, which is not the most common of them (and is quite a rarity in some parts of the country). The second may well be the same species, or it is A. tristella. The wave is, I think, Common Wave Cabera exanthemata.

[aeshna5]

Not strictly butterflies, but I managed to find and photograph a very rare visitor to the UK in Bouldnor Forest on the Isle of Wight on August 7th. It is a southern migrant hawker dragonfly. It is essentially a Mediterranean dragonfly but found in parts of western and eastern mainland Europe. The species has been seen in two locations recently on the Isle of Wight. The first sighting in Wootton was the first ever sighting of this dragonfly on the Isle of Wight.

Lovely shots of the Southern Migrant Hawker-pleased they have now turned up on the Isle of Wight. I would disagree about its UK status now as it can hardly now be described as a very rare visitor to the UK as it has increased considerably in the last 3-4 years and is now very well established in parts of the south, with some impressive colonies in parts of the Thames estuary. There is a dyke on Canvey Island where up to 50 have been seen, I was there twice recently with c30 seen. Sharing this dyke are large numbers of Ruddy Darter & also saw Scarce, Willow & Southern Emerald Damselflies.

It's getting found at new sites each year & is now a well established part of our Odonata fauna, which is wonderful.

[Allan.W.]

I reckon that Matsukaze is spot on there ,with Common Wave ,didn,t think it looked right for Riband (or Plain wave !).
Regards Allan.W.

[adrian riley]

Hi, Gang
The moths are:
a: Cabera exanthemata
b: Camptogramma bilineata
c: Rivula sericealis
Cheers, Adrian