www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Fantastic shots Bug boy I love the group Butterflies they look fantastic all there together, you should put one of those shots into the Competition Goldie

Fantastic to see the GO Silver-studs and Grayling, those females really are stand out

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Trevor, only one day got ruined by the weather, which by this years standards I think is a bleeding miracle!
Thanks Dave, it is a very beautiful part of the world, this hobby of ours does have a habit of taking us to places like this .
ThanksNeil, it was your trip that sowed the seed for my trip, although eight years is an embarrassingly long time to get my act together and do it, can’t even blame Covid for that length of time! Turns out I was dangerously close to stumbling across 'Invalids Way' but turned back before I saw anything .
Thanks Goldie, the colonial roosting was one of the highlights of seeing that species there
Thanks Wurzel, plenty more to come yet!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


June 2024

Wednesday 12th, Wales day 3. A slight change of scenery today, although still rugged and windy. Todays target was the SPBF over on Holy Island of the coast of Anglesey. The train journey was pleasant, going through some very picturesque countryside and the walk from Holyhead station to South Stack, even though it was along a main road wasn’t too painful either. I did ponder about taking a short cut along some foot paths but this was around the time of Micheal Mosley’s unfortunate accident so I decided against it, I wasn’t sure about what sort of terrain I’d find myself navigating and my dodgy knee was playing up..

It had been mostly cloudy until shortly after arriving when a large portion of Blue sky arrived and hung around for a few hours, perfect timing… to find virtually no butterflies of any description . I was there for over three hours and covered a fair bit of ground but only came away with a Common Blue and a couple of Meadow Brown, none of whom were willing to sit for their pictures.

Birdlife rescued the day. There were decent amounts of Guillemot with a smattering of Razorbill mixed in with them. Every now and again a Kittiwake would appear And a family of Chough were a noisy accompaniment to the afternoon. A little something for the botanists, Sheep's-bit was common (and would have looked even nicer with a few Fritillaries decorating it) and I found lots of Navelwort growing from the stonewalls of the nearby Ironage ruins of the Tŷ Mawr Hut Circles A large parasitoid wasp did pose which I think is Podalonia hirsuta, which uses large hairless caterpillars to feed it’s youngsters. Like the previous day, I returned to Llandudno with enough daylight left to say hello to the Blues before they all settled down for the night, I was far from bored from seeing them yet!

Cracking Chough (I didn't like to use the obvious pun ) and Silver-studs Bugboy Is that the same area that the aesculapian snake is found?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel, I think those snakes are only found near Colwyn Bay in Wales. I have come across them along Regents Canal though!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


June 2024

Thursday 13th, Wales day 4. Of course I couldn’t really go the full week without a dud day and that day was the 13th, it basically rained most the day so I took a day off from butterflying and spent the day at Chester Zoo, an hour away on the train. Well, they have a small butterfly house, so I did get a fix. The sun returned for my last day in Wales for a last hurrah with the Blues ...

June 2024

Friday 14th, Wales day 5. The sun returned for my final day in Wales so after checking out, posting my dirty washing home and filling myself up on a nice big full English (obviously advertised as a full Welsh) I made my way back up to Happy Valley. It started off a bit overcast but the temperature was enough for the Blues to be awake and active when I got up there. Time to focus on the females again. In amongst the Silver Studs were a couple of imposters. The odd Common Blue would appear with each visit but this female really did stick out like a sore thumb, in life she looked about twice as big as everything else on the wing! When the sun came out, open wing shots became a premium and shenanigans began. Most males were sent packing, as is the way, but this one chose wisely . Given how many were here it’s surprising this was the first pairing I came across. With the sun out I went off to explore some other parts of the rock. Once again I unknowingly came close to stumbling across Invalids Way, but despite the sun I didn’t find many butterflies, a few Small Heath, a tatty old Peacock, a Brown Argus, a fleeting glimpse of a passing Grayling and a Large Skipper. My ticket home was open ended so with no rush to get anywhere, I returned to Happy Valley to make the most of my last few hours.

Those SSB females are every bit as stunning as they are advertised to be - definitely worth the trip and staying several days to ensure you made the most of them. Multiple are appropriate I think.

Cheers,

Dave

That's an amazing haul, Paul, and wonderful photos! I must add the Great Orme to my list for next year since I've not visited for a few years now ... like you, I could spend several days there!

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks Dave, yes, I could easily have spent another week there and not got bored!
Thanks Pete, it certainly won’t be the last time I go there!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


June 2024

Friday 14th, Wales day 5 cont. After not finding much on the more exposed parts of the rock and with still a good portion of the day to kill, I returned to Happy Valley again. This time I noticed some activity along the north western edge of the dry ski slope which turned out to be another hotspot for the Blues, primarily I suspect since it provided good shelter from the persistent strong wind that was an ever present feature here. I found another mating pair. Plus several more failed attempts. I did try and leave a few times but every time something would catch my eye, this female completely lacking in orange lunules was particularly striking. Late on in my stay another species delayed my departure, a number of Grayling appeared and proceeding to lead me a merry dance along the cliff face. I very nearly managed some upperside shots when a fresh female appeared, but she seemed too preoccupied with an Orchid pollinium and the males gave up quickly. She looked reasonably normal by the standards I’m used to on the Surrey heaths, but the males did look a lot paler. The final male though was very striking in that he had vivid golden sheen. The pictures really don’t do him justice, he really did glisten like each scale was made from gold leaf. A fitting end to a great week long break

I think I've said it before but those females are fantastic Some of them almost look like more exotic continental species Great shots of the Grayling. To my eyes they look very similar so I'm wondering if temporal isolation has had more of an effect on the variation?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel, They were a joy to behold, no two the same! In life those Grayling were noticeably smaller and paler than the ones I'm used to seeing on the Surrey Heaths, much more like the ones I've seen on Arnside Knott, which also emerge at a similar time.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


June 2024

Wales, a postscipt. Before moving on and resuming my outings, I thought I'd post a few images of the scenery that accompanied the butterflies.
Some views from the butterflyless South Stack Back on Great Orme A beautiful place to visit even without the butterflies

bugboy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 21, 2024 9:37 pm In life those Grayling were noticeably smaller and paler than the ones I'm used to seeing on the Surrey Heaths, much more like the ones I've seen on Arnside Knott, which also emerge at a similar time.

I remember thinking the same when I saw the Graylings there and wondering if the ones at Arnside were a similar race.

More great images from a lovely spot. I know I have said it before but I really must get back there sometime.

Cheers,

Neil.