Re: Wurzel
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 10:15 pm
Cheers Dave, Hoggers and Nick for your kind comments:D I reckon you'll all get one next year
I didn't have a clue as to the identity of the plant the CY was laying on Nick but Essexbuzzard came to the rescue on that one
Cheers Dilettante for your kind comment, the chance encounter certainly made up for the frustration of the Cloudies
Cheers Neil
Fritillaries do manage to hold on don't they, but they don't look their best for long do they
Still always good to see
Cheers the kind comments and for the plant ID Essex
Cheers Mike
Hopefully the CYs will be around for a while yet
Alners Gorse 22-08-2013
Part 1
Another day of luxury having “ticked” off all the species I was could possibly find. I should have been at work over seeing the GCSE results but it does eat into my holiday and ruin the last couple of weeks. Also with the contradictory expectations (OFQUAL – exams have to be harder and there shouldn’t be more and more pupils attaining higher grades each year, OfSTED – schools should get higher grades each year
) and the fact that all of the exams were made harder this year as well as having the grade boundaries raised, it wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience! I’ll deal with the outfall in September. Also weather forecast wise it was looking to be one of the best days of the week with the lowest wind speed, lowest chance of rain, highest temperature and with a favourable mix of sunny intervals which would allow photography of Clouded Yellows should I find any. Bearing all this in mind I decided to set out for Alners Gorse with the idea of trying Fontmell Down should the Gorse prove disappointing.
On the drive down I kept checking the sky and rather than the cloud and intermittent sun I was hoping for it was already wall to wall and inside the car it was baking hot. “Oh well if the Clouded Yellows give me the run around then I have the Brostreaks as a back-up” I thought as I started my way downhill down the avenue. There were a few whites fluttering around and the odd Meadow Brown but I was surprised how quiet it was. Something caught my eye and thinking it was a pair of Gatekeepers in cop I approached one of the Bramble bushes that lined the path. As I moved in one Gatekeeper flew away leaving behind what turned out to be a Small Copper. They’d been feeding on the same blossom one facing up and the other down but both facing the outside, hence the illusion of a pair in cop. After a little time with the Fuzz I realised that it was really starting to get warm and so I thought any chance of a Clouded Yellow was starting to wane so I dragged myself away and turning left at the bottom I worked my way along the hedge checking the hedge to my left for Brostreaks and scanning the open areas on my right for the tell tale mustard speedball that is a Cloudy. I reached the gate and checked the area that I’d been lucky at last year but despite a Peacock, Comma and battered Silver Washed adding to the whites, Meadow and Hedge Browns there it was pretty quiet, even the birds were hushed. So I went back to the gate and made my way to the central path and upon reaching it a Yellow bombed past upsetting whites and a male Brimstone on the way. So I’d seen one, now to try for a photo or three.
This particular butterfly seemed to really like the yellow flowers growing in profusion in clumps or strips across the site and so whilst it was flitting from one group to another it was pretty “settled” by Cloudy standards and I was able to follow it reeling off shots as well as making a much closer approach on a couple of occasions. It was hard to stick to the normal “three disturbs and leave it rule" as I wasn’t too sure how many times it moved on because I’d disturbed it or because it was just being a Cloudy. Also it wasn’t going far and the few times I did get close in I watched it feed on a flower, then walk to another and so having polished off all the nectar available it moved on. Eventually it decided that it had worked over all the flowers in this one clump and so it took to the air, went high and was gone from my vision. I was happy with the shots as they included my “stained glass” and close-up (smile) and judging by the silhouette I’m guessing this was a female. Yellow in the bag I then went looking for that other autumnal colour, Brown so I made my way back to the gate and the area I’d seen it in the previous year. Another butterflyer from Leicester joined me and as we chatted we noted a Comma, Red Admiral, GV White, Brimstone, Peacock as well as a couple a piece of Gatekeeper and Meadow Browns. A few jinking, orange things made some passes quite high over head, flitting from treetop to treetop but I couldn’t be sure that they were actually Brostreaks. Moving back slightly towards the gate the brambles open out slightly and again the same orangey things flitted about high up. This time when I saw them I felt much more confident that they were Hairstreaks as their flight was similar to that I’d seen on Brostreaks at Shipton Bellinger and also White Letters at Secret Squirrels. As we were thinking of making a move I saw a familiar orange shark fin, cutting across the Bramble blossom. There at about chest height only 1 meter away was a Brostreak. How long it had been there is anyones guess, probably all the time I’d been there but because of their habit of wandering across blossom and feeding on all sides of the flower it had eluded observation. From the more honey like colour I reckoned it was a male. After about 10 minutes of concerted feeding here it took off and I followed it as it moved back to where we’d originally been waiting for it. Have a goodun
Wurzel
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Cheers Dilettante for your kind comment, the chance encounter certainly made up for the frustration of the Cloudies
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Cheers Neil
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Confused :?](./images/smilies/icon_confused.gif)
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Cheers the kind comments and for the plant ID Essex
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Cheers Mike
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Alners Gorse 22-08-2013
Part 1
Another day of luxury having “ticked” off all the species I was could possibly find. I should have been at work over seeing the GCSE results but it does eat into my holiday and ruin the last couple of weeks. Also with the contradictory expectations (OFQUAL – exams have to be harder and there shouldn’t be more and more pupils attaining higher grades each year, OfSTED – schools should get higher grades each year
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
On the drive down I kept checking the sky and rather than the cloud and intermittent sun I was hoping for it was already wall to wall and inside the car it was baking hot. “Oh well if the Clouded Yellows give me the run around then I have the Brostreaks as a back-up” I thought as I started my way downhill down the avenue. There were a few whites fluttering around and the odd Meadow Brown but I was surprised how quiet it was. Something caught my eye and thinking it was a pair of Gatekeepers in cop I approached one of the Bramble bushes that lined the path. As I moved in one Gatekeeper flew away leaving behind what turned out to be a Small Copper. They’d been feeding on the same blossom one facing up and the other down but both facing the outside, hence the illusion of a pair in cop. After a little time with the Fuzz I realised that it was really starting to get warm and so I thought any chance of a Clouded Yellow was starting to wane so I dragged myself away and turning left at the bottom I worked my way along the hedge checking the hedge to my left for Brostreaks and scanning the open areas on my right for the tell tale mustard speedball that is a Cloudy. I reached the gate and checked the area that I’d been lucky at last year but despite a Peacock, Comma and battered Silver Washed adding to the whites, Meadow and Hedge Browns there it was pretty quiet, even the birds were hushed. So I went back to the gate and made my way to the central path and upon reaching it a Yellow bombed past upsetting whites and a male Brimstone on the way. So I’d seen one, now to try for a photo or three.
This particular butterfly seemed to really like the yellow flowers growing in profusion in clumps or strips across the site and so whilst it was flitting from one group to another it was pretty “settled” by Cloudy standards and I was able to follow it reeling off shots as well as making a much closer approach on a couple of occasions. It was hard to stick to the normal “three disturbs and leave it rule" as I wasn’t too sure how many times it moved on because I’d disturbed it or because it was just being a Cloudy. Also it wasn’t going far and the few times I did get close in I watched it feed on a flower, then walk to another and so having polished off all the nectar available it moved on. Eventually it decided that it had worked over all the flowers in this one clump and so it took to the air, went high and was gone from my vision. I was happy with the shots as they included my “stained glass” and close-up (smile) and judging by the silhouette I’m guessing this was a female. Yellow in the bag I then went looking for that other autumnal colour, Brown so I made my way back to the gate and the area I’d seen it in the previous year. Another butterflyer from Leicester joined me and as we chatted we noted a Comma, Red Admiral, GV White, Brimstone, Peacock as well as a couple a piece of Gatekeeper and Meadow Browns. A few jinking, orange things made some passes quite high over head, flitting from treetop to treetop but I couldn’t be sure that they were actually Brostreaks. Moving back slightly towards the gate the brambles open out slightly and again the same orangey things flitted about high up. This time when I saw them I felt much more confident that they were Hairstreaks as their flight was similar to that I’d seen on Brostreaks at Shipton Bellinger and also White Letters at Secret Squirrels. As we were thinking of making a move I saw a familiar orange shark fin, cutting across the Bramble blossom. There at about chest height only 1 meter away was a Brostreak. How long it had been there is anyones guess, probably all the time I’d been there but because of their habit of wandering across blossom and feeding on all sides of the flower it had eluded observation. From the more honey like colour I reckoned it was a male. After about 10 minutes of concerted feeding here it took off and I followed it as it moved back to where we’d originally been waiting for it. Have a goodun
Wurzel