Filling the void

[David M]

My subconscious mind has been active lately and I've come to the conclusion that it's because the butterfly flight season is all but over.

I have, over the past 2 or 3 weeks, been inadvertantly casting glances at promising looking landscapes whenever I've been driving (not really to be recommended when on the two lane section of the M4 near Port Talbot). Rocky outcrops with shrub and bracken laden slopes are particularly intriguing and I daresay I'll be visiting one or two places spotted from the roadside next year just to see what's there.

Much as it's great to go to a known site to see one of the scarcer species, it must be even better to find such a spot completely by chance (or, at least on a whim).

Has anyone ever been successful with this approach?

[Matsukaze]

I spend some of my butterfly-recording time doing just this (as well as checking out old records of scarcer species), and when out and about tend to have half an eye open for potential butterfly hotspots. Google Earth is also very useful for this. The county recorders really appreciate the records, as well.

I've had successes with Marsh Fritillary, Adonis and Small Blue, and Dingy and Grizzled Skipper, as well as seeing an abundance of commoner species.

[David M]

I spend some of my butterfly-recording time doing just this (as well as checking out old records of scarcer species), and when out and about tend to have half an eye open for potential butterfly hotspots. Google Earth is also very useful for this. The county recorders really appreciate the records, as well.

I've had successes with Marsh Fritillary, Adonis and Small Blue, and Dingy and Grizzled Skipper, as well as seeing an abundance of commoner species.

I have used Google Earth myself, as it has the relief facility which gives you the opportunity to see the undulations in the terrain.

There MUST be places off the beaten track where scarcer species occur but no-one has ever reported their presence. For example, I find it hard to believe that High Brown Fritillaries occur only in one tiny area in south Wales, which is why I often scan suitable sites from afar to 'measure' their likely attractiveness to this species.

I've been doing this lately with parts of northern France, as there is a paucity of information regarding butterfly distribution even on French language sites themselves.

I guess Jeremy Thomas was right when he remarked in his book that no other set of insects has been mapped, studied and observed more than butterflies in the UK (although even he admits there are places - particularly in Scotland - that are largely unremarked upon.)

[NickMorgan]

Funny, I have been doing exactly the same thing. We don't get anything like the number of species up here that you do down south, but recently I have found a few places where I am sure I should be able to spot some interesting butterflies. It seems from the Millennium Atlas that this area is under-recorded, or at least any records haven't been passed on for publication. I am hoping to fill in a few dots next year.
I am looking forward to the spring already!

[Matsukaze]

Hi Nick,

In the north you do have one advantage though - you get to witness species colonising as they spread in response to rising temperatures. It's difficult to imagine any species colonising my particular area of Somerset the next half-century.

[David M]

Funny, I have been doing exactly the same thing. We don't get anything like the number of species up here that you do down south, but recently I have found a few places where I am sure I should be able to spot some interesting butterflies. It seems from the Millennium Atlas that this area is under-recorded, or at least any records haven't been passed on for publication. I am hoping to fill in a few dots next year.
I am looking forward to the spring already!

There are also interesting and sometimes spectacular sub-species present in Scotland. I guess with a population far, far lower than England it's a truism to declare that butterflies are under-recorded there.

I've often been intrigued by eastern parts of Scotland, as they are much drier than the west and can get quite hot in summer due to the protection afforded by the mountains. Elsewhere in Europe that's a recipe for butterflies being present in far larger numbers than elsewhere.

I wish someone would pay me to spend a whole spring/summer tramping through the Scottish countryside putting this theory to the test.

[Michaeljf]

I wish someone would pay me to spend a whole spring/summer tramping through the Scottish countryside putting this theory to the test.

I wish I'd win the lottery, David. I'm not sure either of us have brilliant odds on these wishes....

[Michaeljf]

...on a slightly more serious note, I'm sure there are butterfly colonies that are overlooked. The most likely candidates to me would seem to be Hairstreaks, as often they're difficult to see when you know where a colony is, let alone a colony that isn't known about The trouble with small colonies is, how easy would it be for them to carry on successfuly without the land being linked to other colonies in the same area? With housing going up all the time and taking up the common land, no wonder numbers drop without the 'added bonus' of bad-weather summers.

On a positive note, I hear that the Brown Hairstreaks are still about in Oxfordshire this week, so anyone that fancies looking for a few may get the added bonus of some sun on the weekend...

[millerd]

If they can brave the northerly blast and temperatures of only 12 to 14 at best...
Summer to a sniff of winter in 48 hours. Time to hibernate!

Dave

[Matsukaze]

I do wonder sometimes if the Black Hairstreak might be spreading unobserved. Its core area on the Bucks/Oxon border was criss-crossed with railway lines. In the 1960s, some were abandoned whilst shrubs started to colonise the verges of others (management had suppressed them before, owing to the fire risk from steam trains). Scrub developed over time, and has created corridors which might allow for dispersal of the butterfly - and would this be noticed?

[Michaeljf]

On the subject of species at the tops of trees - I don't know if this link will open up to all - interesting, even though it's about moths

http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=2306

[David M]

On the subject of species at the tops of trees - I don't know if this link will open up to all - interesting, even though it's about moths

http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=2306

Certainly food for thought is that, Michael, although the author admits himself that moths are "by nature, elusive". I guess you could say the same about certain butterflies too, particularly (as you mentioned) Hairstreaks. I spent weeks this summer searching for WLHs yet had it not been for Jon Evans' chance discovery of that colony near Cardiff I'd have missed out.

Makes you wonder just how many of them are out there?

[Zonda]

This is a pretty good way of filling the void.
Due to the dull weather the only option for me yesterday was to have a look at some fungi sites. So,,, i took the cheapo Olympus compact out, and with just my elbows for a tripod visited two fungi rich sites not far from me. I spent all of 15 minutes at each site and found some quite interesting stuff. The first place i went to was the Dorset Wildlife Trust headquarters at Brooklands farm, Forston, where several species were apparent in the managed meadow there. This first pic is Hygrocybe conica , the 'Blackening Waxcap'



Along with this was a difficult species of Clitocybe that i can never ID positively in the field, but i'm fairly sure it's one of two lawn, and grassland species C. dealbata or C. rivulosa. Both species are poisonous. They are the most frequent poisoners of kids on the lawn.



Away then to Charlton Down which was previously the site of an old mental hospital that has been developed and built on since my first visits.... Not to the hospital you understand, but to the mature beech groves that surrounded it. Beech on chalk is a really good habitat for some quite rare fungi. On arriving i spied my first Boletus luridus of this autumn.



Underneath the same stand of mature beech trees i spotted a group of Hebeloma crustuliniforme, which is also known as 'Poison Pie'. Probably because it was confused with the field mushroom Agaricus campestris in the past.



I also got a pic of a 'Beechwood Cortinarius' These young specimens could only be positively ID'd by an expert with a microscope, and that is definitely beyond my expertise. I can ID these to genus level only in the field.



All of these fungi and many others deserve to be better represented, both in photographic terms, and in conservation terms. So get out there and learn what you can eat, and what you can't.

[Piers]

Great photo's Zonda, and very interesting too. There are some Bolete growing under a clump of Beech on the downs near me, they are huge; the largest being almost dinner plate sized and at least three inched thick. What might they be..?

Felix.

[David M]

Some excellent images there, Zonda. I remember going 'mushrooming' in Cannes a few years ago with my then girlfriend and her mother. They called her mum 'sanglier' (wild boar) due to her amazing ability to locate Chanterelles just about everywhere they grew. It was quite an education and a very pleasant day's work.

Do Chanterelles grow in the UK?

[Piers]

Now there's a coincidence; I call my girl friend's mother a Wild Boar, but I have no idea whether she can locate fungi or not...

Felix.

[David M]

Now there's a coincidence; I call my girl friend's mother a Wild Boar, but I have no idea whether she can locate fungi or not...

I assume it's the alternative spelling?

[Piers]

[Zonda]

There are some Bolete growing under a clump of Beech on the downs near me, they are huge; the largest being almost dinner plate sized and at least three inched thick. What might they be..?

Take some pics Felix, they are probably true Boletus being that large. Could be B. radicans or even B. satanas.

Thanks for the enthusiastic replies.

[geniculata]

hi zonda,

like you ive been enthusiasticaly filling the void mushroom hunting for the last couple of weeks and it can get addictive!
i have some superb sites five mins from my house so have spent most of my spare time there of late and the season has kicked off very well.
the boletus have been showing in force, but ive got a couple i need a pointer on if your able, one i found two weeks ago with a strange stem and cap edge and the other from this morning which i think may be satanas but ive got to wait to see the pore colour as its cap is tight to the stem at the moment and i don't want to disturb it.
have a look and pm me if you like.

gary