Bugboys mission

[bugboy]

13th July Fermyn Wood (part 1)

Bumping into PhiliB in Monks Wood last week proved fortuitous in more than just getting to see a Black Hairstreak, I was also very kindly offered a lift to Fermyn when the weather was suitable on one of my days off. Unfortunately, good weather on one of my days off this season is proving hard to come by so the best of an average run of days seemed to be Wednesday. As you can imagine, I was very much looking forward to finally seeing a grounded Emperor but with recent reports, as with most species this year, seeming to suggest numbers were a long way down from a normal year, a day at Fermyn was probably going to be my best shot what with a poor day at Fermyn is better than most good days at other Emperor Woods.

So I don't peek too soon, I’ll start off with the also rans of which there were a few, although not in the numbers they should have been at this time of year!
Ringlets whilst not exactly abounding were plentiful in a ‘2016’ way, with just a very few Meadow Browns mixed in.

I saw a fair few Large Skippers but just one solitary Small

As the day warmed other inhabitants showed themselves, Silver-washed fritillaries providing plenty of entertainment whilst awaiting an audience with you know who.

Even better, a Valezina showed up, although she never came close so we were left with long distant shots. Even so we could see she was a fresh individual and she was another lifer for me.

A single Purple Hairstreak also showed up but stayed too high for even a record shot

White Admirals were depressingly hard to come by, perhaps three at most and only one settled for us but only long enough for a single shot.

Late on in the day we wandered in another part of the complex and here we found several freshly emerged Hutchinsoni Commas and a few Small Tortoiseshells.

And a well behaved Large White even attracted my attention

Don’t worry, Purple Emperors next time… that’s if I saw any

[bugboy]

13th July Fermyn Wood (part 2)

‘ere we go then, the real reason for a trip up to Fermyn. We got there a little after 9 and was guided along the paths by Phil, passing the occasional Emperor hunter. ‘Word on the street’ was that only one had so far been seen on the ground. It was still a little cool but there did seem to be enough sunny patches to hopefully make the trip worthwhile. After an hour we caught up with Roselyn, who had taken the shorter route to one of the favoured paths, and at the far end of the path we could see a small group of men looking longingly up into the Oaks. It turned out there were a couple of Emperors playing and possibly toying with the idea of coming down.

We staked out this path but had to wait for nearly an hour before I heard a call from Phil that one had deigned to treat us to an audience. I hurried my way over, taking a bit of care in case one had come down unseen and at last my very first grounded Purple Emperor, a little worn around the edges but nonetheless still looking very regal.

He had a small audience of very happy subjects, and stayed down for about 10 minutes. Another one also came down at the same time a little way off but he was apparently a little more worn so he was all but ignored in favour of this one.

"You looking at me?"

4 wing purple, just!

Over an hour later another, slightly better conditioned one glided down and entertained me for a few more minutes

I was braver with this one and went in for several close ups...

try as I might his right forewing stayed slightly out of line from the other three so I couldn't get that all important four wing purple with this one,

An hour and half later I got one more, this one landing in a puddle. Unfortunately, he got spooked after just the one picture but from what I could see he was in near pristine condition.

And so ends another big butterfly scalp ticked off. Huge thanks to Phil for offering to help me out.

It was also good to bump into a few familiar faces again, Neil Hulme and Mark Tutton also enjoying a day out with HIM and it was nice to finally meet Roselyn as well

[trevor]

Nice Purple, Buggy.

[Rosalyn]

It was a pleasure to meet you. I'm glad you enjoyed the day with HIM, the Valezina was the highlight of the day for me. Phil tells me we shall be having a day out at Regents Park, may well bump into you there thank you.

[bugboy]

Thanks Trevor

Thanks Rosalyn, I think the Purple and the Valesina were equal highlights for me. Yes indeed, drop me a message when you've decided on a day and I'll let you know if I'm around

[bugboy]

Not wanting to waste any good weather this year I had my camera at work this weekend and took it with me when I did my transects at lunchtime. Nothing out of the ordinary but a couple of new species for the year as far as the transect is concerned, Essex Skipper and Gatekeeper. Easily the best couple of days for my transects this year, I was nearly into double figures as far as species were concerned!

This Gatekeeper sported signs of a very close shave

A typical Essex pose

and Large Skippers are still doing well

[Wurzel]

Glad you got your Purp Bugboy - just catching up after the week away. Unless there are still a few Purps hanging around Bentley next weekend I might have missed the audience with Him this year

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, you never know you might get lucky but if Bentley is like the other HIM sites numbers are way down from what is considered 'normal'

18th July White-letters again

I finished work at 4 on Monday and since we are in the middle of a mini heat wave I figured I’d have time to nip down to Essex for some more Hairstreak action. I made good time and arrived at 5.30 under a clear blue sky and a very warm evening. I couldn’t see any Hairstreaks at first but three or four Comma’s and a couple of very fresh Red Admirals were enjoying themselves.

After a while I noticed a couple of Hairstreaks flitting around at the back of the Bramble patch and willing them to come closer a very fresh female, with tails like streamers, settled on a leaf right in front of me. Sadly it was only for a few seconds and all I got was a blurred shot of her leaping off to a nearby flower, a flower that was wedged firmly under a leaf meaning any more photographs of her weren’t really possible

The good thing with these guys is when they find a flower they like near you, you generally have all the time in the world. The bad thing is that when they find a flower they like that’s not close, patience becomes a true art form! I did spend a fair amount of time pacing up and down and looking longingly as they flitted around high up and out of reach

This particular flower head was very popular all evening, three are visible on it here.

Not everyone was in tip top condition, this one had been around the block a few times!

I never saw more than four at any one time and in total I reckon I only had about six. Looks like they are having a poor year like so many others this year. This time last year I was easily seeing double figures at this colony.

A couple of Essex Skippers were also active and looking down on me was this Darter dragonfly

Might be able to fit in one more trip before they’re gone for another year.


19th July, Chiltons

Today I finished at 12 and decided I should visit Aldbury Nowers. A silly idea really in this heat! This time last year I was finding Common Blues, Brown Argus, Marbled White, Meadow Browns and summer Skippers all in uncountable numbers. What a difference a year makes, no blues and the browns and skipper numbers drastically down from twelve months ago. Even taking into account the heat and the fact that some were probably hiding away in the shade it was a somewhat depressing sight. The ones that were on show were mostly far to active, with only a few snatched shots to show for myself.

Another reason for my afternoon visit was to check on some Duke Eggs I’d marked in the spring over at Ivinghoe Beacon. Obviously something had gone very wrong,they were still there and not looking very well at all.

Zooming in you can see holes in them so either they were parasitized or predated.

Here I also found my first Chalkhills of the year, a few males trying not to overheat

Walking back things were no better late in the day, I just hope this is a blip and things bounce back next year.

[bugboy]

20th July

Well I made a right pigs-ear of my butterflying day off. I had two places in mind, Bookham to see what was about and Denbies to get a nice Chalkhill fix. Unfortunately, my planning left a lot to be desired: I spent the morning at Bookham wandering around under a dreary grey sky thinking the Chalkhills would be looking perfect in this light and then by the time I got to Denbies in the afternoon under a blazing hot sun I was wishing I had some nice shady woodland to stroll around!

There wasn’t a great deal happening at Bookham, Ringlets and Meadow browns were frolicking in the open glades along with various Skippers and a few Gatekeepers but I only saw the one White Admiral and a couple of Silver-washed Fritillary.

On the other hand, Red Admirals seemed to be everywhere, approaching double figures and all looking very fresh and particularly resplendent in the dull light.

There was also a male holly Blue doing a bit of mud puddling and as I was waiting for my train to go to Denbies I watched a Comma lay on an Elm sucker.

At Denbies there wasn’t much hope of getting any open winged shots, it was probably over 30 degrees and to cap it all I’d forgotten my sun block as well! I decided I’d have a browse for abs. but every Blue was super charged in the heat and nothing was settling for me , until I found what I presume was a fox scat, covered in male Chalkhills. In fact it looked like Foxy had wiped his bum all over the place as the more I looked the more Blues I saw crawling around in the grass, there was probably somewhere in the region of thirty in total. In amongst all the normals I found a very nice ab. and so trying not to take too many deep breaths I spent a bit of time sat down next to a fox poo

My sweat was also rather tasty apparently

After an hour or so the heat got the better of me and I left them to their feasting, next time I’ll try and plan my day with a little more thought!

[bugboy]

23rd July

I spent an hour or so wandering my local patch. I planned to get out early to find some butterflies waking up but I couldn’t get there until 11 and by then it was really rather warm so very little was settling for me. Meadow Brown numbers have increased but are still well below what they should be, I’m quite sure I could do a pretty accurate head count relatively easily!
One thing I’ve noticed this year is the boldness in the markings of the females, they all seem to be relatively pale with particularly bold, large ocelli.

Gatekeeper numbers are also growing but again, still not in the numbers I would expect this far into their season. I did also find my first females of the year and a passing cloud encouraged one to settle nicely for me.

I also found a male Excessa who gave me a fleeting glimpse of his extra spots.

This is a corner of one of the meadows where there should be at this time of year be hundreds of Skippers, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers (Phone picture)

All three Whites were about but again mostly too active to photograph, but I did manage a sneaky GVW one before she saw me watching .

Watching a couple of Speckled Wood fighting over a patch of sun I noticed some fresh nibbling on a nettle leaf, and on investigation, curled up in a typical pose was a young Comma caterpillar

In the afternoon I wanted to go and see the White-letters down in Essex for one last time this year. Again one thing lead to another and I got there later than planned, gone 5, but they should still be feeding if previous experience was anything to go by. Sadly for me though, it seems they have already finished for the year. Not a sniff of one, even flitting around up high, so I went for a wander for an hour to see what else was around. Most of what I saw seemed to be looking for somewhere sheltered to roost so weren’t very photogenic, Skippers, Browns and Whites all about but the Vanessids were still active and did settle, soaking up the dying rays of the sun. The new edition of Peacocks now joining the Commas which always seem to be here in good numbers.

[bugboy]

24th July, Denbies and Bookham (part 1)

I got it right this time but the weather wasn’t really playing ball today. There was a rather stiff, constant breeze on Denbies and although the light was showing the Chalkhills off rather well they were mostly forced to bask low down in the grass out of the wind or on the paths so I wasn’t able to get the shots I had planned to. Nevertheless, there were a fair few about with the occasional sunny spell causing a flurry of silvery blue activity, mostly fresh emergent so it looks like they haven’t peeked just yet which is good. They don’t seem to have been as badly hit by whatever’s caused many other species poor numbers this year.

There were a few other butterflies about, a couple of Whites and Skippers, Meadow Browns, Marbled Whites and Small Heaths but the Blues largely outnumbered all other species combined.

I was also lucky enough to poke my nose into the private life of two mating pairs plus a pair of six-spot Burnets, whose numbers are also building.

I found a few females other than the two otherwise engaged, one of whom could possibly be very slightly gynandromorphic (can you be ‘slightly’ gynandromorphic?) with a spot of blue scales on one wing.

And a male with some rather sparse underside markings.

On the way back to the station I found a Longhorn moth, Nemophora metallica, sitting on top of its larval foodplant.

Next off to Bookham for the afternoon...

[bugboy]

24th July, Denbies and Bookham (part 2)

So at Bookham Commons Ringlets are still plentiful, along with various Whites, mostly GVW, but the first thing to sit for me was a male Brimstone, looking to sit out the cloudy weather.

A few skippers were active, Smalls were the only ones that sat for me although I had the second one here as an Essex until I saw the picture on my laptop.

I’ve noticed Large White numbers picking up in recent weeks, like some other multivoltine species they seem to be recovering in numbers.

Walking along the rides the Hogweeds now in full flower are alive with insects, here a Dronefly and a wonderfully bizarre looking parasitic wasp, Gasteruption sp.

Once into the Woods proper the Vanessids took over as the dominant butterfly species. Red Admirals popping up regularly. Here a female ovipositing with a broken forewing red band.

A courting pair of Silver-washed Fritillary and a very fresh Peacock

It was interesting to see the female Fritillaries flight to change from a flirtatious fluttering to the more normal graceful gliding when she realised the male had lost interest, the little floozy !

A little further on a couple of White Admiral flew around and settled halfway up a tree and then another oviposting Red Admiral, again with a broken red band similar to the previous one, sisters perhaps?

I had another browse at White Admiral Towers, where most of last years babies were found but again it was fruitless so I wandered over to Stans pad. Immediately I saw one 1st instar quickly followed by four more. I’ve decided to go for female names this year.

This is a close up of Edith, putting her poo to good use!

I’d forgotten to check train times for a Sunday, they are hourly and just as I was approaching the station I heard my one pulling out. Oh well, there’s worse places to have to kill an hour on a warm summers evening. I pulled my camera out again and searched out a few evening posers

[Wurzel]

Woah you've been cramming it in Bugboy Great shots of a whole range of species. isn't your 'first female Hedge Brown' and excessa too?

Have a goodun
Wurzel

[bugboy]

I have indeed Wurzel, as you have said yourself though, it seems you have to work hard this year for every species

26th July, Chobham Common (part 1)

Today I went in search of species #45 for the year, 45 ! That was my end of year tally for last year, which was by far and away my best year to date. It looks like paradoxically, 2016 will become my best butterflying year as far as number of species are concerned, despite it looking like one of the worst years on record for overall numbers in general.

Anyway, time for the annual ‘spot the Grayling before it spots you’ game. I got there early and only planned to stay for the morning due to the predicted rain for the afternoon and also the small detail of needing to pack for my little break to Arnside.

There was very little on the wing when I arrived despite it being relatively warm under a pleasant hazy blue sky. A couple of Whites and Ringlets and the odd Large Skipper. I did find another fresh Peacock basking on the path, they do look absolutely gorgeous at this time of the year!

In the absence of butterflies my attention was drawn to the various flies, Hoverflies, Bees and Wasps on the flowers.

A couple of Conopid flies having fun, (probably Sicus sp.)

an unkown Bee

As the morning went on Gatekeepers started to appear

and as I approached my usual lightly wooded hill where Graylings are guaranteed, one shot past in its usual erratic manner. I couldn’t see where this one went so bided my time with a rather tatty Small Heath for company

He soon returned but I’m a little rusty on my Grayling stalking and I spooked him as I went in for a close up.

15 minutes later I spooked another one but luckily it had clouded over somewhat by now meaning it was much more approachable.

In all I probably found three or four hill topping around, and all ended up getting their close ups taken.

Surprisingly I hadn’t seen any Silver Studded Blues yet. Previous early Grayling hunts here have always thrown up a few decrepit males at what I presume is a relatively late site for them, so having had my fill of Graylings for the time being I decided to go searching for some.

[bugboy]

26th July, Chobham Common (part 2)

So were there any Silver-studded Blues around? After a bit of searching the answer presented itself in the form of three or four old males, probably merely hours away from being classed as decrepit but still active enough for what I assumed was a pointless mission, the continuing search for virgin females.

Pointless until this little lady appeared .

I really wasn’t expecting to find one so fresh at the end of July!

It was past lunchtime now so I decided to start my journey back, stopping when I re-found my first Grayling of the day, with his recognisable nick from his hindwings

There were several Common Darters around and this little Ruby-tailed Wasp was running around on the path.

The final butterfly to catch my eye of the day was this Essex Skipper with a very obvious broad dark border to his wings, this is the second of this particular ab. I’ve found this year. He sat and fed politely as I took his photo.

Finally, I couldn't help but get distracted by these little Digger Wasps vanishing down into their little nests

And here’s one peering out at me

A pretty good few hours even if I had to do a fair bit of searching to track down my targets

[Wurzel]

Graylings are great aren't they, the games they play If that was species number 46 then it is a good year, mind you every single species is hard fought this year

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Looking back, I see you had a typically breezy (but productive) Denbies day last weekend. I'd be there this weekend if it wasn't for the cyclists. I like the Graylings, too and especially your skill at tracking down the baby White Admirals!

Dave

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, the Grayling was species 45 but yesterday I notched up 46, the Scotch Argus. There were a few High Browns up here as well but I arrived too late in the day to find them. Weather was dreadful for butterflying today so didn't bother but its better tomorrow so hopefully I'll nab #47 tomorrow although talking to some of the wardens doing transects the high browns look to be having a bad year on Arnside at least, and given the way 2016 is going probably elsewhere as well.

Yes it was rather breezy at Denbies Millerd but at least warm enough for the Chalkhills to be out. To be honest once you know what you're looking for its not too hard to find a hatchling WA cat. Short of fluorescing they reay couldn't make themselves more obvious ! Finding post hibernation one on the other hand has so far eluded my observation skills!

[Goldie M]

Hi! Buggy, hope you get your High Brown tomorrow, I saw some when I was up there a week ago but they didn't land for shots, they were through the first Gate in the car park down the slope where all the tall ferns are,( good hunting) I've not had the chance to go back to Arnside this week so I look forward to seeing your shots Goldie PS I would miss the White Letter wouldn't I ( Typical ) Goldie

[bugboy]

Well I’m not sure when I’m going to find time to catch up on everyone else’s diaries but since I’ve been gone for a week I have a lot of catching up to do, with my own as well as with everyone else’s! Anyway here goes.

Arnside Knott part 1

So my trip up north was aimed at trying to get a few more lifers, Scotch Argus (apparently a dead cert), High Brown Fritillary (a good chance) and the Northern Brown Argus (a rather long shot). In the end I managed to tick of a total of 19 species over the 6 days and at least another two were seen by other butterfliers during my stay. It wasn’t all out butterflying though, Thursday the 28th was a complete washout so I went into Lancaster for a spot of touristy sightseeing and on the weekend I had a friend’s wedding to go to in Crewe (although I did manage a little bit before my train out on the Saturday and upon my return on Sunday afternoon )

I’ll split the reports up into the various species I came across rather than a day by day report to stop it being repetitive and will start the ball rolling with the first target species.

Scotch Argus:

27th July
So I arrived at Arnside at lunchtime and with the sun shining I decided to get my bearings, find my home for the next few nights and head on up to the Knott. The weather forecast for the next few days looked a bit hit and miss so I didn’t want to waste any time. I discovered that it was a short 10-minute walk from where I was staying and entered the site through a gate on one of the lower slopes. There were a fair few Satyrids active here but not dark enough for me and I did get my first Fritillary action here (more of that later). After a bit of wandering, and discovering the rumours about the tick population were very true, I found out from another butterflyer that the Scotch Argus had just started to emerge at the top of the hill. An hour later, after some meandering wandering I made it to the top of the Knott where indeed a few very dark Satyrids were flopping around in the rather brisk breeze that was blowing. There was perhaps a dozen or so, at least in the patch I explored, all very difficult to approach and I only managed a few record shots but I was happy.

29th July
After the previous day’s torrential rain, I was pleased to find it looked like staying dry with sunny spells, perfect for catching a few sleepy butterflies and today's pictures were much improved. I ended up spending the entire day exploring the Knott, finding both male and female Scotch Argus and managed some good shots of them going about their daily activities .

This female spent a few minutes fending of an a very amorous and extremely persistent Gatekeeper!

But didn't stop feeding whilst being harassed

He even joined her for a bit of sun bathing!

I found another female perched unusually high up during a cloudy spell

She opened her eyes (all 16 of them) when the cloud passed though!

30th and 31st July, Although these days were mostly spent in Crewe for a friend’s wedding, I still managed to get out early on the Saturday morning and late afternoon on the Sunday

31st July

So that's species number 46 for the year . On my last full day, 1st August, I spent the day exploring Gaits Barrow but there are no Scotch Argus there!