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Delighted to see my first live Hedgehog in many years having a bimble (thank you, Susie ) through the garden last night. I normally only ever see squished ones...

Friday 3rd August

With tonight being another lovely sunny evening, I shot straight up the downs when I got home. A female Chalkhill greeted me on the way to to the roost site, where 3 other females and 2 males had gone to bed. 3 further males were at the Grizzled Skipper site a little further along and another male in was in Blacksole field, below the Pilgrim's Way.

In total I saw: 5 male and 4 female Chalkhill Blue, 1 Comma, 11 Meadow Brown and 11 Gatekeeper, some of which were still flying at 8pm.

It was another lovely late sunny evening.

Lee

This morning I met up with Susie, Chris C, Philzoid, PJU, Mrs PJU, Butterfly Bill and Mrs BB at Denbies in less than promising conditions - at 10am it was lashing down. However, it was lovely to see those I've met before again and to meet those I hadn't.

But the cloud broke and throughout our 4 hours on site we enjoyed some lengthy sunny spells (and a couple of showers).

As the sun was edging out we made our way to the mass roost site underneath Steers Field and I cannot really describe in words the pleasure experienced in seeing so many Chalkhill Blues. I've never seen anything like it. They were everywhere. Clouds of them. I've never seen a field come alive with butterflies like I have today; the sun would come out and they erupted. It is a memory I will not forget. There quite a few aberrations and many mating pairs too. When people say 'you don't see butterflies like you did as a child', this is always what I had pictured in my mind. A truly magical experience.

A conservative estimate for the number I saw today in total would be over 1500. Given the size of the site there must be tens, possibly hundreds of thousands on the wing right now. It was at least an (again, conservative) average of 3 to 4 per square metre.

Later we met Nick (Hideandseek) over in the meadow where he had seen a couple of Silver Spotted Skippers earlier in the day. We soon found some more and we all had good photo opportunites.

We struck out on Adonis Blue though, perhaps just a little too early for this year.

My sightings: 1500+ Chalkhill Blue, 1 Small Copper, 10 Marbled White, 30 Meadow Brown, 25 Gatekeeper, 1 Small Heath, 8 Silver Spotted Skipper, 10 Small Skipper and 1 Large White. Some of the group also saw Essex Skipper and 1 male Common Blue.

It was lovely to see everyone again on what turned out to be a fantastic trip to Denbies - my thanks to Susie for organising it.

As is the way right now, photos to follow.

Lee

Sunday 5th August

Chores done this morning and with the afternoon looking nice and sunny, I again walked my local downs. I was curious to see if the numbers of Chalkhills reported by Neil and those I'd seen at Denbies were also going to be replicated at home. I'd counted 57 the last time I was here during the day, 2 weeks ago.

In short, the answer was no. I counted 6 males in the small field on the way to the downs and 25 on the hills. I'm not going to speculate as to why...Also in the small field were 5 Gatekeeper, 5 Meadow Brown, 3 Large White and 5 Small White.

Along Pilgrim's Way, 3 Comma, 3 Large White, 4 Small White, 3 Gatekeeper and 2 Meadow Brown were along the banks of Buddleia.

In Blacksole field I found another Comma, 4 Gatekeeper and 3 Meadow Brown.

Upon entering Battlefields to go up to the downs a lovely fresh female 2nd brood Holly Blue was dancing around the gate and posed beautifully for a few photos. A Comma (almost ab. o-album) was here on the way back down.

Up on the downs, I spent ages walking along and did see the 25 or so Chalkhills, including good numbers of females and a mating pair. Gatekeepers were common with 30 seen and quite variable in size. I also saw a mating pair of these. 20 Meadow Brown, 1 Ringlet, 1 female Large Skipper (I think this is another first for home), a stunning, fresh female Common Blue (unfortunately I only managed to photograph her underside), 5 Large White and 5 Small White made up a decent tally.

I was photographing a female Large White on Teasel at one point and felt a nip on my leg. I was covered in ants; on my shoes, in my shoes, inside my jeans etc. I must have been standing on their nest and they were understandably put out by this.

Monday 6th August

At 08.15 I saw what I thought at first was a Painted Lady fluttering about the platform at Herne Hill station, south east London. Luckily it settled before the train I was on moved off to reveal it wasn't a Painted Lady at all, but a Jersey Tiger moth. Surprisingly colourful in flight!

Lee

Friday 10th August - The Return of the Peacock

An unexpected day off today (a quite serious and heavily debilating bout of man flu) meant I could nip to Dene Park before my first doctors appointment of the day. I visited both hotspots but there was still no sign of big purple Him. I did see 2 Purple Hairstreak though so it was well worth going. 3 Speckled Wood and 15+ Meadow Brown making up the other sightings.

Outside my front door today I was kept busy with 1 Peacock, 2 Holly Blue, 2 Meadow Brown, 15+ Large White and 15+ Small White.

Later in the afternoon, having seen one Peacock, I figured there had to be more. And there were. In the field on way to the downs there is plenty of buddleia of all colours and in here were at least 6 pristine Peacock, 1 pristine Red Admiral, 3 Comma, 3 male Chalkhill Blue, 25+ Meadow Brown, 30+ Gatekeeper, 15+ Large White and 20+ Small White.

In Blacksole Field I found 1 male Holly Blue, 15+ Gatekeeper, 5 Meadow Brown, 5 Large White and 5 Small White.

In Battefields, another Peacock, 1 Comma, 1 male Common Blue, 1 male and 1 female Chalkhill Blue, 10 Gatekeeer, 5 Meadow Brown, 10 Large White and 10 Small White were present.

Saturday 11th August

With the promise of fresh Adonis and sunny skies all day, a return visit to Denbies was very much in order.

As it turned out the Adonis are still to emerge and the sky did go a bit hazy but I still saw lots of lovely things. Chalkhills were still extremely numerous although perhaps numbers were slightly down on last week. There were loads of fresh male and female individuals so they are still emerging. I also found this odd looking female, later identified as perhaps ab. caerumaculae. (Thanks Roger).
There were fresh Brown Argus and Small Copper in the meadow along with the Silver Spotted Skipper.

A lone Dark Green Fritillary and 2 Marbled White along with my first 2 summer male Brimstones also being highlights.

And to cap it off, a pristine Painted Lady offered lovely photo opportunities back near the car park

Sightings: 1500+ Chalkhill Blue, 8 Brown Argus, 1 male and 1 female Common Blue, 5 Small Copper, 5 Silver Spotted Skipper, 10 Small Skipper, 2 male Brimstone, 5 Large White, 2 Speckled Wood, 100+ Meadow Brown, 100+ Gatekeeper, 2 Marbled White, 1 Dark Green Fritillary and 1 Painted Lady.

A very enjoyable 4 hours or so.

Hi Lee,
so you had an enjoyable day at Denbies, seeing a great variety of butterflies and ONLY ONE PHOTO, What did i tell you the last time i saw you, this is just not good enough No really, glad you had a successful trip.
All the best, Nick.

Sunday 12th August

The small field on the outskirts of the village containing the buddleia this afternoon held 5 male amd 3 female Chalkhill Blue, 5 male Common Blue, 1 Holly Blue, 8 Peacock, 1 Red Admiral, 3 Comma, 3 Meadow Brown, 15 Gatekeeper, 5 Large White and 3 Small White.

Blacksole field had 3 male Common Blue, a mating pair of Common Blue, 2 male Chalkhill Blue, 6 Gatekeeper and 2 Large White.

Just 2 Large White were seen in Battlefields.

Saturday 18th / Sunday 19th August

A visit to a friend's in Hampshire on the hottest weekend of the year was a lovely way to enjoy the sun. Visits to the villages of Hartney Wintney, Odiham, Hook and then boating on the Basingstoke Canal produced Red Admiral, Peacock, Comma, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Speckled Wood, Brimstone, many Large and Small Whites. There was also a possible Grayling on Hazeley Heath. The damselflies and dragonflies on the canal were stunning too.

I stopped off at Denbies on the way home, arriving about 6ish. Surely the Adonis must be out by now?

Well, not really no. I saw one male and a couple of possible females. Challkhill numbers continue to decline but female CHB, Brown Argus, Small Copper, female Meadow Brown and Silver Spotted Kipper are still showing some fresh individuals.

Sightings: 1 male Adonis Blue, 25+ Chalkhill Blue, 5 Common Blue, 1 Holly Blue, 1 Small Copper, 1 Small Heath, 50+ Meadow Brown, 5 Gatekeeper, 5 Silver Spotted Skipper, 1 Small Skipper.

Unfortunately I missed Nick (hideandseek) who was there at the same time, but maybe next time.

Hi Lee,
If you want to see Silver-spotted Skippers and Adonis Blues,don't forget to take a trip to Lydden Temple Ewell Downs,near Dover,at the end of August. I will be going,as i have done for many years,and its only an hour down the M20 from Wrotham. It's quite an extensive site,looked after superbly by the Kent Wildlife Trust. Maybe see you there!
In answer to your earlier post,i certainly do find my way south of the river,and it would be great to meet up,i would like that.
Cheers.

I'm just back from a lovely long weekend not too far from Barcelona. It wasn't a butterfly break but I did see several Long Tailed Blues, some other unidentified blues and the silhouette of a large Nymphalid while I was there.

Back to work today and on a visit this morning, at 9am in the middle of nowhere near Longfield in Kent, on large Ivy bushes in full flower, it was lovely to see at least 4 Red Admirals enoying the nectar and morning sun.

I had a lovely couple of hours in Richmond Park yesterday. I'd not been there before and was marvelling at the deer when I was surprised to see a Red Kite being mobbed, not only by crows, but also by parakeets!

Also saw just the one Speckled Wood.

A Kite being mobbed by Parakeets-thats a new one on me! I bet the Kite had never seen a Parakeet before,must have been some sight for all concerned!

Their ranges now overlap a fair bit in the Thames Valley - I spotted a pair of Red Kites earlier in the year wheeling over the village here just west of Heathrow. The parakeets have been around these parts for quite a few years now - they are nearly as noisy as the aeroplanes.

Dave

essexbuzzard wrote:A Kite being mobbed by Parakeets-thats a new one on me! I bet the Kite had never seen a Parakeet before,must have been some sight for all concerned!

I believe some of these Indian Ring-Necked Parakeet colonies number into the thousands.

I read once that the largest roost was 4,000 strong at Esher Rugby Club.

I'd certainly never seen Parakeets do that before.

I have seen a Red Kite high above the college car park in Acton, west London and another from West Drayton train station, near Heathrow before.

Lee

I'm working from home today on what looks like being the best day of the week and a Peacock has just slowly fluttered past my front window. My first butterfly of 2013.

Guess where I'm going this afternoon...

Lee

What a glorious day. A lunchtime walk along The Pilgrim's Way rewarded me with 1 Comma, 1 Red Admiral and 2 male Brimstones. That's 4 of the 5 hibernators today.
Interesting to watch the Brimstone's behaviour; at around 13.30, they were both already scouting Ivy bushes, presumably for places to rest up for the night.

Great shot of a Comma in an unusal looking pose

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Heart-warming stuff, Lee.

I guess your part of the country has seen 14 or maybe even 15c?

Hardly surprising that early spring butterflies have been out in decent numbers.