MikeOxon

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Mike, just catching up on your diary, some great reports and photos in your last few posts.

... My photo illustrates the very prickly nature of the vegetation, which makes getting down low to take photos a rather painful experience!...

I know exactly what you mean, I found that out myself when I was there the other week. I thought that Bald Hill was definitely 'spikier' than Beacon Hill on the North side.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Jack Harrison]

MikeOxon wrote:
... My photo illustrates the very prickly nature of the vegetation, which makes getting down low to take photos a rather painful experience!...

Reply Neil Freeman:
I know exactly what you mean, I found that out myself when I was there the other week. I thought that Bald Hill was definitely 'spikier' than Beacon Hill on the North side.

Ah! I seem to recall Mike that you once said you didn't need an articulated screen.

Jack

[MikeOxon]

.....I seem to recall Mike that you once said you didn't need an articulated screen. Jack

If I said that, it was in younger, more supple days - I've used a right-angle finder on a DSLR for years and the tilt screen on my Olympus is very useful!

Even when looking down onto the screen, however, I still need to put a hand down to steady myself and that's when the spiny plants make their attack

[Wurzel]

Lovely Silver-spot shtos Mike, especially the first one, it's a classic

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[MikeOxon]

Pleased you liked it, Wurzel. It makes it worth suffering all the prickly vegetation

[Pauline]

That's a great shot of the Meadow Brown with the Brown Hairstreak Mike. Not sure how I missed it earlier

[MikeOxon]

Thanks for looking in, Pauline. i always like to try and show something a bit 'different'

[Goldie M]

Just catching up a bit Mike, I think that first shot of the Skipper is great, Goldie

[MikeOxon]

After a long period of both dull and wet weather, yesterday (6th September) dawned bright and sunny, though with a distinctly autumnal chill in the air. By lunchtime, it was warming up fast, so I decided to look for Adonis Blues at Aston Rowant NNR.

Aston Rowant NNR, Oxon - 6th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/640@f/10 ISO400

There were few butterflies to be seen at first; the banks of Marjoram with their attendant hordes of Small Skippers were gone and I had walked some distance along the path before seeing my first Chalkhill Blue. The slope above the M40 was warming up, though, and soon I was seeing Silver-spotted Skippers and plenty of Meadow Browns enjoying the sunshine.

This Silver-spotted Skipper was literally winding itself around the flower to find all the nectar in this Dwarf Thistle

Aston Rowant NNR, Oxon - 6th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/800@f/9 ISO400

I continued towards the South-facing slopes of Beacon Hill, towards the NW end of the reserve, and there, on the short-cropped turf, were the Adonis Blues that I had come to see.

Aston Rowant NNR, Oxon - 6th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/1000@f/10 ISO400

In many case, the distinctive chequered fringes were already well worn but there was no mistaking the iridescent blue colour of the top surfaces of the males. The slope was well-carpeted with chalk downland flowers, of which the abundant Eyebright flowers were proving particular favourites:

Aston Rowant NNR, Oxon - 6th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/1000@f/10 ISO400

As a striking colour-contrast to the blues, some very bright male Brimstones were also visiting the flowers, which included the local Chiltern Gentians.

Aston Rowant NNR, Oxon - 6th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/500@f/8 ISO400

A smaller 'blue' turned out to be a very fresh Brown Argus, with a beautiful purple sheen across its rich chocolate upper wings.

Aston Rowant NNR, Oxon - 6th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/800@f/10 ISO400

I was interested to look at the female blues to see if I could distinguish between Adonis and Chalkhill Blues. The simple answer is that I could not be sure but there were considerable variations. Some of the first examples that I saw, at the car-park end of the slope were almost certainly Chalkhills (since I did not see any Adonis males in this area). Many were very faded, although some still showed red lunules along the wing edges.

Aston Rowant NNR, Oxon - 6th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/640@f/9 ISO400

Aston Rowant NNR, Oxon - 6th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/1250@f/11 ISO400

Towards Beacon Hill, where the Adonis males were more plentiful, there were several much fresher looking females and, although these showed little sign of blue scales around the red lunules, I suspect that these were more likely to be Adonis

Aston Rowant NNR, Oxon - 6th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/800@f/10 ISO400

Aston Rowant NNR, Oxon - 6th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/1000@f/11 ISO400

I would not, however, like to make any firm diagnosis of any of these females. I also noticed that the male Adonis looked very different from the probable Polonus forms that I had seen amongst the Spring brood at The Holies, discussed at viewtopic.php?f=29&t=7459&start=340#p99137. There was no sign of the prominent spotting on the wings, which I had observed on those specimens.

The approach of Autumn was very obvious from the clusters of large fungi on the slopes and the profusion of red berries, shining in the afternoon sun. There are probably not many good butterflying days left now before the season closes.

Aston Rowant NNR, Oxon - 6th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/640@f/10 ISO400

One last photo, however, before I finish this entry. I had left my wife sitting on the slope, while I went in search of Adonis Blues. When I returned, she said that she had seen no blues where she was. Right on cue, the most perfect Adonis I had seen, with chequered fringes intact, settled just in front if her!

Aston Rowant NNR, Oxon - 6th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/1000@f/10 ISO400

Mike

[millerd]

Lovely images from Aston Rowant, Mike. I must make it up there once more this season if I can, before the Adonis disappear.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Lovely shot of the Adonis Mike, at least the Butterflies are still about, I didn't realise the Adonis and the Silver Spotted Skipper stayed into September.
Some times the books tell you this but when you look for them they've gone, I suppose it depends on the weather as well Goldie

[Jack Harrison]

I didn't realise the Adonis and the Silver Spotted Skipper stayed into September

In the 1970s, it was hardly worth looking for SSS before early September. Dates for SSS have come forward by at least a month in the past 40 years.
I'm less familiar with Adonis Blue in the 1970s but I am sure second brood peaked then in September.

Jack

[MikeOxon]

Thank you for commenting Dave, Goldie and Jack.

I agree with you, Jack, about the timing of these late-season butterflies. I always used to think of Silver-spotted Skippers as real 'tail enders' and it seemed all wrong to find them on the slope at Aston Rowant in mid-July, last year.

I also recall that Adonis Blue was a real rarity in Oxfordshire in the early 80s, with a small colony on the Downs near Streatley. The site at Lough Down was managed specially for this species and numbers increased steadily but, unfortunately, this year, the site has become rather overgrown and I saw none in the Spring. On the other hand, they are now thriving at a number of other sites in the County, including good numbers at Beacon Hill on Aston Rowant NNR.

There is no doubt that there have been many changes in the fortunes of our butterflies over the last 40 years or so but it has not all been losses!

[Goldie M]

Hi! Mike, Jack, I suppose it's because of Global Warming, I'm no expert but it seems when I was younger we seemed to get lots of snow in the winter time then, I had a great time sledging down the steep moors

Living in the North we always seemed to get lots of snow, not now though, it goes mad at times, perhaps the odd Winter but then it's back to rain again. I suppose the Butterflies have adjusted to the seasons, I wish I could. Having said that it seems Scotland got loads of snow last year, you can't win.Goldie

[Jack Harrison]

Mike:

There is no doubt that there have been many changes in the fortunes of our butterflies over the last 40 years or so but it has not all been losses!

I have some old distribution maps dating from the 1970s shows Peacock to be absent from north Scotland except for a small cluster in the Aberdeen area. When I lived near Aberdeen in the 1980s, Peacock certainly wasn’t common and I can recall only one sighting. The Moray Firth (where I now live) was a Peacock blank on those 1970 maps. Now, they are in the same sort of numbers as in S.England with a nearby buddleia having three or more at any one time.

Bear in mind though that it has been suggested that a more frequent extra brood of the Wall Brown might be the reason for its decline in that the offspring of the third brood have insufficient time to develop adequately before winter sets in.

Jack

[Dan Ransley]

Hello Mike,

Lovely photo's, as always! It was a pleasure to meet you at Aston Rowant last weekend - thank you again for taking the time to speak to me, and for sharing your extensive knowledge. I hope you enjoyed the day as much as I did!

All the best,
Dan

[MikeOxon]

Good to meet you too, Dan, and I've also enjoyed browsing your flikr stream - some splendid photos there

Mike

[MikeOxon]

Otmoor, Oxon - 7th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/800s@f/9 ISO400

There was quite an Autumnal feel to my visit to Otmoor on Monday (7th September). I had gone for the possibility of a Clouded Yellow, which I found on the moor last year, or of a late Brown Hairstreak. In the event, I saw neither, though there was the following notice board by the path on the RSPB reserve:

Otmoor, Oxon - 7th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/640s@f/9 ISO400

Along the Roman Road, many Speckled Woods were actively defending their perches and sallying forth after many passing insects:

Otmoor, Oxon - 7th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/250s@f/5.6 ISO400

Dragonflies were plentiful, especially Common Darters and Southern Hawkers and i spotted one Beautiful Demoiselle, living up to its name (although this is male!)

Otmoor, Oxon - 7th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/500s@f/7.1 ISO400

Other butterfly species included Meadow Browns, a single bright Comma and several Small Whites. Once again, I appreciated the facility to judge exposure of the whites, by means of the viewfinder indications in my Olympus E-M5:

Otmoor, Oxon - 7th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/1000s@f/10 ISO400

Otmoor, Oxon - 7th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/800s@f/10 ISO400

A flock of Siskins was exploring the seed heads along the sides of the path, though these were very flighty and did not hang around for photos - another sign of Autumn. The Blackthorn bushes were looking in good condition, hopefully harbouring plenty of Brown Hairstreak eggs in anticipation of the next season.

Otmoor, Oxon - 7th September 2015
Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 lens - 1/200s@f/5.6 ISO400

Mike

[Wurzel]

That is a cracking Specklie shot Mike, I love the compostion I know what you mean about the Silver-Spots and I've only been butterflying for about 5 years. I started off waiting until the end of August to go and see them at Stockbridge whereas this year I went and saw them in July

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

That blackthorn is positively laden with fruit, Mike. Any sloe gatherers should take note and get themselves down there!