www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

A few recent Highlights

Some real gems there Paul - definite highlights as you say, especially the female Common Blue

Thanks Wurzel Yes that Common Blue was a beauty

Sunday 12.6.2016 Bramshott Common

Last year my visit to this site for Silver Studded Blues was one of my highlights, so I had been looking forward to visiting again. The forecast today was for pretty persistant light rain, but I have learned not to pay too much attention to the weather. As I arrived the rain seem to become heavier so I set off under an umbrella and pretty soon I had located a dozen or so with a couple of Common Blues as well. As soon as the rain died off a little I grabbed the camera and got a few shots. Today, however, I knew there was no chance of any open winged shots . Sunday 19.6.2016 Stephens Castle Down

This, one of my favourite sites, is normally a late site for every species. Today during a fairly brief stop off I notched up my first Marbled Whites of the year and more surprisingly a single Ringlet. Meadow brown and Large Skipper numbers are building as Grizzled Skippers and Common Blues start to dwindle away. The most surprising sight happened just as I was leaving when a newly emerged male Dark Green Fritillary settled open winged in front of me . I think this is the first time ever that I have had this with this species but it was one of those moments when I went to take the 'perfect' shot I had that unwanted message 'memory card full' . By the time I had deleted a couple to make space I was just in time to see it take to the air and disappear out of sight. I searched a while, but the moment had gone

Great shot of the Ringlet Paul and very reassuring to see given that mine has just pupated!

Ignoring the weather reports is good advice Paul, too often I've decided not to go somewhere because of the Met only for it to turn out great - I've noticed they've had a tendency to be slightly more pessimistic with their forecasts recently Cracking Silver Studs and Marbled White - it seems that summer is here despite the weather

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Pauline & Wurzel for your comments

Saturday 25.6.2016 Stephens Castle Down

Back to Stephens Castle Down again to try and get a shot that Dark Green Fritillary from last week. Plenty of Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Large Skipper as one would expect, but no Dark Green Fritillaries at all. Small Heath numbers have started to increase thankfully but I have not seen any Brown Argus at this site this year which is a little worrying . I was pleased to find my first summer brood Small Tortoiseshell and first Small Skipper of the year today . After unsuccessfully searching for Green Hairstreak larvae last time I managed to find a couple today on Dogwood. Before the weather deteriorated too much I left site in search of White Letter Hairstreak, but I had cut things too fine. On my way to Cosham the heavens opened and by the time I arrived there it was torrential with some thunder and lightning for good measure . Needless to say I did not get out of the car. White Letter Hairstreaks would have to wait for another day.

jackz432r wrote:After unsuccessfully searching for Green Hairstreak larvae last time I managed to find a couple today on Dogwood.

Oooh - very well done, sir! What a great find!

Cheers,

- Pete

Great shots Paul Is your Ringlet an ab.arete - with the reduced eyes? It's great find whatever

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Lovely shots of the Small Skipper Paul, not seen one here yet, too wet. Goldie

Thanks all for your comments

Saturday 2.7.2016 West Meon

I am devoting much, mostly unproductive, time to White Letter Hairstreak at the moment. Hopefully I will have more to report on this later in the season. However, it has to be said that the weather conditions have been far from ideal when I have had available time. It has been mostly windy, dull and wet . I have been regularly checking on a colony I discovered at the end of last years flight season. Today the site finally produced the goods with perhaps half a dozen individuals mostly high up. The one and only photo opportunity though was was whilst I was armed with binoculars rather than camera, so I missed it . Other butterflies were in short supply, but there were other things of interest including a good haul of larvae .

jackz432r wrote:...and this contained a fully grown larva ready to pupate

Great shots, Paul! In my experience, Red Admiral pupate in a more substantial structure, comprised of several leaves loosely silken together, that often result from the top of a nettle being "felled". In fact, of all our species, I think it is the Red Admiral that is the easiest to find in its pupal state because of this (since the pupal tent is so easy to locate, in good years).

Cheers,

- Pete

Pete Eeles wrote:

jackz432r wrote:...and this contained a fully grown larva ready to pupate

Great shots, Paul! In my experience, Red Admiral pupate in a more substantial structure, comprised of several leaves loosely silken together, that often result from the top of a nettle being "felled". In fact, of all our species, I think it is the Red Admiral that is the easiest to find in its pupal state because of this (since the pupal tent is so easy to locate, in good years).

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks Pete . I was back at this site yesterday. The larval tent pictured is now empty, so I guess the larva has gone elsewhere to pupate in more appropriate accommodation.

Saturday/Sunday 9/10.7.2016 Local Sites

This weekend was yet another characterised by uncooperative weather . I do hope things start to improve soon. Inspite of the less than ideal conditions I was able to find my first White Admirals, Essex Skipper, Gatekeeper and Silver Washed Fritillaries of the year locally as well as a few of the usual suspects However, photography proved to be challenging. At one point on Sunday evening I thought I had found my first grounded Purple Emperor when I spotted a large butterfly in the distance on the main track at Whitely. As I approached I could see it occasionally flicking its wings. Approaching yet closer it proved to be a Red Admiral . Hopefully I can find myself a Purple Emperor next weekend

Great close up of the SWF Paul - they're tricky to get close too at teh best of times so a close up takes some stalking! Is your 'ringless Ringlet' the ab. arete?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wurzel wrote:Great close up of the SWF Paul - they're tricky to get close too at teh best of times so a close up takes some stalking! Is your 'ringless Ringlet' the ab. arete?

Hi Wurzel, Thanks for the comments Yes I think this Ringlet is ab. arete it is the second one I have seen this year

Saturday 16.7.2016 Emperors & Admirals At Whiteley

At last some decent butterfly weather at the weekend . On Saturday I headed off for my nearest Purple Emperor site with my fingers crossed The Whiteley/Botley Wood complex is not the most reliable site for Purple Emperor, but I am always optomistic My own limited personal experience tells me that that early morning is good for Emperor watching so I arrived at 8am. By 8.15 I had seen my first Purple Emperor of the day flying at high speed along the wooded edge of the main ride. At 8.30 I had another (or perhaps the same one) flying in the same direction along the same section of ride . I had also had my first ever close up encounter with Purple Hairstreak when one settled on a low oak branch right in front of me Unfortunately I was not able to get photos of any of these purple butterflies. Later at around 9.30 I watched an Emperor settle in an Oak tree in a different area of Whiteley. It stayed here for at least 15 minutes and I managed some rather poor long range photos. The other butterflies playing a support role included plenty of Silver Washed Fritillary, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White, Green Veined White, Small White, my first Summer Peacock of the year and very worryingly just one White Admiral despite being on site for 4 hours. However, perhaps the stars of the day were Red Admirals well into double figures and mostly very fresh.
My final Emperor encounter came as I searched for the single Wych Elm at Whiteley that has supported a colony of White Letter Hairstreak until recently. After a long search I eventually found it, but no White Letter Hairstreaks were seen. As I walked back to the car at around 11.30 I was aware of something above my head an extra large Purple Emperor (I assume a female) fluttered around in and out of a large Sallow along the track . There were plenty of other hopeful Purple Emperor hunters at Whiteley today, of the ones I spoke to I was the only one who had actually seen one so I guess it was my lucky day .

A few recent highlights

Thursday 7.7.2016 Otterlo, Netherlands
My brother is not a butterfly watcher but is gradually coming over to the dark side. He regularly sends me pictures butterflies he has seen on his travels. I particularly liked this one (with a Dutch feel). Small Coppers seem to have been very thin on the ground around my neck of the woods for the last couple of years (Maybe they have all gone on holiday to Dungeness ). Saturday 23.7.2016 Broadmarsh
I have visited this coastal location a few times recently on the hunt for White Letter Hairstreaks. There was no more than a vague possibility on the Hairstreak front, but I did find a very special Brown Argus. It was a bit windy near the sea but I managed to get a few reasonable shots. Sunday 24.7.2016 West Meon
As seen at several sites recently and as noted by others, Red Admirals seem to be everywhere. At this site in west Meon, whilst looking for Hairstreaks again, I was surrounded by about a dozen of them. There were a few fresh Peacocks as well, but no White Letter Hairstreaks

A busy couple of weeks has meant I have not had time to post much, so here are a few recent bits:

Saturday 30.7.2016 Sherfield English

This year I have been lucky enough to have been given access to a private estate in Sherfield English. My access is unfortunately restricted to certain dates so I have missed out on most of June and all of July here, bar one day. This was my second visit of the year, the first on 5th June. There has not been anything out of the ordinary to report so far, but it is the only place where I have seen Small Copper this year. I also found my first Painted Lady of the year . Sunday 31.7.2016 Beechens Copse

This was my first visit to this site, recommended to me by my brother. It is a small area of chalk downland, hidden away off the beaten track. There were plenty of butterflies around, lots of fresh Red Admirals, Peacocks and Brimstone. It will be interesting to see what lurks at this site in the spring Sunday 31.7.2016 West Meon

This site (as mentioned previously) is a site I have been visiting primarily for White Letter Hairstreak. However, on the Hairstreak front it has been a fairly disappointing season here. Thankfully there have been other highlights. Continuing on from last week the Vanessids have been putting on a pretty spectacular display. Last week it was the Red Admirals, this week the Peacocks seem to have taken control. Comma, Brimstone, Holly Blue, Meadow Brown and a full compliment of Whites complete the species list for the day, well almost. I had an unexpected surprise today when a female Purple Emperor glided down from the higher surrounding trees into a Sallow . I did not see it depart, but hopefully it found the Sallow here to be of the right type and left a few eggs behind. In The Garden

A long overdue few hours spent tidying the garden revealed quite a few eggs/larvae on my Nettles. 9 eggs on one Nettle tip as well as at least one 1st instar Comma larva. I was kindly given a potted Wych Elm earlier in the year, thanks again Pauline. I noticed this week that it has become home to 4 second instar Comma larvae. Unfortunately those 4 larvae are now down to 3 after my youngest son allowed a stray football to collide with the branch knocking 2 off . Luckily I was able to retrieve of them after a short search and relocate it on the Elm.

Glad to see the Wych Elm is being put to good use whilst it waits for the next generation of WLH . BTW, you might be interested to know Paul that there are more WLH eggs on my Elm than I originally thought

Thanks Pauline All four of these larvae disappeared overnight a few days ago. But I have now located several more on Nettle in the Garden.

Saturday 13.8.2016 & Monday 15.8.2016 Shipton Bellinger

I left home under a clear blue sky for my planned visit, but as I approached Shipton Bellinger the sky became increasingly overcast. The forecast had not been brilliant but I thought I would chance it although I nearly turned back. By the time I arrived at 9.00 there was thick cloud cover together with a gusty wind and no sunshine at all. Later on there were even several light rain showers. I was not surprised to find that I seemed to be the only person looking for Brown Hairstreaks and butterflies were initially in very short supply. I have been told in the past that Brown Hairstreaks only fly in sunshine. Well that certainly was not the case today, there seemed to be plenty of male activity in the less than perfect conditions. At 9.30 a tussle between 2 males around a Maple tree resulted in one party settling low down at eye level. I could not quite get myself high enough for a good open winged shot, even standing on tiptoe, but I managed some close ups . Later the occasional brief sunny interlude brought out a few more species to add to the 8 or so Brown Hairstreaks. However, there were many absentees compared to previous visits and most species were in very low numbers . No Brown Argus, Small Copper or Silver Washed Fritillary seen on either day and only singles of Red Admiral, Peacock, Comma, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Small Heath seen over the 2 days. Thankfully Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood and Holly Blue seemed to be doing well here as always with reasonable numbers seen on both days.

As my visit had been fairly disappointing I decided to return 2 days later when conditions were 'better' . Lots of sunshine but still with a windy gust every now and again. I had less time available but again butterflies seemed in very short supply. About 5 or so male Brown Hairstreaks and plenty of other Hairstreak watchers including a group from Cambridge. I again had a male come down in the same location as previously, but only briefly. I had hoped to find a female but that was not to be, but I believe the Cambridge group had earlier located a female in the field next to the main track. So 2 days in contrasting conditions with neither day particularly encouraging at this site which normally gives a good count, both of individual butterflies and of different species. The dull, windy and showery day seemed to give me more success where Brown Hairstreaks were concerned .

Your efforts deserve a better reward! I think we're all experiencing the same thing - far fewer butterflies than is normal for this time of year.