Wurzel

[Andrew555]

Great report from Bentley Wurzel, your own private audience!
Excellent shots, especially the trousered one's. Nice Silver-washed as well.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Neil You'd think that the birders moonlighting on the side of butterflying would be able to stay well back with all those telescopic lenses they need for birding I think someone should write an article for the birding magazines on the Etiquette of Butterflying. In short stay well back, keep your elbows in and don't crowd people out
Cheers Trevor That was the thing this year - everything happened all at once There was a point in the later stages of July where I was in danger of missing out on 9 species that I normally see Hopefully next year will be as productive but a little less manic...
Cheers Andrew I've had to wait 8-9 years for that - and then this year He just decided on a whim that I was worthy The problem with the trousered shots was that He was almost too close

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Work 06-07-2018

I finally managed to get out and have a look about today, I was tempted having seen a Holly Blue flitting about outside my window and a Comma almost came into join my year 8 class. It was so hot I didn’t make it down to the far end of the field but from what I could see it was a summer scene; golden and straw coloured grasses swayed in the gentle breeze, the susurration providing a break from the noise of everything slowly cooking. In the broiling heat some of the grasses had collapsed so walking through the pits was much easier. On the way I watched a Large Skipper flying this way and that occasionally upsetting a Ringlet or Meadow Brown and then I was at the Brambles Patch where a beautiful lemon Small White was looking resplendent while it took nectar.

I moved on round the other side and watched as various Smessex Skippers zipped around. I manage to follow one for what felt like an age and then it would do the kind of aerial turn that would leave a jet plane tumbling out of the sky in 6 or 6 pieces and it would be lost from sight. To try for shots I instead took to checking out all the Thistle tops and Ragwort. If I saw a little orange triangle I’d cautiously approach and try for a few shots before the butterfly caught on and did a runner. In this way I managed to catch up with a definite Essex as well as an aged Small.

All too soon I could feel my head starting to melt and so I made my way back to the relative cool of the shade of my lab. I’d only been outside for 20 minutes but that was all I could manage. This heat is getting a bit extreme now!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Great White shot. I particularly like light and shadow images
that show wing structure and texture to advantage.

Great stuff,
Trevor.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel catching up again I missed the Dark Green Frit this year but I was pleased to get the Heath Frits so I'm not moaning I love that shot of the three Marble white and the shot below that is a Wow! Goldie

[millerd]

It really did get too hot to go out comfortably - and all the butterflies were hiding anyway. Nice Small White shot - they are so difficult to get decent images of, especially in bright sun.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor I got lucky with that one, as I didn't need to bend my knees to line myself up it didn't hear me and fly away
Cheers Goldie I was chuffed with that Skipper shot - glancing at it you wouldn't have thought it was a butterfly...mind you I don;t know what you might have thought it was
Cheers Dave The heat was a bit trying at times - especially at work where all the pupils were wearing PE kit and the female members were in summer dresses while male staff...were allowed to take off their ties Hold the phone

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

September 2018

Let's hope it turns into an Indian Summer, fingers crossed

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[ernie f]

Wurzel - I have been remiss. I have not looked at your diary for awhile. Going back through your pages was like reliving Summer, thank you.

How on earth did you get a shot of a Purple Emperor with is hind-wings purple but its forewings black?!? Absolutely amazing.

[Goldie M]

Another great Calendar Wurzel, I look forward to them but I'm not sure about the November/December ones lets hope we get more pic's of Butterflies before then Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Ernie I have no idea - when it came to photographing the Emperor threw all the shapes and poses and I just pointed and clicked
Cheers Goldie Fingers crossed that they'll take care of themselves

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Godshill 07-07-2018

So it’s reached that time of the year again albeit seemingly a fair bit earlier this year? Time for Garylings and so Godshill it was. The heat was still on as I wandered across the Cricket pitch and down the path. The stream is now not even a trickle, more a collection of tiny ponds and so after walking on dusty, sandy paths I now walked over a ‘hardcore’ road for a few paces. After this I went round the triangle (try dong the maths on that!) without any luck. There was the odd Silver-Studded Blue, Large Skipper and the usual Meadow Browns and Hedgies aplenty as well as a fly-by Red Admiral but no Grayling. As I came back to the initial tip of the triangle I finally caught sight of a Grayling; slightly larger than the Meadow Browns and with little periods of glide when in flight. I headed in the general direction in which it had gone and away from my preferred ‘triangle’ patch but I couldn’t relocate it. With the job half done I carried on my course reasoning (incorrectly as it turned out) that the Grayling could be over in a new part of the heath.

I ended up following the partially dried up streambed seeing good numbers of Silver-Studs along the way and most were looking like they were not long for this world and would soon set off to meet their maker. I got distracted for a while watching mud-puddling Green-veined Whites and by the time I’d realised that I’d not taken any shots most of them had had their fill and left. Never mind as round the next bend a Holly Blue graciously landed and spent what felt like an age engaged in salt taking.

I made my way back round the triangle and up the brook in the opposite direction seeing and photographing some cracking Dragonflies but this wasn’t getting me the Grayling I’d come for so it was back to where I’d seen my first one. There was one again in roughly the same place and after that I stumbled onto a couple more and set to raking up the shots; on poo, on heather, forewing exposed, clear shot, in grass, “where’s the Grayling?” etc.

In the midst of all this I worked out how they manage sometimes to totally disappear. A Grayling would take flight, zig and zag, veer this way and that. Then it would fly directly at me and at the last second veer away in a sharp circle round my head. I’d turn and look round behind me and it would be gone. This happened a couple of times but on the last occasion I happened to look at the floor and there was the Grayling. Ordinarily I’d be scanning metres away, staring into the distance trying to spot the errant Grayling above the heather tops. So it seems that after the kamikaze run and the sharp turn the butterfly stalls and drops to the deck. The next time a Grayling spooked the same thing happened but I was ready for it. It flew towards me and instead of turning and staring ahead I turned and looked directly down and there it was. Cheeky little blighters!

I carried on enjoying my time with the Graylings picking up a range of shots again and also adding a Trousering to the list. I reckon this was the Grayling making up for their cheeky behaviour…

After this I checked out the Brook again for some more Dragonflies and then I made my way back up the hill. Grayling ticked off but also plenty of SSBs, Large Skipper and Smessex. The oddest sight of the day though had to be a Marbled White flying over heather with not a scrap of grassland in sight.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Your description of Grayling behaviour is spot on, Wurzel! They come straight at you then dive to the ground immediately behind you (or on the back of your legs) where you can't see them land. I experienced this only a couple of days ago at Dawneys Hill where they are still going strong nearly ten weeks after I saw the first ones. Another fascinating species.

Cheers,

Dave

[Old Wolf]

Great shots Wurzel and congrats on your private audience with the Emperor

I like the first Dragonfly from Godshill. It looks like it is 'unsuccessfully' trying to hide from you.

And you bagged an 'oily' too

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave Grayling are the masters of deception it seems tough I have seen them confused by decking or walls when they stick out like a sore them
Cheers Old Wolf That Dragonfly was acting a bit shady

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Great Grayling shots, and on Heather, which makes for a more pleasing image
than those local to me, on chalk. Still, for me Graylings on Heather 70 miles,
on chalk 5 miles !.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor That's sound use of carbon footprint consideration, mine are more like 12 miles away but that still ain't too bad Mind you even down here they're hard to get showing nicely on Heather as they often choose quite grotty places to sit

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Laverstock – Twice in two days!

09-07-2018

When I arrived for tutoring there was a distinct absence of the Tutor – trapped on her way back from Wales on the M4. Instead one of her sons ran the session but with the offer of a ‘freebie’ later in the week. I secretly thought great - another trip out but it was down to little L so I’d check with her to see what she wanted to do later.

The Down itself was quiet and the light cloud and the quite strong breeze didn’t really help matters. I followed the same tried and tested ‘new’ route – across the field and along the foot of the Down heading towards the gully. Whilst there were butterflies about they didn’t hang around and whereas normally I could watch them land and then stalk close enough for a few shots today the minute they got about 20 cm in the air the wind would catch them and they were gone! It seemed that the best idea was to seek the sheltered spots on the leeward side of the taller scrub patches. This worked well and soon I was finding good numbers of sheltering butterflies. Whilst it was good to find them it presented me with a dilemma. As the butterflies were seeking refuge from the wind the last thing I wanted to do was stalk them and spook them. So if I saw a butterfly land I would try a few shots before they realised that I was there and then back off and leave them to it. This meant that I only picked up a couple of Hedge Browns and a Comma, all three of which stayed where they were once I’d gotten my photos.

I got back in time for the first time in an age slightly disappointed with the trip out but little L had decided that she wanted to take the offer of the Freebie session so I’ll be back up there tomorrow.

10-07-2018

Same week, different day and again driving to the Tutors…and the weather was much better behaved, the wind was gone, the temperatures were back up and the sun was out. Today I took the ‘old’ route as I decided to give the gully a chance to ‘re-butterfly’. It’s been reasonably quiet there recently; soon it will have Chalkhills and more blues than you can shake a stick at but today I was going to concentrate on the part of the Down that I concentrated on during the Spring.

On the path down I stopped for this and that the first species being a Marbled White. Some have gotten to the point now where the black has turned to more of a grey or dark brown. The golden Skippers are still looking good, the females in particular and they are still as entertaining as ever. As I reach the gently sloping foot of the Down before it gets going proper Whites start appearing more. One flies in briefly for nectar and as I focus on it takes off. I don’t think anymore of it until I get back and check through the photos and there is one of those ‘if I tried for that I’d never have gotten it’ shots with the White freeze framed in mid take off.

I carry on up the steep side of the Down pausing about half way up where the blues like to fly. This is a good vantage point as you can scan down below you and see the blues either flashing azure or lilac amid the green background or as little white flags fixed rigid as the grass stems sway in the slightest of breeze. There are a fair few about today and the main problem is choosing which one to go for. I make my choice but as I make my approach another Blue tempts me either by being closer, in better condition or in a better position.

I stay on this side of the Down and nearer the top in one of the little scallops a DGF drops in briefly for a quick feed. It’s not there for very long because a Comma (one that holds a territory here?) dive bombs it. I managed a couple of shots before this happened but despite the DGF coming back a further three times I didn’t add any others as the scenario is repeated each time the DGF puts a Tarsi onto a thistle. Whilst waiting for the DGF to return I take advantage of the thistle heads which prove a delight to various passing Whites and the surrounding Bramble which encases the scallop is popular with a/the marauding Comma.

All too soon time has ticked away and I taking the hard and dusty track across the field back to pick up little L. Mind you this was a great little bonus trip and more than made up for the dire situation yesterday!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[ernie f]

I have just seen your post on the Grayling. I was fascinated by your description of how they fly around you and then land directly behind you. Next year when this happens I too will look on the ground behind me.

That pic of one in flight is fantastic. I clicked twice on it to enlarge it twice. OK, so its a bit blurred when you do this but you can pick out the upper wing markings quite well. Quite a rarity to be able to do this. Thanks.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Ernie There are some even better ones on some other peoples PDs where they've caught them during courtship and mating and they've got their wings wide open, I think millerd as got some great shots of this. I've been trying to find this for a few years now but no joy yet hence I've resorted to setting the camera to Sports mode and trying for in flight shots.

Have a goodun

Wurzel