Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Some fantastic shots there Wurzel, love the Brown Hair Streak and the Clouded Yellow shots, I see you found an Hellice, they really are a lovely Butterfly.

November soon, I'm in the midst of getting the Bathroom done then I'm finished for a bit and hope fully next year free to see more Butterflies Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie I was dead chuffed with my first Helice Good news about your bathroom - my ever growing jobs list is on a bit of a hiatus at teh moment until my funds increase

Bournemouth 18-09-2022

My back up plan from the day before had been to drop the girls in the middle of Bournemouth and then head over to Southbourne BUT I’d found fresh Cloudies AND a Helice so now I just relaxed and spent time with 2/3 of the girls (K was at home working away at her A level coursework).

We started out at Boscombe, birthplace of cheesemaker and Blur Bassist Alex James, and the houses and surrounding environs were very pleasant. We parked up and then as we left the car park a couple of whites fluttered about on the low hedge. The High Street itself had seen better days and so we beat a hasty retreat back to the car where the Whites now numbered three and moved over to Bournemouth itself. The drive was brilliant, up and down the chines and then driving along the clifftop round before sweeping down into the town. Again Whites were the order of the day and I checked each one hoping for the dirty yellow that I’d seen the day before which would mean a Helice. However all were brilliant white but I didn’t mind as I was still buzzing from the previous day.

We finished the shopping surprisingly quickly (I’d barely had time to rue offering to bring them once!) and so we returned the newly acquired chattels to the car and exchanged them for lunch before heading down to the beach. We walked past the roundabout near the BIC where Liam Gallagher, many moons ago, had shouted “Sausages” at me as he hung out of the Limo taking him to the ‘Battle of the Bands’, and then on down the hill to the Pier. After lunch we walked along the promenade heading East. All the while I kept whipping my head from the view of the beach and the sea to the undercliffs but the only butterflies that I saw were Whites – again all Persil bright and not the slightest hint of yellow. Mind you there were good numbers and the highest single count was 14 all in view at once. One Small White fluttered down from the cliff to nectar on one of the clumps of Seaside Daisy. I contemplated getting my camera out but it would have been a right hassle so it stayed buried and entangled in my bag.

We turned around and started back when I spotted a mustard yellow butterfly. It flew along the side of the cliff and then seemed to go down to nectar on some Seaside Daisies growing over the wall of the zig-zag footpath up the cliff. I rushed over and tried to extricate my camera. I managed to get my phone out of the way and stashed away in my pocket, the next obstacle was moving everything else out of the way, then disentangling it from the bag my flask was in before finally trying to take the lens cap off one handed. The near impossible job was done but sadly it looked like the butterfly had ‘done one’ itself. I walked towards the flowers I thought it had landed on anyway and I realised it was still there – just feeding in the horizontal plane. I clicked away, slowly walking up the footpath and curving my camera around to try and get it side on which somehow I manged. Then it was gone but at the same time a Wall Lizard popped out from a crevice to see what all the fuss was about.

Slightly blurry as I was all shook up

I re-joined the others and as getting near to the cliff was prevented by the row of beach huts once more I stashed my camera away. Still the Whites flew and right at the end of the more sparsely vegetated part of the cliff before dense shrubbery covered it entirely, a Cloudy flew as of to wave us off. Others have witnessed amazing numbers of Cloudies this year but this single sighting for me, coming from a spontaneous and unassuming wander along the beach, is just as memorable and awe inspiring. Plus it was good to know that my back-up plan was a good one .

Shopping in Bournemouth
Then a stroll under the cliffs
A Cloudy drops in

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

The sea asters along the undercliff of that bit of coast keep flowering for ever, and are very attractive to the Cloudies down there, Wurzel - as you found out. And that is a splendid example too. It is so mild down there it's almost like stepping back a season - at least a month anyway. The sea stays (relatively) warm well into autumn: apparently, it's between 16 and 17 degrees at the moment, which keeps things balmy at night too.

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave When I was a lad we always used to wait until the end of the season and go to the beach for that very reason, that an the Grockles had all gon home by then too

The Devenish 24-09-2022

‘That time of year’ had sprung up on me – the summer was gone, work was underway and the leaves were starting to fall from the trees. The weather had actually turned reasonable for a while and so I made the most of the unusually limited opportunity to head out and do a quick sweep of my local patches. I started off in the Orchid Meadow which was now a shadow of its former self – gone were the pinks and purples, the myriad of colours like individual pixels in the composite image. Instead it was more of the same, a greyish beige of straw with the odd patch of green and pinprick oases where the few remaining flowers poked their heads above the parapet. Unsurprisingly things started off quietly with a single Small White that had the whole of the meadow to itself. It didn’t want to have its picture taken so I pressed on and made my way up the narrow track to the Down proper. Once I’d negotiated the steps cut into the chalk I surveyed the view and then drifted diagonally back down to the line of beech trees at the ‘foot’ of the down where the Hemp Agrimony had now gone over. Bimbling about here was a Small Copper and with it a Specklie.

Once I’d gotten something on the memory I followed the Small Copper along and down into the Gully at the end of the reserve and this had much more activity. First off a Specklie flew past bisecting the Gully whilst a Large White flew rapidly up and down along the treeline but always just out of reach. As I drew near to the tall stand of Ivy covering a long dead but exceedingly tall tree a Comma shot off and after a few circles around me made for the cover of the ribbon spinney. I eyed the Ivy up and down and spotted two Red Admirals and 2 Specklies frequenting it but getting shots was a bit of a problem as they were so high up the tree. To make matters even more tricky a passing Hornet kept putting everything up as it carried out its patrol. Just as things would settle back down it would return and chase off individuals in turn. I persisted and eventually a few Specklies fell under the gleam of my lens. It definitely seemed that this was the place to hang out if you were a Pararage aegeria as by the time I’d clambered out of the Gully I’d counted 7 in total in a only a couple of metres square.

Once out of the Gully things quietened down again and I walked along the top, curving round into the two little cleared squares with nothing to add to the tally. As I braved the steep chalk steps back down I started seeing the butterflies again. It seemed typical that in the open and relatively flat fields there had been nothing and yet when I was having to wedge my feet into the side of the down for purchase and under threat of slipping A over T at any moment the butterflies should appear. If it had just been the passing Small White and a surprisingly fresh Meadow Brown I might have not bothered the reckless and dangerous pursuit but when a small, blood orange butterfly set about the Meadow Brown I reasoned that sometimes valour is the better part of prudence and so taking my life into my hands I descended much more swiftly than was safe. Luckily having seen off the Meadow Brown (I managed a record shot before it went) the Small Copper sat nicely atop its thrown surveying all of its territory and generally feeling pretty good about itself. To be fair its vanity wasn’t without reason as it was in exceedingly fine fettle.

Once I’d paid the Copper enough attention I hopped over the stile and made my way along the bottom path of the Middle Down to the Little Paddock. This track in the past has held Small Coppers but today only a few Common Darters flew its length. In the Little Paddock the were large numbers of Ivy Bees crawling over the floor and so densely packed were they that it looked a little like an errant flying carpet. A Specklie hung around on the gate at the Tunnel track whilst on the opposite gate a Common Darter rested in its dotage. A Comma and a Red Admiral hang out on the large Ivy growth on the surrounding trees the latter of which actually deigned to pay me a visit and drifted down in a series of gentle glides a la a falling leaf. When it did eventually make landfall it was very skittish at first and I felt like it was just toying with me. However a slight change of scene, flying to the other side of the gate and onto the Tunnel track, and it was much more approachable – it had obviously found its favoured basking spot and I could really get the lens up into its grill.

As I was now on the other side of the gate on the Tunnel Track I kept on following it the gate at the other end and from there over and into the Orchid Meadow. The/a Small White was still hanging around and after a quick dash I managed to ‘grab’ it and walk back along the Tunnel Track in a minute or so before bagging one final Specklie and hen making another dash, this time to get over to Five Rivers...

With the car abandoned I set off cutting across the grass and reaching the edge of the Glades from the rear. As it was the way through was tough going as the Hogweed and Bramble had run riot over the summer. I traipsed along the much narrower than normal trackways eyes peeled and also hoping that these paths beloved by the Orange-tips would open up by next spring. At the other side of the Glades at the miniature clearing a Specklie held its territory and sat nicely on one the larger leaves. There was a further brace occupying two spots at Comma Corner. Both sat for their portraits and unbeknownst to me they would be the last shots butterfly wise of the day.

I walked along the top and the Buddleia at Banks 2 still had a few florets remaining but sadly no butterflies. So I walked on to the end and back with a Small White and a few dragonflies. On my way up the track to the top of the Banks on the return leg I spooked three Specklies as I come through the low hanging vegetation. Had there been two I would have managed a shot of one of them but with three I didn’t know which way to look and so lost all of them. Back at the Glades there were two more Specklies with another at the end and another pair in the small clearing that the Red Admirals like so much. So ended the trip, not so much as with a Bang but more like out like a Lamb. There was a definite end of the season feel in the air and it looks like we might end up during the stage of the seasons with diminishing returns sooner than I’ve become accustomed too?

We’ve reached the tail end
As the range of species drops
And every one counts!
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Your rash of Specklies near enough coincided with the same thing on my patch, Wurzel - though I'd have been very pleased if I had found that lovely glowing fresh Small Copper. Straight out of Hendon, that one...

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave There was a definite 'glut' of Specklies and I think that Copper had literally just 'passed out'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, finished and all ready to go for next year's Butterflies now Goldie

[Wurzel]

Good to hear you're all sorted Goldie - the Grizzlies had better watch out!

November 2022

The butterflies will now be fewer and further between.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Martin Down 25-09-2022

Having probably used up almost all of my remaining luck on my last visit to Martin Down and drained the remnants at Southbourne I didn’t hold much hope for seeing anything much today. But the weather was holding and at this time of year it pays to get out while you can; better to have gone out and seen very little than stay in when you’ll assuredly see bugger all! I decided that it was time to check out Sillen’s Lane end and so I found myself wandering along the flat track along the hedge heading towards the Hotspot Hollow. In my rush to get out of the house I’d not eaten lunch and so I started munching on my hot pickle sandwich. I thought this would have been okay but the butterflies had other ideas as I’d barely taken three steps from the car when a Meadow Brown fluttered up from the grass catching the sun as it did so. I struggled but in the end managed to get my lens cap off and grab a few shots with one hand whilst the pickle ate it’s way though my cheek.

I quickly finished up my sandwich and as the final morsels were flowing like lava down my gullet O spotted the second butterfly of the day – a Cloudy. It seemed like I’d a secret stash of luck that I’d forgotten about! I watched it fly up and down the path before it dropped down. It was quite jittery despite its age so I decided to delay my approach until it had completed a few flaps about and it had settle properly. This didn’t happen and after about 10 seconds or so it would start fidgeting and would take off before settling shortly after. So I settled for watching and following from afar and then nipping in for a few shots when it was still for the 30 seconds or so. It led me on a merry dance along the track and over the scrub to the grassland track that runs parallel to the stony one. It seemed to like the taller vegetation and the longest time it was settled was whilst in a small sapling.

After a couple of sets of shots I left it in peace and it flew on ahead of me along the grassed track. I too followed this as eventually it fused back with the stony track and from there it would end up at the Hollow Hotspot. A Small White flew past and there were a brace of Small Coppers. At least I think they were a brace, one of them was in such a state that unless I’d gotten a close look it could have been anything! Just before the hedge started up again on my left hand side I spotted a familiar shape making its way towards me. It was a Cloudy and when it landed I managed to get in close I could see that it was the one I’d already encountered.

I didn’t add anything extra to the list until I reached the Hotspot itself and here things were quiet – with only a couple of Small Heath and Meadow Browns flying. This persisted all the way along the Dyke until I reached the halfway point where along the Dyke just prior to the bisecting track a few blues turned up. First was a female Common Blue, then a male Chalkhill before the set was completed by a Brown Argus; all one after the other which isn’t normally the way. Usually they descend on you en mass as you’re trying to get shots of one they don’t hang around in the background only appearing once they know you’ve finished with the previous model.

At the halfway point the exposed bit of bank along the track played the track host to upwards of 5 Meadow Browns all perched with wings akimbo. Whilst on the other side of the path and along the Dyke a tiny Common Blue and then a female Common Blue both stopped ever so briefly – literally just long enough to go: “What was that? Oh it’s a…” and then they were off. Eventually I reached the Butts and there were a couple of Meadow Browns in the corner at the foot of the Butts as well as a well-worn Adonis. This species seem to show their wear more; you can tell from a distance and in flight that they’re looking past their best. Whereas Chalkhills always look smart when you first catch a glimpse of them and when in flight, right up to the point when they land or sit still and reveal that they’re actually in bits! I had a brief look over Field 4 and 3 now behind, usually in front of the Butts and then returned empty handed back to the little corner. From here I retraced my steps and added a few Small Heath from the grassed path that runs around the foot of the Butts from the main track.

I was well on the way back from the Butts to the Halfway Hotspot when the sun dipped behind the clouds as it had been threatening to do all afternoon. As the sun went truant the breeze stiffened and set to quite a blow and I was about to give up and head for home when a Cloudy dropped in, quite literally. It was blown towards me by the breeze and then in the shortest of lulls it sought refuge in some vegetation on the side of the Dyke. This one was definitely a different individual for as I approached it I could see that it was in almost mint condish. I grabbed a couple of record shots as I stalked it but the lack of the sun and its supporting warmth grounded it. I got into a great position kneeling on the side of the Dyke and then waited for the return of the sun. As the light made its way towards me I trained my lens on the butterfly, focused in and as the light hit I started clicking away. I wondered if this would be the very last drop of luck, the final dreg as it were?

After a while it must have reached a suitable temperature as it flew and took to fluttering forward and back and perching in different places on either side of the Dyke – showing a penchant for both yellow flowers and also the taller bushes and shrubs/saplings. After I’d watched it land and then take off again from a few different places I set about following it reasoning that should it take off it wasn’t down to me disturbing it rather it was just behaving as had taken its fancy.

Eventually I left it still flitting between perching spots and made my way back to the Halfway Point. From there I followed the narrow track, past the basking Meadow Browns, and carried on along the diagonal track on a heading towards the Tunnel Track so beloved by Greenstreaks and Holly Blues in the spring. As I walked I’d stop very occasionally for a butterfly; first for a Small Copper, then a Small Heath and finally for another Small Copper. This one had me doing a double take as or a fraction of a second I wondered if it was an aberrant (a schmidtii)? However it was just aged, the wear and tear and the removal of scales giving it the grey-ish paler look that had made me stop and stare. At the end of the diagonal track I wandered along the top track rather than along the lower tunnel track and at the end I found a male Common Blue, Small Heath and another, much more resplendent looking Small Copper. The very final stretch along the main track back towards the car produced a Small White, a Comma and a Speckie which allowed me to reach double digits of species before a Meadow Brown (the same as at the very start?) neatly brought the trip to a nice circular completion. None too shabby when I thought it was (almost) all over!

With Autumn colour
Offered up by a Cloudy
Top spot Martin Down
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Martin Down does it again, Wurzel! That second Cloudie must have been locally grown - a stunning new female. They can be surprisingly well-camouflaged on yellowing autumn vegetation, which is what it seemed to be doing. A pretty good selection of other species for the time of year as well.

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave Yep Martin Down came up trumps this year - the spot along the Dyke is often good for Cloudys but I've not seen so many different ones here before. The tatty old ones from a moth previous must 'met their biological imperative' as they say

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Another sea of yellow ( above ) Wurzel, some great shots there.
I think anyone after Cloudies this year, at least in the south, should have been lucky.

I was over your way at the weekend. As for the journey home, floods and a major diversion.

Roll on Spring!
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor It was as close to a Cloudy year as I can remember - now I just need the LTBs and QoS's to head further west in numbers It seems that we're getting all of the rain that we should have had since May!

Five Rivers 01-10-2022

With the unseasonably warm weather continuing I wondered how much longer the butterflies would last? So to find out I picked up my camera and started towards Five Rivers. There were three ways to get there so I chose to walk past the Sorting Office and from there continue on through the housing estate along the road which runs parallel to the train track. I checked out all of the Ivy along the whole length of the road and then turned my attentions to the Brambles which lined the riverside path. Nothing, nada, zilch. I crossed over the road and as I approached the wooden bridge a Kingfisher shot past. As I watched it make it way along the flat of the river I looked up and the track on my left had a pair of Whites bimbling about. The first played proper Silly Buggers with me, leading towards it and then just as I’d lean in for the shot it would take off. Further and further along the river bank it led me until eventually I was well away from the Wooden Bridge and then it took off and flew across the river. The second started playing the same game but somehow I managed to successfully pre-empt where it would land and managed a few shots before it realised that I’d won this particular round.

After this I left them to their silly games and walked back to the bridge and crossed it. Once over I took the riverside path to the left along its winding route towards the Glades. The usual Red Admiral haunt was empty (perhaps I was a little too early) so I pressed on and cut across the first glade. As I made my way towards the little cut through to the second glade a caught a glance of a falling leaf out of the corner of my eye. It appeared the wrong colour, far too bright and lemon yellow in contrast to the burnt umber of the others. When it started falling upwards I realised that it was a Brimstone and so I stood still and waited and watched to see where it would land. When it drifted back down again it sat in amongst one of the sprawling Bramble bushes and did its best to mimic a dead leaf. It would have worked perfectly if I hadn’t have actually see it settle. I made as careful an approach as possible but alas I hadn't accounted for the trailing runners of Bramble and when one ensnared my foot the subsequent motion sent the Brimstone off again. I managed to watch it as it flew first up and then back down the line of trees and then it almost disappeared from view, tucked nicely in the shade of a large clump of nettles. It popped out again so I grabbed a few more shots and left it to try and find the ultimate hiding place.

I made my way through the little cut through which had become even narrower and walked along what had been a lovely wide path with trees and shrubs dotted about but was now widely overgrown. I started ahead at the spot favoured during the spring by the Orange-tips and I hoped that the winter would knock the bramble back a bit and open the glade back up a bit. My musings were brought to a halt as a Specklie waited for me at the end of the track. It moved around to a few spots as I watched and clicked away and I was able to witness the full effect of the glorious camouflage as it would land and then disappear from view. It did get a bit over confident a times and when I left it was sitting on a still green leaf, the magic of the camouflage ‘pfoof’ gone, leaving it sticking out like a sore thumb.

From here I had to change up a gear so I could get up the slight rise to the top of Banks so I could wander along the top. I passed Comma Corner on the way but it was all quiet except for a few passerines that doubtless would have hovered up and butterflies that hadn’t successfully kept a low profile. The same was to be found as I wandered along the top path and looked down into the three Banks. All the falling leaves were just that, falling leaves and the only movement were the skulking birds that were threading their way through the shrubbery. As the path reaches the far end it starts to decline and I took the closest path down to the Lower Banks (the area beloved by emerging hibernators). As I made my way down a Specklie popped up and say on the bush posing for me. As I clicked away I wondered if this was one of the three I’d seen on a previous visit? If it was it had seen a little action in the interim and had one, maybe two, lucky escapes of the tears and chunks missing from its hind wings were anything to go by.

I carried on to the far side, strolled down the hill and paused on the track on the corner to watch a few Dragonflies that were quartering here. I didn’t stand a chance of getting any shots of them as they were ceaselessly flying, zipping here and there, hovering for a few seconds and then zooming off. After a while I started back sticking to the riverside track at the bottom of the Banks. As I reached the diagonal track that bisected the Banks I spotted what I’d secretly hoped to find. It was a delightfully autumnal looking Comma. If the Specklie was adept at camouflage then it looked like this Comma was employing dazzling techniques to evade any would be predators. Against the dark green Bramble leaves that it was resting on it shone out almost as if a spotlight was trained on it. As I watched the sun started to come out and so it lowered its wings to catch more of the emerging rays. After about a minute of basking it must have warmed itself sufficiently and it was off. A quick pass round the locale before landing atop a tree to catch a few more rays possibly? It didn’t look like it was coming down any time soon so I left it there and took the track back past Comma Corner and on into the Glades where the Specklie was still guarding its spot. It wished me well and then I made for home, a Kingfisher flashed past as I crossed the wooden bridge giving the trip a nice circular feel.

Not the best camo
A Comma on the brambles
Nice autumn touch though
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Very autumnal, Wurzel! (I thought I'd caught you up, but with one bound you're ahead again!) Commas seem to be so confident that their underside camouflage will do the trick that they forget how obvious they are when they open up... Brimstones are more astute.

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave Don't worry I still technically well behind you - I just missed out a load of posts to try and stay more up to date than usual I'll still be posting about 2022 deep into 2023

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Five Rivers 09-10-2022

It’s getting to that time of the year when the butterflying comes down to a wander over to Five Rivers. I reckon the trick at this time of the year, just like those first outings in early spring, is to leave later in the morning or if possible after lunch. It allows the mercury to creep upwards and the butterflies can arise when it’s warm enough, have a bit of breakfast and then a quick bask so that they’re ready when I come strolling along camera in hand. At least that is usually the case…this year the weather had been so mild with temperatures regularly in the high teens and nudging at the twenty border that the butterflies are all pretty active. So was the case when I strolled out after lunch on this day. The vegetation covering the tall fence along the railway; a mix of Ivy, Old Mans’ Beard and tumbling Bramble and Buddleia was alive with Ivy Bees and Wasps and the brace of Red Admirals teased me by doing slow glides down and across the road before veering back and soaring back up and over to the other side of the fence.
I pressed on eagerly but ultimately fruitlessly scanning all the vegetation along the hedges, verges and riverside path until I’d crossed the wooden bridge at the edge of Five Rivers. I ratcheted my scanning up a notch and tried to spot and watch every falling leaf or moving flower top just in case. All was quiet, the roving flock of Willow-Chiffs probably saw to that as they worked their way from branch to branch, twig to twig picking off anything edible as they went. So it continued until I reached the Glades. As I picked my way along the ever narrowing path a couple of Specklies flew towards me, not in greeting though, they were much more interested in tearing chunks out of each other either disputing territory or fending off unwanted advances. Chuckling I looked up and there was a Red Admiral staring back at me, surveying me imperiously and wondering whether I was worth deigning with its presence? I took it that I wasn’t as it stayed resolutely aloft as I meandered on by.

I kept on walking and did a quick sweep of the reserve but with the cloud bubbling up and passing by kept any other butterflies at bay and before I knew it I was back at the Glades. I looked about up high for the Admiral but it had moved off. Luckily the Specklies had worn themselves out/resolved their disputes and so they sat nicely for me. The first that I encountered was occupying the end of the Glades, the spot that seems to act like a magnet to the Whites during the spring. The other was keeping a lower profile in the little clearing behind the large Bramble bush. I watched it fluttering around the top of one of the trees and then it dropped down into the clearing and out of sight. I had to hack my way through several Bramble runners to get into the clearing itself but luckily the butterfly was still sitting in the sun and waiting for me.

I took another pass around the site with similar results. This was due to my timing being off – I kept choosing to investigate further afield just as the cloud started to roll over the sun. Again there was the odd dragonfly/darter along the lower banks and the birds out on a good show as the Willow-Chiffs moved through and Cetti’s exploded from deeper in the decaying reeds. Back at the Glades the initial Specklie had moved on – possibly checking another area of its territory but the second was still in the little clearing.

After this I looked up to examine the heavens and the prospects didn’t look good. Whilst I’d been enjoying the Specklie the cloud had crept up on me and now I was surrounded by an enveloping wall of dullness. The cloud took on the darker steel grey hue that normally forewarns of rain and so I said my goodbyes to the Specklie and beat a hasty retreat. But not so hasty as to avoid keeping an eye out on the return journey…As I walked up the rise towards the road along the railway fence I spotted a white flying parallel to me in the Kiddies Playpark. As I reached the corner I leant over the low fence and grabbed a couple of shots of it on a pale lilac, globular looking plant. It then took off and flew across the path and landed on some vegetation on the other side so I was able to get a little closer. It was a nice way to finish but as I hurried home before the rain came I wondered how much longer this could continue?

Autumn afternoon
With Specklies and Admirals
The final Stalwarts?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Grovely Woods 16-10-2022

I didn’t expect anything from this weekend walk, it was merely a chance to get out and breathe in the fresh air, to blow out the cobwebs and do a little ‘forest bathing’. I took my camera just in case of course but mainly in case there were any fruiting Fly Agaric.

The usual walk up the hill was quiet even on the bird front and soon we were walking along the old drove covered over from both side by the tall beeches trees. After plenty of walking we had the usual stop and general enquiry as to the whereabouts of the Witchy Trees and for once we hadn’t walked past them and they were only a little further on. As we walked into the gloom of the trees I chanced to look up and through a break in the canopy I saw blue sky which lifted my spirits. I actually took the lens cap off of my camera in readiness should the coming of the sun draw forth a butterfly. However the area around the Witchy Tree was dark as the canopy closed in again and the only movement was the occasional flicker from one of the dangling totems or offerings that festooned the lower limbs. A small group of fungi did catch my eye as they shone out in the relative murk. One of them was a glistening white orb, like a spat out peppermint sweet whilst growing at its foot were a small garden of more typical looking toadstools.

We carried on and my brother in-law remarked something along the lines that ‘the butterflies will all have gone’; “there may be one or two still about even today” I replied. As the words had left my lips I spotted a large lemon leaf gliding down from the tree tops. As it reached the tops of the taller grasses lining the track it suddenly veered upwards and then banked a hard right before looping up and back the way it had come. I tried a few in flight shots of the Brimstone but they turned out appalling. Luckily after a few more passes of the track it plopped down in a spot that offered a relatively unobstructed view.

After this I kept my eyes peeled and tried to walk and talk at the same time as scanning both the ground and the canopy. A short distance away there were plenty of the target species for the day – they were scattered all over the woodland floor. Some were flat like dinner plates, the ‘flies’ (white growths) looked like the left over crumbs whilst others hadn’t uncurled and looked lovely and rounded – which I find more aesthetically pleasing. The theme of decay continued as a dead mouse lay on the path further on from the Fungi and it was a Dormouse orange but not a Dormouse itself. Unfortunately though I didn’t spot any other butterflies until I was safely back in the car park. I say safely as the final stretch of path had become extra treacherous since my last visit in June. The fallen trees were now entwined with the Brambles lining either side of path, the previously clear coppice was overgrown and the end part of the track was now non-existent as the trees had been felled and left covering the bank that leads down into the car park. Once we’d picked out way around and I was stamping the mud off of my boots another Brimstone, a male, did a quick fly-by. That wasn’t quite it as a Small White fly along the top of the hedge on the drive away. Just goes to show that the butterflies are hardier than you think.

Leaves are yellowing
And used to its advantage
By a smart Brimstone
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

I think the warm October has kept the Brimstones from sleeping soundly, Wurzel. I've seen more this autumn than I can remember.

Great amanita too - had that mouse been nibbling them, perhaps?

Cheers,

Dave

[Matsukaze]

Grovely is a nice woodland, though too far for me to visit regularly. I saw PBF there about 10-15 years ago, an introduction I think, also both Glow-worm and Slow-worm, not a bad double for a single day.

[trevor]

Great Brimstones, a fairly scarce species for me since Shipton B.
I can see the attraction of fungi, they don't escape.

Good to correspond with the real Wurzel rather than the phantom version!