www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Cracking shots Neil That certainly sounds like a great site - perhaps I should head West and not East next year to tick off the Frits?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks for the comments guys

Saturday 6th July – Afternoon.

After chilling out a bit with a nice cold drink, Jane was keen to attempt the walk down to the cove at Heddons Mouth.
Since her stroke a couple of years ago Jane still has limited mobility and needs the support of a walking stick, or a folding delta frame for longer distances, but as long as the path is not too rough she can manage a fair distance.
I had previously checked out the paths on both sides of the river and noticed that the one going along the left, although being a slightly longer route, was more level.

We had a slow wander along through the welcome shade of the woods and made our way down to the cove where we just sat for a while enjoying the scenery and watching a number of birds including some young Rock Pipits and a couple of Grey Wagtails that aerobatically swooped along the river catching flies.
A Golden-ringed Dragonfly was also patrolling along the river, the third one of these impressive insects that I had seen during our walk down to the cove.
There were also plenty of butterflies along this path including Speckled Woods, Meadow Browns, a couple of Common Blues and a really ancient looking Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary as well as a few DGF/HBFs only one of which came close enough to confirm as a High Brown.
We then made our way back along the path to the Hunters Inn where Jane decided to go and have a quick nap in our room as she was feeling tired after the walk, becoming tired quickly is another legacy of her stroke.

Whilst Jane was resting I figured I would go back to the meadow described in the last report as a lot of butterflies tend to close their wings in the afternoon sun to regulate their temperature and I was hoping that this may give me an opportunity to get some underside shots.
As I approached the bramble covered bank I could see a good number of bright orange butterflies fluttering about and it soon became apparent that there were many more fritillaries than there had been earlier.
As before many of them were flying between the bank and the meadow making an accurate count difficult but there must have been thirty or more, again mostly High Browns with some Dark Greens mixed in and at least three Silver-washed Fritillaries along with Meadow Browns and a couple of Small Tortoiseshells.
A great day with loads of Butterflies I still hadn't managed to get a decent photo of a DGF underside...Oh well, still got another day here, just have to have another look

Bye for now,

Neil.

Nice shots Neil - the first HBF underside shot is a corker!

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks Pete, I was watching that one for some time as it shuffled about on the brambles hoping it would turn and get a good angle to the sun.

Cheers,

Neil.

Impressive stuff, Neil. Nice to see High Browns thriving outside of my local patch. I hope given the perfect flight conditions that a few of them may disperse and colonise other, nearby areas. One can only hope.

Lush shots of the HBFs especially the first under wing one I really need to sort out seeing those next year...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks for the comments, appreciated as always

David, I met some chaps at Collard Hill on the way home on Monday that told me that High Browns were also out in good numbers at Aish Tor on Dartmoor.


Sunday 7th July

Another glorious morning, we set out for a drive into Exmoor heading for Dunkery Hill and Bin Combe arriving at about 10.30 under a cloudless sky and with it already feeling very warm.
Jane stayed by the car admiring the views and sitting in the sun reading her book whilst I descended into Bin combe to look for Heath Fritillaries. I had seen the report by Bill Willrow last month on his visit to Bin Combe and also read the NT information where the site is described as ‘Extreme Butterflying’ and from where I quote the following;

‘This one is tough, very tough. The habitat is tall, dense bracken on steep slopes where there are no paths’….

Well, they are not kidding ….going down is not too much of a problem as long as you watch your footing but coming back out again is a challenge, especially on a such a hot day as this was turning into.
The refreshing breeze up at the top by the car park completely disappeared down in the shelter of the combe and it felt like I was descending into a furnace. I only went about half way down before the gorse and brambles became too thick and overgrown and it became difficult to negotiate the steep slopes.

Nevertheless, I managed to see half a dozen or so Heath Fritillaries flitting and gliding around along a stretch going down from a rocky outcrop for a few hundred yards.
These were very active in the heat and the only times they settled were very brief stops that were usually well out of reach for photos so I only managed a couple of record shots.
Other butterflies seen were Meadow Browns, Small Heaths and a couple of rather faded Small Coppers.

After just 30 minutes or so in the combe it was getting too hot (never happy eh!!!) so I made my way back up to meet Jane who greeted me with a big grin and pointed out a Dark Green Fritillary that had been making high speed passes around the car for a while.
With the benefit of hindsight it was probably not such a good idea to visit such a physically challenging site on such a hot day but I did enjoy it and I did see some more Heath Fritillaries, this being only my second time after seeing them for my first time at Haddon Hill the other day .

After a stop off at Exford for a bit of lunch, we made our way back to the Hunters Inn where we sat outside with a drink and chilled out for a while.

Around 4.00pm I went for another walk, this time heading past the wet meadow towards Ladies Mile.
At a spot where the path comes out of the woods onto the bracken covered slopes I saw two faded Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries along with a number of DGF/HBFs that I didn’t get close enough to positively ID. I also saw a very active Green Hairstreak that looked to still be in reasonable condition, at least it was still definitely green.
Heading back, I stopped off again at the wet meadow where after taking a couple of photos of HBFs on the brambles I noticed a hat moving about amongst the head high cow parsley . This turned out to be on the head of the first fellow butterflyer that had met along this path and who pointed out to me a mating pair of High Browns.
There were just as many butterflies here today, if not more than the previous day, so I hung around for a while and took some more photos, finally managing a DGF underside that I was fairly happy with.
With the Heath Frits at Haddon Hill and the tatty SPBF the other day along with the DGFs, HBFs, and SWFs, I had already seen five species of Fritillary over the weekend and today I had managed to see all five in one day

Bye for now,

Neil.

Great effort, Neil, although I see that you have now joined the numbers of those who have sunk into the abyss known as Bin Combe!!

For sure, this part of the island is the Fritillary capital of Britain.

Absolutely brill report Neil but if you added Large Blue on the way back I think I might implode with envy

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi David, describing Bin Combe as an abyss certainly sounds about right, you almost get the feeling that you are descending into a lost world. It must be spooky on a misty day.

Ah, sorry Wurzel.....best not read my next posting then

That last trio of undersides is just unbelievable. Lovely to compare the differences and similarities.

Brilliant, unforgettable stuff.

Dave

Thanks Dave, really appreciate your comments

Monday 8th July

Having spent a glorious few days in the Heddon Valley as described in the previous posts it was time to depart back to the midlands and I figured that as we would be heading back up the M5 it would be remiss of me not to call in at Collard Hill on the way.
After breakfast we threw our stuff into the car and set out, arriving at Collard Hill and parking by the youth hostel at about 11.30am with it already turning into another hot day.

I had never seen Large Blues before and reading up a bit it appears that they do not like to fly if it is too warm and prefer to hide in the shade during the hottest part of the day so I was hoping some would be around before it got too hot for them.

Walking along the path towards the crossroads there were numerous Meadow Browns and a couple of fresh Small Tortoiseshells.
I entered the site and started along the lower path through the trees and out on to the hillside where there were loads of Meadow Browns, my first Marbled Whites of the year and more Small Tortoiseshells. I also saw a couple of fresh male Gatekeepers, again my first this year.
Making my way along to the eastern part of the hill I saw a group of half a dozen or so people clustered around something. Approaching the group a couple of them pointed out to me a mating pair of Large Blue that had apparently been there for some time.
After watching this pair for ten minutes or so they started shuffling about and moved position a couple of times until they separated and the male flew off up the hill.
The female stayed around for a little while and at one point settled in some partial shade where she opened her wings a bit and gave a glimpse of blue topside.
I then slowly made my way back along the hill, zig-zagging up and down a bit and saw two more individuals, one of which settled briefly before shooting off again.


By this time it was getting very hot and all the butterflies were either very active or taking to the shade so I decided to call it a day and head back to the car and continue on our way home.

I only stopped at Collard Hill for about an hour but it was long enough to see four Large Blues as well as my first Marbled Whites and Gatekeepers this year.
It also made the perfect end to a wonderful weekend during which I had a great time and saw numerous butterflies including my first ever Heath Fritillaries and Large Blues

Bye for now,

Neil.

Looks like you had a great time last weekend Neil, a lovely report, and a lot of great photos, especially the High-brown Fritillaries, a butterfly i have yet to see, but what a beautiful insect.

All the best, Nick.

Seconded! The High Brown pics in particular are excellent.

And well done for making the most of the good weather.

Evening Neil

The selection of butterflies you are seeing is certainly enviable and you are taking some great shots - nice to see them in context once in a while. Those High Browns, well, what can I say - would love to see them for myself.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh


Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you all for the comments, very much appreciated

Sorry Wurzel, I hope that wasn't as painful as it sounded


What a difference a week had made to the Peacock caterpillars in the garden. The original group had dispersed into four separate groups and then again into six.
I have bought myself a netting cage and am going to put a few in to hopefully rear up to adults, memories of doing this all those year ago have come flooding back

Bye for now,

Neil.

Saturday 13th July.

Back at work this week and some domestic stuff to do at home yesterday (Saturday) that I managed to get finished by early afternoon.
Purple Emperors had been showing well at Oversley Wood for the past couple of days so I decided to have a drive over. I realised that it was not the best time, most groundings taking place before 12.30 but figured that I may see some aerial action at the ‘congregation area’.

I arrived just turned 3.00 and went straight to the congregation area where within a few minutes I was treated to a pair of male Emperors sparring high up over the trees. During the nest 30 minutes or so I must have seen half a dozen males at different spots up in the trees with some furballs with 3 or even 4 males taking part at once

I then went off to do a circuit of the wood to see what else was about. Good numbers of Silver -washed Fritillaries and White Admirals were very active in the hot sun as well as hordes of Meadow Browns and Ringlets with a good scattering of Large Skippers and a few fresh Small Tortoiseshells and Gatekeepers.
I was particularly pleased to see the number of White Admirals as these have not done too well in Warwickshire the past couple of years and I saw more in a couple of hours here than I saw in the whole of last year
There were also a good number of summer brood Commas, every glade and clearing seemed to have one defending its bit of territory.
At around 5.00 I went back up to the congregation area and saw that at least 4 male PEs were still having their territorial disputes above the trees.

After watching these for another 30 minutes or so I decided to make my way back to the car park and had not gone far when I came across 2 grounded male Emperors by a muddy puddle. These were very flighty and took to the air at the slightest movement but one of them stayed down just long enough to get a couple of shots.
Earlier I had noticed that in the heat very few butterflies were nectaring on flowers but quite a few were taking minerals from the ground including White Admirals doing mini Emperor impersonations and the Silver-washed Fritillary below.
Work again tomorrow but I have a day off on Thursday, Fermyn is only 90 minutes or so from my house, I reckon I know where I will be going

Bye for now,

Neil.

Cracking report Neil - I saw his nibs today but nowhere near as close as that Good luck on Thursday.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel, it looks like there is an amazing amount of Imperial Purpleness at Fermyn at the moment

Tuesday 16th July.

The Peacock caterpillars in the garden are all in their final instar now and are no longer in their groups but have dispersed themselves all over the nettle patch, either as single individuals or in twos and threes.
A couple of days ago, just before they dispersed, I put a dozen caterpillars into a netting 'critter cage' to finish their development and hopefully watch them pupate and emerge as adults.

I was also pleased yesterday to see a Ringlet in the garden, I know there are hordes of them around at the moment but this was a garden first for me
There is not much else in the garden at the moment other than some Large Whites passing through, until this evening that is.
When I was outside earlier, just before 8.00pm, I was 'buzzed' by a Red Admiral that circled me a few times before departing over next door. I guess the heat was making it difficult for him to go to sleep as well

Bye for now,

Neil.