Saturday 6th May 2017 - Coppers and Walls....
My biggest concern this year has been the absence of Small Coppers from my local visits. This worry was eliminated today as I saw NINE in total, including this
caeruleopunctata individual:
Eight of the nine were seen at Crymlyn Burrows, a coastal dune site, in decent conditons (14c and largely sunny) between 10.30 and 12.00. Here's another individual....this one is quite heavily spotted and looks like a female:
I had almost given up on Small Blues. They're late round these parts this year but I managed to see ONE briefly and got this record shot:
Orange Tips were again the commonest species with 20 or so seen, including several females, but Dingy Skippers seem to have not yet emerged, although I suppose they will appear, along with Small Heaths, Common Blues and Brown Argus within the next week or so.
Although the forecast had suggested it would cloud over by noon, skies remained invitingly clear, so on my way back I thought I'd try to spend some 'proper' time with a species I've rather neglected over the past few years in the UK - Wall Brown.
These days, the only reliable spot around here is towards the top of Kilvey Hill. I duly surveyed their 'prime' area but couldn't find any, so I made my way to the summit where I have seen them happily cavorting around in the past. Sure enough, within seconds I located this male swishing about at the highest point where there are rocky ruins of an ancient windmill:
Within seconds, I noticed something far more interesting - a mating pair:
It soon became apparent that there was a third Wall Brown - a male - who was keen to get in on the act, much to the female's irritation, and she demonstrated this by retracting her antennae and opening her wings whenever this uninvited interloper appeared:
Such was the level of interference that the coupling pair took to the air several times. In every instance, it was the female that carried the male, which is not normally the case in my experience. Even when they settled afresh, the rogue male would play the role of 'voyeur':
Eventually, and rather fortuitously, the coupling pair came to rest on a rocky outcrop right next to where I was sitting. I felt it was my duty to protect them and simply sat quietly beside them for the next ten minutes, all the while keeping an eye out for other Wall Browns that wished to interrupt them:
Once they had finished, the male simply detached himself and flew off immediately. The female rested for a few minutes with wings closed, but she too took to the air and I felt a bit sorry for her as she was immediately harassed by two nearby males, before she flew down the slope out of their range.
With this action now finished, I was left with three or four males who continued to fly around the rocky outcrop at the top of the hill:
By this time, it was seriously clouding over, but that wasn't an issue as it led to the males resting on rocks with wings fully open:
On my way back down in light cloud, I also managed to get close to a semi-roosting male Green Veined White:
In total, the following species/numbers were seen:
Orange Tip 20-30
Wall Brown 10-15
Small Copper 9
Green Veined White 5-10
Large White 4
Speckled Wood 3
Peacock 2
Holly Blue 2
Brimstone 2
Red Admiral 1
Small White 1
Small Blue 1