essex buzzard

[essexbuzzard]

Often,in large populations,a few white flowered plants are present

[essexbuzzard]

With at last,something of a break in the weather, on Wednesday 17 May,i headed to West Sussex in search of the Dukes at Heyshott,where i was pleased to find Mark Colvin and Colin Knight as well. It was a cold, cloudy day, with only 10 to 20 per cent sunshine,keeping things down. However,we eventually managed to find a few little Duke of Burgundies,and what beauties they were. They are always much smaller than i expect,for some reason! Many thanks must go to Neil (Sussex Kipper) for his advice in finding this great little species.

Duke of Burgundy

Duke,16 May

[essexbuzzard]

After lunch,onto Mill Hill,where lots of Dingies,and a few Grizzled Skippers and fresh Adonis Blues were present with single Common Blue and Small Copper. One advantage of the cold,they were relatively easy to photograph.

[essexbuzzard]

Hi all. On Thursday, we had the pleasure of visiting Denge Wood,Kent. It was already very warm when we arrived,just after 8 AM,on what was in the event the hottest day so far this year.
This is a great site for orchids,including some very nice Lady Orchids,which were at their glorious peak. While enjoying them,a Turtle Dove was purring,a sound i rarely hear these days,and nearby,a Nightingale and Cuckoo,thankfully still found in Essex.
Gradually,Duke of Burgundies started to be seen. All seemed to be males,and most were fresh,probably owing to the recent weather. The Dukes here were brighter than the ones i saw in Sussex last week,with more markings. Much hard work has been done since i last visited to increase and spread the Dukes here,several were seen in new areas.
Also seen were Holly Blue,Dingy Skippers, Orange Tips,speeding Whites and a Green Hairstreak.

duke of burgundy

lady orchids

[essexbuzzard]

Then onto Mill Hill-this is such a great site,it is worth a second look!
Adonis and Common Blues were in good nunbers,as were Dingies again. Plenty of Small Heath were present,with Grizzled Skipper,some still in good nick-i first saw them here in mid April. Brimstone,Small Copper,Orange Tip,all seen.
It was worth another trip just to see the fantastic Horseshoe Vetch,which is glorious here this year!
A bit of good weather makes all the differance,this was a great day out!

common blue

small heath

[pkg1]

Hi, Essex Buzzard, I'm new to this forum and hope you don't mind me contacting you. I've never seen Heath Fritillary and I understand that they occur at Hockley Woods near Rochford. I was just wondering if you knew if they are currently flying there? I live in South Yorkshire so before I take out a mortgage on a tankful of fuel to make the trek south I am hoping for up to date info. TIA

[essexbuzzard]

Hi,welcome to the forum,and to the joys,well,when the sun shines!,of butterflies in general. May they give you many years of pleasure!
Essex is not over endowed with butterflies,in terms of species,for a southern county, but Heath Fritillary is one rarity we do have. Although the season varies from year to year,i think a visit in mid June would be best this year. Heaths have started to emerge already,but take a couple of weeks to reach their peak.
If you have the time,i would recommend you visit Pound wood and Belfairs wood,near Southend,as well. If it is a hot day,stay untill early evening if you can,for photo's. Adults often sit with their wings open,to absorb the last rays,at this time. But lets face it,it is more likely to be cloudy,with limited sunshine,and this can help the photographer,as the frits will be less active.
Seach the areas of woods that have recently been cut back(coppiced). And look for Common Cow-wheat,the caterpillar food plant in Essex,if you find this growing in a cleared area,the adults shouldn't be far off.
Heath Frits are relatively easy to see and photograph.
Above all,enjoy your visit to the county,and let us on UKButterflies know how you get on.
Kind regards,and if you have any further quesions,do not hesitate to ask them-i will be delighted to help if i can!

[essexbuzzard]

Wednesday 30 May.
Today,i spent the morning looking for Grizzled Skippers at our last Essex site,and i'm glad to say i was successful. I have seen Grizzlies elsewhere this spring,but to see them in my own county means the world to me. It means this lovely species has survived for another season. We have already lost the Dingy Skipper,with none seen since the 1990's, and Grizzlies are down to this one last site,where it survives in low numbers across these beautiful fields. Working with the Essex Wildlife Trust and Butterfly Conservation,we are fighting tooth and nail to save this Essex species from certain extinction.
Several of the Skippers are more boldly marked than usural,and we think this is due to the genetic bottleneck of the species at this site.
Also seen here were Common Blue,Small Heaths,Small Copper,Speckled Wood and Lots of Burnet Companion moths.

[essexbuzzard]

Then onto a site in the Chilterns for Millitary Orchids,which were close to their peak. Excellent.Many Fly Orchids,too,plus Common Blue, Dingy and Grizzled Skippers,my first Brown Argus of the year,Orange Tip female,Small Heath,Brimstone female and Speckled wood. Loads of Kites and Buzzards overhead.
Then onto Aston Rowant,arriving 6PM. I normally visit this as a Silver Spotted Skipper site,but i thought i would have a look and see what was arround now,as it was a warm evening. 5 species-Common Blue,Small Heath,Brown Argus and Grizzled and Dingy Skippers,many perching in their roosting positions on dead heads. A super day!

Millitary Orchid

Brown Argus

[essexbuzzard]

Friday 1st June.
On Friday,having booked a day of work,we headed south to Surrey. It was a rather dull day,due to a dying cold front nearby,but quite warm as we started to walk accross Denbies Hillside. Soon the first buterflies were seen, including plenty of Small Heath,which seem to be having a good start this year-i wonder why this is? Adonis Blues were present,too,though not many males . A few Common Blue,Dingy Skipper, and Peacock and Grizzled Skipper singles.
Then just an hour at Botany Bay,which doesn't do it justice;we could happily spent a whole day here,if time allowed.
Several Speckled Woods quickly seen and soon after,Wood Whites started to appear-quite active given the dull skies,we saw a good twenty with ease,with seven in the air together at one point. Heard Willow Warbler,Cuckoo and Nightingae singing.
Our last stop was in West Sussex, where we looked for Small Blues at a known site for them. We found some,many already roosting head down,but a few were active. Dingy Skipper and Common Blue were also here,and a Buzzard,crow and Peregrine had a spectacular encounter,as did we with a very close Hare,in all my years of living on a farm,i don't think i've ever seen one so close! Great stuff!

[ChrisC]

that's a lovely grizzled

Chris

[Padfield]

that's a lovely grizzled

I believe it is ab. intermedia.

See http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/ ... xonID=8451

Guy

[David M]

I've only just noticed this. That's quite a find.

Spectacular.

[essexbuzzard]

Thanks so much for your comments,folks. It's lovely to hear what other people think,glad you like the pictures!
Yes Guy,the Grizzlie is intermedia,and i'm really pleased to find it. A wide range of forms are found at Langdon,from the normal kind right through to ab. tarras.,and everything in between. We think that this is because all the adults in the population are probably related in some degree.
But this cannot be the only reason,for many sites are isolated,for example Indian Queens railway which runs accross Goss Moor in Cornwall,where these forms never occur. Such mystery just adds to the pleasure of this fantastic little species.

[Wurzel]

Certainly is a cracking little butterfly Essexbuzzard Bottlenecks in gene pools do allow these unusual varieties to be maintained, perhaps in Cornwall there wasn't this variety to start with so recessive alleles couldn't be expressed?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

Hi Wurzel,very quick there!
You're right,it seems to be something in the gene pool,which is not present in evey population. I for one am glad it is present in ours,as it makes finding them even more interesting. It also underlines how important it is to save these colonies from dying out. Cheers!

[essexbuzzard]

Evening everyone!
Just back from Croatia (Hrvatska) with Naturetrek,which was excellent. We saw 95 species of bird and 100 kinds of butterfly!
It's worth remembering that untill relatively recently,this was a war torn country,and there is still plenty of evidence of this. Bullet holes can still be seen on buildings,especially in quieter towns and villages. And the abandoned homes,goodness knows what happened to the occupants. Still there,perhaps there is no money,or will,to do anything with them. A bit shocking,to be honest.
Farming is small-scale,like a giant allotment,a few rows of corn,a few rows of hay,a few rows of potatoes,and so-on. At the end of these fields,small weedy patches and wild flowers are found. How i wish it was like this in Britain.
The weather in HR has similarities with ours,but there are differences. They probably get as much rain as we do,throughout the year,but it comes and goes quickly,unlike our long,cloudy days,which may produce nothing more that a bit of drizzle. So the sunshine success rate is better and the average tempeature higher then say, London,at least durind latr spring and summer. This is consistant with our findings. There was rain of Lake District proportions on the first day,while the rest of our week was hot and sunny.
Got a lot of photo's to sort out,and some id's to confirm, so i'll end with some of the Essex Heath Fritillaries. They were two a penny in HR,but of course very rare in GB,and the woods near Southend contain some very important populations. They,like most of the country,were enjoying a rare day of sunshine yesterday,before the rain returned...

[Wurzel]

Looking forward to the trip report - don't skimp on the birds either

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

Don't worry Wurzel-there were some quite keen birders on our trip,i don't think much went unnoticed!
28 June.
Today,i went to the Roman River Valley,near Colchester. I've never been there before,but the attraction for me was not butterflies,but dragonflies. For this is the only place in Essex where the Beautiful Demoisele can be seen. As a bonus,it flies alongside the similar Banded Demoisele, i know of no other place where this is the case,as they prefer different habitats.
Red Admiral,Speckled wood and Meadow Brown were seen in this wooded valley.

Banded Demoisele,Roman River

[essexbuzzard]

After lunch,onto Hadleigh Castle Country Park. I was pleased to see the first White-letter Hairstreaks have emerged,as have the first Marbled Whites,Small Skippers and two Essex Skippers. Hutchinsii Commas were plentiful and others seen at this splendid site were Large Skipper,Meadow Brown, Ringlet,Common and Holly blues,Speckled Wood and Red Admiral.
This is the only site i know where White-letters do reliably come down to feed on flowers,for the Elm grows as scrub and aphid honeydew is scarce. Although it dies back as soon as it reaches about 20 feet,the Elm continuously regenerates. Probably the best place in Essex-maybe even Britain-to see this Hairstreak.