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Southwater Woods

On Tuesday (14th June) I went to Southwater Woods with my father, meeting several other enthusiasts throughout the day. The woods are in that state of high anticipation for the summer woodland species which thrive here. Thinning of the understory by the Dragons Estate over the last two winters will only serve to further increase their numbers. Our list included White Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary, Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Comma, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Common Blue, Green-veined White, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown. White Admiral and Silver-washed Fritillary numbers are still in the 'early build' stage, comprising just male butterflies (just one female SWF seen). Although isolated reports of very early Purple Emperor have come from elsewhere, Southwater still feels to be a few days short of the start of the Silly Season. I didn't sense His presence.

The Small Skippers (9) had clearly emerged that morning and were still very unsteady on the wing. Also fresh out were the first of the second brood Green-veined White and a large number of hutchinsoni Comma. But I was most pleased to see the tremendous numbers of Meadow Brown (100+), which has made a spectacular come-back after two poor years.
White Admiral Male
Small Skipper Male
Meadow Brown Male
Large Kippers Mating
Crookhorn Lane, Madgeland Wood, Southwater

Kipper,

all lovely shots - especially of the very new White Admiral - and the Meadow Brown is (surprisingly) beautiful in his new emergence.

I like the inclusion of the landscape shot, of course

Michael

Oi, Neil, don't make Southwater look too attractive or everyone will want to do there!

...don't make Southwater look too attractive...

I still kick myself. For five years in the late 70s/early 80's I lived about 7 miles from these lovely woods (I could have easily cycled there) yet I never knew about the woods. I used to travel miles to see the woodland goodies.

Jack

I reckon there are an awful lot of sites around here which are equally as good as Southwater, it is just a case of someone being there at the right time. I hope to find some new sites this year for Purple Emperor, even if it is only High Wood.

Hi Susie,
You are right. It's not too difficult to see the beast when you know where to seek HIM, so most enthusiasts congregate at known locations year after year for their fix. It is hard to forsake guaranteed time with the Emperor to go searching terra nova during that all-too-short magical period of summer; and to make matters worse the butterfly remains sufficiently aloof and elusive to occur undetected in many woods for several decades. These factors conspire to make the species seriously under-recorded. Every wood with sufficient broad-leaved sallow within a 30 mile radius of your home will have them. I'm confident you will find some 'new' ones.
Just to get the juices flowing, here's one I prepared earlier. See you in a Sussex woodland soon!
Neil

Hey Kipper,

I have to agree the image of the White Admiral is quite exceptional. Have you seen any Purple Hairstreaks yet?

FP

Thanks Frying Pan - and welcome to the site.
I saw a freshly emerged Purple Hairstreak (male) at Southwater Woods this morning, on the main W-E ride through Madgeland.
Neil

Summer Soaking

I've seldom been wetter than I was on Saturday (18th June), but after getting thoroughly soaked time after time I finally went home happy, with some nice shots won through stubborn perseverance. I had started early on Cissbury Ring, looking for Dark Green Fritillary, but wave after wave of driving rain finally saw me retreating to the car. Blue sky was always visible on the horizon but the strong WSW wind was just pushing a conveyor-belt of cloud over my head.
I decided to try Southwater Woods, in the hope of finding a few Silver-washed Fritillary and White Admiral, or even a Purple Emperor. Sunny spells amounted to no more than five minutes between the lengthy periods of grey cloud cover, and the occasional shower to ensure I couldn't dry off. I managed to get a few shots of the male SWF which would occasionally drop down from the canopy. When it appeared that all prospects of sunshine had disappeared I headed for home, but after driving a couple of miles a huge area of clear blue sky appeared. By the time I had performed a U-turn and was back in the woods it had miraculously disappeared.... and I got a thorough soaking.
As I headed back towards Worthing the weather looked decidedly more promising over Cissbury. As I approached 'the ring' I was pleased to see 3 or 4 mint-fresh Dark Green Fritillaries swooping around the meadow. Then the heavens opened and torrential rain had them, and me, seeking shelter in the grass and low scrub. With such an inadequate refuge I just lay there and made like an amphibian. Had anyone seen me through the stair-rods, lying in the grass, dripping wet and laughing, they might justifiably have doubted my sanity.

Then the rain stopped as suddenly as it had started. Even this late in the afternoon the sunshine brought a comforting warmth and gradually, one-by-one, the fritillaries opened their wings and obligingly posed for me as they dried their wings off. After seven hours it felt like I'd finally beaten the weather.

lovely contrast in the last 2 Neil. lovely.
Chris

Great photos generally Neil- not sure why I bother taking any when yours are so clear and descriptive. Great stuff!

Yes fantastic photos! I have the same camera but alas not the same results

John W wrote:Yes fantastic photos! I have the same camera but alas not the same results

Likewise!

John W wrote:Yes fantastic photos! I have the same camera but alas not the same results
Susie: Likewise!

How do the logistics work then? Three people with the same camera must require a lot of planning. Do you have a rota, or is it ad hoc who has the use of the camera at any particular time?

Jack

Hey Kipper,

you are correct, the DGF photo's are remarkable.

Frying Pan

Jack Harrison wrote:

John W wrote:Yes fantastic photos! I have the same camera but alas not the same results
Susie: Likewise!

How do the logistics work then? Three people with the same camera must require a lot of planning. Do you have a rota, or is it ad hoc who has the use of the camera at any particular time?

Jack

Very droll Jack...you simply could'nt resist!!!

Bill

Great reportage and top notch images Neil. Glad you can still keep your sense of humour in this crazy 'summer' weather

Bill

Slow Start For The Emperor

At 11.35 hrs on Thursday (23rd June) I saw my first Purple Emperor of the year. But the single male which made several unopposed circuits of the Madgeland Master Trees remains my only sighting to date. I hope that things pick up spectacularly, but I have a gut feeling that the 2010 mid July gales may have rendered this season very average.

There's little doubt that the cool June conditions have gone a long way towards re-setting the butterfly calendar, bringing it back to a more normal setting. The rapid change from highly accelerated to retarded development seems to have opened up a significant gap between the first appearance of early individuals and the main emergence in several species. White Admirals and Silver-washed Fritillaries have been on the wing for some time now at Southwater, but their numbers currently remain low.

As the woodlands are yet to reach anywhere near their full potential I have spent many more hours than usual wandering through the spectacularly beautiful set-aside meadows in the area. On Friday I bumped into Susie, who's also 'in the know' about some of these hidden gems. Clouds of butterflies fly up from the flower-rich grasslands in numbers which remind me of my youth. Amongst the thousands of Meadow Browns are tens of Marbled Whites, and lesser numbers of Small Copper, Small Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell and Ringlet. The mighty oaks which border these forgotten fields are now home to good numbers of Purple Hairstreak, some of which can be intercepted before they climb into the canopy for the first time. On sunny early mornings or evenings it is hard to imagine a better place to be.

BC Walk

Twenty five BC members turned up for my Southwater Woods walk on Sunday (26th June), with the sunshine finally breaking through the early mist by midday. I had arrived much earlier than the 10.30 hrs start, in order to photograph some of the grassland species before they woke up.
Species seen included White Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary, Ringlet, Marbled White, Purple Hairstreak, Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Holly Blue (second brood), Small Tortoiseshell, Small Copper, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Comma, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown. But the stars of the show were the three Purple Emperors, two of which were engaging in spectacular aerial battles over the car park.

The numbers of woodland species for which Southwater is so famous remain low, but a walk across the beautiful set-aside meadows more than made up for this shortfall. "Thanks" to Sherie New for the image below.

Botany Bay Emperors

Yesterday (28th June) I was joined by Matthew Oates in a raid on Botany Bay. But rather than a shed-full of grounded Emperors, ideal conditions brought only 3 males out to play, despite much looking. We are both getting rather concerned that we have a relatively poor iris season to contend with. At least those magnificent beasts which did show up performed well, with repeated returns to the forest floor, finger-sitting and prolonged periods of tongue-wiping (on the leaves of low foliage) to remove silt particles from the proboscis after 'salting'.