Bugboys mission

[Goldie M]

Fantastic shots Bug boy I love the group Butterflies they look fantastic all there together, you should put one of those shots into the Competition Goldie

[Wurzel]

Fantastic to see the GO Silver-studs and Grayling, those females really are stand out

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Trevor, only one day got ruined by the weather, which by this years standards I think is a bleeding miracle!
Thanks Dave, it is a very beautiful part of the world, this hobby of ours does have a habit of taking us to places like this .
ThanksNeil, it was your trip that sowed the seed for my trip, although eight years is an embarrassingly long time to get my act together and do it, can’t even blame Covid for that length of time! Turns out I was dangerously close to stumbling across 'Invalids Way' but turned back before I saw anything .
Thanks Goldie, the colonial roosting was one of the highlights of seeing that species there
Thanks Wurzel, plenty more to come yet!

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June 2024

Wednesday 12th, Wales day 3. A slight change of scenery today, although still rugged and windy. Todays target was the SPBF over on Holy Island of the coast of Anglesey. The train journey was pleasant, going through some very picturesque countryside and the walk from Holyhead station to South Stack, even though it was along a main road wasn’t too painful either. I did ponder about taking a short cut along some foot paths but this was around the time of Micheal Mosley’s unfortunate accident so I decided against it, I wasn’t sure about what sort of terrain I’d find myself navigating and my dodgy knee was playing up..

It had been mostly cloudy until shortly after arriving when a large portion of Blue sky arrived and hung around for a few hours, perfect timing… to find virtually no butterflies of any description . I was there for over three hours and covered a fair bit of ground but only came away with a Common Blue and a couple of Meadow Brown, none of whom were willing to sit for their pictures.

Birdlife rescued the day. There were decent amounts of Guillemot with a smattering of Razorbill mixed in with them.

Thousands of Guillemot

a few Razorbill.

Every now and again a Kittiwake would appear

'Wingtips dipped in ink' = Kittiwake

And a family of Chough were a noisy accompaniment to the afternoon.

Adult Chough with 2 juveniles in tow

Juvenile Chough

A little something for the botanists, Sheep's-bit was common (and would have looked even nicer with a few Fritillaries decorating it) and I found lots of Navelwort growing from the stonewalls of the nearby Ironage ruins of the Tŷ Mawr Hut Circles

Sheep's-bit

Navelwort

A large parasitoid wasp did pose which I think is Podalonia hirsuta, which uses large hairless caterpillars to feed it’s youngsters.

Like the previous day, I returned to Llandudno with enough daylight left to say hello to the Blues before they all settled down for the night, I was far from bored from seeing them yet!

[Wurzel]

Cracking Chough (I didn't like to use the obvious pun ) and Silver-studs Bugboy Is that the same area that the aesculapian snake is found?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, I think those snakes are only found near Colwyn Bay in Wales. I have come across them along Regents Canal though!

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June 2024

Thursday 13th, Wales day 4. Of course I couldn’t really go the full week without a dud day and that day was the 13th, it basically rained most the day so I took a day off from butterflying and spent the day at Chester Zoo, an hour away on the train. Well, they have a small butterfly house, so I did get a fix.

Glasswing (Greta oto)

(probably) Postmen (Heliconius melpomene)

Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus)

Owl Butterfly (Caligo eurilochus)

Owl Butterfly (Caligo eurilochus)

Owl Butterfly caterpillar (presumably Caligo eurilochus)

Emerald Swallowtail (Papilio palinurus)

Emerald Swallowtail (Papilio palinurus)

The sun returned for my last day in Wales for a last hurrah with the Blues ...

[bugboy]

June 2024

Friday 14th, Wales day 5. The sun returned for my final day in Wales so after checking out, posting my dirty washing home and filling myself up on a nice big full English (obviously advertised as a full Welsh) I made my way back up to Happy Valley. It started off a bit overcast but the temperature was enough for the Blues to be awake and active when I got up there. Time to focus on the females again.

In amongst the Silver Studs were a couple of imposters. The odd Common Blue would appear with each visit but this female really did stick out like a sore thumb, in life she looked about twice as big as everything else on the wing!

When the sun came out, open wing shots became a premium and shenanigans began.

Most males were sent packing, as is the way, but this one chose wisely . Given how many were here it’s surprising this was the first pairing I came across.

With the sun out I went off to explore some other parts of the rock. Once again I unknowingly came close to stumbling across Invalids Way, but despite the sun I didn’t find many butterflies, a few Small Heath, a tatty old Peacock, a Brown Argus, a fleeting glimpse of a passing Grayling and a Large Skipper.

My ticket home was open ended so with no rush to get anywhere, I returned to Happy Valley to make the most of my last few hours.

[millerd]

Those SSB females are every bit as stunning as they are advertised to be - definitely worth the trip and staying several days to ensure you made the most of them. Multiple are appropriate I think.

Cheers,

Dave

[Pete Eeles]

That's an amazing haul, Paul, and wonderful photos! I must add the Great Orme to my list for next year since I've not visited for a few years now ... like you, I could spend several days there!

Cheers,

- Pete

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave, yes, I could easily have spent another week there and not got bored!
Thanks Pete, it certainly won’t be the last time I go there!

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June 2024

Friday 14th, Wales day 5 cont. After not finding much on the more exposed parts of the rock and with still a good portion of the day to kill, I returned to Happy Valley again. This time I noticed some activity along the north western edge of the dry ski slope which turned out to be another hotspot for the Blues, primarily I suspect since it provided good shelter from the persistent strong wind that was an ever present feature here.

I found another mating pair.

Plus several more failed attempts.

I did try and leave a few times but every time something would catch my eye, this female completely lacking in orange lunules was particularly striking.

Late on in my stay another species delayed my departure, a number of Grayling appeared and proceeding to lead me a merry dance along the cliff face. I very nearly managed some upperside shots when a fresh female appeared, but she seemed too preoccupied with an Orchid pollinium and the males gave up quickly.

She looked reasonably normal by the standards I’m used to on the Surrey heaths, but the males did look a lot paler.

The final male though was very striking in that he had vivid golden sheen. The pictures really don’t do him justice, he really did glisten like each scale was made from gold leaf.

A fitting end to a great week long break

[Wurzel]

I think I've said it before but those females are fantastic Some of them almost look like more exotic continental species Great shots of the Grayling. To my eyes they look very similar so I'm wondering if temporal isolation has had more of an effect on the variation?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, They were a joy to behold, no two the same! In life those Grayling were noticeably smaller and paler than the ones I'm used to seeing on the Surrey Heaths, much more like the ones I've seen on Arnside Knott, which also emerge at a similar time.


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June 2024

Wales, a postscipt. Before moving on and resuming my outings, I thought I'd post a few images of the scenery that accompanied the butterflies.

Looking west from Great Orme

Looking South west from Great Orme

Llandudno with Little Orme in the distance from Great Orme

Some views from the butterflyless South Stack

Back on Great Orme

Some Goats mocking my lack of agility at Happy Valley

A view north from Great Orme

Great Orme

A beautiful place to visit even without the butterflies

[Neil Freeman]

In life those Grayling were noticeably smaller and paler than the ones I'm used to seeing on the Surrey Heaths, much more like the ones I've seen on Arnside Knott, which also emerge at a similar time.

I remember thinking the same when I saw the Graylings there and wondering if the ones at Arnside were a similar race.

More great images from a lovely spot. I know I have said it before but I really must get back there sometime.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

"noticeably smaller and paler" that'll be the difference then!
Great to see the habitat shots, really useful for those of us that haven't been there but might fancy a trip some time

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Some wonderful female Blues during your trip, Paul, and the Graylings and scenery are fabulous too.

[bugboy]

Funny you say that Neil, Millerd and I have had a few similar conversations over the years about the relationship of those two Grayling populations.
Thanks Wurzel, I can’t see why Mrs Wurzel wouldn’t enjoy a break there too, a nice weekend break for the family.
Thanks David, it was worth every penny!

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June 2024

Sunday 16th. Back to normality and after a day of rest (it was likely rubbish weather anyway) I decided to pop down to Essex to catch up with the White-letter Hairstreaks. I’d already seen a few reports on Facebook about the population I usually see so I knew they were out. The first thing I noticed when I got to the short path was the change in the skyline caused by a significant die back of Elm from DED. Unfortunately I don’t have any before images to compare, but last year there would have been no dead trees in this view.

Presumably those tallest trees would have been a favourite place for last years females to deposit their eggs, so I can only imagine how many larvae perished before they’d even had a chance. The new skyline had caused a secondary issue when it came to photographing the little buggers, it allowed more sunlight down over a larger area, so this years smaller population was able to spread out further and were mostly little black dots flitting around far out of reach. Closer to me were several Holly Blues, the sites first gen looking to lay. They emerge later here so as to be able to utilise what seems to be the only spring foodplant available, Bramble.

After not getting close to any Hairstreaks here I wandered along in the direction of the castle ruins to another spot where I regularly see them, although they never come down here, except today they did, just not in a very convenient way. Backlit Hairstreaks don't work as well as Brimstone of Clouded Yellow! Still at least I had some shots in the bag.

Back at my favoured spot I found a few that were behaving themselves, some, but not all, complete!

Although I don’t think there’s any risk of this population vanishing, I suspect it will be harder than in previous years for a little while, at least until this round of DED dieback is over and the females wont inadvertently continue to lay on Elm that dies over the winter.

[Wurzel]

Great to see the Whitters Bugboy - they do like to play hard to get and even when they do come down they have an unerring ability to position themselves in the most awkward place Good job that they have the 'looks' else people might not bother with em

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

In other words Wurzel, typical Hairstreaks!

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June 2024

Monday 17th. Still a week off from work and a trip to Bookham was long overdue (LONG overdue, I hadn’t been there for about eight or nine months). As it turned out, it ended up a bit of an anti-climax, there was very little about, even common species, the June gap was very prominent this year. I did find a fresh Small Heath and a handsome Longhorn Beetle was the only life I saw worth pointing my camera at in a sunlit clearing bereft of butterflies.

As the morning wore on and the sun broke through this years persistent cloud cover a few Whites and Brimstones appeared but all refused to do anything except patrol. In the end it was a few little golden blurs that captured my attention. A grand total of three Large Skippers though isn’t anything to write home about, God knows what’s going on with them this year!

Rather than go straight home I stopped off to have a wander around Ashtead Common. I wasn’t expecting to see much more than I’d already come across although I did hope that perhaps there was a late Black Hairstreak waiting for me...

It’s nice when that happens! Also noteworthy was my first Ringlet of the year.

[Wurzel]

"typical Hairstreaks" - it seems that Blackstreak has been reading a different book to it's kin Nice collection of Skippers too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Such a shame about the elm trees, Paul. At least the colony seems to still be going strong.

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, actually it was being a typical Hairstreak, my pictures were taken at arm’s length above my head to get a clear shot, many were taken, only a few came out!
Thanks David, I guess its one of the things that WLH have had to adapt to, luckily they seem to be able to, there’s still a lot of Elm out there even if those majestic mature English Elms are now mostly a thing of the past. Ironically, the sucker growth that made them so susceptible to DED (propagation via sucker growth leading to a very small genetic variation within the species) has helped the butterfly hang on.

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June 2024

Tuesday 18th. After the previous days rather lacklustre effort from Bookham I spent the day at nearby Box Hill to see what that had to offer. Marbled White were the main target, I knew they were out, would they behave? It was a cloudy start (no surprise there) but it was warm enough for some activity and a Common Blue distracted me for a while, one of this years casualties, even as I post this I’m not entirely sure I’ve seen double figures of them yet this year.

Next to distract me before reaching the top of the hill was a mating pair of Meadow Brown. Considering the numbers this species is present in your average meadow, it’s surprising how this isn’t a more common sight!

Marbled White were fluttering around up the hill but it wasn’t until I got to the top when they settled long enough for some photos, all nice and fresh.

There wasn’t too much else around save for a few aged Small Heath so I went for a wander along the south facing slopes where it was much the same selection of butterflies, mostly too active but I did make an effort to pin down a Large Skipper, another of this years casualties, halfway through June and I was yet to hit double figures.

Having reached the old quarry a noisy kerfuffle up above distracted me where I saw a Peregrine being harassed by some Jackdaws. When it managed to lose the posse it landed on a ledge and I could see the reason for the kerfuffle, it had snatched a young Jackdaw. After having a snack it flew off, presumably back to a nest to feed its own kids.

Also here I came across a mating pair of Small Heath.

Even taking into account wear and tear, this Speckled Wood did look very pale.

The June gap this year did seem to be very obvious, if it wasn’t for the Meadow Brown and Marbled White butterfly numbers would have been very sparse indeed.