millerd

[bugboy]

So many Brown Hairstreaks this year, maybe the lush growth of grasses etc growing up through the low down Blackthorn the females favour for egg laying helped to conceal the caterpillars from predators? Whatever the reason, the result was well worth the the many visits we made

[Benjamin]

Great stuff Dave. With all these brown hairstreaks in diaries I’m beginning to regret neglecting them somewhat this year! Stunning female there!

[millerd]

Yes, it's been a great year for them at Bookham, Buggy. Over the course of August I think I managed to see them down there on five different days. Whatever the key factors were, let's hope they repeat (or are even enhanced!) in the future.

Cheers, Ben - they are are always rewarding to make the effort for, as usually it requires a bit of that and a bit of patience too. However, as you've seen, things seem to have been easier than usual this summer.

On Thursday 19th August, I started the day with a walk down to Staines Moor, as I hadn't been down here since the 1st of the month. Meadow Browns dominate this extensive piece of wet grassland, and there were lots flying today. As summer progresses, the days shorten and the sun starts to lose strength (it is now two months after the solstice), and female Meadow Browns seem to respond by opening up more. New ones continue to emerge as well: this one looked fresh and was particularly colourful.

I also managed to find a mating pair, which considering the numbers around I always think you'd encounter more often.

One of the main attractions of this site is its population of Small Coppers - it's a rare day between the end of April and mid-September when one won't turn up somewhere.

This one was a bit of a curiosity - one hindwing appeared neatly cut, or possibly just malformed. Either way, the defect affected the butterfly not one bit.

And there was this one, which would have been interesting to see when it was fresh, as the colouring appears unusually pale. I suppose it could be particularly faded by wear.

The Moor does not have many Common Blues or Brown Argus, as there is only limited growth of their foodplants - confined to drier spots for the most part. Nevertheless they always appear.

missing the second spot of the "colon" mark

There were still quite a few worn Small Skippers around...

...some Speckled Woods under the trees along the margins of the grassland...

...and a fresh Small Tortoiseshell.

They are around in ones and twos this year as they usually are, but there has been no marked upsurge in numbers as has been seen elsewhere in the south of England.

With the weather holding as best it could manage this month, I walked back up to my local patch again.

Dave

[millerd]

Once back on my local patch on 19th August, I decided to perform one of my periodic approximate counts of what was flying. I managed to find 15 species and a total of 174 butterflies - though Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and the white butterflies were perhaps less rigorously tallied. What came top of the pile was a bit of a surprise, though:

Common Blue 51
Meadow Brown 45
Gatekeeper 20
Speckled Wood 13
Holly Blue 11
Small White 11
Red Admiral 6
Brown Argus 4
Large White 3
Green-veined White 3
Comma 3
Small Heath 1
Small Copper 1
Painted Lady 1
Peacock 1

This is probably the highest Common Blue total here since I started counting, and is particulary pleasing in that it came after the area was comprehensively mown in mid-July. That said, the wet and reasonably warm conditions since have meant that the Birds' Foot Trefoil here has flourished in a big way in a major second showing, with the odd plant here and there now becoming a yellow carpet in places.

With so many Common Blues around, there were a good number of females among them and consequently some interesting variety including one or two with scarcely a blue scale between them.

There were fresh males, but nothing unusual.

Occupied with counting, I didn't take as many shots as usual, but couldn't ignore a female Holly Blue. She was egg-laying, and basking between bouts in the manner of a Brown Hairstreak.

I couldn't pass the Painted Lady by either...

...nor the fresh Small Heath that heralded the start of another brood.

The most curious event of the day was an encounter with a female Meadow Brown. While walking back along one of the wooded paths, a butterfly started to circle me. Usually this behaviour would be typical of a Red Admiral, but when it actually decided to settle on my sleeve it turned out to be something quite different.

Always something new to see!

Dave

[Wurzel]

With all those butterflies landing on you this season Dave I think you should let us into the secret - which cologne do you use? Those Small Coppers are certainly interesting the first one looked like the wing is still folded and didn't unfurl properly As for the other one that looks more like a Small Golden than Copper Interesting to see those female Common Blues as well, I have a gut feeling that I saw a few more brown females this year than in previous years bucking the trend?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

I'm not sure what the attraction is, Wurzel - I certainly don't use any insect repellent, so that may help (at the expense of bites from various other creatures ) There have certainly been more browner female blues around this year - further selections coming up.

Friday 20th August and Saturday 21st continued the trend of showers and a bit of sunshine, and the uncertainty in the forecasts with this type of weather meant I continued to stay local. It meant I could dash out if it looked like the sun was temporarily winning, and with temperatures just above the 20 degree mark there would be something flying. One or two things from 20th not photographed the previous day, for example:

This handsome beast was right in the middle of the path - possibly a Ruby Tiger caterpillar?

21st was a better day, and I went back to getting shots of various versions of female Common Blues. Firstly though was a fresh and quite boldly-marked male Small White...

...a female Brown Argus...

...and a slightly bedraggled Small Copper.

Here then are the colourful ladies...

...a couple of the gentlemen...

...and one of each.

There were still plenty of Common Blues to choose from - over 40 seen again today.

Dave

[trevor]

My eyes nearly popped out when I saw your 'blue ' female Common Blues,
remembering that I found a real beauty about this time last year.
Then I realised that your post is a little historic, never mind, good to see them!.

Great stuff,
Trevor.

[millerd]

Yes, Trevor, I'm well behind with this diary. The problem has been (though when you think about it, it's the opposite of a problem really ) that yesterday (2nd October) was the first day since 30th July that I haven't seen and photographed a butterfly. This is 63 consecutive days to report on something, and an amazingly high proportion have had something worth mentioning. (Back to normal today - 3rd October - an extraordinary 48 Red Admirals counted in a 90 minute circuit of my local patch. It may well be November though before a report on that appears here! )

So, back to the last ten days of August. On Sunday 22nd there was more sunshine in the forecast, for the morning at least. Another trip to Bookham with hopefully some more female Brown Hairstreaks out and about seemed a good bet. Great minds think similarly, and I encountered Bugboy down there once again, but before we bumped into each other I managed to find my initial female Brown Hairstreak. She appeared to be warming up as the sun came and went, presumably waiting till she reached the temperature required to set about the important task of laying eggs. From my point of view, the time this took in these conditions meant she opened up quite a bit and provided some good views.

I then came across Bugboy and we found a rather careworn male Hairstreak on the hogweed.

However, it wasn't long before another female was encountered. I was unable to get so close to this one.

We also spotted this surprisingly well-preserved male Silver-washed Fritillary.

Not much later came my third female Hairstreak of the day, which had obviously warmed up sufficiently and was making forays into the blackthorn to lay. The shrub here was intermingled closely with hawthorn, and she had a bit of work on her hands makng sure she was walking down the right twigs.

She also posed rather well, though - a pity about the little nick out of one forewing.

One more male on the hogweed concluded the day's Hairstreak activity for me.

I did get pretty close to this one.

I had to head off at this point, but I think Bugboy continued in similar vein elsewhere in the woodland. That said, I couldn't ignore this splendid Painted Lady as I made my way back to the car.

After all that, my first Hairstreak of the day was quite likely the best of the bunch.

Probably the high point of the Brown Hairstreak season for me, a season which appeared to be turning into a pretty good one for the species.

Dave

[bugboy]

Ahh, I remember that day well, my end of day tally was 12 Hairstreaks! Like you say, they had a good season... despite the below par August weather.

[Wurzel]

"Yes, Trevor, I'm well behind with this diary." At least you're into August
That is a well preserved Silver-washed Dave, I've seen them on the very last day of August in the past but they were in bits by then and they were the later emerging females. He must have been a late starter to still look that reasonable? Lovely Brostreaks There's something very visually pleasing about the combination of chocolate brown and vibrant orange

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Buggy - it is indeed difficult to fathom out exactly what element of the curious weather pattern we've had this year is the one that has appealed to the Brown Hairstreaks. Certainly August (when all my sightings have been) was unusually dull in Southeast England, with less than 100 hours of sun all month. It was slightly cooler than average too, and September has actually been just as warm as August.

Yes, Wurzel, there is something particularly pleasing about Brown Hairstreak colouration. This is curious, really, since there are any number of orange and brown butterflies, and a fresh female Hedgie is amost the same combination. That said, the underside of the Hairstreak is in another class...

Monday 23rd August promised similar weather with at least some sunshine in the mix. I headed for the North Downs, and decided to start at Box Hill. I tend to neglect this spot after the heady days of DGF and Marbled Whites in late June/early July, and Bugboy had reported a decent showing of Silver-spotted Skippers. There should also be a selection of Blues at this time of year. However, I found things very disappointing: hardly a blue butterfly to be seen (just a few Common Blues, some tired Chalkhills and not a sniff of an Adonis). The Silver Spots were around, true, but they were also well past their best - I assume this must be an early site.

After a coffee and a good wander round, I cut my losses and drove the short distance across to Denbies and hoped for better.

Dave

[millerd]

23rd August (continued): Denbies Hillside

This was more like it. Though the number (and condition) of Chalkhill Blues had dropped a bit now, there were still plenty around, especially females.

There were still mating pairs to be found, including this worn-looking couple. Surely this female must have mated before...

In fact, unmated females generated some extraordinary attention.

The 2020 second brood of Adonis here had been very sparse, but the 2021 spring showing was more encouraging. I'd say the current second brood was a bit better than 2020's but still nothing special: I saw maybe 20 males at most today, and no obvious females.

There were plenty of other butterflies - with more showy species around, the many Meadow Browns tend to get overlooked.

In amongst them, well past their prime, were a couple of female Silver-washed Fritillaries.

After that came something that could not possibly be overlooked - a brand-new Painted Lady.

I then started to concentrate on Silver-spotted Skippers. I became aware that there were actually quite a few flying, some of which seemed relatively fresh. They were in their element, with plenty of scabious to choose from.

On the dot of three o'clock, I spotted this one which had managed to find a scabious flower growing up through a bit of blackthorn.

As it flew off, my eye followed it and then stopped - there on the blackthorn right in front of me was a female Brown Hairstreak.

She was busily wandering down the stems looking for a good spot to lay.

I have to say the shrub here looked in excellent condition, and an egg hunt after the leaves have fallen will be interesting. As ever, after her exertions she decided to bask, but chose to do so downslope of me on the sunward side of the bushes - this is all I could see!

Having seen the male here back on 5th I did wonder if I'd see a female - but this was way across the other side of the slope. Another first for me at Denbies.

Well chuffed with this, I wandered back across the hillside. My attention was diverted by a shiny new Small Copper - so new that it was a bit unsteady and needed a helping hand.

Then, as I scanned the view from the top of the slope, an unmistakeable Clouded Yellow careered past further down. Somewhat foolishly I headed after it, and though I did get nearer, I could only manage some rather distant shots on the rare occasions it stopped to nectar. It never paused for long, as other butterflies repeatedly "bounced" it off the flowers: Meadow Browns in particular.

This highly out-of-focus photo has been heavily manipulated.

What an extraordinary afternoon. The combination and variety of species seen was for me unprecedented - Brown Hairstreaks, Silver-spots, Adonis, Cloudies and SWF at the same site on the same day - plus all the others. There were also a few other species I haven't even mentioned: Common Blue, Brown Argus, Large and Small Whites, Red Admiral, Brimstone, Small Heath, Gatekeeper.

Denbies was really showing off today.

Dave

[bugboy]

foolishly careering down the hillside after a Clouded Yellow... yea that sounds familiar . Looking back on my records, it looks like SSS were peaking 10 days before your visit at Box Hill, with males just starting to look slightly worn on the 13th but most females looking fresh as a daisy.

I've never been to Denbies out of the butterfly season but perhaps I should go for a wander that way this winter That Hairstreak looks like a fine example of her species

[millerd]

Yes, with hindsight heading downhill after a speeding Cloudie is pretty silly - when it turns round and effortlessly flies back up the hill, you'll be stranded at the bottom. Nevertheless, the temptation is sometimes just to much... That Hairstreak was indeed a splendid specimen, and it was a shame that the Law of Sod prevailed and made her open up somehere that I just couldn't see properly. Worth an egg search at Denbies this winter definitely, as long as the cows don't browse the blackthorn too closely (or some well-meaning soul doesn't "tidy" the footpath over much).

Tuesday 24th August started with another local walk - with so many species out at the moment (14 today), and good numbers of Common Blues (over 40 again today), it is too much of a temptation when the sun actually shines. Some highlights...

just one striking blue female today

a very nice Brown Argus

a major bird strike didn't seem to slow this Copper down one bit

one of several new brood individuals seen today

the summer brood females are already looking a wee bit tired - egg-laying must be hard work

female GVW...

...and matching male

the old guard hutchinsoni...

...and the brand new hibernator

numbers are much better now than they were in spring

This could be part of the reason for the high Common Blue numbers - one of two different extensive swathes of flowering Birds' Foot Trefoil.

yellow carpet

That left the afternoon for another outing...

Dave

[Wurzel]

Fantastic Silver Spots Dave and that female Brostreak, whilst being a little camera shy looked sublime Cloudy Chasing is a rapidly growing sport, I hear that they're even considering it for the next Olympics

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - I've certainly had a bit of practice at the 100m Downhill Cloudie Dash and Uphill Pant and Wheeze...

The afternoon of 24th August remained fine, so having not visited for nearly a fortnight, I headed up to Aston Rowant. Adonis Blues were flying here too - perhaps in better numbers per bit of hillside than at Denbies.

Though a few worn Chalkhills remained, and a handful of Common Blues, the other notable species from the family was the Brown Argus. This is a particularly good site for them, and they can be very numerous here.

very strongly marked for what appears to be a male butterfly

However, Aston Rowant is perhaps best known for its strong population of Silver-spotted Skippers. Though now past the peak of their season, there still seemed to be plenty around - their speed in the air and jinking flight makes it easy to underestimate numbers in fact.

There was egg-laying underway on and around the many clumps of sheep's fescue.

Also seen today were a few Brimstones feeding up...

...and a continuing supply of new and increasingly colourful female Meadow Browns.

Not as spectacular as Denbies in terms of variety, but the Adonis provided a better showing.

Dave

[trevor]

Very nice Adonis shots Dave, and a for the Silver Spotted Skippers.
I managed to miss them again this year.
I admire your heroic efforts to obtain a Cloudie shot!.

Stay well,
Trevor.

[millerd]

Thank you, Trevor. I'm not sure why I waste my breath chasing Cloudies on the hillsides when they are actually easier to come by down by Shoreham Harbour... All part of the fun I suppose.

On Wednesday 25th August, I stayed local again and counted around 150 butterflies on another reasonably warm day. There was a good showing from the second brood Brown Argus today (15)...

and the highest count of Speckled Woods for the year so far (also 15).

They weren't the only ones enjoying the fermenting blackberries.

One other notable sighting was a Small White pairing...

...and there was a boldly-marked male GVW too.

As ever, always something of interest...

Dave

[millerd]

Thursday 26th August was a fair bit cooler and cloudier (19 degrees instead of 23) and a morning on my local patch was rather less productive in numbers. However, the strangest sighting was seeing a small silvery-looking butterfly down on some late bramble flowers which I took to be a worn Holly Blue. However, when I had a closer look, it was actually a Purple Hairstreak. In the few moments it took to prepare to record the event, of course the butterfly took flight straight up to the nearby oaks in unmistakeable fashion. This late sighting reminded me that I hadn't made any effort this year to see this species locally, which is dreadfully remiss of me. There are two or three reliable spots, but I just hadn't looked.

Common Blues were still flying under the bright cloudiness, with some more to add to the album of female variability.

There was a Small Copper or two (this brood is looking rather tired now)...

...another lovely new deep pinky-orange Painted Lady.

...and further freshly-emerged Speckled Woods. I think this was as new as I've ever seen one.

The afternoon at least looked as if it would stay dry, though sunshine might continue at a premium. I considered where to go where I might see something less usual under such conditions... Ah yes, I remember! Somewhere I hadn't been since the end of July in fact.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots of the Silver-spots and summertime blues/browns Dave I don't know if you noticed but the Painted Lady has some blue 'eyes' in the hind wing marginal spots as if they weren't showy enough

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel