Wurzel

[Pauline]

Butterflies certainly hone one's observational skills Rich and I love the way you have captured those different shades on the SSB. Good job!

[Nick Broomer]

Hi Wurzel,

Great photo of old stumpy, for the first time in two years i am actually seeing 2nd brood Small Tortoiseshell on a regular basis, albeit only the one on each occasion i go out, so i can see a photo looming of the wing uppersides in the near future, or am i just dreaming.

All the best, Nick.

[millerd]

I do like that female Common Blue - such amazing variety with these and they sit like little jewels in the grass. And all my local ones have disappeared for now...

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Pauline I must have been all those refraction lessons I've been teaching recently
Cheers Nick Stumpy was a right character, really belligerent I reckon a Small Tort is definitely on the cards
Cheers Dave Cheer up the next brood will be along soon - all fresh and shimmering

Woodhenge revisited

Last Thursday morning I stopped off at Woodhenge again. I was looking to try and improve on the Marbled White count from the previous days two. However it wasn’t looking too good as it was cooler than of late and instead of the blue skies that we’re experiencing now it was grey and overcast with a hint of drizzle or mist in the air. However I tried my luck first along the path that runs parallel to the road along the top of the embankment.

Having found one hardy soul trying to sit out the drizzle I suddenly saw 5 or 6 more, all clustered around various grass heads. It was the same slightly further along the path. I’d scan across the tops of the grass looking for the “white flags” and not see anything. Then when I scanned again my eye would catch one, then 3 or 4 before a proper look revealed even more. I think they roost low down in the grass which is why I didn’t see them at first, not until they started the twirling climb up the grass stem.

Once I’d found one in a nice position I also noticed the way that the drops of mist were catching on their antennae and appendages, beading them like little pearls. I’d long wondered how to go about getting some “dew soaked” shots and as the opportunity had presented itself to me so fortuitously I decided to spend a bit longer than usual this morning. So 6 minutes after taking my first shots I started my way back to the car .

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Paul Harfield]

Hi Wurzel

I love your 'dew drop' pics of the Marbled Whites, very unusual I have yet to see any Marbled Whites this year, but hopefully any day.

[Nick Broomer]

Hi Wurzel,

you never seize to amaze me with the way you portray your butterflies in your photos, the close up of the male Marbled White in the second photo with the dew in it`s eye, and the detail is excellent. But the third photo is even better, all those dew drops on its antennea, brilliantly captured, brought a big smile to my face, don`t` change the way you photograph these beautiful insects, your photos are a breath of fresh-air, and something i look forward to seeing.

All the best, Nick.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Jack Definitely by the weekend
Cheers Nick for your very kind comments - they really made made my week, let never mind day

On the way home...

On Friday I was a lonely soul in the department as one member of staff is on maternity leave, another only worked half a day and the Technician finished early. As I had a protected free I locked up and made everything safe, gained the necessary permission and signed out half an hour earlier than usual.
I reckoned that with careful usage of time I could make two stops and still be home at my usual time. The first was on the Plain and I pulled off the road and onto tank tracks before grabbing the gear and making my way along the path. It took me up a slight incline with tall grasses on either side and at the top are two lines of trees running at 90 degrees to the path. A pair of Small Tortoiseshells were my only company along the path barring numerous pale moths and very soon I’d reached the tree line so I turned left onto this new track. About 20ft along another path cut across the fields diagonally back to the car park and it was at this triangular junction that I found the majority of my butterflies. In fact there was a nice range of species here – Large Skippers, my first Smessex (probably a Small), male Common Blue, Ringlet, Marbled White, Meadow Browns and Small Heath. Another Small Tort appeared and tried to entice me away but I was enjoying the scene before me as everything seemed to be making wild use of their probosci.

Tearing myself away with the promise of a return visit here I made my way along the diagonal and the Smessex kept landing in front of me, teasing me as every time I’d get close it would be gone. At one point I even risked losing my limbs on any unexploded ordinance lying around to get a few shots of a Chimney Sweeper moth. Back at the car limbs all still attached the Small Torts flitted by to wish me goodbye and it was back to the road.

My second stop was at the Devenish and I added Specklie to the tally with 2 in the car park and another along the wooded path to the lower field. I spent the next 10 minutes checking out both the lower field and the lower slopes of the Down. The former held Ringlet, Meadow Browns and Large Skippers while the Down also had Marbled Whites, a Common Blue and a lone and belligerent Brown Argus. But everything was turbo charged in the mounting heat. I can’t believe the difference between here now compared to just two weeks ago.
As time was ticking away fast I had to run back down the Down and as I jogged through the lower field something small and golden caught my eye. It landed and settled allowing a brief approach and I was only able to get two shots before it as off again. Never mind though as it was my first official Small Skipper of 2013! I’m sure I’ll encounter many more of these little beasties and soon will begin the neck wrecking checking for ink pads to distinguish the females!

Almost caught up now as I’ve only got Saturday, Sunday and Larkhill to sort through now...
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Wurzel,

you never seize to amaze me with the way you portray your butterflies in your photos, the close up of the male Marbled White in the second photo with the dew in it`s eye, and the detail is excellent. But the third photo is even better, all those dew drops on its antennea, brilliantly captured, brought a big smile to my face, don`t` change the way you photograph these beautiful insects, your photos are a breath of fresh-air, and something i look forward to seeing.

All the best, Nick.

Absolutely agree

Excellent photos Wurzel, keep it up.

Cheers,

Neil F.

[millerd]

And so do I. The dew-sparkling Marbled Whites are just lovely.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Neil and Dave for your very kind comments In fact having read them yesterday along with Nicks again, I took the night off, cracked open a Poachers Choice and put on a Midsomer Murders

Large Blue or Secret Squirrels?

On Saturday Philzoid and I met up to do some quality butterflying. There were two options. Head West to Collard Hill for the Large Blues or East to a Secret Squirrel Site and White Letter Hairstreaks? As it was a balmy 23 degrees at 9am and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky it seemed a better bet to head East and risk cricks in our necks rather than spend a few hours getting sunburnt and twisted ankles trying to follow turbo charged Large Blues.

We arrived there surprisingly quickly shaving at least 6 minutes of the Routeplanner and 7 off the SATNAV times , but then when you’re chatting away and driving you can really eat up the miles. Having parked and wandered in the baking heat to the site we saw the first butterfly of the day – our target species! A few very distant “hope they crop okay” shots later and we felt that the pressure was off, should we want to see any more Whitters then we could always work our way back here. And in fact this is what we did, as we’d stroll to one end of the site and then back stopping for a while at the larger Elms en route. In fact there were four other trees which played host to the White Letters but the first place we came too first seemed the best as the trees were slightly lower and there was a bank opposite which we could stand on giving us a little bit more elevation and clearance. This is obviously a tactic used by those who have visited the bank before us as most of the vegetation was trampled and there were large patches of bare earth . Still on our second call in at this end of the site the Whitters came slightly lower down with one individual crawling along a branch directly overhead over the path!

There were plenty of other things around with Meadow Browns, Ringlets and Marbled Whites putting on a good show as well as a fly by Small Tortoiseshell and one, possibly two, Common Blues and a Large White. Very unusually I found it difficult to get any photos of these butterflies, almost as if my heart wasn’t in it. I enjoyed seeing them but they were no-where near as good as seeing the Whitters clattering into each other, buzzing each other at terrific speed or idly plopping onto a leave and tilting their wings to face the sun and so disappearing from view as their shark fin profile vanished.

A couple of things I did photograph were my first H.Comma of the year and also some Bee Orchids which were nestled in the grasses near some Thistles. The thing is I look at the Orchid now and can’t see the flower. Instead I see a little Gnome wearing brown Dungarees with a green pointy hat and green shoes. He’s very cheerful and has a massive smiley face, twinkly eyes and he’s waving his right arm in greeting!

It was reaching sweltering point now at midday and the Whitters weren’t coming down to the Thistles to nectar as hoped – perhaps because it was too hot or perhaps it’s still a little too early in the season for that? So we headed back to the starting point which was at least slightly shaded joined by a fellow butterflyer. Once there we were treated to the same tantalising views, always slightly too far away, always just out of reach of a great shot, bombing out and back again or viciously silhouetted. I decided that enough was enough and so tried one of my favourite tricks for butterfly luring. “Do want a coffee Philzoid?” I asked, poured one from my flask and just as I finished pouring the second a Whitter came down. As Philzoid was lining up on it I noticed something on the other side of the path – a mating pair! They were within reach so here would be our opportunity for some close up shots of this almost ridiculously marked butterfly . The cameras clicked away in a symphony of photography as we three made the most of this lucky chance. I was impressed not just by the lovely pair of butterflies but also by the etiquette we showed; always checking that we weren’t in the way of the others shot, or that they’d finished before we could take out turn. Very civilised and worlds away from some of the twitches I’ve been on. And so shots hopefully in the bag we left the lovebirds ensuring that there will be some more Whitters here next year and made our way the whole 25 metres back to the car.

Amazing stuff! We couldn’t believe our luck and with a few more hours in the bag we set off to Bentley Wood. Once there we went from the sublime to the ridiculous. There were so few butterflies it was almost as bad as back in April! Or at least that was how it felt. The Eastern Clearing held a few Brimstones but not the Clouded Yellow written in the book and a Small Tort did a fly-by. Down the Rides towards Donkey Copse the odd Meadow Brown, Ringlet or Large Skipper put in an appearance but not the hoped for ginger beasties. Eventually we did find a White Admiral but it wasn’t for stopping, a small grey butterfly flitted across from one Oak to another – a Purple Hairstreak and something large, ginger and fast flew past high up on the return journey. In all I took 5 snaps of a Large Skipper and 8 of a Ringlet the whole time I was there. I think I was sated by the Whitters earlier in the day and the image is still burnt onto my retina when I close my eyelids even now!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Excellent stuff Wurzel, excellent WL Hairstreak photos and a mating pair too! The Hutch. Comma is a very nice shot, the Bee Orchids are amazing! You always deliver.

Best regards,

Mike

[Wurzel]

Cheers Mike Most of the time it comes down to luck, and failing that giving up and pouring a coffee seems to do the trick, perhaps butterflies are attracted to the smell of coffee?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Jackpot, Wurzel!

Mating WLH's...I don't think I've ever seen an image of that before.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave When your lucks in...

Middle Street Skippers (sounds like a Shirley Hughes story?)

Last Sunday morning was spent in the park; paddling in the river, eating a picnic lunch and generally baking. In fact the girls got so hot we headed home earlier than expected and they had their TV time. This meant I was freed up for an hour and a half so I grabbed my camera and then headed over to Middle Street. On entering the reserve I was shocked that the grasses have grown even higher, those that were at ankle height were now at waist and the previous waist heights were at head height! The first butterfly of the day didn’t exactly fly past, rather it became visible in a dip in the grasses where they were slightly lower and some flowering plants had fought their way through. What made me notice it was the glittering colour, my second definitive Small Skipper of the year. Last year I seemed to spend a huge amount of time crawling on my hands and knees trying to look for “indicator lights” or “Ink pads”, but the ID for this male was much, much easier. After a while he changed position and settled down to pose, nonchalantly leaning against a one of the grass stems.

I left him in peace and headed round to do a circuit of the pond. On the way I encountered another Small Tortoiseshell that looked pretty dark to my eyes. A Common Blue seemed to be enjoying annoying the small white moths Ringlets and Meadow Browns as it would fly through the grass stems setting them off along with the occasional Blue-tailed Damselfly. Once at the gently sloping “beach” housed the main interest with Ringlets and Meadow Browns pausing here to take nectar. There was also another Small Skipper but it was having a spot of bother with a Large Skipper that was being a bully quite frankly. The Small would just settle to start supping when the Large would appear and buzz the Small until the golden blur disappeared from view. Eventually the Small would reappear only for the same scenario to be played out again.
After witnessing it three times I wished the little fella luck and congratulating him on his perserverance I moved on round the pond. Here I almost immediately spooked a Small Tort which was grounded and hidden by the overhang of the reeds which lined the path. This set off another two and all three spiralled upwards locked in an amorous battle. A Red Admiral flew by and I walked on trying to remember whether this was my second or third of the year, yet normally I’d have lost count by now.

Eventually I reached the far side of the reserve and the flower rich field played host to Ringlets and Meadow Browns a plenty as well as two more male Common Blues, a Marbled White, another Small Tort but it was the Skippers that I took the most delight in. I fell back into the habit of trying to take the shots of the antennae from below so I could make sure which Skipper the Smessex was. I approached one, got into position and another Skipper buzzed it. I waited hoping it would come back and thinking it had clicked away. The Dark antennae tips had me thinking “Ace an Essex”, so I crept around to the side and realised that it was actually a Large. Damn it, this wasn’t the same butterfly I had originally crept up on, but that was probably a Small anyway as Essex always seem a bit later

I found a few more Small Skippers holding onto flower tops and rocking in the breeze but most of the time they were zooming around like loons so I thought it best to start the return journey. As I left the reserve a pair of Small Torts chased each other into a neighbouring garden almost as if they were sending me off. The journey home was pretty quiet and I put my head down and marched so I arrived back with almost 15 minutes to spare. It would have been more but just as I was turning into my street a Scarlet Tiger flew across my line of sight and landed on one of my neighbours houses. After the merry dance they’d led me at Old Sarum a chance to get a close up was something I couldn’t allow to slip away.

So another cracking little visit to Middle Street, if only it had some Dark Green Fritillaries I’d be made up!
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Nick Broomer]

I see you`re another one with a magic paint brush hidden within your camera Wurzel, beautiful Small Tort, what lovely vivid colours.

All the best, Nick.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Nick It's actually an Imp and it works okay until it wants a fag break or it runs out of paint

Larkhill stop-offs

My stop-offs last week in the morning were more like those in the afternoon of the previous week and the afternoon was almost pointless as the butterflies were either roasting or turbo charged. However I persevered and as the heat continued to persist and build the Browns increased in numbers and the Blues were replaced by Golden Skippers (finally! ).

The first stop-off saw the usual mix but my best bet of getting any photos was a pair of Common Blues in cop. They started on the pink flowers and then fluttered still locked together to a lower boudoir down in the grasses. Once again I was amazed by the overall strength of the female and the strength of the male’s genitals in particular. I witnessed not only the male suspended by his genitals as with the Marbled White pair at Five Rivers but also the female heaving the male round so she could face the other way!

The next stop-off in the afternoon was the start of the change with Small Skippers starting to fill in for their larger cousins. But due to the heat my shots were few and far between and when they came they were smash and grab. Still I managed a couple of decent ones and this was the best of the bunch.

After this less fruitful visit I left off the afternoon stops and stuck to the mornings and it paid dividends with the first butterfly of the day my first Essex Skipper of 2013 perching in the morning sun and glowing. There were also Large Skippers around one aged one of which was sharing a flower head with an equally aged Burnet, probably bemoaning about “these young upstarts”. To complete the set a Small Skipper appeared, allowing me to make the comparison between these two similar species.

A little closer

"The youth of this month, they don't know how lucky they are!"
"Tell me about it, I remember this when it was all Travellers and shoots, dead cold it was too!"

So looking good for the rest of the week, again if only there were a few Dark Green Frits about here, still you never know what might turn up?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

Those are definately Essex Skippers,Wurzel. Well done.
But i've still beaten you by four days,as i saw them on Wednesday!

Cheers.

[Philzoid]

Hi Wurzel
Have just got around to reading your diary:-

At one point I even risked losing my limbs on any unexploded ordinance lying around to get a few shots of a Chimney Sweeper moth.

Perseverance paid off Wurzel that Chimney Sweeper is a hard little bleeder to get near to, and heads right into the undergrowth when it does settle

A couple of things I did photograph were my first H.Comma of the year and also some Bee Orchids which were nestled in the grasses near some Thistles. The thing is I look at the Orchid now and can’t see the flower. Instead I see a little Gnome wearing brown Dungarees with a green pointy hat and green shoes. He’s very cheerful and has a massive smiley face, twinkly eyes and he’s waving his right arm in greeting!

I took a similar shot and you've perfectly summed up my thoughts of this flower (all he needs is a little fishing rod) . It's hard to believe these orchids have evolved to produce the scent and the look like a female bee so as to attract amorous males as an aid to pollination (although I believe by and large they rely on self pollination nowadays). Even harder to believe the male bee is fooled by a 'gnome' .

“Do want a coffee Philzoid?” I asked, poured one from my flask and just as I finished pouring the second a Whitter came down. As Philzoid was lining up on it I noticed something on the other side of the path – a mating pair!

Those White Letters made for a great day . After my first ever blank Purple Emperor day at Straits on Saturday I'm coming to the conclusion that I need to adopt some sort of lucky talisman like your bushwhacker hat or flask of coffee ... it never fails

It would have been more but just as I was turning into my street a Scarlet Tiger flew across my line of sight and landed on one of my neighbours houses.

Lovely shots of the Scarlet Tigers Wurzel , something (like Small Tortoiseshell) we just don't seem to get around this part of Surrey .
BTW I've picked up Silver Washed and Silver Studs since out last meet up. You've added Essex (which I haven't seen) so I reckon we could be level pegging

Phil

[Wurzel]

Cheers Essex To be fair you should see them first in Essex

Cheers Philzoid I still can't work out how the Bee is fooled either, I suppose it's because we're not looking at it through compound eyes? Which is a good thing else I'd be seeing a whole fishing fleet of Gnomes The pouring the coffee charm only works because I am a great believer in the Law of Sod
In terms of the tally - I too got SWF, as well as a definite Purple Hairstreak, Gatekeeper and His Nibbs. I reckon though that you'll still win in the long run, blooming NBA and Wood Whites...

Lunchtime

Last Thursday I took a quick trip out at lunch to Vera Jones Mill. This was mainly because I hadn’t gotten out that morning as I had to stop en route for petrol so my five minutes of peace, tranquillity and meditation hadn’t occurred. But also the last time I’d visited the down lands leading to the reserve proper were looking good for Smessex Skippers. However instead of the expected Skipper fest on my visit the flower meadows on the down were gone apart from the odd margin around the hedges. Everywhere I looked there was hay drying and Meadow Browns flitting about amongst the desolation wondering where their Meadow had gone?
One individual I noticed seemed to not follow in the footsteps of its brethren in that it didn’t explode from the grass just in front of my feet. Instead it tried to crawl away and hide under a leaf. I little closer examination revealed the cause of this odd behaviour as its wings were deformed – perhaps from drying out too quickly in the mad heat? I managed to encourage it to crawl towards my hand so I could get an even closer look and then I placed it back where I found it.

The actual reserve itself was very quiet with the usual Ringlets, the odd Large Skipper, Meadow Brown everywhere and singles of Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell. However my main interest from the reserve was a grotesque looking fly.

My lunch break was almost over so I had to head back up the hill amongst the confused Meadow Browns and fly back along the country lanes. As I departed the reserve I noticed an uncut section tucked away on the other side of the down so I might have to make a return visit at some point and juts hope that it can escape the mower in the mean time...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Nick Broomer]

Hi Wurzel,

Lovely shots of the second brood mating Common blues, or is the male a late first brood specimen or just a tatty early emergance of the second brood? What is the female doing to the male in the third photo? poor thing. Cracking shot.

I thought your photo of the Orchid/Gnome looked rather like an infant Mr. Punch in a baby-grow.

All the best, Nick.