Wurzel

[trevor]

Possibly an unwise decision not to send the family on an extended shopping expedition
on a day when OT's and GH are behaving so well! Great stuff.

PS. Might try the Hill tomorrow, weather looks awful from Weds onwards.

[Katrina]

Sounds like a fantastic day. For the GH pair .
I am intrigued what a mixed pickle sandwich is.
Also the click step made me chuckle - I click step a lot

[ernie f]

You got an in-cop pair of Greenstreaks!
That's not a common sight!
I've only captured images of that happening once before and don't ever expect to see it again. You say it's your first time too but it's my guess you've been interested in butterflies a lot longer than I have so that alone suggests it's rarity. My interest only stems back as far as about a couple of years or so before I started to post on this website so I consider myself lucky to be part of that particular club.

[Padfield]

Ernie - I've been butterflying longer than Wurzel's been alive and I'm still not a member of the exclusive green hairstreak in cop club! Fantastic stuff!

I've eaten a lot of mixed pickle sandwiches, though - usually Ashoka brand, which is by far the tastiest.

Guy

[bugboy]

Once I’d taken more than enough photos, then a few more as well just to be sure and then a final set to be sure to be sure

Having also only recently joined this particular club, I know what you mean about making absolutely sure you have enough pictures

[Neil Freeman]

Well done with the Green Hairstreaks in cop Wurzel. As others have said, something I have yet to see

Cheers,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor Looks like the trip to Hill paid off They can't have been out for more than 5 minutes but the looks of them
Cheers Katrina I started on Lime pickle, like you get in a curry house but then moved onto I Pataks Hot Mixed pickle -it has the spice and limes as well as other veg beefing it up Glad I'm not the only one that can do a mean Click-step
Cheers Ernie I remember seeing a spate of the in cop images a few years back and if I recall correctly someone told me that they were easy to see I could really do with Small Pearls in cop and then I'd have completed the Frits
Cheers Guy I'd normally offer to swap the shot for a Chequered Blue but I might keep this one I shall look out for the Ashoka pickle
Cheers Bugboy There is nothing worse than getting home and every single one is slightly out of focus due to the breeze or having knocked the diopter wheel or even worse still the dreaded blade of phantom grass
Cheers Neil Truth be told each season I've gone searching for my Greenstreaks I've hoped to to find a pair in cop - it's only taken 15 seasons and possibly 80 trips In fact the one time I wasn't hoping for it 'pop' there they were

Martin Down 21-04-2024

I’d seen report from a couple of sites, one further East and the other further West, that the Grizzlies were emerging and so to that end I decided that after lunch, with all the jobs jobbed, I head over to Martin Down an hope that as that was in the middle of the other two sites that the Grizzlies would be out there too…

I didn’t think that my slow puncture or the suspension would thank me for visiting Sillen’s Lane and so I pulled up instead in the Main Car Park off the A354. It was quite busy so I hoped that most of the visitors would be looking for butterflies as this is a big site and the Grizzle is a small butterfly and the more pairs of eyes the better. However most of the people that I encountered seemed to have a penchant for carrying miniature bin bags and calling out strange names so it seemed that I would have to rely on my eyes alone. I started off having a quick look around the large island of scrub from the car park. In the past I’ve encountered Greenstreaks, Grizzlies and even a Cloudy in this spot but all I could find today was a male Adder in the usual spot, basking at the side of the path.

I then cut across the ‘bowl’ and climbed down into the Dyke. Hopefully in a few weeks there will be Marshies all along here but today it was barren and so I set off along the top path with the Dyke on my right and made for the Butts. Along the way I had a look in a couple of the little fields as the banks caught the sun and offered some respite from the breeze which was quite gusty at times. I still couldn’t find any butterflies but instead checked out a couple of the old iron sheets. One had a Slow Worm whilst the other had a couple of Adders, one of which seemed huge and would have had quite a reach on it should it have been in a cantankerous mood. Luckily I’d used a handy stick to lift the sheet up else I’d have been fair game for a quick nip if she’d of had the mind.

The lack of butterflies continued all the way along the rest of the walk, and even the sheltered field behind the Butts was barren. Eventually I reached the Half-way point where a trio of butterfliers were checking out the narrow path. One I’d met before down at Portland and I’d seen the work of the other couple on Facebook. After a brief chat they decided to carry on and they left me with the brace of Greenstreaks who were holding territory along the edge of the path.

With something of the butterfly variety on the memory card I pressed on reasoning that in the breeze the sheltered spots would pay a premium and so to that end I followed one of the diagonal tracks across the grassland to one end of the Tunnel track. Almost as soon as the double hedge began the butterflies started appearing. The first was a beautifully fresh Specklie which played around the entrance to the track it kind of reminded me of a kid running out with the waves only to run back in when the waves returned only it would dart out of the tunnel track, a gust of wind would hit it and it would come racing back in to the shelter. Further along I spotted another couple of enthusiasts who were peering into the hedge. When I reached the spot they’d been peering at I paused and had a quick look. A small, bright green triangle suddenly stood out against the more yellow hued foliage – the third Greenstreak for the day. While I clicked away the other enthusiasts joined me and they explained that they’d been focusing on Holly Blues so had missed the Greenstreak. Again one person I’d met before and the other’s photos I’d seen on Facebook.

They headed off slightly further along the track and as they left I enjoyed a little purple patch with 2 male Orange-tips patrolling along the hedge, a Peacock dropping in and two male Holly Blues. The second flew along the hedge towards me and stopped quite close to even though I wasn’t whispering at it to do so! It started to open up and as I stepped in closer a female, slightly to my left and lower down on the hedge decided that she needed a bit more of a bask. The male quite literally almost fell off his perch and so I was witness to perhaps the shortest courtship; it lasted only about 30 seconds. The male then disappeared off the female having very effectively got her message across and she proceeded to continue with her sun bathing. I called the others back and so we were all able to get some shots of her looking her best.

While we clicked away we talked and it appeared that a Grizzlie had been seen the day before and so while the others made their way back to the car I doubled back to have a look around the Gorse fields hopeful that the Grizzlie may still have been around. Despite plenty of searching I didn’t find it, in fact I didn’t see anything butterfly wise and so I decided that rather than looking for a needle in the haystack I’d head over to the corner of Greenstreak field where it would be a case of looking for a needle in a needle sized box labelled ‘Needle’ and containing one needle. I scanned across the lower foliage by the narrow track and sure enough there was a Greenstreak. It played a little hard to get to start with, sitting so that part of it was obscured and at one point deep within the thorns of the Gorse but eventually I won its trust and it came out into the open a little more.

Hiding...

I can still see you!

Now you're not even trying are you?

Pleased with my collection of shots I had a little poke around whilst munching on my snack; a Green-veined White and a Brimstone both did a recce and when I decided to make a move I looked back to watch a white butterfly detach itself from a leaf that is had been roosting on whilst the sun had been in. It was a female Orange-tip. I looked upwards hoping that there would be some more cloud bubbling up to settle her down but alas I was in the middle of a Blue Sky period. I watched as she fluttered towards me, seemingly investigating all the nectar sources around and about and then she alighted ever so briefly on a Purple Orchid. I fired off a few hopeful shots but she was quite distant.

After this I did a time check and the verdict wasn’t good so I had to head for home. Of course I called in at the Half-way point where the Greenstreaks were both up high and didn’t stray down. I also found a few cats on the path which I think could be Marsh Frits but I need to check and also checked in with the Adders who seemed to be bunking up with a Slow Worm and then I drove home. Hopefully we’ll get a few more days like this weather wise and then things will really start taking off. Fingers crossed!

Pop to Martin Down
Going on a Grizzlie Hunt
But it’s a no show
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Greens on gorse! , a combo I've searched for and failed to find.
Also, belated congrats for your mating pair of GH's, must be near the top of desirable' in cop' finds.
Apparently Monday was the first day of multiple Marshie sightings at Cotley.

Great choice of pickles too!

[Maximus]

Nice to see you've joined the 'in cop' Hairstreak club too

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, those Green Hair Streak shots are fantastic, I went looking for them at Monkton NR but never found them I may go again if the weather holds up It's been a funny year for me so far Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Maximus Bugboy and I are looking into how we get the members pin badge - I'm hoping it'll be a little like the Gnasher one from the DTMFC
Cheers Goldie I hope things take a turn for the better for you soon Goldie, I reckon it will as good things come to those who wait

Fovant 28-04-2024

I’d noticed that my camera body was starting to get a bit old and a bit banged up but luckily my wife had also had a D90 knocking about that she wasn’t using and so I swapped my lens over and then waited for a break in the weather so that I could test it out. Things weren’t looking good as all the best days seemed to be during the week and the promise of a great weekend made the previous week gradually deteriorated from full sun to sunny intervals to 70% chance of showers. It turned cooler as well and so once again come Sunday lunchtime when I spotted the briefest of breaks in the clouds I grabbed my camera and just went out anyway. The sun strengthened as I drove, lasting for longer and longer periods whilst the cloud cover did the opposite and when I pulled up in the little lay-by at Fovant we’d almost completed another seasonal cycle from the spring a week before, through a squally autumn and mild winter and back to spring again!

I’d chosen Fovant as it is a much shorter drive than Martin Down and also because I was hoping to find a Grizzlie either along the sheltered paths or in the bowls formed from long deceased quarries. I hopped over the gate and followed the narrow path round and up into the base of the bowl. It seemed a little early for the usual Little Brown Jobs/Dukes but I still spied out a Peacock on the far side as well as a Green-veined White which drifted from one Coltsfoot to the next, pausing at each clump to take a sip. As I approached it I discovered problem one – the autofocus didn’t seem to work? Instead of some cracking, crisp images I got a shaky blurry blob as I’d clicked away out of force of habit. When I tried manual that wasn’t much easier either as I’d discovered problem 2, the view through the viewfinder was equally as blurry and unfocused. As I strolled up the hill I could possibly have missed out on a plethora of Grizzlies as I spent most of the trip up looking over the camera body. Then I noticed a little switch marked AF/M and clicked it round to AF. Boom, problem 1 solved. At the top another Green-veined White paused on the ever-reliable Dandelion and so I leant in and clicked away. Problem 2 hadn’t gone away but by pointing in roughly the right direction the AF had produced some passable images. I strolled back down the track and back into the Bowl picking up a Large White with a folded wing whilst a Brimstone scaled the heights at the back of the bowl.

I crossed the road and climbed over the next gate racking my brains why the viewfinder was blurry? Then I noticed the little +/- wheel at the top of the camera so I looked through the viewfinder and turned it one way then the other and Boom, problem 2 solved! ‘Good job I’d decided to make the trip on such a quiet day’ I thought to myself as I completed the walk to the bowl on this side of the road. It got even better for as I skirted round the inside edge I spotted a Peacock and then a fast moving, very small brown blur. I did my best to watch it, the difficulty with which I did this suggested that it was a Skipper and the colour a Dingy at that so when it eventually landed I was ready. I got a few shots and then it moved to ‘ledge’ slightly higher up the steep bank but this gave me the advantage of approaching it from cover and so I got some closer shots. Brilliant, just sorting the camera out would have been reward enough but a first for the year was even better!

I worked out of the other side of the Bowl and then started up the diagonal track with its occasional hollows. In the first there was another fast moving Peacock but also a Green-veined White sitting amid the damp and dew while it waited for the sun, which had momentarily ducked behind a passing cloud, to reappear. When it did, little tendrils of light raking out across the dark grass, the butterfly took off promptly and was away. I turned to follow it and was startled as a Fox that had been watching me slunk off before I even gave a thought to raising my camera. However I did raise my camera as I’d spotted a small, brown but not fast moving butterfly sitting and basking on the grass tops. It was my first Duke of the year and so my day got even better. After I’d gotten my shots I took a step back to watch the butterfly and that was when it took off and climbed up the steep wall like side of the Down passing out of view.

I carried on up to the top of the path and then back down in the low gully ending up back in the Bowl with only another Peacock and a Specklie to add to the tally and in the Bowl an Orange-tip deigned to have its photo taken. Once back at the car I realized that I still had five minutes or so left before I needed to head back and so I gave the Bowl one last check. It again held the Large White and what I suspect was the same Peacock and when I climbed out the other side I got another shock as Hare took from almost under my feet giving me one hell of a start! With that I loaded up and shipped out musing as I drove how I’d have felt if I’d not bothered to head out?

Went out anyway
Get the camera sorted
Duke and Dingy too!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

One way or another, that was a bit of a ha(i)ry outing, Wurzel! I'm glad you sorted the camera problem quickly, though... I like the GVW shots - a very photogenic butterfly.

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave I was glad that I didn't have to rabb-it up too quickly on account of the new camera

Star Wars Day! 04-05-2024

The Pearls at Bentley are normally out by the first few days into May and so it was time for the first of several annual meet ups with Philzoid. Surprisingly the weather forecast was favourable for the morning and so things looked good, on paper to be at least. I arrived slightly earlier than Philzoid but slightly later than intended, the crater strewn road and hummocky track having made me slightly tardy. I set off full of hope as overhead there was a rare sight – blue sky – and made my way to the ‘Back track’ the upper corner of which is usually where I spot my first Pearls. In a little clump of Bluebells, unfortunately on the wrong side of the fence, I watched two Small Whites and a Brimstone pootling about while Speckled Yellow Moths erupted from the old Bracken or longer turf. At the other end of the track, which I’d reached butterfly-less I finally managed to get something on the memory card; a Peacock feeding on the Bluebells. As I made my way back up a Brimstone teased me before a second posed beautifully ‘a la Diana and that skirt’ on a Bluebell just before the bridge into the main part of the Eastern Clearing.

Whilst I was here I spotted Philzoid and we joined forcing and starting walking and talking, our conversation punctuated with ‘Tree Pipit, Brimstone, some sort of Bee etc’ as various wildlife came under the scrutiny of out gaze. We took to following out established route to take in the back track as well as the far corner of the Clearing, all the while hoping for the flash of orange that would denote a Pearl. Alas, despite much searching and covering all the usual spots a couple of times a pearl didn’t appear. There were a fair few Brimstones about as well as the odd Peacock and in the far corner where the Dukes used to hang out we picked up both Large White and Green-veined White but of Pearls there was narry a sniff. As we were leaving an Orange-tip seemed to shoo us out of the Clearing but we hung around for a bit waiting for a Garden Warbler to show itself so that Philzoid could add some more photos to his repertoire.

We then took the short drive over to the Western side of the wood, towards the Hawksgrove area. This really produced the goods last year and it also the site from which the first records usually come so once again we walked and talked pinning all our hopes on the little triangle of grass where the track curves round. Along the way there were the usual Brimstones and a Peacock also turned up once we were at the Triangle but again of the Pearls there not a sighting so we carried on, slightly morose along the track. I mean to say after what felt like weeks and weeks of dull, cold and wet weather the sun was finally shining, the ground was drying but it seems that no-one had sent out the invitations to the butterflies, or at least those that would respond to a polite invitation and not the usual gatecrashers (Hibernators and Whites ). After passing a nicely cleared verge with another Peacock, smattering of Brimstones and a Large White the wood enclosed us once more and so due to the lack of butterflies we reverted to birding with a Firecrest showing itself albeit briefly. I really struggled to find these back when I was a teenager so enjoyed the firey flash on the head and the bold eye strip set off nicely against the forest green uppers all the more.

However…this was supposed to be a butterfly trip and so we made our way back to the cars and then drove over to Martin Down. I have commented/moaned/whinged before about the unusual weather that pervades my local area; I’ve regaled tales of ‘racing the cloud’ and voiced concerns about the way that a cloud will eerily hang directly over the exact spot I’m looking for butterflies. So I was glad that we’d decided to head to Martin Down in a way as Philzoid was able to experience the phenomenon first hand. On the drive over the skies were mainly blue with the odd fair weather cloud drifting past and so high as to not make any noticeable difference. However when we got out of the cars it was entirely different. Just over the border in Dorset there were the blue skies, form where we’d come the village of Martin was illuminated, shining brightly and lit by the sun yet over the entire reserve a massive, gun metal grey cloud sat, unmoving and blocking on the light but also the infrared radiation to the extent that it was cold enough to warrant a hat.
We pressed on regardless hoping to find at least one Grizzlie that would make the day worthwhile but the cloud was conspiring against us and very little, bit it bird or butterfly, was flying. As we moved along the start of the Dyke we heard a Cuckoo in the far distance and a Cron Bunting rattled its keys at us. As we wandered along the top path the cooler temperature caused by the behemoth above was demonstrated by a moribund Brimstone that was lying on the track and looking to all intents and purposes as if it just fallen out of the sky. Trying to cheer ourselves and find the positive I reasoned that the cloud cover would at least offer us the chance to check the metal sheets safely as any sheltering Adders would be slowed down. Even so we both got a stick to lift the sheets with. Under the first was a Slow Worm and then under the second a large female Adder slunk away into the grasses having given Philzoid a small window of opportunity for some shots.

After this I played my penultimate card as it were and so as we walked round to the other side of the Butts and approached the corner I started scanning intently; looking at each Dandelion, each blade of grass that was slightly taller than the rest of the sward and each twig or ‘sticky uppy thingy’. Boom there was the miniscule object I was hoping to find. It was my first Grizzlie of the season, the ‘trip maker’. It was closed up tight in the chill and almost locked into position so we were able to get a really good look at it. Some of the markings along the hind wing costa were larger or joined giving the wing a more overall white appearance. I’d tried cupping my hands around it whilst it was still perched and the slight increase in temperature from the heat radiating out from me was enough to make it open up and again there was a lot of white on the butterfly making it appear even more grizzled than usual.

Leaving the butterfly in peace we carried on after bugging a Lesser Whitethroat for a while and on our way to the half way point we bumped into Jenny who had seen almost as little as we had so I pointed her in the rough direction of the Grizzlie which I’d left clinging to a grass stem. The Halfway point was deadly silent and so we headed back to the Big Butt, counting up 5 Marsh Frit cats on the way. Philzoid kept on trying for the Lesser Whitethroat while I reacquainted myself with the Grizzlie and had a chat with Jenny, the terrible weather and dearth of butterflies being the main topic of conversation. All too soon it was time to head home and so it was back to the car pronto, with just enough time to call in for a Green-winged Orchid. One of those days really, started well but the butterflies didn’t respond accordingly and get their abdomens out of their chrysalises and then when things turn for the worse a single stalwart remained. Is this going to be a ‘late year’ or a ‘bad year’?

Where were all the Pearls
Not out enjoying the sun!
Come on sort it out!

Off to Martin Down
Martin-under-cloud more like
Still, get a Grizzlie

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

That was rather a splendid Grizzly, Wurzel - it rather made up for the rest of the day.

I'm convinced clouds follow me around sometimes too. I often seem to suffer from "cloud streets" where a continuous line of the fluffy white buggers is aimed precisely at the sun, and half a mile to either side is under brilliant blue...

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave Funnily enough the other day I found one that was the complete opposite - barely a white hair on it and looking very much like a Red-underwing Skipper 'Cloud-check Neck' and 'Met-itis' are increasingly common afflications among butterfly enthusiasts

June 2024

Well here comes the summer...apparently...hopefully

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Fovant 06-05-2024

The Bank Holiday weekend had started unusually sunny but by about lunchtime it had realized what it was doing, given itself a stern talking too and reverted to the norm; cloud, rain and cool temperatures. So it remained most of the rest of the weekend and on Monday, though the rain had abated, the cloud and cooler temperatures remained. I kept checking the various weather apps and the promised sunny intervals had been replaced with dark grey clouds…: “stuff it” I thought, grabbed my camera and went out anyway.

I started out in the Bowl on the left of the lay-by. The grass was soaking wet, the cooler temperatures having failed to evaporate it away and so by the time I’d walked half way round my boots were soaked through. I pressed on completing my tour of the Bowl and then heading up the diagonal track and then back down having drawn a blank. I crossed over the road and set off along the densely overgrown path at the bottom of the hill the vegetation meaning that now I was soaked from bootstraps to just above the knees. As I waded on I made the occasional glance upwards but things skyward weren’t changing although it was starting to feel imperceptibly warmer. I took heart in this and also when I spooked a Fox in the Bowl on this side of the road as the last time that had happened I’d gotten onto a Duke. Climbing out of the Bowl I carried on climbing but this time up the diagonal track. The first hollow was empty and so was the second and the third. Still I climbed on, hope slipping away with each step, perhaps not the omen I’d hoped for? I started back down on the parallel track checking out into the dyke as I did so. All of a sudden something caught my eye as it crawled and then climbed its way first out of the low grass and then up one of the taller blades. As it twizzled around its white markings flashed out in the gloom – it was a Duke! And a really dark and fresh one at that, so fresh and intact in fact I was left wondering if it had only just left the chrysalis?

I spent a good while with it and my previous thoughts about it having just emerged seemed to be supported by the short and weak flights it made between ‘sittings’ although this could have been because of the cooler temperatures? The set of short flights it made were great as they allowed me to pick up a range of images from side on to close up, the more normal to a great almost open winged shot from below.

Eventually I left it in peace and set off back down the track passing the various hollows on the way. Despite my success with the Duke the rest of the track and all the hollows remained empty, the slightest of temperature rises obviously not enough to tempt out any of the other butterflies along this more exposed part of the site. Probably because it’s slightly more sheltered the Bowl felt warmer and more humid and as a traversed the bottom a White took off. I followed it and watched intently as it fluttered weakly about so I was able to identify it as a Large White but getting shots was another matter entirely as it was exceedingly twitchy and even getting within a couple of metres of it set it off in another one of its flappy, lazy flights. Persistence paid off in the end and once I’d grabbed a few record shots I set off homeward, spooking a brace of Peacocks along the way. The first shot up from a circle of dead grass and disappeared before I’d almost had time to recognize it whilst the second hung about at the end of my walk for a few shots before I had to brave the overgrown path to get back to the car.

Having crossed the road I had another quick look in the Bowl but alas there was still nowt and so I started packing the car. As I chucked my coat in the boot I spotted a clump of Garlic Mustard on the verge. What with the cool, cloudy weather and the masses of Cow Parsley and now I gotten my eye in, Garlic Mustard, I wondered if there would be a roosting OT? There was only one way to find out and so I started walking along the road scanning the verge as I went. I didn’t turn up an OT but at the start of my search a Green-veined White dropped in from the other side of which spurred me on to finish my mission. With that it felt like a good time to call it a day and head for home.

Gloomy dull grey cloud
But a Duke and a Large White
Two to save the day

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Cotley 11-05-2024

As the first Marshie had only just been recorded over at the neighbouring hill things weren’t looking too crash hot in terms of them showing at Cotley. But wanting to have the first meet up with Dave and reasoning that ‘someone has to see the first one’ I set off along the A36. When I arrived it was lovely and warm and the sun was shining but not strongly enough to have evaporated the dew which started off soaking my boots and as the length of the sward increased the water progressed up to mid shin. At the top of the rise I stepped into the first Hollow and there, waiting for me was the first butterfly of the day, my first Wall for the year. Even this early it was quite flighty and so I managed a few shots before it zoomed off and round the curve of the hill.

I carried on round searching all the little spots where things had turned up before but it seemed that it was a little too early for most stuff and by the time I’d reached the little triangle of grass round by the second curve of the hill I’d only seen various Moffs and a single Green Hairstreak. I climbed down the hill and into the little grass triangle, the water soaking into my trousers now reached my knees as I pursued a Grizzlie. Pleased with my ‘capture’ I was just about to leave and head back to the start ready to meet Dave when an orange butterfly erupted from the grass and proceeded to tease me, my first Small Heath of the year. I’d just get into position and start focusing before it would be up and away, zigging and zagging with its deceptively fast flight before alighting several metres away and repeating the whole procedure.

Time was passing and it was getting to just past 9 so I started back to the Amphitheatre to try and find Dave. As I rounded the corner I spotted him on the other side of the Hill but as I was about to call out I got distracted by a vivid orange coloured butterfly. I knew immediately that it was a Small Copper – the colour was burnt onto my retina so could it be anything else? I followed it and leant in a few times for shots as it worked up the side of the Amphitheatre making its way from one ‘pitstop’ to another. Pleased to have reacquainted myself with this species I shifted focus from it back to finding Dave who had disappeared from view. I worked my way round and back to the initial Hollow, trying to ignore the Wall on the way so as to not get distracted gain and put in a call. Dave was on the other side of the small wood and so I strode down the track and turned and carried on through the wood and out to the other side. It was little more overgrown here on the lower slopes but there was Dave photographing a Grizzlie. Having caught up we started wandering along the narrow trackways as various Moffs vied for our attention. The odd Greenstreak passed by and then towards the far side of the down as the vegetation thinned and shortened we found a newly emerged Wall. It’s fresh status meant that not only was it a real looker but it was comparatively docile and flew only a few metres before stopping at the next nectar source.

With this in the bag we looped up and round and across the top of the Hill heading back to the more usual side. A Peacock, Green-veined White, Green Hairstreak and another Wall all flew here, skirting the barbed wire fence marking the ‘wild down’ on one side and Oil Seed Rape on the other. The Wall occasionally would fly over the fence but not hang around for long in the deceptive sea of yellow. Having reached the very top of the hill behind the wood we then started down the sweeping diagonal track right to the bottom and the starting Hollow. As we set off for my second pass of the site there were plenty of Greenstreaks and it dawned on me why it looked different; the small Hawthorns had gown up and hedge along the fence line it missing. There were more Greenstreaks on the expanse of Bramble round to the Amphitheatre and on the corner a Small Blue, Grizzlie and Small Copper all showed up. Annoyingly they only hung around briefly before nipping over the barbed wire fence and frequented the loose soil margins of the field on the other side. As we watched this a massive Orange-tip went past, so large it would have been shocking had we not encountered them this big here before.

Form here we worked our way along the bottom and when the path was barred by Bramble we climbed up and then continued on round. We ended up walking right to the end to the boundary with Scratchbury and then up over the top. On the way a few Walls popped up, a Peacock (possibly the same one from earlier) gorged itself on Dandelions at the very top and various whites fluttered by. About half way along the walk along the top we picked our way all the way back down to the little triangle which is where we’d initially been aiming for. When we waded into the grass at first it looked like our round about journey had been for nought but luckily that was the moment that a Small Blue showed up. Once we’d had our fill of shots we started to make out way back out of the triangular patch of grass but paused as a Small Heath popped up. One minute there was nothing to see but the dark, lush green grass and the next there was a little orange triangle. It behaved better than earlier in the morning and after a few more shots we started the climb back up to the path and followed it until we’d skirted round the bramble and we could get back on the bottom path. As we started off on the lower path we were met by another first for the year for me – a Brown Argus. It was clearly on a mission and only hung around for long enough for a few record shots but it was great to add it to both the daily and season tally – my fifth year tick of the morning.

Back at the Bowl the Small Blue, Grizzlie and Small Copper were still occupying their respective patches on the bare soil of the field margin over the fence so we checked out the Bowl itself. Greenstreaks occupied the thin, scraggly Hawthorn right on the corner whilst a Wall did a few fly-bys whilst it maintained its territory. We set about enjoying the Grizzlies that were frequenting the Bowl itself when a medium sized butterfly shot out of the grass giving us both fleeting glimpse of browns, creams and red. We both couldn’t be sure that it was but had it been a couple of weeks later or we’d already seen Marsh Frits that’s what we’d have out it down as. Unfortunately the view was so brief that no matter how hard I try I still can’t picture it in my memory and the fact that we couldn’t relocate means that it will always remain ‘?’.

We started back round as the day was passing and the Marshies weren’t showing although the Greenstreaks were. We tarried a little in the Hollow with more Greenstreaks, an Orange-tip flashing past (a normal sized one now) and of course the seemingly ubiquitous Walls. As we were just stepping onto the track l down the hill I spotted a pair of Small Blues in cop of the Hawthorn there. After a minute or two of contortion I managed to inveigle myself into the bush itself so that I could get some side on shots of the pairing. Once I’d unwrapped myself from the bush we carried on down the track, hemmed in on either side by the hedges. A Wall bounced away ahead of us while a brace of Peacocks spiraled upwards battling it out. The final place we checked was the blocked off and overgrown lay-by which was now bathed in sun and sheltered from the breeze on all sides. A Green-veined White welcomed us in whilst at the far end a Beautiful Demioselle landed briefly and two Orange-tips patrolled. A Holly Blue fell upwards into the treeline and a Greenstreak stopped in briefly. And all before the star of the show arrived – a cracking little Grizzlie which kept showing us its stunning underside.

This seemed like the perfect time to call it a day here; no Marshies but still a brilliant morning with excellent company and equally excellent butterflies. Waving goodbye to Dave I jumped in the car and started driving home…Well that was the intention at first but as I ate up the miles I kept wondering what was happening over at Martin Down what with the onset of clement weather?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

That was a great day, Wurzel - it may have lacked Fritillaries, but made up for it in other stuff, especially Green Hairstreaks! Great shots of the Walls too - you did far better than me on that score!

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave Looking back at how the reports came in it looks like there's about a week between the first at Battlesbury and Cotley. I called in the other day and there were still some fresh ones in the mix

Fovant 11-05-2024

As I was heading in the general direction of Martin Down via Wilton I reasoned that I could call in at Fovant to see how things were progressing there with only a slight detour so I was soon pulled up in the lay-by and hopping over the stile. As I wove round the track and up the steep bank to the Bowl the sun beat down and it was proper warm so I had a feeling that things were going to be good on the Duke front. So it was because as I skirted round the edge of the Bowl I watched as a pair of Brown Jobs flew upwards and into each other. As they buzzed around each other a third joined the fray and as I drew near I was just in time and close enough to catch glimpses orange on the wings of the initial two. They soon departed in separate directions but two of them didn’t travel far (probably the initial two combatants) so I kept an eye on the third hence I was able to confirm that all three were, indeed, Dukes. Out of the car for less than a minute and on 3 Dukes already! I was just starting to consider which to photograph first when two of them started on each other again and a smaller, silvery butterfly got caught up in the fray. I opted to watch this one and when it landed I was treated to views of the freshest Small Blue that I can recall, so fresh that the underwings shone like pure silver when the light hit the wings at the right angle.

I then reverted my attentions back to the Dukes but they proved hard to photograph as they would settle for only a short time before launching into yet another attack of one or both of their compadres. I kept on and grabbed as many shots that I could from my limited opportunities before making my way out of the Bowl and up the track that runs diagonally across the side of the hill. Despite the shortness of the track it took much longer to ascend than I had expected. This was because every metre or so I had to stop as I had inadvertently wandered into a Dukes territory. By the time I’d reached the top I’d counted a further 9 to add to my previous 3 which worked out at about 1 Dpm (Duke per minute). I’d be strolling upwards when a Duke would take off, fly ahead of me a little and attempt to perch but by the time it had done a few flies around the prospective perch I’d have drawn near and so it would fly further ahead of me. Not long after this it would stray into the territory of the next Duke in line and so a fight would break out and occasionally both Dukes would top the bank and then tumble down the other side, still locked in combat. Due to the heat, those that sat still long enough for a few photos invariably held their wings between three quarters and fully closed so as to reduce the amount of heat absorbed but I kinda like that type of shot.

Because of their antics and pitched battles there were slightly fewer on the route back down the hill but time was pressing on and I only really had time for the odd shot here and there as well as a very brief catch up with ‘Allthingswild’ and then I was on the road again; up the hill, down the other side, though Broadchalke and up Hogger Road, past Vernditch and right across the A354…
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Those are great Duke shots, Wurzel. I love the way they deploy their legs to achieve perfect balance on those windy perches - and sometimes almost instantaneously after returning from one of their towering aerial disputes.

Cheers,

Dave