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Fantastic shots Wurzel, what a great time you had, I'm looking forward to your Holiday shots now Goldie

Cheers Trevor I managed to get our for a good while most days Trevor Mind you to be fair I didn't really need to as most of the species I saw were present actually on site I've got to go to the Outlaws in Wales on Wednesday but if I can squeeze in Brostreaks and Silver-spots before then I might be able to make it over on Tuesday? It all depends on the demands of the rest of the house
Cheers Goldie I might have the reports sorted by Christmas - I'm still posting from June Still something for the winter months

Have a goodun

Wurzel

The Devenish 09-06-2019

As the weather was actually okay at times my wife and I made over to The Devenish for a cuppa al fresco courtesy of Kelly the Kettle and a nice picnic lunch. I chose the Devenish as I knew that there were a few old fire pits that we could set Kelly up on without worrying about damaging the soil. However I was quickly ruing my choice as each time I made to turn off to the reserve our way was blocked by yellow AA signs declaring that the road was closed. I drove past Old Sarum and out towards Amesbury and turned left at High Post. All was going smoothly until we got to within 200 yards of the reserve – where this time there were the big yellow signs, a van and a couple of Stewards. As they said that it was okay to walk down the road I abandoned the car and we set out on foot.

Once on the reserve we climbed over the various gates and made our way to the far paddock. Once the Kettle was lit I had a quick mooch around while waiting for it to boil. On the way in there had been a couple of Specklies in the Small Paddock and now I managed to find a couple more. One went up high the other stayed down low disappearing momentarily into the old dried grass. After lunch I took a slightly longer wander round as I awaited cuppa coffee number 2. Just over the way two Specklies started spiralling and when they broke apart I managed to follow one as it drifted down to earth. Over in the far corner was another and this one was in very fine fettle. From here I wandered across the bottom of the hill back the way we’d come in and half way along my progress was halted by a minuscule grey blur which soon turned out to be a reasonably fresh Grizzlie. After watching it for a while I realised that I hadn’t gotten any shots so set about getting a few – well it would be rude not to after the effort the little chap was putting in. Turning back and snaking my way towards my coffee a massive butterfly shot up out of the tussock grass and perched up in a tree. A Red Admiral. It took off at the same time as something else and I watched them both fly round a tree though neither came out the other side. As I walked over I found a Specklie but the Red Admiral must have gone on into the trees lining the Paddock and then come back out behind me and where I’d originally seen it. So I made my way back the few steps and my guess proved correct as the Red Admiral shot out of a small tree and perched on a dead branch. Pleased I headed back but that wasn’t the end of the surprises. A butterfly, darker than the Specklies, smaller than the Red Admiral was bumbling along low down near the ground. It would flap almost pathetically before dropping for a fraction of a second and then straining to pull itself up and gain some height before repeating the process again. Occasionally it would go down and after following it and watching it do this a few times I was ready. The next time it went down I leant in and there was my first photo of 2019 of a Meadow Brown. I managed to follow it a little bit more and get a slightly less cluttered but more distant shot and then I was distracted again. Now it was because of an unusually shaped butterfly that was up in the trees. It looked like it was trailing a damaged wing but when I stepped a little closer to where it was perched I realised that it was a pair in cop – my first every Specklies at it! They seemed quite shy and after a few shots they vacated their low storey couples retreat and retired to their love-nest higher up in the canopy. Another Specklie landed before me on its own and then I took the final few steps back to ‘camp’ and enjoyed another lovely cuppa coffee. We started back and made our way up the side of the Down proper and along the small paths on the middle section. On the way there was a female Common Blue and over the stile a Meadow Brown, Blue and Grizzlie all played hard to get so we carried on down the small path, hemmed in on one side by the scrubby wood and on the other by the large Bramble bushes. I had a few moments to spare in the Orchid Meadow and came across the a slightly more worn Grizzlie, Brown Argus, Common Blue and finally the butterfly I was hoping to see here at this time of year – a Large Skipper. It was a brilliant, bright male actively feeding up to keep his fuel supply topped up. It was time to go and as we walked and then drove back home all the yellow signs were gone and the roads open. A very pleasant picnic. Have a goodun

Wurzel

A lovely account of the day, Wurzel - and I particularly like the Grizzlie. I find them very difficult to see, never mind getting a photo!

Janet

Cheers Janet Yep Grizzlies are right tricky little buggers, I use the 'click-step' dance technique to get my shots of them - I look a prat when getting the shots but nothing new there

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Middle Street 15-06-2019

The weather report was again incorrect so instead of thick, dark cloud and the rain showers that I was expecting the sun eventually broke through the ever-thinning cloud and it turned into a passable sunny afternoon. To make the most of it my wife and I took a promenade in the direction of Middle Street. A Meadow Brown played hard to get in the little slipway near the weir and it was the only butterfly seen until we were actually on site and most of the way round. As we reached the far end of the pond a Red Admiral put in an appearance fleetingly before being replaced by a Common Blue. Round the other side of the pond another or possibly the same Red Admiral did another fly-by flashing over the tops of the reeds at almost head height before veering violently upwards and over the trees that line the edge of the pond. I didn’t mind this dearth of butterflies as this area is much better in the spring and as the season progresses the butterfly action seems to migrate towards the other end of the site. Besides which I was enjoying the peace and quiet wife my wife sans kids.
As we dove down through the copse the bird calls ceased and a Specklie played true to form, flitting between the dappled light and not stopping. Then as we broke out into the sunshine again the cacophony ensued – Reed and Sedge Warblers babbling, a Cetti’s exploding from the opposite bank with its “one, one-two, one-two one-two one-three” call slicing through all the other calls and sounds like a knife through butter.
At the top of the field I descended down from the raised pathway into the grasses some of which were by now up to my waist making a wading action the most appropriate for making any progress. As expected the number and diversity of butterflies picked up. I managed to follow and pick up a few semi-distant Meadow Browns though it was hard work. They’d erupt in slow motion from an unseen hiding place low down in the grass, then flutter seemingly randomly and weakly before dropping down and disappearing from view again. The Common Blues and a Large Skipper conversely were much easier to capture on camera and they posed nicely for me in the more sparsely covered areas of the field around the edges and on ‘the bank’ with the raised walkway above. As I was winding my way out of the field along the narrow track a tiny grey blur caught my eye. At first I out it down as a moth but as I leant in and focused it became a Grizzled Skipper. A first for me at this site and a species I hadn’t expected to see – a nice end to a pleasant afternoon. Have a goodun

Wurzel

Love the Grizzle shots Wurzel, looks like when I do see them I'll have my work cut out to shoot them Your shot of that Common Blue is great, I think they look at their best when their clouds are so pronounced Goldie

Cheers Goldie The Grizzlie is a funny little butterfly as they can be well behaved...sometimes I was chuffed with the Blue shots

Garston and onwards… 16-06-2019

It was a funny old morning as after the totally back to front and inaccurate weather forecast the day before I wasn’t surprised when I awoke today and didn’t see the blue sky and sunny intervals that had been promised. Instead there was a blanket of grey cloud through which, very occasionally, a glimpse of limpid eggshell blue showed through. Nevertheless my wife and I headed over to Gaston Wood for a wander round. On the way a Red Admiral flew by as we drove through Broadchalke and upon arrival and first setting off a Specklie appeared briefly. And then that was it…the light cloud cover darkened and it felt more like a March morning than a week away from the Solstice.

We carried on round anyway enjoying the Forest Bathing and feeling calmer and more relaxed the further we walked into the wood. About half way in I spied a mini clearing. One of the larger trees had fallen leaving a round clearing in its wake which was lit by the weak sun so it was only slightly brighter than the surrounding gloom under the canopy. As my wife concentrated on looking in the clearing I spied an unusual looking plant. It stood tall with a pair of leaves near the base and green florets reaching to the top of the stem. It looked like an Orchid to me and so I checked my Orchid ID App and worked out that it is most likely a Common Twyblade (as so often happens I started seeing Twyblades throughout the rest of the wood). We carried on round reaching the Butterfly Enclosure though I reckon they’ve given up on Pearls returning here as not only has the picture gone but so too has the gate itself. While we wandered through the sun started to shine more strongly, not quite breaking through the cloud but brightening it, making it glow slightly more and with it came the life. Bumble Bees that had been torpid sitting on leaves started to move slightly the slight increase in temperature starting to resurrect them, female spiders moved to new areas dragging their egg bundles with them and moths suddenly appeared on leaves where a few seconds previously they hadn’t been. Eventually we arrived back in the car park and so headed home for lunch, seeing another Red Admiral at St Paul’s Roundabout, before driving up to Mottisfont to meet up with my parents and our girls. I didn’t see any butterflies on the walk in, through the grounds, round the Walled Garden and nor on the partial return journey to the house. Only as we were making our way round to the final it of garden did any butterflies appear before my lens. There was a sole Meadow Brown on the newly created Avenue on one side of the formal lawn and another couple on the bank of the Ha-Ha. I managed a few photos y in the less than perfect light the images didn’t really ‘ping’ as they can do. Still at least if I got out and made the best of a poor butterfly weather day. I you don’t go out you’re guaranteed to see nowt! Have a goodun

Wurzel

Some of the Bee's I've had in my Garden have been huge Wurzel, I took a shot comparing two bee's together on the same plant, i'll post in my next post, ( if I remember} It's getting like that these days Goldie

Great new male Meadow Browns in those reports, Wurzel. They are somehow different at the start of their season than they are now with hundreds of them flying. Subtler and more velvetty? I also always notice the colour of their eyes - a shade of brownish red. Your last one shows this especially. Well done on finding the mating Specklies - not a common sight at all, as I think it usually happens somewhere up in the trees.

Cheers,

Dave

Cheers Goldie "(if I remember)"...I know what you mean Goldie - Im having to write lists to remind myself to complete my lists
Cheers Dave I was chuffed with the mating Specklies - another addition to the 'In Cop' collection I know what you mean about the Meadow Browns - they're much more luxurious looking in the spring The one in the post that follows isn't so much luxurious instead it's pretty exotic looking ...

Work 20-06-019

I hadn’t been out at Lunch for what felt like an age due to either the hectic nature of work recently (GCSE revision classes all over the place, huge amounts of marking from Mock exams, OfSTED etc.) or dire weather so when I stepped out this lunch time I was expecting to see a changed habitat, although how changed I wasn’t prepared for. The grasses that back at the start of the season would barely reach the tongues of my shoes were now almost up to mid-thigh height. As I waded through them at the Pits heading towards the boundary hedge a Large Skipper buzzed away. Once I got to the hedge and started walking down it a Red Admiral appeared from out of nowhere, bombing along. It flew past me and into the tallest Nettles in the hedge where it spent a few moments bumbling about. I thought about parting the foliage so as to try for a few shots but the Nettles that towered over me changed my mind mighty quickly.

After this I was joined by a Meadow Brown that led me on a bit of a merry dance across one of the recently mown sections of the field. It would fly in a rough zig-zag pattern before landing and staying down on the deck just long enough for me to approach, line up me shot and start to focus. Then it would be off again. I don’t know what’s up with the Browns this season but they seem much more twitchy and nervy than I previously recall?
The Meadow Browns merry bolero had led me into the unmown sections on the field and I was feeling the familiar feeling of dew and raindrops held on the stems starting to soak into my trousers. I carried on trying to follow the Meadow Brown but got distracted as a Small Tort erupted from the grasses near my footfall. It didn’t fly far – perhaps too cool (?) but when I caught up with it it was a cracking looking butterfly – much swarthier and darker than the Spring ones. I carried on in my seemingly futile attempts at photographing Meadow Browns but it was proving tricky. They’d fly so I’d follow only to disturb another from down in the grasses and then I would have the dilemma of which to follow? I’d generally choose incorrectly as the one I’d follow would fly on and on and when it eventually came to ground would be hidden behind multiple grass stems whilst the one I didn’t would probably be perched in a miniature clearing amid the grasses, wings open wide! I persevered and amid the Meadow Browns a Small heath popped up and a gorgeous Meadow Brown finally sat for an uncluttered shot, free from interfering grass stems. It was a gorgeous looking butterfly with the slightest hint of an orange streak on the hind wing – lush and worth the hassle. I made my way back conscious that the bell would soon be ringing, stopping for two shots of a Large Skipper, and found myself back in the Pits before I remembered that I didn’t need to hurry too much as I had a double free of ‘gained’ time now. This was just as well as right at the end of the Pits my first Ringlet of 2019 appeared with luscious white fringes contrasting with the chocolatey-purple topside. Like all the other species from the Brown it too was being a bit of a pain as it would take off just as I was ready to fire off the shots but in the end I got a few in the bag. I’m sure there will be plenty more but it’s always nice to get shots of the ‘first’ of the season.
I must have entered a time warp as strolling back into the block I checked the time and I was only late by less than a minute – I can’t work out how that happened? Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wellbeing 21-06-2019

Teacher Training Days are normally busy affairs where ideas are shared and there is more than a fair share of sitting and listening. Well this one was very different as the focus (for once) wasn’t on assessment or curriculum; OfSTED were mentioned once but I think we got away with it, and after a bit of information on various neurotransmitters/hormones and their effects during the morning the afternoon was spent focusing on one activity that would benefit our wellbeing. So I found myself leading three of my colleagues across the road from the car park at Knapp Hill and on up the Down in search of butterflies. To be honest the timing could have been better, a few weeks earlier and the species would have been at their freshest and most numerous but an afternoon of paid butterflying isn’t to be sniffed at!

Once we’d negotiated some of the various obstacles that are on offer here (road, stile-less fences and wild animals…well sheep and cattle) we struck to the relatively easy going at the foot of the hill. From previous experience this often holds most of the butterflies as the hedge lining the road offers perches and a little shade and the various dykes and ditches offer shelter from the wind which whips up the hill tugging errant butterflies with it. We swiftly got onto some butterflies with my colleagues soon calling out Small heath and Meadow Brown which appeared as if from nowhere out of the grasses as we progressed. To add to this initial mix there were a couple of Common Blues.

We moved down into one of the hollows, evidence of early flint mining long since finished, and one of the stars of the show appears – a tired looking Marshie. It goes down a storm with its unusual chequerboard markings as does a second that joins it briefly. As the rest are marvelling at the Marshies a (from a distance) light grey butterfly tears towards us – my first Marbled White of 2019. We carry on checking the next hollow out and the next. All seem jam packed with Spotted and Fragrant Orchids and in the final hollow there are also a few Bee Orchids. There is also another Marshie, looking even more Greasy than the others, along with a shed load of Small Heaths and Meadow Browns. As the ground starts to level out we have a choice to make; walk right to the top and Adam’s Grave/The Nipple or cut back along the path that is ‘one step up’? We opt for the easier and lower route and as we head off there are a couple of Common Blues, a male and a female and a Large Skipper. The walk back isn’t as fruitful butterfly wise with the fore mentioned wind often picking up and carrying any butterflies off before I can get any sensible shots. I do see a Small Tort, a Wall Brown vanishes almost as quickly as it appeared and only a couple of butterflies hang around and pose for me – an Adonis and a Brown Argus. Their good nature was probably down to their decrepitude. Still it was good to be able to how a few other species to my colleagues. As we returned for work we realised that we’d been talking about all sorts all the way round and I don’t know about the others but I certainly felt in a much better place, calmer and happier.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

Love that STS shot Wurzel, and the flowers really stand out, I always look out for your Marhie shots has well, they're always great,
Goldie

Cheers Goldie I was a bit surprised to see those Marshies to be honest as I thought that they might be over. It was great to be paid to do butterflying - I wonder if Greenwings would like to employ another guide?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Daneways 22-06-2019

For once the weather report seemed to be better than mildly accurate and so it was all systems go for Daneways! Hopefully the sunny intervals would mean that the butterflies weren’t solar super charged, zooming all around and Philzoid and I would be able to get a mixture of open and closed winged shots. On the way there we chatted away and put the world to rights as the weather steadily improved and before I knew it we were pulled up in the car park and starting the stroll up the hill.

Instead of the trek up to the main entrance we climbed over the gate at the bottom of the reserve and made our way up the steep slope, yes it was steeper but instead of watching out for cars coming down the hill we could watch out for butterflies. In fact the first little section proved productive with Common Blues, Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Brown Argus all finding their way onto the Tally. We carried on the ascent and just as we reached the fence at the bottom of the first Bank proper we followed a Large Blue until it flew over said fence. Cracking on site for least than 5 minutes and the target species already located. We walked up and through the gate to the other side of the fence and then managed to relocate the first Large Blue and then a second. There was also a Small Tortoiseshell but one zipped off somewhere whilst the Small Tort and second Large Blue flew back over the fence so it was walking back to the gate, through the gate and then trying to relocate it which we did. It then decided to revisit the little patch back on the original side of the gate…the fence (no sure why it’s there) was starting to be a bit of pain in the arse and so from this point on anything that flew over it was persona non gratis! We wandered back and started our wanderings of the first Bank and the Large Blue did a flash by but luckily a few of the other enthusiasts called out a ‘mating pair’. Thus meant that we were all able to get the classic closed wing shots and there wasn’t a ‘grab’ shot in sight! After this we set off to explore the rest of the site gently working our way to the other end of the site. There was another Large Blue, Small Tort, Meadow Browns and Common Blues but nothing was stopping. It seems that the weather had improved too much as the temperature rose so did the activity of the butterflies. One or two of the Common Blues did start to play ball including a lovely blue female. She wasn’t all over blue but the hind wing margin and sub-margin was almost as blue as a male which contrasted nicely with the brown ground colour and dusting of blue and silver. After this we worked up to the flatter plateau like section at the top of the Banks which runs across the site bordered by the trees. Again there were various stop-offs for the usual suspects including some nice showy Marbled Whites which were supping nectar from what I think is Coltsfoot the white and black beautifully set off by the vivid yellow. We paused for a while where the path curves round and heads up through the wood to the top fields. We could see that two other enthusiasts were following some Large Blues further up the slope so we started checking out the slopes. I got onto a Large Blue right at the tree line which started to open up. Unfortunately as I called out it stopped basking and flew. Philzoid managed to get onto a different one slightly lower down but it wasn’t stopping for long so it was a case of click as many times as possible then revert to watching to see where it would land before repeating. I climb back up to the bend and anther bloke is watching a Large Blue that is threatening to open up. As we watch and wait I catch another Large Blue out of the corner of my eye. It lands and promptly opens up and starts basking. It was a really dark individual with very thick margins. This turned into a real purple patch with a further three Large Blues dropping in with one or two harrying those individual that we’d been watching. I'll leave it there for now as I keep getting 'HTTP error' messages

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Lovely Large Blues Wurzel their colour really stands out, it's one I've yet to see , just another on the list of want's Goldie

Great stuff Wurzel, those are some gorgeous Blues, but can you slow down with the postings a bit, you're only 3 weeks behind me now! You'll be losing your USP if you're not careful

Cheers Goldie It's good to have a wish list
Cheers Bugboy I'll try but I've got enough posts in the bank to date to do one a week for the next 8 months

Have a goodun

Wurzel

That's great Wurzel, you should take us through the Winter Months without any trouble Goldie

I think it'll be more a case of 'It'll be over by EASTER' Goldie!

Have a goodun

Wurzel