millerd

[Katrina]

I agree, great capture of the Small Heath!

[millerd]

Thank you, Paul and Katrina - I shall continue to plug away at those Small Heath shots and one day I will manage to freeze the action with the butterfly in focus... (and those that have met untimely ends definitely don't count, Paul! )

AUGUST 2024: a local overview.

The final day of August (and of meteorological summer as well) was cool and sunless so I rested my legs (and the camera) for a day. Looking back at the month weatherwise, I shall probably annoy those from more northwesterly locations with the stats for my part of the world!

The average daily maximum temperature for the month was 24.5C, compared to the long-term average high of 23.4 (1991-2020), and August 2023's figure of 23.0. (As a matter of interest to illustrate how things are gradually warming, the average high for 1961-1990 was only 22.5).

Sunshine hours came to 188.6, a little shy of the 1991-2020 average of 202.1.(2023 - 171.1; 1961-1990 average 186.6)

Rainfall was only 28.4mm, just over half the 1991-2020 average of 52.8mm. (2023 - 53.0mm; 1961-1990 average 51.3mm)

That made August 2024 a dry and warm month, but with only average levels of sunshine. However, the summer as a whole balanced out as very close to average from a temperature and rainfall perspective, though duller than average overall.

A recent Met. Office press release describes the stark contrasts between different parts of the country over the summer, with a very marked northwest/southeast split, and the local picture reflects this.

As for butterflies in August, I would judge that broadly (and many would agree) numbers are down. However, some emergences of summer broods seem to have been prolonged (Common Blue and Brown Argus), and one or two (Small Heath and GVW) appear to have done well. Definite "losers" this month would be Small Copper and Holly Blue (though the former have begun to reappear in September). Large and Small Whites appear to have been boosted by immigration in August after almost disappearing earlier in the summer, but other migrants (Painted Lady, Clouded Yellow and Red Admiral) have been largely absent. There have been a few locally-grown Red Admirals however. Meadow Browns and Speckled Woods have been mostly as expected.

Dave

[millerd]

On Sunday 1st September, the first day of meteorological autumn, summer refused to let go - the temperature locally reached 30C and there were 9 hours of sunshine. I ended up spreading my local butterfly walk across two sessions to avoid the hot early afternoon, each one taking in different areas to try and avoid double-counting of butterflies. In the end I may have under-counted because of overcautiousness with this.

I ended up with 12 species and around 150 butterflies:

Small Heath 44
GVW 17
Small White 16
Large White 15
Meadow Brown 13
Common Blue 11
Brown Argus 11
Red Admiral 8
Speckled Wood 6
Holly Blue 4
Comma 2
Small Copper 1

The Small Copper was not the one I'd seen regularly recently, but a brand new one in a completely different spot (though one which has had the species several times in the past).

The Red Admiral total was the highest for a while, and included a few new examples including this one nectaring on ivy (as is traditional in autumn... ).

The heat and sunshine made the Brown Argus and Common Blues trickier than usual, so for once photos came at a premium.

The Specklies all seemed to be worn examples now...

...but both the Commas were new ones.

After the fairly lengthy spell during most of the first half of the summer, white butterflies were now returning in numbers. I managed to catch a few warming up over breakfast, and then again at the end of the afternoon. Small...

...Large...

...and Green-veined.

I spotted a little cluster of white butterflies in the air...

This turned out to be a mating pair of GVW being harassed by a male GVW and a Male Small White. Eventually the pair (with the male butterfly doing the flying) managed to shake off the pursuers and settle somewhere more out of the way.

I'll leave the Small Heaths for a separate post.

Dave

[millerd]

1st September continued: Small Heaths

With getting on for 50 of the species (44 actually counted, but as they were pretty well everywhere I walked, there were likely to be a fair few more flying overall), I ended up with one or two photos. The warmth and sunshine didn't make them easily approachable of course.

warming up for the day from roosting in the bushes

a new one with wings still a bit floppy

late in the day

The highlight though was finding a mating pair. I had several times encountered groups of four or five or six of the species busily chasing one another, and thought I'd found another such group. However, three of them went down into the grass together, and as I closed in to see what was going on, there was a flash of upperwing and one of the three departed. The other two remained on the ground, one with wings still open.

It was a pair in cop. Unfortunately, as the wing flash had worked the magic of deterring the other male, the glimpse of the upperside was now over. However, the pair climbed up a bit higher in the grass and posed well for me.

Over the years of watching this species, sometimes in multi-hundreds at sites like Denbies, I have hardly ever encountered a pairing.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

...Over the years of watching this species, sometimes in multi-hundreds at sites like Denbies, I have hardly ever encountered a pairing...

Same here Dave. Off the top of my head, I can only ever recall seeing it twice.

Well done.

Neil.

[millerd]

Thank you, Neil. It is curious how some species you see pairing and some you don't. I think I've witnessed nearly as many pairs of Long-tailed Blues as I have pairs of Small Heaths...

Monday 2nd September was a complete contrast to the previous day. It was warm rather than hot - and there was no sunshine at all. As a consequence there weren't as many butterflies, though the Small Heaths managed to buck that concept a bit with around 40 seen again.

There were a fair few GVW too.

However, the best part of today's walk was finding three different Small Coppers - the one seen on 1st and two more new ones. Here are two of the three (the last one I found didn't stay around in one spot long enough to have its portrait taken).

They were remarkably similar in markings - the middle one is the odd one out..

A shot of a distant Comma...

...and a Brown Argus nowhere near the usual hotspot...

...were the only other photos today from the 12 species seen.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking Small Heaths Dave, a much maligned (often with good reason ) species as well as overlooked. I'm with you and Neil, I think I've only ever seen 2 sets of pairs in cop, and for such a common species that seems a minuscule sample Stering work with the topside shots too - should they be 'blind'/lacking pupils on the topside?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

That's a fair number of Small Heaths you've been seeing, Dave.

Lovely Small Coppers again. They do brighten up the month of September.

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel and David - like a lot of species, Small Heaths display quite a bit of variation in their underside markings (which makes up for their stubborn refusal to display their lovely pale orange uppersides! ). They are definitely underrated, and for some reason are doing particularly well on my local patch in their third brood (especially when I was concerned about how few I saw in their first one).

Tuesday 3rd September was warm, bright and occasionally sunny, and (still without the car to take me further afield) I set off round my local patch again. Experience has shown that almost every day throws up something notable or unusual, and today was no exception.

Two separate Small Coppers were showing off nicely today, and as David said, they can brighten any day.

Once again, there were lots of Small Heaths (I counted 34).

I managed a couple of Small White shots (unusual as GVW are much easier to approach) - one male and one female.

A Brown Argus was investigating cranesbill plants with a view to laying...

...and there were Common Blues both old and new.

A nice little selection already, but there was still one more bit of excitement left...

I'll compose a separate post for that I think.

Dave

[millerd]

3rd September, local patch - something new.

Having just photographed one of the Small Coppers, and failed to capture the image of a fairly worn Common Blue, I spotted a pale-looking butterfly of similar size chasing Small Heaths and then the afore-mentioned Common Blue. I couldn't for the life of me work out what it was. I ran various possibilities through my mind - a bleached Small Heath, a worn Holly Blue well away from their usual haunts, a very pale Common Blue? The sun went in and I managed to watch it settle - it seemed to lack any underside markings, but had strikingly yellow clubs on its antennae. I thought for a moment at this point that it could be a wayward Chalkhill Blue blown on the southeasterly winds from the North Downs, but decided to take a few photos and look at the enlarged images for further clues.

The butterfly wasn't going anywhere, and I studied the various shots I'd taken. Suddenly, the faint markings resolved themselves into vague stripes (I'd been looking for faint spots as per more familiar blue butterfly species), and all became clear. It was a very worn male Long-tailed Blue, lacking tails and even lacking the characteristic hindwing spots. The contrast between this individual and the much fresher ones seen in Sussex a year ago was striking - no wonder it took a while for the penny to drop. I took a lot of shots of this very tatty butterfly, which even opened up when it became brighter (though when the sun came fully out again, it took off and disappeared).

A first for my local patch, the 26th species seen here this year, and my 51st species of 2024.

I wonder how many there might be out there, unacknowledged and unseen by anyone who might recognise them. (As a matter of interest, a fresher one was seen on the same day not too far away in Richmond, Surrey.) I also wonder whether it arrived only recently on the run of winds from the continent, a ragged survivor of a long journey - or did it fly here several weeks ago as a fresher butterfly, and has just spent the time fruitlessly chasing other species, gradually getting tattier.

Dave

[Wurzel]

What a brilliant find there Dave Just goes to show the value of regular 'patch work' It's really interesting to see the way that the underside has worn, almost as if the stripes have worn away to nothing whilst the 'orange' seems to have lasted (only) slightly longer

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - you're absolutely right about regular local walks. You can tell from this diary that I cover my patch several times a week during the season, which can last from February to November these days and may involve as many as 130 or so outings. It's very rare for there to be nothing at all of interest, and most years throw up an "extra" species or two on top of the regulars.

Wednesday 4th September had to follow the previous day's unusual find, and though there was no repeat it was a worthwhile local excursion again (still no car... ). It was reasonably warm and and calm, and I went out fairly early again to make the best of the forecast sunshine. I had another go at counting, and arrived at a total of 106 butterflies from 13 species:

Small Heath 37
GVW 14
Meadow Brown 11
Common Blue 8
Large White 7
Brown Argus 6
Comma 6
Small White 5
Speckled Wood 5
Small Copper 3
Holly Blue 2
Red Admiral 1
Painted Lady 1

The encouraging numbers of Small Heath continued. There was one somewhat unusually marked individual...

...which I then tried to photograph backlit by the early morning sun.

I then tried something similar with a nearby Brown Argus.

This is a different one.

Though rather overshadowed by the success of the Small Heaths, Green-veined Whites have also been doing really well in their third appearance of the season - without any assistance from continental relatives like their Small and Large cousins.

There were some of those as well.

Three different Small Coppers appeared today in the local revival of the species.

I managed to persuade one of the few remaining Meadow Browns to open its wings - eventually. One or two are still fairly fresh.

Speckled Woods seem to be able to conjure new individuals almost any time from March onwards, and today was no exception.

That left Commas. One was brand new, but just displayed its underside. A telltale drop of pupal meconium can be seen on the leaf behind the butterfly.

Another new one looked a little odd as it was asymmetrical, with the patterns of right and left wings not matching. Some wing distortion from its stay in the chrysalis might have been the cause.

Finally came the most unusual one of all. I spotted it first when it was chasing Specklies and white butterflies - not the behaviour of a pre-hibernation butterfly. The reason became clear when it settled: this was an amazingly well-preserved hutchinsoni variant, a full two months after the main emergence of that brood.

One wonders how it interacts with the current new brood...

Dave

[millerd]

Thursday 5th September was wet all day, and Friday 6th was less so, but cloudy throughout. I saw no butterflies on either day, but did at least retrieve my car from the garage so planned a couple of outings over the weekend.

Jumping ahead a bit, my local patch was going to provide the most interest really over the following days. Cloudy was perhaps the right word...

But that will all have to wait. The next trip out was up to Aston Rowant on Satturday 7th.

Dave

[millerd]

Saturday 7th September provided the first glimpses of the sun since Wednesday, though glimpses were all there were. Still, it was dry and fairly bright and I had the car back so could have a look at somewhere other than my local patch. Weather radar/satellite views seemed to indicate that there was a better chance of some sunshine to the north, so I headed up to Aston Rowant. This turned out to be accurate, and it was (most unusually) warmer up there.

I set off round a large circuit of the slopes on the northern side of the M40, and as there didn't seem to be a great deal flying I decided to try and count what I saw along the way:

Meadow Brown 100+
Brown Argus 12
Chalkhill Blue 10
Adonis Blue 8
Small Heath 6
Common Blue 5
Large White 4
Silver-spotted Skipper 3
GVW 2

There were more Meadow Browns than on my previous trip a few weeks back, and some were very fresh.

Aside from these few, none of the other species looked new, and the Chalkhills in particular were very worn...

...as were the Common Blues to some extent...

...and the Brown Argus.

Bucking the trend (probably because they emerge later) were the Adonis Blues. Though not pristine, there were some decent examples.

Even when worn, the males are eye-catching, taking on a deeper shiny blue like pieces of coloured foil.

That just left the Silver-spotted Skippers. I only managed definite sightings of three, all in the same general area, and the only one I managed to approach was a worn female. I think if there had been more sunshine I'd have found a few more, as they hide down in the grass if it's cloudy and cool and are much more difficult to spot than say a roosting blue.

A couple of context shots.

After a mixed kind of visit, with a distinct end-of-season feel to it, I headed for home.

Dave

[millerd]

On reaching home on 7th September, I found that it had been raining again, but was now fairly bright. A quick look at my local patch found it dominated by Whites of all three types.

This female Small White was exceptionally heavily marked.

I did also see a reasonable Brown Argus...

...and of all things a Peacock shivering on the ground.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking Commas, luridly marked Large Whites and surviving just about) Silver Spots - cracking stuff Dave However the have to go to the coveted Cloudy I just hope that a. one turns up and b. hangs around until I can drive again

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Have a from me for the Clouded Yellow. Not seen a single one yet this year.
Unless a few turn up soon, along with some LTB's it's going to an early season close down.

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel and Trevor - more about that Cloudie in a few days when my diary catches up with it... Suffice it to say that my local patch has been going great guns with immigrant butterflies this month, with that LTB the previous week and now the Cloudie - not to mention lots of Red Admirals and Large Whites, and quite a few Painted Ladies as well.

Back a few days again now to Sunday 8th September, and with it remaining dry and fairly warm I went down to Denbies to catch up with things there. The results were similar to Aston Rowant (though I didn't find any Silver-spots). There were however more Adonis and Chalkhills flying on the North Downs than on the Chilterns.

I watched a male creep up on a rather fresh female...

...but she wasn't interested and flew off to pose elsewhere.

Other females were not in the same league.

The Chalkhills were naturally more worn, having generally been out a few weeks longer - but overall there were twice as many of them as Adonis.

In amongst them was an aberrant female.

As with Aston Rowant, Meadow Browns were the commonest species, with fresh examples and several pairings seen.

I was hopeful for a few migrants, bearing in mind the favourable winds recently, but all that came close was singleton Red Admiral and Painted Lady and a few Large Whites.

I was aware that it was getting darker (making taking shots of female blues nigh on impossible with my camera as it can't "find" the butterfly to focus on...), and with this bit of weather steadily approaching I headed for home.

Dave

[millerd]

It appeared that by returning home on 8th September I had evaded the ominous weather that was approaching the Downs (I checked later and found there had indeed been a big downpour not long after). After lunch I made the most of this bit of luck and had a local walk again - finding a wider variety of species than Denbies had to offer (though obviously without the two chalk specialist Blues). Small Heaths were the most frequently seen, with a couple of dozen, near enough the same total as I'd counted in the morning.

Some highlights of the afternoon:

14 species altogether (only 11 at Denbies), and those not stopping for photos included two Painted Ladies - a sign that the migrants seen on the SE coast were moving inland.

Dave

[David M]

...14 species altogether..

That's good going for the second week in September, Dave.

Nice to see a Brown Argus in there again.