Bugboys mission

[David M]

...My end of day total was around forty..

Nice to know they're thriving at that location, Paul. The Grizzlies are a welcome bonus.

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, I think I just got lucky that it stayed sunny and warm, it’s the temperature drop that will send them to bed. My previous visit was going well until high milky cloud came in late afternoon, the temperature dropped and that was it, no more sightings.
Thanks David, it’s still a poor showing compared to good years at this site. It’s a species that really doesn’t like cool wet springs, the post hibernation larvae do seem to suffer in such years.

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May 2024

Monday 13th. Over the weekend I’d managed to put my back out which meant a phone call into work saying I wouldn’t be in since I have quite a physical job. Another phone conversation, this time with my doctor who’s advice was to take painkillers and stay as active as was comfortable, meant I was able to claim an afternoon butterflying on doctors advice! The first Glanvilles had recently been reported down at Hutchinsons bank so I thought I’d give that a shot. The weather wasn’t particularly good, but given the year so far, waiting for a better day might take me into August! It was very overcast when I arrived but just warm enough for some Skippers to be awake, if not very active.

The Glanville’s had been emerging over on nearby Chapel Bank, but I wasn’t overly confident of finding any in these borderline conditions. I did come across my first Painted Lady of the year, which judging by social media over the next few days was probably part of an influx from the near continent.

A short while later I smaller orange butterfly fluttered weakly past me, close to the ground. In the cool conditions it wasn’t going to escape me and she settled numerous times before I left her to her own devices.

The next notable find was a rather lovely Taras Grizzlie.

Returning to the patch where I’d found the earlier Glanville I discovered two more, both roosting.

Even though the sun had barely come out all afternoon it was still just about warm enough for few Dukes to also be active, non were fresh but this was the pick of the bunch.

Not too bad for a cloudy afternoon and it did take my mind off the dodgy back, even though it must have looked somewhat comical watching me try and get up again after taking some of the pictures. One of my knees is also buggered and I'm currently waiting to see if I need surgery on it, although I might not find out for a few years with the backlog the NHS is currently having to wade through!

[Wurzel]

First up can you give me the name of your Dr?
Second was this a Busmen's holiday or a job share- swapping one Zoo for another
Thirdly some cracking butterflies but hats off for the ab.Taras - that is a mighty fine looking butterfly

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, my doctor has now made it onto my Christmas card list . That taras was very striking, he looked very distinctive in flight too .


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May 2024

Friday 17th. After returning to work mid-week I had my bi-weekly half day on the Friday and since the weather looked to be slightly better than the Monday I thought I’d have another shot at the Glanville’s. Despite it being in greater London (just) it still takes an inordinate amount of time to get there and so I arrived around 2pm in overcast skies but more in the way of sunny spells. No Glanville’s were found in the cutting or the surrounding fields but I did add Small Blue to the years tally, a fine and very dark female with boldly marked undersides. Small Heath were also bobbing here and there.

Oddly though, despite better conditions than my last visit, I didn’t see any skippers. Making my way over to Chapel Bank (crossing the county border into Surrey in the process) I bumped into a few people coming the other way including Millerd who all informed me there had been some activity of the target there that morning. This afternoon, despite several pairs of eyes, non were found. The Skippers did decide to show though.

The Bugle of Doom!

Green Hairstreaks were still active.

I watched the dance of the Brimstone

And Holly Blues were getting excited over Dogwood flower buds

Returning to Hutchinsons bank, activity in the cutting had improved and I added another Blue to the years tally, a Common Blue with a sparsely spotted underside.

A tatty Peacock caught my eye on account of it’s chosen perch, rather like the effect

[millerd]

Interesting that we should visit the same site on the same day, overlapping a bit, yet not see the same selection of species. You found some Grizzlies and Green Hairsteaks - which I didn't. Whereas I'd seen Glanvilles and Dukes earlier in the day. We did both see that lovely dark fresh female Small Blue though...

That crab spider obviously hadn't read the manual on camouflage!

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking stuff even though the Glannies didn't play ball That Common Blue is a bit of a looker, looks like they were rationing the spot paint that day

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Curious Dave although I did actually find a couple of Dukes, however they were way past their best so didn’t make the final cut of that post. Your comment also jogged my memory since I did actually also see a single Glanville (with the Dukes). It was however in a similar condition to the Dukes though, and in any case didn’t settle long enough to get a shot.
Thanks Wurzel, perhaps he was at the back of the queue on spot painting day!


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May 2024

Monday 20th. I had a hospital appointment mid-morning concerning my bad knee which was a complete waste of everyone’s time. After having a look at said knee he sat me down, looked at me and said “I don’t know why you were booked in to see me, I can’t help you. You need to have a consultation with a surgeon and I’m not a surgeon”. Added to that they didn’t have access to my MRI scan, so even if I had seen a surgeon, I doubt I’d be any nearer to a resolution. Anyway, there was not much point going into work after that palaver, I was on an early finish and would have spent more time travelling to and from than actually working so I figured I’d have a third bite from the Glanville pie.

Once again, I was usefully told upon arrival there had been some activity that morning . There were no Glanville’s present in the cutting but there were a few other regular denizens of the site.

The lower meadow was my next place to explore, where some Glanville’s had been seen earlier. I was taking pictures of my first Brown Argus of the season when an orange butterfly fluttered past and settled nearby. I only had him for a short amount of time before he was on his way to wherever he was late for!

There wasn’t a great deal on Chapel Bank this afternoon but a female Holly Blue did sit during a cloudy spell.

Back in the cutting it was more of the same but in the top meadow I found a second Glanville mixing it up with a few other butterflies. Like the first, he was also on a mission to get somewhere but also his stomach seemed to be in partial control of his head and he stopped at every buttercup on his way until he crossed a barbed wire fence and went beyond my reach.

My re-scheduled hospital appointment is in August so I shall be hobbling around for some time to come! Still, at least the second half of the day meant it wasn't a complete right off!

[Wurzel]

Good to see someone else enjoying the butterfly karma from hospital visits Bugboy Mine this year have yielded Small Pearls and my first Greenstreaks Personally I think 'an day butterflying' should be the prescription for pretty much any ailment (that I suffer from)

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, I’m hoping August the 9th is a nice day, that’s my next appointment when hopefully I’ll see someone who can help me!


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May 2024

Saturday 25th part 1. After misjudging the emergence of the Wiltshire Marsh Fritillaries two weeks previously, the weather somehow coalesced to encourage me to attempt a second visit. They must surely be out in numbers now but it’s a species rich site with many vying for my attention and it’s difficult for my trigger finger not to get carried away. Today my trigger finger was due some overtime pay, mainly due to one particular butterfly who will get his own post of this three-post day. First, the also rans which were none to shabby in their own right. The first butterfly that had me reaching for my camera (still packed away at the time) was a Large White who decided to plop herself down in front of me as I walked past some army barracks.

On site the sun had already had time to warm the air and there was plenty of activity, although the passing of two weeks did make a difference to the species on show. Last time the Dingy Skippers were mostly fresh as a daisy and the Grizzled were a no show. Today it was the turn of the Grizzled Skippers to catch my eye, the Dingy’s mostly (although not all) looking rather tired and faded.

Green Hairstreaks were one of the most numerous butterflies last time, today not a sniff! Walls were still active (active being the operative word). They were surprisingly cooperative last time, today I managed to get snaps of a female first thing, and a male at the end of the day whilst for the rest of the day it was business as usual as they happily bounced along the path in front of me.

The only other Satyrid seen today were Small Heath, only slightly more approachable than the Walls.

Orange-tips were still on the wing, and the large bank of Herb-robert once again worked its magic on them.

I only came across two Small Blues of which this was the better looking.

I was a little surprised not to come across any Adonis throughout the day, so was even more surprised that not long before leaving for the day I stumbled across a mating pair!

A few moths caught my eye, a Forester. Of the three species I’m going to presume it’s the common one unless someone knows different. They all fly around the same time of year, the site is within the natural range of all three and all three’s LHP are present so in theory it could be any of them but the Common is obviously the most likely.

Always present in large numbers at this time of year here is the Five-spot Burnet. I took to finding as many of the form minoides as I could, where the red spots merge to varying degrees, a relatively common variation in this species but very rare in the commoner Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet which flies a little later in the season.

Next time, the main event...

[Katrina]

I have never heard of minoides form. Thanks for the informative post

[bugboy]

You’re welcome Katrina .


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May 2024

Saturday 25th part 2. The Fritillaries are obviously the main reason I travelled halfway across the country and whilst I’ve seen them in larger numbers here, they were still plentiful and active throughout my visit, dressed in the usual variety of shades of yellows and oranges.

It's always difficult trying to choose which pictures to share with such a variable species who enjoys posing!

I never found any in cop today but there were a few scuffles as eager males were left wanting.

There was also one particular individual who was the reason I ended up with a ridiculous amount of photos to sift through, but he gets a post to himself

[bugboy]

May 2024

Saturday 25th part 3. So, whilst photographing every Fritillary that settled in front of me, I did keep an eye out for anything that was a little beyond normal variation. Only one individual fitted that description, but he was special enough to distract me for half an hour and take around 200 pictures of him. (Don’t worry, I’m not gonna post all 200! )

One of the reasons for following him for so long was to catch the underside which was just as special, and made him quite distinctive in flight.

.
I've trawled through the ab. descriptions but can't find anything that's a good fit but he certainly made the trip worthwhile

[Maximus]

Fantastic ab BB well found

[trevor]

Seething with envy ! I kept my eye open for something special,
but nothing this year. I did find a nice ab a few years back, but not on that scale .

[Padfield]

Hi Buggy. I've seen exactly that upperside aberration in the alpine form/species of marsh fritillary, glaciegenita or merope. I haven't got any underside photos to compare as this was a cool day at 2500m and he kept his wings flat. If they really are different species, as recent work suggests, it is especially interesting to find the same aberration:



Guy

[Benjamin]

Wow what a beauty Paul! Always glad when you get rewarded for all those long trips.

[millerd]

What a glorious butterfly, Paul. I know they vary a bit, but that is off the scale...

Dave

[Wurzel]

That is a cracking Marshie Bugboy What a find!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks guys, he really was a beauty and certainly made the trip worthwhile
That’s very interesting Guy. I guess it shows the close relatedness of the subspecies/species if they share a gene which can produce an identical aberration, I’m going with a genetic aberration as opposed to an environmental one here.


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May 2024

Sunday 26th. No eye-catching ab’s today, in fact there wasn’t a great deal of butterflies at all. Partly down to the weather, which was iffy to start with, cloudy with the risk of showers and with a ‘stiff breeze’ blowing, weather people talk for very windy! I had intended to get down to Kithurst in peak Duke season but lack of A/L from work and too much weather combined to ruin those plans!

The Duke party was well and truly over by now though, however there were patches of blue sky and just enough warmth for a bit of life to show itself. A few Grizzled Skipper and Common Blue were about and a single Large White sat around waiting , like me, for the sun.

When the sun did come out properly so did my only two Sussex Dukes I saw this year. One, an OAP faded shadow of his former glory, struck a pose on some Yellow Rattle whilst a fresher one took a nap during a passing cloudy spell.

The walk down along a sheltered path to the next destination added a few more species to the days tally

The main reason for coming to this part of Sussex was to have a look at a grassy bank I found a (very) small colony of Silver-spotted Skipper on last year. I say colony... I found two. But I had planned to drop by this spring to see what other surprises it held (secretly hoping for an equally small colony of Dukes). If they are there, I didn’t find any, but then I was probably too late if they are anyway, however there was enough healthy looking Cowslip to maintain a small Colony so there is still hope. The presence of both spring Skippers also gives hope (the Dingy Skippers were extremely uncooperative).

The inquisitive spider had second thought when it saw the size of its visitor.

Next year I’ll definitely visit during peak Duke!

The quickest route back to the station takes me through Perry Hill, only about half an hour or so from the grassy slope where the ‘stiff breeze’ was blowing an absolute gale! The only thing I found on the slope was a Painted Lady feeding frenetically on the Thyme but I had no hope of getting close, however down at the bottom which is reasonably sheltered there was a bit more activity. Small Heath bobbed around and a number of Common Blue, with an argumentative Brown Argus mixing things up, kept my attention for a while, the prize being a fine looking female CB.

A little bit further along a female Orange-tip was taking a bit of time out.

Late afternoon and on the home straight to the station in Burpham Meadows, the place was still quite swampy but just about passable if you know the various routes. Here I added Red Admiral, another good looking female Common Blue and a second Painted Lady, this one sat but did look like it had been migrating for some time!

[Neil Freeman]

Just caught up with your Marsh Fritillary ab. Paul. A fantastic find and really interesting to compare the underside with the standard one in the previous report.

Cheers,

Neil.