Neil Hulme

[Neil Hulme]

New Villa

There was much excitement among the ecologists and wildlife guides at Knepp in mid-July. The Downland Villa Villa cingulata, a species of bee-fly, was considered extinct during the latter part of the 20th century, but was rediscovered in the Cotswolds in 2000. It was first seen in Sussex in 2016, but has usually been associated with calcareous grasslands. It came as quite a surprise to find it (not by me) on clay in the Sussex Weald.

The females seen on a small wooden bridge over one of the water courses were behaving oddly, vibrating their wings while wiping their rear-ends in dusty cracks in the woodwork. A little research revealed that bee-flies thus weight their eggs with silt particles, which they then flick into the entrance holes of the solitary bee nests that they usually parasitise. However, the Downland Villa is thought to probably target the larvae of noctuid moths. I'm still unclear how this would work with caterpillars as hosts, but either way, it appears that they were getting ready for a bombing mission.

[Katrina]

Fascinating

[Wurzel]

Interesting reading Neil - though not what I expected a type of Bee-fly to look like at all being used to those with a massive proboscis, these look like nose-less, bald Bee-flies

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, Katrina and Wurzel. I agree, nothing like the bee-flies (Bombylius) we usually encounter. I didn't even know of its existence before it was discovered at Knepp!
BWs, Neil

[bugboy]

Think I have some pics of that species from Daneway a few years back. I got as far as Villa sp. I'll have to submit the sighting

[Neil Hulme]

Stork Stuff

The White Stork Project has had a good year at Knepp. This year, there have been six nests in the Southern Block and one in the Middle, on the castle roof. Fifteen juveniles have now fledged and nearly thirty youngsters, bred in captivity and delivered from Cotswold Wildlife Park, have been added to the mix.

On warm days, when the thermals rise, groups of more than twenty birds can be seen 'kettling' above the Wildland; a magnificent distraction while hunting Purple Emperors or the Brown Hairstreaks which are now on the wing there.

[Allan.W.]

Thats a coincidence Neil ! i must confess i,d never heard of "Villas " before ,but a while back i visited the excellent "wild wings and wanderings " wildlife blog ,by Karen Woolley ,and although the lady doesn,t post so often these days(sadly !),her very last post was concerning Dune villas and she commented on the egg laying habits of this species ,brilliant blog ,take a look .
Good to see that the Storks have done well at Knepp ,i saw one a couple of months back from the works car park in Ashford (Kent ) flying towards Dover over the motorway, a first for me . Regards Allan.W.

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Paul. It's always good to submit records, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure Downland Villa is now well established in that area.

Thanks, Allan. I did have a look at Karen's excellent blog and the article on Dune Villa. Sadly, all blogs seem to run out of steam eventually; that might include my own at the end of this season.

BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Chalk Grayling

Our efforts to save the last chalk-based population of Grayling in Sussex seem to be bearing fruit, with a good start to the season this year. Despite very high winds over Windover Hill, a small but determined group of us managed to find 31 in Deep Dean on 28 July, with almost every butterfly being flushed from the shelter of low scrub, artificial rabbit scrapes or the grass. It is almost certain that significantly more would have been present, as little else was flying. As always, the Grayling was keen to visit a warm boot or two.

Tim Squire, of the South Downs National Park Authority, has done an excellent job in getting the adjacent Ewe Dean site fenced. The introduction of heavy grazing, followed up by the creation of more scrapes, should encourage the Grayling to colonise this additional habitat in future years.

[happyalan]

Great shots, but why has the fence been put in place?

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Alan

Without the reinstatement of this historic fence-line, the key slope for Grayling (which is over-run with Tor-grass, swamping out the downland flora) would remain part of a much more extensive grazing unit, including more nutritious/palatable semi-improved grassland. Livestock will only focus-graze the Tor-grass-carpeted area if they have no choice. This measure will not only provide additional habitat for the chalk-based Grayling, which faces potential extinction in Sussex, but will also benefit the entire chalk grassland fauna and flora, including species such as Adonis Blue, Chalk Hill Blue and Silver-spotted Skipper.

BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Lancing Ring

During a butterfly monitoring visit to Lancing Ring (31 July), which will feed into a draft management plan consultation process, I was surprised to find two Hornet Robberflies within the disused chalk pits; I've never seen this awesome predator here before. The same area also yielded my first two Brown Hairstreak of the year, both being males.

[trevor]

Congrats for the male Brown Hairstreak, Neil.
I travelled considerably further than Lancing yesterday for the same, with similar results.

Is it that time of year already?!.

Stay well,
Trevor.

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, Trevor, and good luck with your Brownie hunting. Watch this space to see if the species has a good season at Knepp this year, but it seems to be boom & bust there. It might be a while yet before females appear in good numbers.
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Road Verge Result

For some years now, I've been trying to influence the better management of a road verge near the village of Clapham, on the outskirts of Worthing. Significant progress has recently been made, by liaising with both the South Downs National Park Authority and West Sussex County Council. A trial wildlife-friendly cutting regime is now in place, involving a reduced frequency of cuts and the removal of arisings.

The benefits are coming thick and fast. On 3 August I performed a survey there, which I thought would take me no longer than 30 minutes. In the end, it took two hours to do the site justice. I counted 424 individual butterflies of 20 species, with the highlights being 107 Small Blue (the largest second brood I've ever seen anywhere), 222 Common Blue and 21 Brown Argus. This impressive tally included two mating pairs of each of the named species.

It's taken a long time to get the result I hoped for, but persistence has eventually paid off.

[Katrina]

Congratulations both on the habitat improvement influencing and the superb Small Blue photos!

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, Katrina. I hope this doesn't make me an 'influencer'!
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Ol' Blue Eyes

The river restoration work in the Knepp Wildland Middle Block, which has recreated a naturally functioning flood plain for this section of the River Adur, has really started to benefit dragonflies in recent years. Meanders, fast flowing braids, deeper areas and shallow scrapes have replaced the sluggish canal-like course.

Scarce Chaser has arrived and is now common. This year, Small Red Damselfly (atypical for this habitat type), Willow Emerald and Southern Migrant Hawker have all been recorded here for the first time. I was particularly keen to see the latter, which would be a 'first' for me, but my single fleeting visit was unsuccessful.

Far more satisfying, was finding this species for myself, this time while searching for Purple Emperors in the Southern Block on 4 August. I spent several happy hours observing three males (and one possible female in flight) and managed to get some nice images of the Blue-eyed Hawker, as it is also known. This, the Paul Newman of dragonflies, is now right up there with my favourites, the Common Clubtail and Scarce Chaser.

My images also include a Ruddy Darter, which occurs at Knepp in huge numbers.

[Allan.W.]

The Southern Migrant Hawkers are little crackers Neil ,great photos ,very envious ! i,ve been lucky enough to see a fair few ,here in Kent but have only seen a male twice settled ,once too far for my cameras (or my !)capabilities and one which i did manage a few shots of ,about three weeks ago ,which i reckon could be an immature male .
Interesting to hear about Small Red Damsels at Knepp as well ,i,ve only ever managed to find them down in Cornwall ,near the Lizard at Windmill farm ,reckon a few nights in one of the Shepherds huts at Knepp next year could be in order.
Regards Allan.W.

[David M]

Just catching up with your reports, Neil, and it's heartwarming to read about all these positive developments.

From Emperors, to storks, bee flies, Graylings and road verges, all seems to be moving in the right direction. Your count of 107 Small Blues is indeed extraordinary for the second brood.