Bugboys mission

[bugboy]

Indeed is is March now Wurzel but I'm still waiting to catch my first sighting. Today was a very sunny day but there was also a rather brisk and chilly northerly wind.

I was actually off sick from work today with a touch on manflu making me feel decidedly lethargic but with the flat upstairs being in the middle of a drastic makeover, there was little chance of a relaxing day lounging around feeling sorry for myself. I decided to get some air and visit a couple of local places.

There was nothing much happening at my local marshes, no sign of the brambling I saw last time so I wandered over to Abney Park. Again no butterflies but at least I was out of the wind. The birds are definately feeling the season though, lots of tits investigating holes for breeding potential and I heard the familiar sound of a woodpecker pecking. He was quite low down and busy with his own hole so I was able to get quite close.

Hope it warms up soon, last years first sighting was on the 7th

[Wurzel]

Great Great Spotted Woody Bugboy Some butterflies soon would be nice though...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

16th March, Bookham Commons

I've been itching to get out and about with my camera, having had to work all through the recent warm spell. I did hope to finally kick off my season today with a trip to Bookham but cloud cover until mid afternoon combined with an icy north easterly put paid to any hopes of finding a butterfly on the wing. I settled for my usual stop off points checking on cats and eggs whilst keeping tabs on the local birdlife.

My two Purple Hairstreak eggs are still nestled together despite the hoards of Tits that are constantly moving through the canopy.

Next stop off was Brian: Well it would seem the warm weather had awoken him. All I found was an empty sleeping bag! Close inspection reveals a serious amount of silk was used to hold it in place through the winter . You may notice the dried blade of grass knotted on the stem, this is how I have marked all my eggs and cats over the winter.

I had a good look around to see if I could find him and on the nearest patch of leaves as the crow fly’s (or rather as the caterpillar crawls) I did see some freshly nibbled leaves, but despite much careful searching I couldn’t locate the culprit. More visits and more careful searches definitely beckon, I’ve still never seen a White Admiral caterpillar in all its green livery!

Birdlife was good today, finding 33 species without much effort including a good view of a Firecrest, lots of Marsh Tits and a fleeting glimpse of a couple of Bullfinch. Whilst watching a little Grebe and a couple of Tufted Ducks from a hide a Wren came down for a bath. It saw me move to get it in shot but stayed just long enough for the one snap

I also stumbled across the local Heronry and judging by the remains on the floor (and the noise from up above) we have baby Herons!

There was one last surprise awaiting me, I had another look for Brown Hairstreak eggs and found my original two which I had somehow completely missed on my last visit

I do hope the weather sorts itself out and gives me warm days off soon, it'll be Orange-tip season before I see anything on the wing at this rate!

[Pauline]

You and me both Buggy but more great shots from Bookham Common, reminding me that a visit there is a must this season

[bugboy]

21st March, Walthamstow Marshes, the search continues.

Despite the forecast predicting cloud, cloud and more cloud there was a good amount of blue sky this morning, and not much of a wind giving a rather pleasant springtime feel.

5 hours later I still hadn't seen a butterfly though, the predicted clouds swamping out the blue sky leaving only the occasional glimpse for most of the afternoon. There were plenty of queen Bumblebees buzzing around, giving many fleeting moments of hope and I rescued this lady, frozen in motion, and popped her on some Blackthorn, out of the way from being trodden on where she promptly started to feed.

In contrast to the complete lack of butterflies, there was a lot of birdlife, 49 species sighted today including a Woodcock which I flushed a couple of times. No pictures of him but here’s a few others that sat long enough for me for me to sneak up on,

Goldfinch

Meadow Pipit

Magpie

Mute Swan

Fieldfare, listening for worms.

Whilst watching a Kestrel sat up in a tree, I could see she was focused on something on the ground a short distance in front of me. She dropped down and after some activity out of sight in the undergrowth she flew off with lunch. I managed a few rushed shots as she flew off, good enough to see a Shrew had just prematurely ended its short life...

On one of the reservoirs the local cormorant colony is in full swing, every nest now almost certainly full of very noisy and very hungry chicks.

Cormorant colony

Also buzzing me today, a Chinook

Tomorrow looks slightly more promising, at least in the morning for potential butterfly activity. It's been 145 days since I last saw a native butterfly....not that I'm counting !

[Pauline]

Fabulous bird shots Buggy - especially the Kestrel and shrew!

[bugboy]

Thanks Pauline, was just a case of being in the right place at the right time

22nd March, Epping forest, still looking

After yesterdays butterfly blank I had real optimism for today, the forecast looked good and leaving the flat under a cloudless sky I could feel the warmth even mid morning. I had good results early last year in Epping Forest with the rides and glades riddled with Peacocks and Commas so I had planned a nice long stroll. I killed the first few hours watching the birds as I waited for temperatures to get up to double figures. There was lots of activity with various species pairing off, investigating potential nest sites and generally getting into the springtime mood.

Nuthatch

Jackdaw clearing out a possible nest site

Stock Dove

Blue Tit

Treecreeper

By lunchtime I had still not seen anything resembling a butterfly. A couple of angry Blue Tits did add a bit of excitement to proceedings, falling from the Oak I was passing and landing a few feet away from me...I wonder who won, looked like a pretty even match?

Still in search of a butterfly I made my way to a small patch of heath land in the middle of the wood which proved very productive last year. Nothing much showed itself, a few snakes were heard slithering into the Heather as I passed and A Beefly appeared asking for a photo shoot.

It was as I stood from him up that I finally saw a butterfly, a Comma buzzed me briefly and then flew up into a tree, giving me no chance to obtain photographic evidence. A few minutes later I missed a second chance by nearly stepping on one... and so ended the butterfly action for the day!

I spent the rest of the afternoon birdwatching including half an hour stalking a pair of Kingfisher around a small lake

Mallards

Mandarin Ducks

Kingfishers

A classic view of a Green Woodpecker disappearing up a tree!

At least I'm finally off the mark now, even if I am yet to get a picture this year!

[Wurzel]

Great news that you're off the mark Buggy! Great shots of the Treecreepers and I reckon the Blue Tit on the right won, the other is certainly on the back foot.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

2nd April, Aldbury Nowers... Butterfly photos at last!

My first day of a week off from work and it seems the weather is on my side for once. During the week a friend from work, who had just bought a new car, asked if I wanted to go somewhere so instantly I provided a list of butterfly friendly locations, complete with suitable attractions to also keep said friend occupied. Tring (with its Natural History museum) was the chosen destination with the nearby Nature Reserve awaiting my first visit of the year.

My first sighting of the day was seen as we drove into Tring, with me excitedly pointing as a yellow butterfly flittered across the road in front of us, my friend rolling her eyes at me as I did so

Once we'd had a browse round the museum we decided to look for a pub to grab a meal before setting off for the butterfly hunt. Several more Brimstones were fluttering around the town and I also got the year’s first sighting of a Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell with a couple of flybys.

After a quiet start at the reserve I saw a Peacock land on a chalk scrape. It was some distance away with a fence between me and it so after a quick record shot I darted along to the stile to get closer..... only to find it had buggered off by the time I relocated the spot .

Brimstones were either numerous or one male was following us and I managed to grab some shots during one of the closer flybys but nothing more settled long enough for me to get anything better. Still at least I actually have some evidence of seeing something at last and I’ve finally ticked of all the adult hibernators.

I promise better quality pictures next time

So in the absence of more butterflies, here's some springtime flowers just to bulk out this post

[Wurzel]

Good to see you got of the mark at last Buggy! Love the shot of the Brimstone as it is possibly the typical Spring shot

Have a goodun
Wurzel

[bugboy]

Indeed it is Wurzel!

3rd April, Walthamstow Marshes

After a long wait my local patch finally came up with the goods today. The first few sightings were ones that saw me first, a couple of Peacocks and a comma vanishing over the Bramble before I finally found a sitter, a Small Tort, who allowed a few shots before he too vanished.

Next came another Comma, a female who was very accommodating...

And so was a second who settled a foot away

Exploring further I was pleased to see several more of all three Vanessids although none settled for me.

I was also pleased to see, fluttering up ahead, a White. It was fairly busy today with joggers, dog walkers and families enjoy a Sunday stroll so I had to wait a while before it settled long enough to get in range and ID it. A Small White living up to his name, being noticeably smaller than normal.

A found another Tort who rather annoyingly would only settle on the wrong side of a fence

then further along I noticed two greenish ‘blobs’. A pair of Green Woodpeckers who seemed rather over confident in their mimicry talents.

When the male finally lost his bottle at my steady approach the female slipped down and tried to hide...

Twenty minutes later I found myself in the company of another Comma, gorging himself on Blackthorn nectar, oblivious to me.

To round of a great day I nabbed a few Peacock shots before a nosy dog ran over and scared it off.

Such a relief to actually get off the mark properly!

[trevor]

You're off at last, Buggy, and a worthwhile haul too.
I was hoping yesterday that the Commas and Peacocks would nectar on Blackthorn,
very photogenic,as your images prove.

All the best ,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Looks like you had a cracking day Bugboy and now that I'm able to get out and see them the weather has gone bad - checking the Apps it seems that this could be it for a fortnight Let's hope they're wrong (as usual)...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Lovely Comma shots Buggy - they look really velvety. Best shot for me tho' is the Green Woodpeckers - fantastic!! I could not even tell you the number of years I have tried to get a shot (any sort of shot ) of just one of those birds Excellent!

[bugboy]

Thanks Trever, it's good to finally get off the mark, even if the rest of my week off is looking like a washout (tomorrow excepted)
Yes it was a good day thanks Wurzel and yes lets hope the're wrong... but they rarely get it wrong this way round, only when sun is predicted and you leave the house without a coat...
Thanks Pauline. I wasn't expecting to get that close to those Woodpeckers, normally such nervy birds but they did seem to think they were invisible extensions to the posts!

4th April

With a typical April 'pic 'n' mix' weather forcast for the day I stayed local and had another little wander round my local patch. Just an hour and I managed to miss the showers. I heard my first Willow Warblers of the year and the Blackcaps have re-appeared in full voice. Unlike the over wintering Chiffchaff's, which I see and hear chiffchaffing all winter, the Blackcaps seem to just vanish even though I know they must be lurking somewhere in the undergrowth.

As for butterflies I only flushed a couple of Peacocks this time, of which only one was willing to settle. He'd been putting his eye spots to good use!

[trevor]

Steady there Buggy, your Butterfly sightings are starting to get regular !

[Butterflysaurus rex]

Hi Buggy,

Good to see you've found plenty of Commas, I've only seen 2 down here so far, as I recall I struggled to find some last spring as well. Perhaps the conditions locally are not favouring them. It's puzzling because they used to be quite numerous here.
These things can be cyclical, maybe I'm seeing the low point before the rebound.

It's easy to take these 'common' species for granted but when they are absent you quickly miss them.

Hope to see you out & about again this season.

ATB

James

[bugboy]

Steady there Buggy, your Butterfly sightings are starting to get regular !

Thats the plan Trever

Hi Buggy,

Good to see you've found plenty of Commas, I've only seen 2 down here so far, as I recall I struggled to find some last spring as well. Perhaps the conditions locally are not favouring them. It's puzzling because they used to be quite numerous here.
These things can be cyclical, maybe I'm seeing the low point before the rebound.

It's easy to take these 'common' species for granted but when they are absent you quickly miss them.

Hope to see you out & about again this season.

ATB

James

Hopefully they'll rebound near you. Last year was a good for them near me and this year is looking just as good, I had another good dose of Comma action today

I know what you mean about absent common species, Small Coppers and Common Blues were unusually hard to come by on my local patch last year, worryingly so

I'm quite sure we'll bump into each other again once all the spring species start emerging en force in a few weeks time

[bugboy]

5th April part 1, Bookham Commons

The plan for the day was a morning at Bookham followed by an afternoon over at Box Hill, making the most of what is probably the last decent day for a while. The usual stop off points at Bookham to find my Hairstreak eggs (all present and correct) and to see if I could re-locate the White Admiral cats (no luck) whilst seeing if I could find anything on the wing. It was still early but the sun was warming the air nicely and there were a few flying around, Peacocks from what I could tell but nothing settled for an hour or so until I managed to tic of species 6 of the year, a Red Admiral. He settled just long enough to grab one long distant, over exposed shot before vanishing as I fiddled with my camera settings.

I did hang around for a while since this was the same area I’d seen my blue spotted ab. late last year and I wondered whether it was the same one. Sadly it never re-appeared but I did find a Comma who was camera shy and get a Brimstone flyby.

I didn’t see anything else until I was leaving, a couple of male Brimstones were having a brief tussle by one of the car parks and as a cloud passed over one fell to the ground. I took my chance and managed to get a few photos before the sun re-appeared and he flew off up into a Sallow laden with catkins.

As I watched him I realised there were at least 6 Brimstones feeding from it, mostly high up but occasionally one would flutter down close enough for a picture .

Next stop Box Hill... at least that was the plan until my train got cancelled . They run only once an hour and with some dark clouds making it seem decidedly chilly I decided to call it a day, Box Hill will have to wait

[Wurzel]

Lovely Brimstone Buggy - I can but sit and enjoy the butterflies through you as Mrs Wurzel has arranged for someone to lift, relay and sand our floor tomorrow

Have a goodun

Wurzel