millerd

[millerd]

It's been very frustrating watching several days of lovely sunny weather through an office window with no chance to go anywhere out in it. Today was hardly in the same category weatherwise, but reasonably warm, dry and with some sunny intervals. I was able to do a tour of my local patch for the first time in five days, and amazingly, didn't see a single Peacock, and just one Comma. However, the Holly Blues were still going strong, with over a dozen again in various places. In fact with the sun shining, it's almost impossible to walk anywhere round here without seeing at least a couple. Their colour is very variable according to the angle of the light on the wings: these photos are all the same butterfly.

Speckled Woods were also evident in most spots.

There were also a lot more Whites than when last I was out, and almost all of them seemed to be Green-veined, though there were a few Small and a couple of Large as well. GVW males vary quite a bit in the amount of black on the upperside, some lacking the spot altogether.

No Brimstones today. I probably saw half a dozen Orange Tips, and the intermittent sunshine proved to be ideal for observing them closely.

They don't fly long with the sun in, so following one in flight as a cloud came across quickly led to it coming down to perch. Then as the sun re-emerged, the butterfly opened up.

I also found a female on a bit of cow parsley, and she too obliged by opening her wings in a brief burst of sunshine.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Not quite as frustrating as spending all your weekends knocking plaster off of walls whilst others are out seeing Dukes, Greenstreaks and now Pearls or getting great shots of whites and OTs like yours Dave
That last OT seems to have abnormally large spots?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Smashing photos Dave, every one, Goldie

[millerd]

Those spots do look large, Wurzel - you can almost imagine a face there with the spots as eyes and the abdomen as a beak/nose. Maybe that's what a potential predator sees, since the female has none of the warning colouration of the male.

Thank you, Goldie - I'm glad you like the photos. I'm flattered!

Nothing like that today, I'm afraid. After a truly awful morning of cold and rain, sunshine finally appeared and I had an hour on my local patch from five till six. I saw six butterflies only, but as has happened before, all six were different species. First came a Holly Blue, nectaring high up on a crab apple blossom, followed by a Comma darting into the trees when I disturbed its basking. A little later, I spotted a Green-veined White down on the damp path, sucking up salts. I managed a quick shot before a particularly noisy aircraft taking off directly overhead spooked it.

There was then a Speckled Wood, enjoying some dappled sunlight in a spot that is becoming increasingly shaded as the trees gain in leaf almost by the hour. Next to appear was a male Large White, flying higher up and in a more languid fashion than its smaller cousins, finally disappearing amongst some hawthorns just coming into flower. Last of all was a Red Admiral. This was new to the area, and much fresher than those I have seen so far this year. It was nectaring avidly on these low-growing purple flowers, darting from bloom to bloom with interruptions for typical energetic sweeping flights around the clearing. At a guess, I would say it was a recent continental immigrant. It was not worn enough to be an over-wintered individual, and too early to be the offspring of those seen earlier in the month. Incidentally, it was of the variety with the extra white spot in the red band, bialbata.

Dave

[millerd]

I repeated yesterday's excursion at the same time today. A bit warmer perhaps, but not quite as sunny, and there were fewer butterflies. As ever, a Holly Blue started things off, but I found it uncharacteristically down on the grass, apparently drinking from moisture on a dock leaf. It appeared brand spanking new, too, so they must still be emerging.

It was disturbed by a Large White, the first of three I saw altogether, none of them stopping anywhere. There were a couple of Green-veined Whites as well, and I was beginning to think that was it, until I walked along a sheltered bit of path next to the river. The cow parsley here has grown considerably in the last week or so, and the flowers are out, and of course these are one of the favourite roosting choices of Orange Tips. I found two males, clearly settled for the evening with antennae tightly held together, despite some spells of bright sunshine. The breeze made sharp photos a bit tricky: these are a few reasonable ones out of many dozens taken!

One of my favourite subjects, and all too brief a time each year to see them.

Dave

[Maximus]

Your local area seems to be a real magnet for both Holly Blues and Orange-tips, Dave very nice images of lovely butterflies. Very few OT's in our area at the moment1

Mike

[David M]

....One of my favourite subjects, and all too brief a time each year to see them.

How true!

We have but a fortnight before they start to seriously disappear.

Make the most of it.

[millerd]

I spent the weekend up in Yorkshire, where I failed to see a single butterfly but did see a large number of bicycles. I returned home today, and with such a promising weather forecast I decided to cut across country towards the end of the journey and visit Ivinghoe Beacon on the Chilterns. Down in the sheltered gully beneath the Beacon itself, I met up with several folk looking for the Duke of Burgundy. No one was disappointed, as there were at least half a dozen new individuals of both sexes to be found, along with Grizzled and Dingy Skippers and several Brimstones - plus a single Peacock.

Dukes and Dingies just do not get along, and there were numerous battles for the right to perch on particular vantage points.

It was also interesting that at around half past one, the Dukes almost all disappeared - they very much seem to be a morning butterfly. A lone Orange Tip back at the car park completed the outing.

Dave

[trevor]

HI Dave,

As your many Duke images illustrate, you can never have too many!. Taken in a lovely area too.

Best wishes,
TREVOR.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Dave, a great selection of Duke photos

Duke of Burgundy was one of the species I missed last year, I will have to make more of an effort this year.

Cheers,

Neil

[bugboy]

I've gotten a serious case of 'green eyed monster' with all those stunning Duke pictures

[David M]

Great stuff, Dave.

If the weather ever perks up then Dukes will definitely be top of my list!

[Wurzel]

A fantastic selection of Dukes Dave, so much so that I think my envy-meter has just cracked

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[kevling]

Dave,

Fantastic shots of the Duke Of Burgundy. Love them.

This is the number one species on my list for 2015, having never seen one before. I was anxiously waiting for a report from the Chilterns before setting off from Ipswich (Butser Hill seems too far in a day, so favoured Dunstbale Downs & Ivinghoe). Thanks for the heads up. Prayign for good weather on Sunday

Regards Kev

[Goldie M]

Lovely photo's Millerd, You should have been in Lancashire not Yorkshire Goldie

[millerd]

Thank you all for your appreciation of those Duke of Burgundy shots. It's a very easy compact location to see them, they were very approachable and the weather was spot on for once. A great day.

Not so much luck today. I went down to Botany Bay this afternoon, and as mentioned elsewhere, there is work underway down there "improving" the track surface. From a lay perspective, this seems to entail applying a thick layer of mud to the path... I'm sure the recent heavy rain didn't help. I was able to park in the normal place, and walked down to the bridge and up the other side. The verges beside the ride seem to have been cut down this year, and the number of flowers seems very low (aside from bugle). There seems to be more shade as well. I looked for Wood Whites, but they were slow in appearing, despite sunshine, and the first three white butterflies I saw were all female Orange Tips.

In the end I did see two, possibly three of the target species, but none stayed still for more than a moment, and all vanished from the path through the same gap in the bushes and off into the wood. So - no photos this time. There were plenty of Brimstones, and being late afternoon, they were busy nectaring restlessly on bugle and bluebell before disappearing for the evening just before five.

Peacocks were still to be seen all along the path - probably the same ones I saw a few weeks ago. Finally, I also noted one each of Large White, Speckled Wood and Comma, but no Dingy or Grizzled Skippers.

Another trip next week looks in order... Maybe a few more Wood Whites will be out.

Dave

[Wurzel]

I hope you have better luck with the Wood Whites Dave

Have a goodun
Wurzel

[trevor]

HI Dave,
After today I have no problem any more with the stunning Holly Blue images you keep posting.

All the best,
TREVOR.

[millerd]

Thanks for the support, Wurzel. It was a tad frustrating and a bit disconcerting to see the ride covered in mud as well. I hope it hasn't disturbed the habitat at the edges where I have seen Wood Whites laying in the past and where their patrolling activity usually takes place.

Your Holly Blue female was a corker, Trevor. My turn to be envious! There are a lot around (here at any rate) and I'm glad you had the chance to take advantage.

On Saturday, I spent the day in the Midlands, and was unimpressed with the cold, the cloud and the wind. 13 degrees was all it scraped up to, and an afternoon visit to Ryton proved fruitless aside from one Peacock in the woods. I passed close to Bishop's Hill on the way home, and following directions from Neil Freeman (many thanks, Neil ), found what looks like a brilliant site. The sun appeared, but I had very little time to explore, though I did see half a dozen Dingy Skippers in as many minutes as the clock approached half past six.

Arriving home to find the temperature still up at 17 degrees after a sunny afternoon was a bit annoying!

Today (10th) I had an opportunity to do a quick tour of my local patch. It was windy, but increasingly sunny and warm. Holly Blues were everywhere again, and over an hour or so I counted at least fifteen in various places. They were around holly and ivy (naturally enough) but were also cruising stands of bramble, settling in hawthorns and other trees and shrubs, and tussling with each other in twos and threes.

The next most frequent butterfly turned out to be the Green-veined White, again seen often in twos or threes but settling on the bright escaped rape flowers along parts of the path.

They were occasionally disturbed by Large Whites, of which I saw four or five, and by a handful of Orange Tips which were battling the wind and certainly not stopping. Three or four Peacocks still set up territories along the path, and there was one Comma. This I took to be female in that it failed to intercept any other flying insects, including one of the Peacocks. This would be an irresistible target for a male Comma.

Dave

[millerd]

With after work the only option today, at least the sun was still shining hazily and it remained quite warm. A bit of a breeze remained, though. The local patch was also the only real choice too, but I never tire of Holly Blues and there were still quite a few chasing each other around the hedgerows. I watched a female flying around very close to a holly tree.

She settled briefly, but often, and was persistently set upon by one, two, or even three males. She was having none of it, resisting their advances with violent wing fluttering and retreating deeper into the foliage. I watched her move onto a holly flower, where she initially took some nectar.

She then adjusted her position to curve her abdomen round before moving along a branch to do the same thing again somewhere else.

I was struck by the similarity in behaviour with that of female Black and Brown Hairstreaks, having watched both last year crawl in amongst the twigs and foliage of sloe bushes in identical fashion. If you hadn't seen the butterfly disappear into the bush, you would never know it was there. Holly Blues really do seem to have more in common with hairstreaks than with other blue butterflies.

Now it was getting quite late and the only likely sightings now would be roosting butterflies. I managed to find a male Green-veined White just settling down on some cow parsley.

After that, a little way along the path there was a male Orange Tip on the same type of plant.

I remembered an experiment with flash I tried a few years back and had another go.

I'm still not sure whether I like it...

Dave