Maximus

[Maximus]

Hi Pauline, and thanks, I agree they are lovely delicate little butterflies and that's the first time I have managed a closed wing shot.


19th June.

Today we found ourselves on the 7.15am ferry heading for East Cowes, I had been awake since 3.30am such was my excitement and anticipation. We had decided that one of the surest ways of seeing the Glanville Fritillary was to visit it on its 'home turf'. Once docked we drove straight to Compton Bay in the morning sun where we parked up in the empty car park at 9am. As we walked along the cliff top path we fully expected to see a Glanville at any moment, but no such luck! It was not until 10.20am after much searching that we found what we had come here for. On the path ahead of us, wings open in the warm sunshine was a Glanville Fritillary.

Guy Padfield Attempted Shot!

Cathy and I went in separate directions hoping to find a few more Glanvilles, but after some time, although we found no more Glanvilles at this spot, we did see some rather fresh looking Painted Ladies which, due to the hot sun, were quite active and only gave us a record shot. We also spotted a number of Small Heaths and Common Blues whilst we were there. We ventured down a grassy slope where part of the cliff had slipped away and almost immediately spotted a fresh looking Small Blue and two battling Large Skippers. Cathy also spotted a Clouded Yellow which perched briefly on yellow flowers on the cliff edge, but by the time she made her way over to it, it had flown. We then had quite a long period of cloud coverage during which we saw no butterflies at all, so decided to head for Wheeler's Bay. By the time we got to Wheeler's Bay and parked up the sun was out again, and as we walked along the esplanade we began seeing more Glanvilles perched at various places along the bottom of the cliff.

We spent a couple of hours searching along the cliff bottom and saw some Dingy Skippers, plenty of Common Blues and one tired looking Peacock. We had to head back to the car park before our ticket expired and on the walk back we spotted another Clouded Yellow. It was rather reluctant to have its photo taken, but with a lot of patience we managed to get a shot of it before it disappeared up the cliff face and out of sight.

Our last sighting was of a beautiful, fresh looking Painted Lady nectaring on some pink Valerian, which fortunately posed quite happily for some pictures.

We had a fantastic day on the I.O.W. and enjoyed a pleasant trip back on the outer deck of the ferry in 21 deg C. Our total count for Glanville Fritillaries today was 12, Painted Ladies 5 and Clouded Yellows 2...

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots of three butterflies I'd love to see

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Debbie]

Wow, I just adore the Clouded Yellow.

Debbie

[Goldie M]

I second that Wurzel Goldie

[Maximus]

Thanks Wurzel, you will see them, you always do!!!

Glad you like the Clouded Yellow Debbie, they are lovely butterflies.

Hi Goldie, You seem to see some amazing butterflies yourself.


21st June.

Went for a couple of hours to our shared allotment west of Guildford and just as we arrived a Painted Lady landed on the plot near us. Fortunatly had the camera so got a quick snap. I wonder if there could be a few more seen this year than last?

24th June

Even though the weather was dull and overcast we decided to visit Thursley Common in search of Silver-studded Blues. Unfortunately the car park was full when we arrived, including a coach!! We spent a short while searching some promising looking spots before drawing a blank and heading off for a more 'peaceful' look on Broxhead Common where we'd seen some SSB's last year. We arrived mid-afternoon, the weather still dull, grey and breezy, and headed for the same area we'd spotted them last year. I found one fresh looking male SSB low down in the tall grass, which didn't make for an easy photograph, then searched the rest of the area, finding another two males. We only found three in total the whole time we were there, and also a couple of Small Coppers which were quite active.

[Maximus]

24th June.

Our Orange Tip caterpillars are now down to four, the last one to hatch fell off the food plant and although we helped him back on he did not make it On the positive side, Big Jack was found off the food plant wandering across the kitchen worktop surface and although we put him back on the plant it was clear he had other things on his mind. He is now suspended on silk on the underside of a twig in his little Cryo-chamber, in the process of pupation. This was him feeding up yesterday before leaving the food plant. We will continue to monitor him, and the other three, closely and will keep you updated..

This is one of his smaller brethren.

[Wurzel]

I certainly hope so with regards to the Painted Ladies. Lovely shots again Maximus I seem to be getting behind again as everyone is getting shots of Silver Studs - still this weekend hopefully...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

You have certainly done some travelling in the past few weeks Mike but the impressive selection of species you have seen and your excellent photos are your just rewards.

All the best,

Neil F.

[Maximus]

Thanks Wurzel, is your nearest SSB colony in the New Forest?

Thanks Neil, you have done some travelling too with some impressive results.


25th June.

Today I decided to make a visit to Wrecclesham in another attempt to find the Glanville Fritillaries. I spent the whole afternoon in perfect conditions looking in the areas I saw them last year and also in other areas across the site. The result....nothing, not one solitary Glanville! So my feeling is that most probably there are no longer any Glanvilles at Wrecclesham! I can only surmise that as we saw reduced numbers last year, maybe the poor weather finally 'finished them off'. If this 'is' the case it will be very sad as they gave pleasure to many of us, but at least we made the most of them while we could. A quick reminder of what we saw on June 13th 2012.

On the positive side, Pauline, the owners only appear to have 'treated' the verges of the main track from the bridge to the lake. The rest of the site appears to remain much as it did, although the grass is very long in places. While I was there I saw plenty of Large Skippers, some very fresh first brood Small Tortoiseshells, some faded Common Blues and my first Small Skippers of the year, so all is not lost.

Also saw this beetle

[Nick Broomer]

Hi Maximus,

your Small Skippers are Essex Skippers, look at the antennae, and the back of the hindwings.

All the best Nick.

[Maximus]

Hi Nick, thanks for your observations. I attach a photo to clarify that the undersides of the antenna tips are orange and not black, which would signify that this is indeed a Small Skipper and not Essex. I appreciate that this was not easy to see in the side-on photos.

Regards,

Mike.

[Pauline]

Hi Mike

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the Glanvilles - thought you'd found some but looks like they're well and truly gone. I don't think I've seen Small Skippers reported yet so you did well to find that and I really like the Egret, simply because of the reflection. Now, your beetle - I think I can tell you what that is - Pyrochroa serraticornis - a type of cardinal beetle. Thanks to this site my horizons are being broadened and I am being educated (Going to feel pretty stupid if I'm wrong )!

[Nick Broomer]

I`ll have to get myself some new spectacles.

All the best, Nick.

[Neil Freeman]

Uh Oh!, time for those little golden skippers again I got caught out by one last year

I am not sure what the flight times are like further south but around my part of the midlands the Small Skippers are usually on the wing for a week or so before the Essex show up. This would mean that the first ones seen are almost certainly Smalls if you can't get close enough to see the antennae.
That is very much a general observation and like always there will always be the exception to the rule.

Cracking photos again Mike, keep it up

Cheers,

Neil F.

[Wurzel]

Lovely shots of the Smessex Mike They remind me of the pencil toppers I used to have at school that used to bounce down the pencil. I could go to the Forest for Silver Studs but I wouldn't know where to start looking so I favour Slop Bog near Ferndown.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Hi Neil, and thanks, I think that your general observation regarding the flight times of Small and Essex Skippers would also appear to apply in the south of England.

Hi Wurzel, glad you like the Small Skipper. Hope you get to see SSB's at the weekend?


27th June


Today we headed off to East Blean Woods having checked the weather and finding sunny spells forecast for the Canterbury area in the afternoon. After a couple of hours' drive on the busy M25 we finally arrived at the car park at Blean at 1.30pm, noticing a few cars there already. Luckily the sun was breaking through the clouds, and heading for the same area we had found them last year we spotted our first Heath Fritillary within minutes. It was a fresh looking male, perched on a tall grass stem, wings open in the dappled sunlight. In this one small area we found a total of five Heath Frits, all male, and only one with any signs of wear. It wasn't long before we were joined by other people keen to get a glimpse of the Heath Fritillary, so, having already got the photographs we wanted we left them to it and headed off elsewhere.

A male with unusual markings...a variant maybe?

Also spotted our first Meadow Brown of 2013

[Maximus]

Hi Pauline, sorry i'm getting slack in my replies, but no excuses..Yes, looks like the Glanvilles have disappeared from Wrecclesham But whilst there I was lucky enough to spot the Small Skippers. Glad you liked the Egret photograph, only wish I'd been a bit closer for the shot. Thanks for ID-ing the beetle, you certainly got it right, I looked it up afterwards and it indeed appears to be a Red Headed Cardinal Beetle!!

Mike

ps. hows Maggie?

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots of the Heaths Mike - and that looks like an aberrant to me I was planning to try and see them next week and as it's such a drive I was planning on driving over night and sleeping in the car ready. However my wife is worried about me driving tired on the way back so that idea has been out on hold. I'll still work on it but I don't hold out much hope... Still hopefully the Silver Studs will be out at Slop Bog tomorrow as I'm taking the girls for an outing

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Thanks Wurzel, yes it is an aberration but that was the only shot we got before it vanished out of sight. I understand your frustration regarding the Heath Frits but I suppose it is an awkward journey for you


30th June

Today we paid another visit to a site not far from where we live to look for Silver Studded Blues. We had already searched this site several times without success, so we planned our visit for the afternoon as the forecast was for sunshine. Fortunately our timing was perfect as we soon spotted some fresh looking males extremely active in the warm sunshine. Best of all for us, however, was the sight of two freshly emerged females which happily posed for photos, though it's impossible to do justice to the amazing silver studding on the undersides of their hindwings.

1st July

Inspired by Mark's (Colvin) beautiful photo of the Black Hairstreak, today found us heading for Whitecross Green Wood in Oxfordshire. We chose Whitecross because it looked much smaller than Bernwood Forest on the map, our logic being that the less ground to cover the better chance of finding a Black Hairstreak. Sunny spells were forecast for about 3pm so we got there around 2pm. As we walked along a lovely grassy ride full of wild flowers we spotted our first velvety Ringlet of 2013. Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Speckled Woods were plentiful along the ride, and there were a fair few Large Skippers settling on the thistle flowers as we made our way deeper into the wood. A Speckled Wood caught our attention as we watched it fly into and beyond a young Ash at the edge of the ride. As we watched it, Cathy caught sight of a different butterfly sitting at about head height on the leaves of the Ash. As I trained my binoculars on the spot I was amazed to see a Black Hairstreak perched there in all her glory. We only managed a couple of quick record shots before the Hairstreak took flight and disappeared into the trees, but we were more than satisfied as we hadn't expected to find one so soon after arriving. During our brief visit we managed to spot a total of six Black Hairstreaks, though most of them were flying high up in the blackthorn, settling only briefly and out of reach of any good photos.

I've just seen David and Neil's superb photos taken on Sunday at Whitecross and Bernwood, excellent stuff especially Davids marathon day out.

[Pauline]

Wow! I have never seen such a distinctly marked SSB MIke. She is gorgeous. D'you mind if I ask where this was Mike? You should be well pleased with your BH shot too - lovely, and well worth the journey.