Andy Wilson

[David M]

Shame you're not availabe this Tuesday, Andy. I'll be walking the Welsh High Brown site and am sure I'll get to see a few relatively becalmed.

[Andy Wilson]

Thanks, Mark. I'm very chuffed that you have confirmed my tentative ID. I went into perhaps more detail than necessary, but for people inexperienced at this site, I though it was worthwhile explaining that it requires a bit of exercise and patience. Often, we read reports from experts who make it all seem too easy!

[Wurzel]

I had a look Andy and was going to ID them as High Browns but Mark beat me to it

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Andy Wilson]

Thanks also DavidM. Unfortunately, that's it for my trip west, at least for the next few weeks. I need to concentrate on family matters for a while, but that doesn't exclude a few local trips, e.g. to Knepp and other Purple Emperor sites

[Andy Wilson]

I've spent the last 3 days in the south-west and came home to find everything kicking off here in Sussex, so I decided to visit Knepp this morning. It was already hot when I arrived at 10 a.m. and grew hotter by the minute. Meadow Browns were everywhere and were augmented by a few early Marbled Whites in the grassier areas. I saw no sign of Purple Emperors during the first hour, but then one flew past me at head height along a path through a sallow thicket. I followed it for a few seconds but it quickly disappeared. After another hour and a half of walking in the heat, I rested for a few minutes in one of the tree platforms and a vision of a pint of something cold at the Countryman Inn grew ever more tempting. I decided to call it a day and started trudging back to the car.

Having mentally given up and with my mind on other things, I nearly trod on a grounded Emperor, which shot up and circled me several times, seemingly to scold me for disturbing him. Then another Emperor appeared from nowhere and they had a brief skirmish before one of them flew off. The (presumably original) Emperor circled me again and then, somewhat surprisingly, suddenly settled on a bramble right beside me at shoulder height. I got a few shots of his underside before he flew off. Having seen two, I decided to hang around for a few minutes and await developments. Sure enough, an Emperor came down on the track behind me and settled very briefly several times, as if looking for a good place for a drink. Disappointingly, he didn't stay and flew off after a minute. I then waited another 5 minutes before continuing on my way. However, now fully alert, I trod gently and sure enough, after a minute or so, I spotted an Emperor on the ground about 10 yards in front of me. He seemed well "dug in", so I approached gingerly and got some nice shots.

Purple Emperor, Knepp

Purple Emperor, Knepp

It may not be significant, but it was interesting that the Emperors I saw today were all at low-level, whereas the last time I visited Knepp a couple of years ago, they stayed well out of reach high up in the trees. Maybe it was the hot weather, or the fact it's still very early in the season -- I don't know.

[Andy Wilson]

After my very hot tramp around Knepp yesterday morning, I had a more gentle walk this afternoon at Knowlands Wood, near Barcombe, a site that is much more local to me. Despite the 30 degree heat, Meadow Browns were flying everywhere, together with a few fresh Ringlets. There were also a lot of Silver-Washed Fritillaries, madly dashing around all over the place and hardly ever coming to rest. Eventually, I got a shot of one when the sun was very briefly obscured by a small cloud. I didn't do a scientific count, but I must have seen at least 50 (all males as far as I could tell). At times, I had 4 or 5 in view at the same time.

Silver-Washed Fritillary (m), Knowlands Wood, 20/06/2017

Silver-Washed Fritillary (m), Knowlands Wood, 20/06/2017

I also saw about 5 White Admirals, but I suspect the heat was making them less active than usual. Those that I did see were mostly skulking around in the undergrowth to avoid the full heat of the sun.

It's easy to dismiss the Ringlet as one of the "little brown jobs" of the butterfly world, but when they are newly minted with their plain chocolate colour and white fringes, they are really quite attractive

Ringlet, Knowlands Wood, 20/06/2017

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots of His Nibbs Andy I fear that I might miss out on an audience with Him this year but at least I have yours (and others) images to make me feel better

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Well done on your Emperor experience, Andy. Shame High Browns aren't gererally so co-operative!

[bugboy]

Hi Andy, yes that was me at North Stoke this afternoon, good to put another face to a name . Sorry I couldn't hang around to chat more but I had a train to catch! My gut feeling is the same as yours though, a little early but probably no more than a week or two. Earlier in the afternoon before I bumped into you it was much warmer and brighter but with enough cloud to calm things down, optimum conditions I would guess. Fingers crossed they're just about ready to burst forth from their pupae

[Andy Wilson]

Hi Bugboy,

Nice to meet you. I saw you on the lane back to Amberley station. I feel guilty for not offering you a lift, but you were nearly there

Let's hope for better luck Large Tort-wise a little later.

[bugboy]

Hi Bugboy,

Nice to meet you. I saw you on the lane back to Amberley station. I feel guilty for not offering you a lift, but you were nearly there

Let's hope for better luck Large Tort-wise a little later.

Thats ok, I was keeping my eyes peeled on all the patches of sunlit bramble flowers and there is a big Buddliea I wanted to check out, just in case !

[David M]

Let's hope for better luck Large Tort-wise a little later.

With Neil Hulme otherwise engaged, I'll be rooting for you boys to come up trumps with this!

[Andy Wilson]

I am a member of a group of volunteers that does footpath maintenance around our village in East Sussex. We are all interested in nature in general, and many have expertise in specific areas (e.g. birds and wild flowers), but none apart from me had ever seen a Purple Emperor before. Several months ago, I suggested a trip to Knepp and today was the date we decided upon. Of course, I wasn't to know that because of the early season, we would be past the peak, so as our group of a dozen or so people arrived on site at about 10:00 on this hot morning, I was rather anxious about getting any Emperor sightings.

I briefly saw one over the sallows by the east-west path at around TQ138203, but it disappeared before I could alert the rest of the group. We then walked up and down the north-south path between about TQ139201 and TQ140206. Here there is a line of mature oak trees on one side and sallows on the other. We watched a Silver-Washed Fritillary for several minutes as it kept coming back to the same patch of brambles, but then an Emperor appeared up in an oak tree and circled around for a few seconds. As we slowly walked along, we saw a few more, all lazily gliding from one tree to another, and not doing much else. It was probably too hot, but at least my group and I saw a total of about 6 before we retired for lunch.

I'm now on Grandpa duty for a few weeks, so my butterflying trips will be rather reduced in numbers

[Andy Wilson]

After the much-needed rain that fell here in East Sussex on Tuesday and overnight into Wednesday, I had day free from grandparent duty. It was rather frustrating because conditions remained mostly cloudy and rather cool throughout the day, but after Andy Murray's demise from Wimbledon, I finally decided late in the afternoon to pay a quick visit to Friston Gallops. As I arrived on the lower slopes at the NE corner, almost immediately I flushed up 2 roosting Chalk Hill Blues. They whizzed off and my eye then alighted on a nice fresh female Small Copper that was minding its own business on a Knapweed flower.

Small Copper (f)

I walked around carefully for a few minutes and saw that there were many Chalk Hill Blues around, but they were all hunkering down in the grass. They were all males and were mostly in very fresh condition. It seems clear that the flight period has only just begun here.

Chalk Hill Blue (m)

Chalk Hill Blue (m)

There were also many "Little" Skippers about, and this site is known to have both Small and Essex flying together. After prostrating myself several times in the sweet sward of wild thyme, I managed to get some positive ID's. At one point, there was one of each almost within the same shot, and with the cool conditions they were much more approachable than usual.

Small Skipper

Essex Skipper

I then climbed up to the higher slopes at the northern end of the site, which is usually the best place for Chalk Hill Blues. Sure enough, there were several about, and they were all roosting in the close-cropped grass that occurs in this area. It was quite easy to see them at a distance as little blue jewels in the green background. I probably saw about 30 in total.

I was also struck by the large number of Gatekeepers that were everywhere, in the more open grassland as well as around the hedgerows that border the site. I think other people have remarked that they seem to be having a good year. Meadow Browns and Ringlets were also still flying in reasonable numbers. Strangely however, I saw no Marbled Whites, but maybe that was due to the weather conditions. Small Heaths were absent as well, but we're probably betwixt and between generations with them.

In addition to the butterflies, the most numerous Lepidoptera species by far was the Six-Spot Burnet. They were everywhere, roosting on Knapweed, thistles and Viper's Bugloss.

Six-Spot Burnet on Viper's Bugloss

Six Six-Spot Burnets on one thistle flower (try saying that quickly!)

Hopefully, I'll be back here several times over the next few weeks to monitor the flight period of the Chalk Hill Blues and other species.

[Andy Wilson]

Chock-full of Chalk Hills and Gatekeepers Galore!

Friston Gallops was a wonderful place this morning. I arrived just after 10 am and conditions were not too hot at first, with some high cloud and a cooling breeze. As I arrived on site, there were a lot of butterflies active, but even more just roosting, waiting for the weather to warm up a bit.

Gatekeepers were everywhere. I lost count but must have seen several hundred. Overall, there must be several thousand at this site. There were large numbers of Chalk Hill Blues too. They are still concentrated at the northern end of the site, especially on the higher ground. However, there is also a sizable colony at the SW corner of the site, and with the numbers now present, they are dispersing all over the download areas, even to places where the grass is long and rank, and not really suitable for them. Like the Gatekeepers, I must have seen several hundred at least, and the site overall must have thousands present. The vast majority were males, which suggests that numbers are yet to peak.

Meadow Browns were also omnipresent, though probably not so many of them as Gatekeepers. Ringlet numbers are now well down, but in contrast, Small Heaths are picking up again, presumably as a new generation begins its flight period. Marbled Whites were also present, but not in the numbers I have seen before. I suspect they are coming to an end soon.

There were also many "little" skippers. It was impossible to ID them all, but Small and Essex were both present. It was also nice to tick off other species, such as Dark Green Fritillary (about 6 seen, but getting a bit past it), Common Blue, Small Copper, Brown Argus and Wall Brown. Other "odds and sods" were a few Peacocks, Red Admirals, a Comma, a few Brimstones and the inevitable Whites, although I only saw Large and Green-Veined for sure, not Small.

Tatty Dark Green Fritillary and friend

Brown Argus

I was nearing my target of 20 species by now, and considered cheating by diving off into the adjoining woodland to spot a Speckled Wood or Holly Blue, but fortune smiled on me and in the sheltered SW corner I spotted a lone female Clouded Yellow, my first of the year, which was just hunkering down in the grass. So that was my 20 of the day, but with luck and a few more pairs of eyes I reckon you could push the species count on a single day up to 25 at this site.

Clouded Yellow

[Andy Wilson]

My butterflying activities have been severely curtailed for the past two months (partly because I indulged my other passion and went to see the total eclipse of the sun in America, so I can't really complain!). However, a window in the weather and my diary this morning allowed a visit to Halscombe Farm, Piddinghoe, to try to see a Queen of Spain. In the company of about 5 other enthusiasts, we waited for about an hour and eventually one rather worn individual put in an appearance on the ground by the bonfire site. It stayed for a few minutes before it took to the air, did a little pirouette and then disappeared somewhere to the east. I stayed for another hour but never saw it again. Apparently the same one had been seen about an hour before I arrived, but the second individual seen on Thursday was not there today.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Andy, bad condition or not I'd love to have seen one Goldie

[David M]

Good to see you got an audience, Andy. These opportunities don't come by every day (or even every year)!

[Wurzel]

Any UK vagrant (butterfly or bird ) no matter how tatty is a joy I'm actually just as envious of that lush Clouded Yellow - in very fine fettle
Have a goodun
Wurzel

[Andy Wilson]

I wandered around Abbots Wood this morning, looking for any Pearl Bordered Fritillaries that might be starting to emerge, now that the weather has finally perked up. I drew a blank at Site 1, but my disappointment was tempered by the sound of a Garden Warbler singing as if its life depended on it.

I went on to Site 2, the south-facing bluebell field, which is looking magnificent at the moment. Sadly no Pearls, but I did bump into Mike Mullis and another enthusiast. Mike said he had seen a single Pearl earlier at another site, so after we drew a blank in the main field he took us there. To my delight, I spotted a single individual (presumably the same one) after only a minute or so, and we all managed to get some nice shots before I had to leave for another appointment this afternoon.

Pearl Bordered Fritillary (m)