Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie I got lucky in that someone clued me in on the hotspot for the Silver Spots and I had the easiest time finding them that I've ever had
"I'm looking forward to seeing your September calendar" thanks for the reminder, I'd forgotten about that

Secret Garden 28-07-2022

The weather app assured me that it would be cloudy and so there would be little point looking for Brostreaks at Shipton hence I put my plans on hold for another day. So I was at a loss for something to do; I didn’t feel like starting my summer work, I was actually quite close to being up together with my trip write-ups and my wife was due to meet her sister. So with camera at hand I was walking the streets of Salisbury. After picking up a few things for tea and checking in at the library the cloud lifted and the sun beat down and started broiling all those unfortunate fools (myself included) who had put their trust in the so called weather forecast apps. In desperate need for shade and hoping to find paths to tread that didn’t reflect the heat back up me I retired to the grounds of the Arts Centre, a little pocket of green in the city centre.

The Arts Centre is a converted old church and there several paths across the grounds which are bordered by flowers. I took to strolling along these camera ready and hoping for a few Whites which were in the vicinity to settle down and have some nectar. A couple did but always at the other end of the path or on the other side of the border of flowers and then by the time I’d get round to them they’d have moved on, often to quite close to my original position. Despite the slight respite offered by the shade this was hot work and as the time past it became more and more sweltering so with a final few clicks and several cuss words spoken in the direction of the whites I sought somewhere cooler.

The Secret Garden seemed to perfect place. I say seemed as I‘d never visited the actual garden before only the Council Offices backing onto it. It was smaller than expected but the trees and shrubs around the margins offered shade and the trickling of the water in the small pond added to the refreshing feel. I walked along the curving paths checking the beds and spotted a few more Whites and a Comma. I then looked down lower and deeper into the bed and there was a small, brown looking butterfly. Because of its attitude and because it was sitting in the shade I immediately thought Specklie, then the brown wings suggested a Meadow Brown but it was too small. I peered at it more intently taking in the square cut hind wings, the deep chocolate colour and the slightest of yellow flashes on the froe wings…Brown Hairstreak! I struggled to focus in on it and to my horror I only manage to fire off two shots – one as it was closing its wings and the other once it had taken off. I watched with bated breath as it jinks up and down over the flowers in the bed, it jinks out of the garden (AHHHH!) but then came back (phew!) and came down onto the deck. I crept up as stealthily as I could and grabbed a few more shots even though it was at an acute angle to me more as proof for my own disbelieving eyes than anything else. It was looking like it was going to turn and I could get something better when it was spooked by an OAP that was trundling around the paths with their walker.

I hung around watching the Comma and another few whites for a bit in the vain hope that the Brostreak would show again. A Holly Blue did its best to catch me out with its jinking, Hairstreak-esque flight and after a chat with another photographer I took to being a Teddy Bear…and walked round and round the garden but always coming back hopefully to that same spot in the flower beds. In my laps I spotted a few Mint Moths, strangely enough hanging around some sprigs of mint as well as a familiar face. Then I branched out and checked out the more extensive grounds. These hummocks and tree lined ridges I remembered from when I was very small and we’d sledged down them before scrunching our way home in the snow. At the bottom of hills sections of the lawn had been left to grow wild and I counted three Large Whites, 2 Meadow Browns and a Specklie before my phone went off and I headed back into town to meet my wife and head home.

Late that evening K was being interviewed for Camp America so the rest of us packed up and vacated our tiny house so as not to disturb her. We drifted through town and ended up in the Cathedral grounds. While the others read I went for a wander in the delightful golden evening light. As I was making my back a Red Admiral buzzed me before landing up in a tree from whence it stared down imperiously at me. I found by standing on tip-toes and holding my camera out arms at full stretch and managed a couple of shots. Then while catching up with Frodo and the others of the Fellowship a Squirrel popped up and a Peregrine shattered the peace as it shrieked upon its arrival home.

The Secret Garden…
What’s the secret being kept?
Brown Hairstreak it seems!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

A BH in the middle of Salisbury, amazing. Pity it was not more co-operative.
But still a great find.

Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor I couldn't believe it at first I'll have to check again next year to see if it was just a one-off roving male

September 2022

This is it, the jig is almost up!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Shipton Bellinger 29-07-2022

I thought that what with the hot weather the Brostreaks would have woken up and would be out and about by the time that I got there. However a quick scoot along the Hedge showed me to be incorrect in my assumption. It was pretty quiet although I did get a Wall straight off the bat with a nice Comma to follow. I decided to use my early arrival to my advantage and try to get a few Walls before they warmed up and became too frenetic so I carried on up the Hill from the Main Hedge. Sure enough there was another Wall in amid all of the Meadow Browns and Hedgies and the odd Brimstone floated by. When I reached the first clearing/scallop I had a wander round and a general mooch about. I picked up what at first glance appeared to be a Brown Argus – tiny and brown with orange lunules but on closer examination it turned into a female Common Blue, one of the smallest I’ve ever encountered. There were also Small Heaths looking much smaller than their Meadow cousins and a couple of DGFs surprisingly looking quite fresh. The hoped for Walls did show up but played their usual game of hard to get.

I followed the track onwards even when it dove down through the trees and ended up in final ribbon clearing where a Silver-washed passed by and a Holly Blue refused to come down for a photo. I returned to the initial clearing via the path that runs across the top of the down and so managed to catch-up with another DGF and surprise a female Wall. After this the butterflies seemed to have warmed up sufficiently and so rather than pursuing I changed tactics and tried to catch the butterflies unawares which meant photos became a little further apart.

I worked my way back down the hill and took the main track towards the village pausing at each Ash that I reached just in case the Brostreaks were flying about above. They weren’t but I did spot a Comma, Small Tort and a Painted Lady on the trek down to the cross roads. Once there I turned right and checked out the field behind the path. The Creeping Thistles had almost all gone over so my hopes for a Brostreak didn’t pan out but I did manage to photograph a few Smessex Skippers and a Small Tort. I retraced my steps to the crossroads and stopped to watch two Commas pass me by and also a Painted Lady as well as getting some shots of a gorgeously fresh Brown Argus before diving down the track to the which runs on the other side of the hedge behind the field. Along here there were several Walls amid the other Browns and a bush with both Mr and Mrs Brimstone. Towards the end there were at least 3 Walls, maybe even five or six and a Specklie kept guard at the exit of the tunnel.

I did wonder about making my way back to the Main Hedge but in the end I turned right and instead went to examine the Nettle Patch. The narrow path seemed even narrower this year with masses of Wild Carrot/Parsnip sprouting all over the turf and blacking out the old and gone over Creeping Thistles. At the first break in this sea of mustard yellow a Red Admiral and a Comma fed almost side by side on the large Bramble bush and the other Aristos’ were represented further along with singletons of Peacock and Painted Lady. The usual track at the end looked to be bereft of the once ubiquitous Creeping Thistle and my hope of a Brostreak here started to wan. To keep my mind of the possible disappointment I trained my lens on one of the Hedgies…As I focused in my Autofocus went past the Hedgie and settled on…a male Borstreak! It must have been feeding around the back of the plant and me leaning in for the shot had coincided with it working its way round to the front. Chuffed I clicked away racking up as many shots as I could. He checked out what few Bramble blossoms remained and then flew deep into the middle of the Nettle Bed so I wished him well and carried on. At the very end, one of the tips of the triangle shaped Nettle Bed a few more Commas buzzed about – they seemed to be almost as common as the Walls!

Back at the Main Hedge the usual suspects minus the normally numerous Holly Blue flew. About half way along I caught up with another enthusiast and we watched another male Brostreak as it flew along the top of the Blackthorn in the hedge. At the far end, on the corner a Small Heath did a jinky little flight doing its best to impersonate a Brostreak and then once it had settled it demonstrated its prowess as a Brown Argus by attacking anything that came within three feet of it. On one of the odd occasions that it actually sat still I nipped forward and grabbed a few shots before it cottoned on. I was wondering what to do next when I saw Jenny approaching. She’d had slightly better luck than me and so had witnessed a fresh female just between the end of the Tunnel track and before the Nettle Bed. So when I reached the end of the Main Hedge instead of turning about I kept on walking along the metalled road and then down the Tunnel track in the opposite direction from earlier. Again the Walls were very entertaining although there seemed to be slightly fewer of them on this time along the track? The Brimstone conversely had increased and the Burr bush was crawling with them, in fact there were three feeding very close together, two actually on the same floret! I bumped into False Apollo/Mike here and then again later on my second pass of the Nettle Beds before checking my final place on the site, the hedge on the other side of the field from the Main Hedge. I had no joy here although the odd Wall was about and also a few Common Blues but the best thing here was the very entertaining warning sign in the Portaloos!

Still chuckling form this I made for home hoping that on my next visit the Brostreaks would be more on form…
A single Brostreak
Does not a summer maketh
Need to return soon
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

a few for those Hairstreaks, way better than anything I've seen this year. As I type I've still only seen 3 and I suspect it wont get much better than that!

[Goldie M]

Lovely Hair Streaks Wurzel that's another one for next year for me

My summer is over I think, I'm having to have a new drive done because of the drainage here, ( I thought things were too good to be true) that'll take a week and also the Bathrooms being done that's another week by the time it's all finished it'll be October, at least the Bungalow 's okay , ( so far)

Loved your September calendar cheered me up no end Goldie

[trevor]

The mrgreens flow freely for those male BH shots .
Pity the heat spoilt our day out there.
The mind boggles with the sign alerting the desperate about possible hand grenades down the pan !.

Trevor.

PS. All the best for the new term.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Bugboy There are a few more beauties to come they were hard work this year but persistence and luck helped even things out a bit
Cheers Goldie Sorry to hear about the drive way - you'll need a house sitter to come and keep an eye on the place while you nip out with your camera
Cheers Trevor The thing about that sign is that it suggests that someone might have actually done it - that's certainly a new way to muckspread! Back at work proper tomorrow - where did the summer go?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

The Devenish 06-08-2022

Having arrived back from Wales I eased myself back into the Butterflying again and I couldn’t think of a better spot for this than the Devenish – a small reserve, really close by and with a great range of butterflies. When I arrived a French couple were clearing up their petit-dejeuner and airing their sleeping bags which was a slightly incongruous beginning but hopefully the butterflies wouldn’t be much more awake than the Gallic visitors. As I passed by wishing them a ‘Bonjour’ I spotted a Small Tort and a Holly Blue. However I didn’t think it would be a good look to whip the lens cap off my camera and start firing away what with them still in their night-time attire and so I left all concerned in peace and swiftly made for the Orchid Meadow.

Almost as soon as I was though the gate I was buzzed by a large-ish ginger beastie – a DGF and still looking in reasonable nick. It slowed down allowing me to make a couple of approaches and grab a few shots each time and as it turned to leave I realised that it had led me to a large clump of Hemp Agrimony which was growing up against the fence. This was acting like a butterfly magnet; tractor beaming in all nearby butterflies. I was slightly bamboozled at first and I didn’t know where to start so I looked to my left and then scanned over the whole bush. I started with two Brown Argus and a Red Admiral. Next came a Meadow Brown and a Specklie and then another Meadow Brown and a brace of Hedgies. At the other end I added a further pair of Brown Argus and a Common Blue. Not a bad smattering on a single clump!

This seemed to easiest way of photographing the butterflies; just go and hang out where they like to hang out, and so I followed one of the narrow tracks to the next clump that was growing slightly further along the fence. This was a slightly smaller clump but made up for its narrower girth in an increased height but because of the lower quantity of nectar available there were only 5 butterflies here – one Brown Argus and 4 Common Blues. As I watched a couple of the latter took to the air and settled down in the grass. I followed one as something about it didn’t seem right and when I viewed it through the lens I could see that the lunules were much paler more a tangerine than full on orange colour. Chuffed with finding this interesting display of variation I set off to examine the Down proper and as the grass swished past my boots at the side of the path a couple of whites drifted past.

From the Meadow I followed the steep Tunnel track up and out onto the Down. A Small Copper and Common Blue had a bit of a scrap while a couple each of Meadow Browns and Hedgies egged them on from the side-lines/the Bramble. A Small White flew past and immediately regretted it as it flew into the danger zone. Slightly further up I paused to have a breather and let the Lactic acid in my claves oxidise and I scanned about picking up a Brown Argus and 3 male Chalkhills. I was joined on the slopes by a Gent from Oxford and as we chatted several more Chalkhills showed themselves, glittering and flashing from within the sea of grass as they caught the light. As he climbed back up to join his wife I followed the diagonal track across the Down to the treeline at the bottom.

The first clump of Hemp Agrimony was bare of butterflies but the second held a few Meadow Browns and a female Common Blue. The third ‘clump’ this year had grown into a strip which skirted the bottom of the Down from half way along to the gully at the end. Whilst this meant that traversing the terrain to get to the butterflies was easier and didn’t involve any trampling it meant that the butterflies were much more spread out and so stalking became trickier. There were plenty of Hedgies and even more Meadow Browns, a male and female Common Blue as well as a couple of Brown Argus. One floret had both a Brown Argus and a Common Blue present but unfortunately I couldn’t get both in shot and in focus which was a shame as it would have been nice to have had a comparison shot. As I worked my way along and reached the Gully as well as a few a Whites I added a few more each of Brown Argus (which seem to have had a great time of it this year) and Common Blue.

At the Top Paddock there were more Blues; 3 Common and a Brown Argus whereas at the other Paddock by the bench the Browns were represented with 2 Meadow Browns and a Small Heath. I worked my way back down the and spent some time trying to capture the Chalkhillls They did their est to frustrate me; flying off just as I focused in, landing and looking brilliant except for a single stem of grass sitting across their body or disappearing into little ‘caves’ in the twisted tussocks. Eventually I felt like I persisted enough and so started back down spotting more of the same species as well a couple of Holly Blues which flew first along and then over the Bramble at the start of the Tunnel track.

I found myself back at the very first Hemp Agrimony clump in the Orchid Meadow and there seemed to be even more butterflies here than before. There were still the Meadow Browns and the Hedgies squabbling on the periphery, a bit further back into the clump and like the previous visit there was a Red Admiral, Common Blue and this time up to 6 Brown Argus but a Small White fluttered in and a Specklie joined the party. At one stage a male and female Brimstone stopped in but they soon departed, possibly not liking the other clientele? Then I spotted the stars of the show – a brace of Chalkhills without blades of grass falling between them and my lens, without the little grass ‘caves’ and with the sweet nectar anchoring them to one spot. One of the two in particular caught my eye as the spots on the fore wing were larger and bolder than usual whilst those on the hind wing were smaller or missing, almost as if they’d used up all the ink on the fore wing. A Holly Blue introduced itself as well and so my lens deviated backward and forwards between these two different Blues.

None too shabby an outing; the Devenish proved its value once again!
Small site, short time frame
But butterflies a plenty
The Devenish rocks!
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Middle Street 07-08-2022

We were having a fairly quiet weekend having arrived back from Wales and so after lunch I took a quick stroll over to Middle Street to stretch my legs and to gently ease back into butterflying around my usual haunts in the extra warm conditions. On the way over a Red Admiral was braving the sun and pootling about near the slip way by the Mill. It didn’t want to hang about in the sun for too long and almost as soon as I’d spotted it, it nipped into a bush and hung on the underside in the shade. After a few shots I carried on crossing my fingers crossed that the other butterflies weren’t all behaving in a similar manner.

Once on site I walked along the edge of football field towards the ‘End’ speeding up when a gap in the overhead branches let the sun through so that I could stay in the relative cool of the shade for a long as possible. Looking out over the unmown areas the summer had not been kind and rather than the green with spots of colour from the flowers everything looked yellow. What a month ago had been a verdant, lush meadow was now a steaming field of straw, the heat shimmering as haze at the top of the stems. I girded my loins and broke away from the comfortable cover under the canopy and started into the field of straw. Surprisingly the butterflies were all out enjoying the sunshine – perhaps the dark ground colour of the Red Admiral, so useful at the tail end of the year, it a bit of handicap in the hottest of summers? As I scanned about I spotted several Hedgies and plenty of Meadow Browns. The occasional pair Common Blue caught my eye, its colouration making it stick out like a sore thumb. I saw 6 in all, all pairs of males and all knocking several shades out of each other. In amongst the Blue on Blue violence I also found a Brown Argus and a definite Large White and a few Small Whites do fly-bys.

Cheered that despite the sweltering weather the butterflies were still flying I pressed on, following my usual route in reverse hence I checked Dip 3 and then Dip 2 but they were both so overgrown I didn’t feel like I could properly examine them for fear of trampling stuff underfoot. However I did find a couple of Specklies flying along the riverside path and occasionally they would take a break from either patrolling or scrapping to sit on a leaf in the sun.

Next up was Dip 1 which like the other two Dips was also impenetrable, to the extent that I couldn’t even make out where the path sued to be, it was just a solid wall of straw, which might not have fared well against the Big Bad Wolf but worked wonders against the wanderings of a Wurzel. Instead I keep to the Riverside path and it took me round the pond and to the start of the Bank path that runs the length of the reserve. I found some shade and stood in it whilst watching over the low laying ground on the other side of the bank path. It ran down, gently sloping, into the fast shrinking pond but the roots of the various flowering clumps must have tapped into the water for they were still lush and in good nick. I reckoned that the butterflies would soon find this little oasis and so settled down. Sure enough after a minute or so the butterflies that had hidden themselves when I arrived forgot I was there and out they came. There were three or four Hedgies, another brace of battling Specklies and a couple of Common Blues, both males, which kept scrapping over one particular clump of Hemp Agrimony. I’d nip out into the sun, grab a few shots and then as the sweat began to prickle on my forehead I’d scuttle back into the blessed relief of the shade.

While the males were busy chasing each other about I spotted a female which flew in from the general direction of the field. Whilst the males would fly at medium height, over the tops of the flowers, this female kept a much lower profile. She stuck to the tops of the shortest of the plants and sometime I’d lose her as she wove in, around and through strands of vegetation. I guess that she was trying to avoid the attentions of the boisterous and near psychotic males. A few whites passed though, one stopping long enough to confirm it as a Green-veined and a Comma buzzed me.

Having cooled down and seen pretty much all there was to see here I once again braved the broiling sun and worked my way back along the Banks path. The sun beat down as I scanned across the Dips, although I didn’t know if I should have referred to them as such because the vegetation had grown so tall it was almost level with the top of the Bank Path. There was nothing to see and so I quickly made my way back to the End. Almost as soon as I’d entered the field I spotted 3 Common Blues, 2 males and a female. I moved further into the field, burs sticking to my socks and burying their way down to dig in the soles of my feet. At the first clump of Hemp Agrimony I paused. The scene before me brought to mind one from The Blue Planet; huge expanses of sea with very little in it and then life teeming around the coral reef. So it was here just replace the sea with grasses and the Hemp Agrimony becomes the Reef. Several Hedgies were flitting about and nectaring and also a Brown Argus. Common e Blues and Whites buzzed by crossing the barren wastelands from one reef/clump of flowers to another.

I stood and watched for some time, slowly baking as the sun beat down. Eventually I recognised that I was a little too warm and so retreated to the shade of the trees that line the site before walking home whilst seeking whatever shade was possible.
Blues are sun seekers
But Admirals hide away
At baked Middle Street
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Shipton Bellinger 08-08-2022

Yesterday it had been hot and I’d had a ‘warm-up’ at Middle Street. Today was even hotter; hotter than hot! I just hoped that the Brostreaks liked it mighty W and set off to Shipton Bellinger to meet up. I pulled into the usual but spotted Philzoid over by the other track off of the Bulford Road so I drove slowly over and pulled in. We caught up as we loaded up and still chatting we set off to check out the little patch behind the Boundary hedge before the Nettle Bed. As we wandered towards it a Blue went by and a few Browns showed up and then we followed a Wall around into the little clearing where Trevor was trying for shots of the Walls. There were a couple whizzing about as despite the early time the temperature was quickly rising and they were already very active. Once we’d caught up we tried round by the Nettle Patch but there wasn’t a lot about there as we were still the wrong side of 11. We didn’t want to risk working out way along the narrow track at the back as the Wild Parsnip spilled over it covering it completely and it looked like it could easily break and we didn’t fancy a case of phytophotodermatitis. Instead we worked our way round to the main hedge back the way that we’d come.

Along the Main Hedge things were oddly quiet and we reasoned that the heat was holding everything back. Things were flying only not in the numbers or range that we were used to from the site. A few Blues and a Wall pass by, there are plenty of Meadow Browns and the odd Small Heath but they are ridiculously difficult to approach. The slightest movement and they would go up and away, the Meadow Browns in a lumbering style and the Small Heath veering off a la Skippers. A few Holly Blues showed up and then over at the Scallops on the other side of the track we spotted a possible Brostreak passing over as well as another Wall and a Common Blue.

After this we carried on along the main track as it twisted and turned down towards the village. As we started off we were slightly waylaid by a couple of Walls which play a game of hide and seek with us, teasing us off of the path like the Elves of Mirkwood. In the end we let them and followed them onto the field where we surveyed across for a prospective Cloudy (no joy) and chatted away. Once we were back on track we passed a couple of the Master Ash trees which were in various states of denudation as ADD took hold. Hopefully the Brostreaks will be able to use other trees (Sycamore or Oaks) as Master trees should these Ash finally succumb completely. There were a few Falsestreaks along the way and a Red Admiral patrolled but there weren’t a lot of butterflies. When we were almost at the little crossroads there was a lot of rustling coming from the bushes. Our collective best guess was a Roe Deer in the hedge…however as we got nearer to the kerfuffle another butterfly hunter extricated himself from deep within the hedge. He’d found a freshly emerged female that was sitting in a Hawthorn under the canopy of one of the Ash trees. She was at a fair old distance and sitting in the shade but we certainly didn’t turn our noses up at her and took it in turns to clamber carefully into the hedge, position our lenses and click away. I found one of the branches made a nice makeshift support so I was able to reach my arms out as far as they would go and click away. While we were waiting for our turn in the hedge we were entertained by a Wall and a brace of Specklies as well as a few male Brostreaks buzzing around the top of the tree.

Thanking the finder we pressed on but with the heat rising spotting the butterflies became harder. We checked out the start of the Dual hedge and also worked our way back and down the tunnel like track. In the shade things were slightly better behaved and we follow a couple of Walls along the dusty, bone dry path. A few Meadow Browns were about and the odd Holly Blue so it was better than elsewhere although nowhere near as good as usual - everything was sitting out of the heat either under leaves or deep within the vegetation. We’d almost reached the end and while watching for Walls I caught something jinking out of the corner of my eye high up. It was a male Brostreak but even more distant than the female and again high up and again in the shade. Still once again I stretched my arms out as far as possible and hoped for the best. I think it’s time to consider and longer lens…

We left the tunnel track and followed the hardcore topped road back round where Trevor took another ass up the Hedge and Philzoid and I nipped back to the cars to grab our lunch. On the walk back to meet up with Trevor things were again quite quiet although I did spot a large, ginger Robber Fly. When we met up with Trevor we did have a tantalising moment where something detached itelf from up high and jinked down into the Blackthorn. When we got close enough for a people look it turned out to be just a Small Heath so another species to take the name ‘Falsestreak’. What it was doing up at the top of a tree I don’t know? We also bumped into Luke Hepples who reckoned that the Brostreaks love the heat. I’d love his hypothesis to be true but it didn’t look like it would be judging by the data we were collecting today. They may love the heat but they do their loving from the top of the canopy.

We crossed over to the side of the hill with its scallops hoping that the shade offered by the taller parts of the scrub would make it slightly cooler but again butterflies were at a premium. The odd Brown would flutter about or a White may do a daring run desperately seeking shade but the only butterfly of note was a lovely almost blue female Common blue, sitting at about shoulder height with wings held at the ¾ open position. Another of the little alcoves looked slightly more promising with a Wall hanging around it as well as a few Meadow Browns. Reasoning that ‘where there was one there may be more’ we hung around here for a little bit and then there was a female flitting about at the top of a Field Maple. She teased us for a good while, drifting down lower and lower, her jinky flight preventing any in flight shots and when she looked like settling off upwards she’d fly landing up high and forcing me once again to use the ‘arms outstretched’ technique. After about 20 minutes she must have felt sorry for us (or maybe she made an error?) as on what was to be the final pass here she dropped down and settled. We were just about to sidle in and she was away again – this time not up the trees but instead along the hedge up the hill. I barely managed to keep up with her dizzying flight but when she paused I dropped to my knees, focused and fired off as many shots as I could before she was away and off for good.

After this the oppressive really hit home and so we decided to split so wishing Trevor well over at Tilshead, Philzoid and I made for Perham with the air con cranked up. Once there I’d shaken off a slight case of hypothermia we made for the foot of the Down where the Silver-spots were again easy to find. As we reached the start of the incline we bumped into Luke again and there was a Silver-spot sitting on a bush ready for us.

We then set about utilising the Ministry of Silly Walks approved gait for Silver-spotted Skipper spotting. A kind of half-crouch, half sidle, neck at ninety degrees to your spine but eyeballs level with the horizon. There were plenty about although they seemed to come in waves which meant for some of the time you’d be looking at nothing and for some you weren’t sure which Silver-spot to actually follow. Over the hour various Silver-spots were found but some highlights included; watching a mating pair fly in only for them to break apart as soon as they’d landed, another was a very fresh female in a gorgeous lemon and lime livery, various ovi-posturing and ovi-positing and one real poser that was practically bomb proof. The final Silver-spot and the final one seemed to be a little odd. The spots were less blocky, more jagged and fused into a haphazard arc a lot like a set of arrows all pointing to the same point – could it be ab.conflua we wondered?

Thanks I give you a call I promise…

I thought that this was a suitably impressive Silver-spot to finish with and my time had almost run out so I made for home and Philzoid headed over to Stockbridge. It had been hard work in the end, much harder than expected but still a great day with great company.
Sun baked to a crisp
Hiding away in the shade
Prove to be hard work
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

A very impressive SSS and I agree conflua looks like a good match . Interestingly I had one going the other direction on Denbies hillside a couple of weeks ago with the spots very much reduced.

[Pauline]

Splendid SSS you've got there Wurzel

[trevor]

It was certainly the heat that defined that day at Shipton B, never has a shady tree been so appreciated.
Your comprehensive report says it all. The highlight was definitely provided by the Guy in the bushes and
his pristine female BH, and your male later on.
A for the Silver Spots at Perham, wish I had followed you over there!.

Thanks to you and Philzoid for the great company.
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Bugboy Thanks for the ID confirmation. There was another one around that was even more striking but surprise, surprise, it wouldn't sit still for love nor money
Cheers Pauline The site just seems to get better and better and easier and easier to work
Cheers Trevor There's always next year for Perham Trevor and hopefully we won't be in the middle of a heat wave I swear I'm still burnt from that day now I did go back two days later and it was even worse

Martin Down 09-08-2022

The heat was on and not just on the street. The temperature had started to creep up and up and up and watching butterflies was getting harder and harder work so when my wife suggested a family walk to Martin Down I was slightly sceptical. When she suggested we leave before 8 to avoid the heat of the middle of the day and the subsequent broiling afternoon I was on board. After a quick detour to pick up my nieces we were flying up and over the Downs and then pulling to a halt at Martin Down at just gone 8 of the am.

As we strolled down the main path towards the Butts I wondered whether it would be easy spotting the still roosting butterflies but I needn’t have been concerned for as I walked past the first field there were several Chalkhills. As I drew level with the second field and looked across there were even more Chalkhills and by the time I reached the third field and there were so many fluttering about it looked like the field was boiling and bubbling sapphires. It was a stunning sight to behold and carefully I picked my way into the field hoping to pick up a few shots. However it proved harder than I thought because there were so many of them; I was surrounded. I ended up motionless, photography forgotten, just standing there with my mouth open catching flies as it were. The shrieks and giggles form the girls climbing up the Butts pulled me back into the real world and after grabbing a few shots half-heartedly in my still slightly stunned state I set off after the others.

Up the bank we went, along the top and then zoomed down the other side. As we walked/zoomed I scanned down into the little fields and again there were plenty of Chalkhills to see although fewer here in the shorter turfed spots it seemed. As we made our descent a pair joined together in cop fluttered past L but didn’t stop and then we set off along the route of the Dyke. Along the way I spotted the odd Meadow Brown just waking up and one or two Small Heath but the ‘speciale d’jour’ was most definitely the Chalkhill Blues. All bar one evaded my lens showing that whilst it may have still been early for us humans the butterflies were wide awake. Luckily one couple were far too busy enjoying themselves to escape and even when they did try to escape the glare of my lens they only flew two plants over – I couldn’t work out if this was because they were so enamoured with each other or whether it was because they were a little worn out/knackered? Leaving them in peace to ensure the next generation we set off one more along the Dyke.

The one that didn’t get away

A short way after the halfway point one of life’s funny coincidences occurred…My wife was just reminding me that when mentioning particular species in front of other people to add ‘butterfly’ to the end so they know what I’m talking about; “like the other day when you asked about a Clouded Yellow”. “Okay” I say and then we decide to turn around and head back but hang on a minute, hold the phone, there’s Cloudy! I watched it scythe its way along the Dyke, occasionally nipping back the way it had just come for a short way before once again venturing forth. All the while I was whispering “go down, go down, go down” and it did. So I stalked in and took a few record shots, just in case, as it sat on a low laying Bramble. It went up again and cut across the field. I thought that was it, it was gone for good but then it turned and came back, zig-zagging along. It settled again on another bramble bush and so I stalked it again and manged to get in much closer this time using the Bramble as cover so my silhouette didn’t show up against the sky. This was much better although there was an annoying leaf which I didn’t notice at the time sticking across the palps – still I’d got my Cloudy!

While we’d been walking the temperature had steadily been creeping up and the sun was no longer busy fighting through the early morning haze and evaporating the dew but instead was doing its best to leave things in a smouldering mess so we started back to the car. The return journey produced a similar range of species but there were now more Chalkhills on either side or indeed in the middle of the main tracks – possibly they’d woken up and dispersed from their communal roosting spots? A Small Tort added itself to the tally but even though it was barely nine in the morning it was already motoring about as if it had received a full solar recharge. I also noticed that there seemed to be a few more ‘single’ females about though they didn’t seem to stay that way for very long. I spotted one female and looked at my camera to check the settings and then looked back and in the few seconds interim a male had attached himself as it were! When our wanderings brought us back to the field that had been bubbling earlier my idea of ‘dispersing from the roosting site’ went out the window as again they were everywhere. I wandered about bewildered by their numbers again occasionally stooping down to take a few photos without realising what I was doing to be honest, operating on autopilot and demonstrating a sort of ingrained behaviour. It was only as I sneaked a quick look back the car that I realised I’d grabbed a few more in cop shots, a few o a male that had a few orange spots on the hind wing (ab.sauve) and also what was a bit of a ‘gang bang’!

However one of the sights that I had been conscious of unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of. We were almost back at the car on the final bit of track hedged in on both sides by the tall brambles and scrub when a very small, whitish butterfly, drifted down from one of the saplings in the hedge. In the early morning light it appeared to have a blue-ish tinge and I leant down to take a photo of what I thought, due to its small size, was a Holly Blue. Only it wasn’t it was a Small White, in fact a VERY Small White. As I struggled to get it to focus it took off and sailed away over the tree tops not to return. Bugger! Still I’d got my Cloudy!
Shimmering sapphires
Bubbling over the grass tops
Chalkhills every where

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Shipton Bellinger 10-08-2022

With the temperature rising every day and things getting more and more uncomfortable I contemplated not going out but in the end I bit the bullet and the night before I packed my gear so I was ready for an early start. Hopefully the slightly cooler early morning would mean the butterflies would be out and not hiding away in the shade at the top of the trees.

Once I’d gotten onto site I set off along the Main Hedge staring intently at the Blackthorn whippings lower down and then raising my gaze upwards to check out the Bramble and more mature growth of the Blackthorn deeper in the hedge. My scanning brought me to the tree tops and then I worked my way back down before taking a few steps, scanning ahead and then repeating the whole procedure. There and back I picked up the usual Browns – Meadow Browns either flying up in a very flappy fashion or out across the field, Small Heath flittering about in the main body of vegetation and the odd, aged Hedgie/Gatekeeper. There was also the occasional Common Blue which added a drop of colour to the proceedings.

When I reached the end of the Main Hedge I carried on up the hill to check out the scallops of grass that punctate the wood at the top. The usual butterflies (mainly the Browns) were flying here including a lovely looking female Common Blue and a male Wall. I pressed on checking out the various little clearing along the track. Butterfly wise it featured more of the same in terms of range of species but the numbers were lower than expected. In previous years it’s been hard to work out which butterfly to focus on there have been so many competing for my attentions but today the choice was much easier. Selecting my subject may have been easier but actually getting the shots proved trickier as they were so revved up by the warmth. The final little clearing was the ribbon of vegetation at the end of the path before it broadened out and the wood ran out. I stood in the shade and waited for the butterflies to return after my initial disruption when I arrived. Slowly but surely back they came; a few Meadow Browns, a Large White sailed through from the left to the right, a Wall went in the opposite direction and a Silver-washed Frit passed over up high. Nothing except the Meadow Browns would sit though and so I retraced my steps and then started down the main track towards the village of Shipton itself.

All was quiet down the main track to the village and when I reached the crossroads I made my way down the right-hand side of the parallel tracks. The Bramble had lost most of its flowers but the odd one proved enough of a draw to encourage a few Browns to sit and sip the nectar which in the incessant heat that we’d had must have been running dry. A short way along the track a brown butterfly sort of hopped its way along the track. At first I wondered if it was a small Meadow Brown with damaged wings but as I drew nearer I realised that it was a male Brown Hairstreak. Perhaps the heat had driven it down in desperation looking for moisture (which must have been evaporating fast in the increasing heat) and so it was down on the deck looking for liquids or salts? This was the first time that I’ve seen this behaviour in this species, and it was quite odd to see a species which is often at shoulder height or higher down on the deck. Eventually it fluttered weakly off and around to the other side of the boundary hedge through a small gap. I kept walking and I was joined by Meadow Browns and Walls which seemed to glide for quite some distance along the path. Their behaviour left me wondering if they were using miniature thermals like scaled down Raptors?

When the parallel tracks merged back into one I crossed over and checked out a new bit of track where a few Walls and Common Blues flew in amongst the Browns. Once I was happy that nothing would actually land for me I made my way back to the ‘Dual track’ and walked back up the hill this time taking the other of the parallel paths. The hedge here was much taller, the vegetation much denser and was punctuated reasonably regularly in places by taller, more mature trees including several Ash. At the second of these, and the most denuded by ADD (Ash Dieback) a male Brostreak flicked about and stopped, posing perfectly…if I’d had a much bigger lens. The more mature trees meant a few Specklies joined the ranks of the Meadow Browns as well. Once back at the crossroad I turned left and walked some way down another bit of trackway I’d not properly investigated before. Again there were several Ash and one other enthusiast I bumped into informed me that as well as few Brostreaks he’d also had a Whitter (White-letter Hairstreak) earlier in the morning. Despite plenty of neck craning and looking at every single purple flower and Bramble floret I couldn’t repeat his feat, only finding a wing flicking Small Heath so I retraced my steps back to the crossroads and carried straight over down the usual ‘tunnel track’. The shade was a blessed relief but the butterflies weren’t taking advantage of it themselves and they were becoming increasing few and far between.

As my feet hit the stones of the road at the end of the track I was also hit by the heat, it slammed into me and almost immediately I felt the prickle of my sweat glands desperately kicking in. I pressed on, on what I though would be my final push. But when I reached the corner at the top of the Main Hedge rather than turning and making for the car I carried on over the road and started on the track that I’d taken first thing. I don’t know why I did this – force of habit or some form of lepy-sense (like Spidey-sense only for butterflies). I didn’t see anything on the first few bushes and I decided to give up and head home for an ice cold bath and a pint of Large when my gaze was drawn to a small butterfly bumbling around in a stand of Rosebay Willow Herb. I watched it for a moment or so before my heat addled brain sparked into life and I knew that it was a male Brown Hairstreak. I managed to find it a couple of times but if I hadn’t have seen it flying I wouldn’t have even guessed that it was there! Instead of flying and jinking it would flutter a very short distance, land and the walk its way into the shade, either under a leaf or under the ripening blackberries. In the darkness it disappeared, the ‘streak’ breaking up the silhouette very effectively. There was a pause in my observations as I my camera refused to take any shots and just showed “CHA” (or maybe “CAR”?). Luckily removing my card and replaced it seemed to do the trick and I was also able to relocate the Brostreak and record the unusual behaviour

With this find I wondered how many others were out there, sitting in the shade and so I decided to make one more pass, walking round the far side of the hedge on the opposite side of the field before checking the Main Hedge one last (definitely the last as I was parched now) time. I reached the first corner and a my hunch paid off as there was a female, down low and sitting in the shade. As I moved in imperceptibly slowly to get a shot I fell foul of the Dirk Gently problem; he espouses the idea that everything is connected, in this case Bramble creepers, and so what would have been a cracking shot became more of a record shot as she flew up and perched up higher.

As I made for my final pass up the Main Hedge I bumped into Jenks. Meeting him here is becoming a regular occurrence and it nice to catch up with him again and find out about his butterflying and birding exploits. Wishing him well I took my final stroll along the hedge and then dove quickly into the delightful shade where the car was parked. Then it was home for that ice bath! As I drove I decided that, what with the temperatures rising even higher, I would give butterflying a miss for the next few days as would be too hot, very little would fly and what did would either be turbo charged or be behaving oddly.

Would anything fly?
Just some shade seeking Brostreaks
Shipton in the sun

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, love your shots of the SSS Skipper Still in the midst of it here but the drive way still on the way, I'm waiting now for your count down with the Butterflies at least I've got my starter this year , the Adonis, Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie Hopefully the drive way will get sorted soon I'm just waiting for the 'nod' from Vince and then the Species Faves will roll out!

Shipton Bellinger 15-08-2022

I was back at Shipton and the weather had reverted to more usual fare; the temperatures had dropped and sun must have worn itself out as now it only showed itself for short periods of time before heading back behind the clouds for a nap. So instead of walking and peering upwards and trying to find a Brostreak sitting out the heat in the shade now the graft would be distilled down come in the form of searching in the brief sunny spells.
I started out working my way along the main hedge and onto the Nettle Bed. Meadow Browns and Hedgies flew along with the occasional Small Heath. A total of two Small White added themselves to the tally by the time I’d reached the Nettle Bed and there was a possible Brostreak up high but the Nettle Bed itself was very quiet. The Creeping Thistles, usually a magnet for the Brostreaks had come and gone in the blink of an eye, frazzled by the heat and instead of small purple florets peppering the dark green of the nettles there where hairy tufts poking out amid the greenery. I rolled my sleeves down and gingerly walked along the narrow track to the other side of the Nettle Bed and then followed the road round to the start of the Tunnel-like track. As I made my way along a brace of Specklies took a moment out form beating nine bells out of each other to welcome but then it went strangely quiet. In almost an hour of wandering the Main tracks down to the village all I had to show for my toil and traipsing was a Small White which came early in the ‘wilderness hour’. Had the heat knocked everything on the head?

I’d worked my way back to and along the length of the Tunnel track and as I left its confines behind and branched out onto the more open field a Wall landed briefly on the corner and sat nicely on some of the white stones. It was an image that took me back to our family holiday in Guarda in 2019. Slightly buoyed by this I set off along the main hedge again all the while I tried to scan both the tops of the bushes and the foot of the hedge at the same time. I bumped into some other enthusiasts and after a brief chat about our (lack of) fortunes I pressed on following the trail up the hill reasoning that the female Brostreak generally come down to lay in the early afternoon so there was still plenty of time. As I broached the top of the hill and strode across the thin grass I thought hat my earlier reasoning was incorrect for there was something fluttering about up in the hedge. It certainly looked orange and the fact that it had stopped and not continued jinking along ceaselessly suggested that it wasn’t a Vapourer. However as I got closer I could see that it was actually a lost Small Heath – what it was doing up there was anyone’s guess but it was swiftly added to the list of ‘False-streak’! I carried on along the track wandering out into the small scallops and clearings as the hedge disappeared on my left. I found a few more Walls, some nice female Common Blues as well as some really fresh looking Specklies. What I didn’t find though were Brostreaks and the time was just starting to tick over to ‘egg laying time’ so I beat a hasty retreat from the hill and made my way back to the field and the Main Hedge.

I decided to try my luck on the other side of the field where I’d found a female on my previous visit and then from there I’d work across the field and back up the main hedge. When I reached the corner and had gotten just past the Portaloos I glanced out across the fields in the direction of the Main Hedge where I spotted the enthusiasts from earlier who were fixed to one spot. When Brostreak hunting this is generally a good sign and so I abandoned my plans and started across the field via the diagonal track. My walk became a little faster especially when they waved their arms and beckoned me over. They pointed out a female Brostreak which was sitting out the drear in the hedge at an accessible height and so once I’d checked that they’d got their shots I stepped in a clicked away. This particular female sat there for a good 10 minutes or so, bravely awaiting the sun which didn’t actually show itself and also enduring a brief shower.

After a fair few shots the chap tried to get a bit closer and she took off and flew up landing too far away for my lens. It hadn’t been his fault it was just unlucky timing in that she’d decided to move higher to try and warm up a little. We waited for her to come back down and in the interim we checked out the area she’d visited prior to her last perching spot. Apparently she’d been down low flitting about in the Blackthorn whippings (is that the correct term?) and there in the crook of the twigs was an egg. After this interlude we resumed our vigil on the hedge and while we watched I spotted another female up high in the hedge. Rather annoyingly this one was opening up showing the gorgeous orange flashes on the fore wings but only from a distance. My frustration must have been palpable and she must have pitied me as she then flew down and perched at about chest height at the front of the hedge. After a brief look around she started to open up until eventually she was sitting wings wide open showing her long and twisted tails, the vivid orange flashes on the fore wings and also one of my favourite features – the square cut of the hind wings.

She then moved up a bit and had another go at laying some eggs; hanging from the twig and arching her abdomen round to deposit the egg. All the while the original Brostreak sat in the tree, not moving, possibly with the hump as the second female was in better nick and was holding all of our attentions. I clicked away and tried to drink in as much of the viewing as possible but after another 10 minutes my time was almost up and so I wished the others well and headed home, none too shabby a visit despite the inclement and cloudy weather!

From the heat to cloud
Got lucky at the main hedge
A brace of Brostreaks

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Yea, I really shouldn't have looked at that post...

[trevor]

Let the mrgreens flow freely. What a lovely female BH with shots to match!
It just shows that they were there all the time on our scorching visit, it just needed some ' normal ' weather.

Also congrats for your helice,
Trevor.