www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

It is time to skip back to the 5th August and Oxenbourne Down which has been omitted due to my excitement over the Brown Hairstreaks. Having watched the Chalkhill Blue uncharacteristically ovi-posting on Devils-bit Scabious I continued my search for the Silver spotted Skippers. I thought I was going to be lucky enough to see a mating pair as a male and female were behaving in courtship fashion. I sat very still and very close, hardly daring to breathe but just as things started to get really interesting two more males gatecrashed, and this being more than the female could cope with, she took off with the 3 males in pursuit - I guess one of them got lucky but I never found my mating pair.
I had to be satisfied with other opportunities which presented themselves and these are posted below:

On Friday I only had time for 90 minutes at Noar Hill but despite only intermittent sun I was still able to count 22 species - over half the Hampshire species in one go. I had to write a list when I returned home just to be absolutely sure. I didn't see the Swallowtail that had been reported from there a couple of days earlier but as I was leaving another lovely Clouded Yellow flew round a few times before disappearing - a male I think. Peacocks in particular were everywhere - covering Hemp Agrimony, littering pathways, adorning ant hills. I really cannot recall a Summer like this for butterflies. Having started my list I had to continue and was surprised that my tally for the year so far is 45 - the Wall Brown, the last remaining butterfly I am hoping to see this season, will bring the total to 46. It is the first and last time I shall do this but for my own record the species seen this year to date are (in no particular order):

Peacock
Comma
Red Admiral
Small Tortoiseshell
Painted Lady
Clouded Yellow
Brimstone
Large White
Small White
Green-veined White
Marbled White
Small Skipper
Large Skipper
Meadow Brown
Gatekeeper
Ringlet
Brown Argus
Common Blue
Holly Blue
Small Heath
Silver washed Fritillary
Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Duke of Burgundy
Green Hairstreak
White letter Hairstreak
Purple Hairstreak
Brown Hairstreak
Adonis Blue
Small Blue
Speckled Wood
Chalkhill Blue
Silver spotted Skipper
Essex Skipper
Dingy Skipper
Grizzled Skipper
Purple Emperor
Dark Green Fritillary
Small Copper
Grayling
Glanville
White Admiral
Wood White
Orange Tip
Silver-studded Blue

With the exception of the Purple Hairstreak I have managed to photo all of these. When I add to the list the species I have seen in previous years I am surprised at the total:

Lulworth Skipper
Heath Fritillary
Marsh Fritillary
Large Blue

A photo to finish with - a Ringlet nestled on a leaf:

Hi Pauline, lovely SS Skipper shots and thats an amazing total of species at Noar. I agree with you about this summer having been amazing for our butterflies. In view of this, If the weather behaves itself, what will next year bring? Thats a brilliant total for the year for you too, i just know you will get to see the Wall.

Mike

Hi Pauline,
Wall Brown are very numerous this year. I had 81 on my annual count yesterday on a walk from home yesterday plus another 2 fighting over the garden!! Hope you get yours.
Bob.

Thank you for your comments Mike - I surprised myself with how much I'd seen this year. I'm afraid there are not many Wall Brown in my neck of the woods Bob but your photos of them in the past have inspired me. So, yes Mike, you were right, I just had to go for it. Just the one photo for starters as I'm short of time as usual but I will add that Wall Brown wasn't all I saw today .....

I had exactly an hour at Lymington. Not much time to spend in such a beautiful location but it meant there wasn't a minute to spare. I walked briskly towards the area where I had last seen Wall Brown a few years ago keeping my eyes peeled whilst taking in those superb views. When I left Liphook it was raining quite heavily but I had checked 3 different weather web sites and they all stated that the sun would be shining at Lymington from mid-day - and so it was. There was a strong breeze and a little cloud but I felt it was definitely warm and sunny enough for Wall Brown to put in an appearance. I stopped briefly to take a photo of some poor moth - don't know what sort:
As I reached the Wall Brown area some 30 minutes later I was greeted by a herd of cows. For some reason I am always a bit nervous of these large animals and tend to give them a wide berth but they were exactly where I wanted to be so I just had to try to ignore them and carry on. I was delighted when the first Wall Brown sighting was of a mating pair, camouflaged almost as well as Grayling down amongst the ants ( ), rabbit droppings, dried grass and other unmentionables:
However, as the sun broke through it wasn't long before the female opened her wings:
There were a few other individuals in the same area but I could only spend 10 minutes enjoying them before it was time to start the long trek back. It was very busy along the sea front - walkers, cyclists, bird-spotters, dog-walkers etc but the butterflies seemed unperturbed and just carried on about their business.
I had almost reached the place where I had parked my car, feeling well pleased with the shots I had got in such a short time (after a ridiculously long drive) when I saw something a bit different out of the corner of my eye ........

Pauline wrote:when I saw something a bit different out of the corner of my eye ........

The suspense... ... you should write cliff-hanger thrillers!

Splendid series of Wall Brown photos - I know how difficult they can be.

Mike

Pauline wrote:I had almost reached the place where I had parked my car, feeling well pleased with the shots I had got in such a short time (after a ridiculously long drive) when I saw something a bit different out of the corner of my eye ........

Hi Pauline

Please do tell..... I can hardly wait

Your Wall Browns are fabulous. I am going to check on a site for these this week which is much closer to you than Lymington. I will let you know how get on once I have been there, hopefully Wednesday fingers crossed. Hopefully a few exotic migrants will also cross my path I will not hold my breath though.

Well done on your species total this year. I am quite a way off yet, maybe next year. I was at Noar Hill on Sunday and It was positively heaving with butterflies compared to this time last year. I did not see Brown Argus though or the Swallowtail. I was happy to find a few Clouded Yellows

Great shots Pauline when you say Lymington did you go the Pennington Marsh - that's a great little site for waders in particular? I reckon your something different is either the Monarch or Swallowtail that have been reported. Oh and there was something about Long-tailed Blue? I look forward to being proved right/wrong

Have a goodun

Wurzel

....... a butterfly I did not recognise initially and have not seen before. It was being buffeted about by the strong breeze but I was able to see that it was mostly white with black markings, about the size of a GVW. When it started to flit from flower to flower it was clear it was a Clouded Yellow but nothing like the ones I have been seeing over the last few weeks. For a start it was much, much smaller and very much paler, almost white. I am not as adept with the camera as some, otherwise I might have been able to catch the upperside. The butterfly didn't stay still for many seconds but worked its way across a steep slope which was a little treacherous - keeping up with it required some balance and agility and the long grass got in the way of clear shots. I am not sure what the difference is between Helice and Pale Clouded but it is clearly one or the other, neither of which I have seen before.
Apologies Wurzel and others who thought/hoped it might have been something more exotic but to me it was just as exciting as it was very different to any butterfly I have seen before - so might just as well have been a Swallowtail etc. Thank you all for your kind words on my Wall photos and I would be very interested if you discover any closer top home Paul. Good luck.

Those shots look pretty exciting to me While your 'cliff-hanger' was keeping me awake, I saw several Perseid meteors, which I found exciting,too.

You'll need our Continental experts to identify the species accurately but the pale lemon colour looks good for Pale Clouded Yellow to me. I've only seen helice once and it was more a pale sand colour. I expect there are other factors which Padfield et al will explain. Whichever it is, it's a splendid find

Mike

I believe this to be Clouded Yellow f. helice, and here's why. The edge of the dark markings on the forewings, when visible on the underside (which is normally all you get to see), when running from the leading edge of the forewing and down the wing, heads toward the outer edge of the wing but, in Clouded Yellow, either runs parallel with the edge of the wing or comes back on itself. In both Pale Clouded Yellow and Berger's Clouded Yellow the edge of the dark markings continues to the edge of the wing. To be honest, this is only partly true because both Pale and Berger's Clouded Yellows do the same to a small degree, but the dark markings are nowhere near as prominent as in the Clouded Yellow.

Sorry to scribble on your beautiful photo, Pauline
Cheers,

- Pete

Wonderful discovery, Pauline. Congratulations!

Hi Pauline
I have seen three Helice this year and what I have noted, as Guy has mentioned elsewhere, is that the dark wing edges and generally greyer wings, particularly the hindwings, are quite noticeable and distinctive in flight.
The trick is to photograph against the light where the broad dark borders show up quite well.....
Easier to say than do, I know. Especially when you have a potentially very rare migrant that you just want to get a good shot of!
In particular you don't want to flush it, in order to see it in flight, only for it to disappear over a hedge without a photograph - as my first ever Helice did!
Mark

Great stuff Pauline, congratulations

Also loving the Wall Brown photos

All the best,

Neil F.

Great sighting, Pauline!

I agree completely with the other commentators that this is helice. Your third picture, that Pete has so rudely scribbled on, shows that the dark border is still broad even right down towards the inner margin. Another feature is the cream shading in part of the underside forewing. This is very typical for helice. Sometimes the undersides of the forewing look pure white - or grey-white - but often they are half shaded in a very pale, buttery colour. So as not to stick my pictures in your diary, here are links to two helice showing this (the second one looking really quite yellow underneath the forewing): http://www.guypadfield.com/images2012/h ... c2012b.jpg, http://www.guypadfield.com/images2012/h ... c2012a.jpg

Guy

Huge congrats Pauline I hadn't figured on a Helice as an option so I was chuffed to be proved wrong by this equally great find.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you all for your comments and compliments. I totally forgot about the meteors Mike which is a pity as I could have done with a few wishes . Special thanks must go to Pete and Guy for their expert identification and explanation (you can scribble on my pics any time Pete ). It's good to be able to put a name to her but in any event she was lovely and unusual. I had always wondered if I would even recognise one of these butterflies, perhaps mistaking it for a more common white, but it is such a distinctive butterfly that that would be difficult to do. Thanks for the tips Mark. I shall remember about the backlighting if I ever get another opportunity. Thanks also for noting the sightings of the Small Copper abs - I assume these are the ones with the blue spots which I have been looking for for about 2 years now! In fact, I set off yesterday to check them out but didn't get any further than the Hayling Billy Line where I got distracted by another few of these (all female I believe):
If I don't see a Clouded Yellow for another 9 years I shall have enough photos to sustain me and serve as a reminder of what a splendid butterfly this is but time is short and it is now time to move on.

Oops! Forgot to say - Good luck today Paul wherever you are. There used to be Wall Browns around the forts, particularly Fort Widley but I believe they have been gone for quite a few years now (I have certainly never seen any there in recent times). Anyway, let me know how you get on, whatever!

You've really started something now, Pauline! Every time I see a White I have to check to see if it's one of your amazing Helice Clouded Yellows! Certainly keeping me busy!