Re: Bugboys mission
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2016 7:23 pm
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
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