www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

East Blean woods 9/6.

Heath fritillaries on cow-wheat.

It was interesting to read that cow-wheat is dependant on the wood ant
to spread it's seeds around, and of course the Heath Fritillary depends
on cow-wheat for breeding. All these ingredients were plentiful at East
Blean, many wood ants nests, plenty of cow-wheat and many Heath Frits
flying throughout the woods, including two in the car park.

Well a for the Heath fritillaries . I have only seen them once years ago but there were plenty of them then too

Thanks Katrina. Well worth the rather awkward journey to see them,
and no searching for them, they appeared where ever we went.

It has been several years since I last caught up with the Heath Fritillary.
So a visit to East Blean woods provided an ideal climax to a species filled week.
As we toured to woods, I'm pretty sure we failed to find the ' hot spot ' I had been told about.
But this was of no consequence as there were many Heath Frits flying where ever we went.
It was interesting to observe the behaviour of this sociable butterfly, they were found in groups
of three or four, often landing on top of each other. It was no surprise to find a mating pair with
so many around. It was difficult to comprehend that we were seeing a very rare species which
can only be found in Blean, Essex, Devon and Cornwall and then in confined areas.

Indeed Trevor, no Wood Ants, no Fritillary, just another simple example of how everything in nature is connected. Sad to think that clouds of Heath Fritillaries could once be easily found in many, if not most woodlands all across southern England. Epping Forest near me was once a good place for them and many other now very species.

Cheers Paul. A few years back Bob Eade told me that Heath Frits were in
Abbots Wood, but the cow-wheat became swamped and they died out.
There are plenty of wood ant nests in Abbots.

Beautiful.

Cracking set of shots of the Heath Frits Trevor It's been a fair few years since I've seen them, in fact I've seen Provencal Frit more recently than Heaths so have a few more

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Some nice, heavily marked Heaths there, Trevor. Hope they have a good year round that way.

I had a slow wander around Rowland Wood this morning.
The only butterflies that really showed themselves were Meadow Browns
and Large Skippers. An hoped for early White Admiral did not materialise.
A very large, female, Broad Bodiied Chaser dragon fly attracted my attention
by repeatedly flying from and returning to it's chosen perch, and nearby a
Common Blue damsel fly posed perfectly for a few shots. On the way back
to the car a group of three Common Spotted Orchids caught my eye.

Nice broad-bodied chaser. I was wondering if SPBF were still about but clearly not.

Great shots of the SPBF, Black Hairstreaks and Heath Fritillaries in your recent diary posts, Trevor I shan't be seeing any of those this year

Many thanks, Wurzel, Katrina & David for your earlier comments.
Senior moment at work there!

The bracken where I saw the SPBF is now dense and head height, Katrina,
so if any were still around they would have been difficult to see.

Thanks Mike. It was high time I caught up with the Heath Fritillary again.
I think the weather we all complain about has actually helped some species.

"Senior moment at work there!" no worries Trevor, I'm still the other side of 50 and have those Nice to see the oily sheen on the fresh Meadow Brown, they often hide that

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Jealous of your lovely Heath Fritillaries Trevor, one I have not seen for a few years now and won't be seeing this year. Thinking about it I have never seen them in the south-east, my previous ones have all been in the south-west, either on Exmoor or Greenscoombe Wood in Cornwall.

Cheers,

Neil.

Hi! Trevor. I've put off going to East Blean Woods blaming the weather and other things I'll definitely be going there now your shots are great and they've got me on the move Goldie

Cheers Neil. It's hard to believe but apart from the Essex colony of Heath Frits,
the next nearest sites are in Devon or Cornwall. East Blean is an excellent site.

Thanks Goldie. Yes, go to East Blean as soon as you can, they were flying throughout
the woods when we were there, they were not difficult to find either.

Cheers Wurzel. Come to think of it I had senior moments at your age, but they've improved.

A Dragon Fly from Iping Common today. I think it's a four spotted chaser,
unless anyone has other suggestions.

Having seen Katrina's excellent report and images from Iping Common
it occurred to me that it was several years since my last visit. After the
journey from hell, gridlock at Polegate with broken down lorry, and exit
from Shoreham flyover closed, I arrived at Iping an hour later than planned.
Under grey skies the Silver Studded Blues were slow to show, but a little warmth
through the thinning cloud and the action started. A few males went to roost
until the sun broke through, but most became very active.
Although many males were seen, only four females were found, including one
fresh looking female that fended off male advances, so may have already been mated.
It was noticeable that the females were much faster flyers than the males, and were hard to follow.
Lunch at a nearby garden centre concluded a successful, but initially stressful, day out.

I think I have photos of that same dragonfly but not as good - underneath and side!
Sorry you had a stressful journey , I perhaps should of thought to mention the flyover was shut. One of the few advantages of travelling at early o'clock is the roads are quiet.
Glad you saw the SSBs and got some good photos

Thanks Katrina. Driving in the rush hour is asking for trouble, compounded
when things go wrong! I also had to recall my mental map of the site, and
thought I had taken wrong turns, but I eventually found my usual spot.