Wurzel

[Pauline]

I love the underside of the DGF Wurzel and you've got some nice poses there - also, that's an astonishing number of Skippers in one shot!!!

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Wurzel,

Catching up on your posts again...I seem to be falling behind on everyone's diaries lately. Some great reports and photos, I particularly like the freshly emerged Burnet Moth with its old cocoon

Cheers,

Neil.

[kevling]

Wurzel; Some nice photos from your last post. The freshly emerged DGF and Burnet look beautiful.
I particular like the Essex? on the grass stem and the group shot too. It gives a good impression of just how many seemed to be about this summer

Regards Kev

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, love the shots of the DGF , I always find it hard to capture side view shots when they close their wings , they never seem to do it when I see them, come to think of it I don't think I've got one shot of them with wings closed Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Pauline There were even more around, they were all over the place
Cheers Neil I was chuffed with the story that that photo told as well
Cheers Kev It does seem to have been a very good year for the Smessex Skippers
Cheers Goldie It took me a while to get my first closed wing shot but they tend to shut up more in the evening as they start to go to roost

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Search for Lulworths 08-07-2017

It had been a while since our last meet-up and things had really moved on a pace so when Philzoid and I started hatching a plan for another Big Trip there were only a few options that would offer either of us new species for the year. We went for the most obvious – down to the Isle of Purbeck for Lulworths.

Before we knew it we were bombing along hoping to miss the Grockles, literally flying over my favourite hill and taking in the heathland views. We stopped off at the Corfe Castle car park for possibly the easiest year tick ever. Nine steps from the car and on the steep bank there was an undeniable Lulworth, the crescent moon markings looking a little like a welcoming smile. Job done again and now to relax and enjoy.

We ascended the steep bank/cliff and strolled about the top area finding Marbled Whites, Ringlets, Hedge Browns, Meadow Browns as well as the occasional Smessex and the odd Lulworth. The Steam engine puffed by adding to the nostalgic and vintage feel that came from being surrounded by a plethora of butterflies.

We carried on chuffed by our early success and made our way through Corfe towards Swanage and arrived in the car park at Durslton without a Grockle slowing us down once. We had to go to the Castle to get the ticket but on the way we got lost. One of the little tracks enticed us with a Red Admiral so we mooched down and followed it through a tunnel of trees adding Holly Blue and a Specklie before the tunnel opened up into a small field hemmed in by Brambles and cliff face. Here there was a Peacock, a Silver-washed bombed around along with a H.Comma. In a low patch of Bramble a Small Copper put in an appearance and in the grasses a Smessex, Large Skipper and a Lulworth were all present. We could have stayed here much longer but I remembered that we still hadn’t gotten a ticket for the car.

Coming out from the Castle there was a Large White and another Red Admiral which did their best to keep us from our main quarry but we overcame these distractions and cut up the top fields. As we were heading into the main field our way was blocked by a Wall. It was acting in the usual fashion but it kept coming back to the same spot between the gate posts. We guessed that it was holding a territory and so we waited a while to see if we were correct and also to try for a few shots. He did keep returning but always that little bit too far away for a decent shot.

This creep and wait, creep and wait had led to us reaching the top field where we spent a good while wandering and wondering. There was a profusion wild flowers and though we were sticking to the tracks butterflies would erupt from every footfall, the browns and Skippers were everywhere. The warm sun was making identification difficult as they’d be off in the blink of an eye in a dizzying, zig-zagging blur. We settled into the ‘grab shot’ mentality finding an egg laying Small, a mating pair of Small Skippers and an Essex via this method. There were Lulworths around but they were much harder to pick out in the dense sward.

We ended up in a small patch sheltered form the onshore breeze by a low drystone wall and a ring of Brambles. As I started to pour a coffee I took in my surroundings, the odd Brown and then an almost mustard yellow Skipper. A very fresh male Lulworth. When Smessex are fresh they look almost metallic orange, gloss coated whereas this Lulworth looked like it had been thickly covered in powder paint. He was cracking. Another male was more the traditional olive colour and kept hanging around and there was also an attempted ‘menage a trois’ of Small Skippers.

After lunch we headed down the hill to the coastal path. On the way Common Blues, more Lulworths and a Small Blue and Small Heath were added to the tally as well as a couple of DGFs. Along the path some we found both Spider Wasps and Bee Wolves and the ‘gully’, which I have fond memories of form my youthful birding days also turned out to be pretty good for butterflies. Although it didn’t produce the hoped for Cloudy or Painted Lady there was another Small Blue and a striking Small Copper. We completed the walk up the slope with Lulworths and Large Skipper on one side and Guillemots and Razorbills on the other.

We could have given up there but we headed back to the small field we’d started at taking in a glorious Peacock and relocating the Silver-washed. In the end we drove home with a dally tally of 24 species, and this was without Grayling, Clouded Yellow or Painted Lady all of which were possibilities. What a day – again!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

That really was some day out, and worthwhile too.
Your steam loco. is a Drummond M7 of the LSWR, this type of engine was no stranger to Salisbury.
The Lulworth Skipper would be a ' lifer ' for me.

Trevor.

PS. Another Long Tailed Blue was found yesterday, at Shoreham.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor I'll let you know next time and I could give you a lift Interesting news about the LTB I'll keep a look out for further reports though it would be nice if a few were found a bit closer to home

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

That was a fantastic day out Wurzel, Lulworth Skipper's are on my books for next year hope fully, I wouldn't mind Going to Dorset in September if I can twist some arm's Goldie

[millerd]

What a terrific day you had down on the Isle of Purbeck, Wurzel. Some excellent shots, particularly of the assorted Skippers. I wish I'd had more time down there (the day after you, in fact!) - only a month ago when it was still summer...

Dave

[bugboy]

It was a particularly fine day a month ago wasn't it (seems like an age ago now looking out my window at the monsoon we're getting in the south east right now!) I have no idea how our paths didn't cross, I was at Durlston for a good few hours that day. Add the Cloudie and Grayling I saw and we can get a respectable 26 species that day

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie Juding by how things seem to be starting earlier and fading quicker if you could get to Dorset for early August you'd stand a better chance of picking up a Lulworth
Cheers Dave Autumn has come early again, what happened to the Indian Summers of yesteryear? It seems like we get to summer and blink and you'll miss it
Cheers Bugboy I'm tempted to do that

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[kevling]

Wurzel, Nice report and photos from your search for Lulworths. I often wondered how I would identify these from Smessex when I see one, so I will remember your 'crescent moon markings looking a little like a welcoming smile' observation.

Regards Kev

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, looks like I'l have to wait for next year for the Lulworth but I may need ID from you when I do, Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Kev The crescent moon/smile only works with the females, the males you need to use first sex brand and then colour. The sex brand is similar to a Small so you can rule out Essex and it's smaller and more Yellow when fresh, Olive than orange when worn and more matt than gloss than Small.
Cheers Goldie They should be easy to find and the females are easy to ID, see above for the males and failing that PM me any images

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Larkhill Week Beginning 10-07-2017

After a few big trips it was back to business as usual and stop-offs at Larkhill on the way to and from work became the order of the day…

10-07 AM

I tried my arm up the Northbound path as I was hoping to find some more Hedgies. There was a definite changed feel to the place. Gone were the low grasses and the Marbled Whites, the endless Skippers seemed to have waned to be replaced with faded Meadow browns and the occasional Ringlet and fresh and vibrant Hedge Browns. A couple of males flew across the path occasionally before reaching the other side and burying themselves in a Hawthorn. The wall of scrub thinned and petered out to be replaced with tightly growing plants that just about reached knee height. I didn’t make it much further than this little area and found all three species seen here. There was a single Green-veined White and few more Meadow Browns and more numerous Hedge Browns.

13-07 AM

It wasn’t until a few days later that I was able to make another stop-off. I again chose the Northbound path and again the usual suspects flew but this time there wasn’t a Green-veined White to mix it up a bit instead there was just a medley of Browns. It was also one of the shortest stops I’ve made here, literally just walking up to the ‘plant patch’ and back.

14-07 AM

It was the same again, though brightened by both the weather and that Friday feeling. Again I found the palette was heavily dominated by Brown though a ghostly Marbled White flew slowly by at one point though they didn’t affect the brown feel as it is one! It was interesting and also slightly bewildering to see how quickly the season is moving ahead as the male Hedgies are looking less than pristine and the females are emerging in growing numbers. All that I saw were ‘type’ but one did have some nice markings visible on its underside. A few of the spots had small horizontal lines coming from them which made it look like when they were being formed the paint had ran.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Katrina]

Nice second gatekeeper photo - really sharp with nice shades of green in the background.

[trevor]

Great Hedge Browns, Wurzel. A lovely Butterfly when fresh,
but a real pain when Brown Hairstreak hunting. Those flashes of orange on a Brown Butterfly..........

Watch out at Larkhill, the road is temporarily one way, in the Durrington to Shrewton direction only.

All the Best,
Trevor.

[Goldie M]

Nice Gate Keepers Wurzel, I was surprised to find some in my garden last week, wish some Brown Hair streaks would appear in it save me going to Gait Barrow Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

...Before we knew it we were bombing along hoping to miss the Grockles...
Wurzel

I have got to ask Wurzel...if you leave Dorset and then return for a day trip, do you become a Grockle

Cheers,

Neil.