July 2012

[PhiliB]

PhiliB wrote:..... renders his life forfeit.


iole bait, perhaps?

I can breathe again and Matthew lives to fight another day - it was only a near miss

[David M]

Oh yeah almost forgot...at least 3 males and a female Purple Emperor grounded too

Delighted for you, Wurzel, and I'll be very interested to see an image of a grounded Empress.

[GOLDENORFE]

Had s fantastic day at Fermyn yesterday , with Matthew Oates. I had already seen the female abb in the tree with Matthew early in the morning, I eventually saw 22 grounded males in the morning , and a grounded purple hairstreak!
Spending the afternoon with Matthew , & witnessing the so called alledged incident with HER HIGHNESS. , not an abb. I have been sworn to secrecy over the words uttered at that moment ! Haha. Good job it wasn't a Sunday Mr Oates!
Eventualy after watching a couple of fights in the trees & a very playful male , shot on my shoulder and then on Matthews Hat ! My final total was 3 females & 38 males !
Only about 8-10 white admirals spotted late afternoon.

Phil

[Neil Freeman]

A sighting of UKB member 'Tuts' in Fermyn Woods today, a bit outside of his normal range

'Tuts' in action

Also a dozen or so Purple Emperors, and a few White Admirals, Silver-washed Fritillaries, Purple Hairstreaks plus loads of Meadow Browns, Ringlets and very active Large Skippers.

Apparently a bit quiter than yesterday, maybe the heat...it was very hot...thats just an observation, not a moan, after all the cr*p weather we have had

Will update my diary as usual with piccies when I have time....food and sleep beckon first

Neil F.

[EricY]

In contrast to yesterdays multiude of Purple Emperor's at Fermyn, they were very short supply today. Quite a few people there i/c Mathew Oates who said they were noy performing today. I spoke to no one who had seen a PE in the Ride down from gliding club entrance. We all had to walk round to Lady wood for a view. Left hand ride from the track junction had about 4 flying through fast but one did stop to do a couple of circuits around my head without stopping. Right hand ride did produce 2 males on ground & then one got up to land on my camera bag! Several white ad's about, I then went on to Bedford Purlieus. Very hot & the SWF's were buzzing about hardly stopping. Thanks to a Lady with better eyesight than me I did manage to photo a WLH. Eric

PE male

PE male underside

WLH @ Bedford Purlieus

[David M]

It was too nice to simply vegetate at home after work tonight. The temperature was 24.5c when I set off from work at 3.45pm so I took a walk down Cwm Clydach about a mile from where I live and saw healthy numbers of Green Veined Whites for the first time this summer, a few of which were puddling:



After all the discussions recently regarding the absence of Small Coppers from the landscape, I was delighted to see my first 2nd brood specimen:



Other species seen were Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Speckled Wood, Small Skipper and two male Commas battling over a piece of prime real estate in the sun by the river.

[Mark Tutton]

Mmmmmm I seem to be getting a bit of a reputation for being immersed in foliage - very similar to the shot Pauline took at Alice Holt? The Emperors were out in some numbers earlier in the morning and nfreem ( neil) and I saw at least sixteen individuals with probably a dozen groundings including two at once! For obvious reasons I couldn't take a photo but a truck appeared along the ride at this time so - unaware if the local PE population were aware of the highway code - I consulted with the other two chaps and I encouraged one onto each index finger- Neil has a photo of the two bookends. Once the truck had passed I place them back on the ground where they appeared to be unfazed by their ordeal - indeed one stayed for a further hour or so. The afternoon was indeed very quiet so we took the opportunity for lunch. One further walk right through the wood between three and half five revealed three or four including one drinking from a puddle but it was indeed much quieter - probably because of the heat. My pedometer revealed Neil and I had walked some 42,000 paces - about 21 miles or so. We saw the last individual at 5.30pm.
Lovely day on my first visit to this part of the world. I will be back even if it is a three hour drive!

[Trev Sawyer]

After a day-trip during June in search of Swallowtail butterflies resulted in just distant views of them across Strumpshaw Fen, Yvonne and I used some of last weekend's spur-of-the-moment break in Norfolk to look at other areas in the hope of photographing some caterpillars. Catfield Fen (where we have previously seen larvae) gave us real cause for concern, as we found no sign of them whatsoever. On Sunday, we even took a very informative trip on the little "Electric Eel" boat (run by the Broads Authority) at How Hill through a tiny network of vegetation to Reedham Marsh where we saw lots of Milk Parsley, but again no caterpillars. We were finally rewarded at another venue, where we found quite a few caterpillars, ranging from tiny black first instar larvae to others almost fully grown. The colours on these caterpillars never ceases to amaze me, especially when seen late in the day when the sun is low in the sky. Thank goodness that some butterflies do seem to have found some time to mate and lay eggs - the wet weather has allowed the plants to grow well, so maybe there is a silver lining in all that rain. On the subject of eggs, we also found one Milk Parsley plant with a row of eggs which I think must have been laid by a moth although I'm not sure which species. Edit... I think they may be Drinker Moth eggs.

Swallowtail butterfly enjoying the freedom of a flight across Strumpshaw Fen in June
(Click for larger version)

A medium-sized Swallowtail caterpillar

Drinker moth (?) eggs on Milk Parsley

Trev

[Hoggers]

I'm posting this from Heddon's Gate Hotel as this is the start of Hoggers' Holiday in North Devon! I'm here to do a spot of High Brown Hunting. Arrived early evening yesterday so too late to see anything here but High Browns have been seen recently ( so I'm told ) and the weather is smiling on me already,So fingers crossed for today. Yesterday I stopped off at Bookham Common around noon where I saw 6 Purple Emperors,lots of Silver washed Fritillaries and several White Admirals. I took some photographs and will post a few when I get home. Bookham Common made a good start to my Holiday and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can find here over the next two days.

[Matsukaze]

Extraordinary abundance of Meadow Browns in the Somerset lanes yesterday - must have been several thousands in a 400 yard stretch, perhaps drawn there by the brambles winding their way through the hedgerows. A few Ringlets mixed in with them and the first Gatekeepers and Commas of the summer as well.

[Padfield]

Trev, that is an extrarordinary and wonderful photo of the swallowtail wending its way over the fen! I just sat and stared at it...

Guy

[Trev Sawyer]

Thanks Guy
The few butterflies we saw were across a drain and out on the main fen, so I had no alternative but to try to snap one there. It took quite a few attempts to get an insect in the plane of focus (which was deliberately narrow to blur the foreground and background vegetation) and this was probably the best of the bunch. I was very pleased with it.

Trev

[Pauline]

Great reports and pics from Fermyn - keep them coming!

[NickB]

Yes - nice one, Trev! Your panning practice has paid-off
Beautifully set.
I started off early today - but not early enough, as everything was going at 90mph when I arrived.
Nice to see a lot more whites; Small and Essex Skippers too. One very fresh Peacock and a Red Admiral were welcome additions, as I have seen comparatively few this year.
Over a dozen male Chalk-hills patrolling - some still so fresh that their wings were not fully unfurled. Lots of MBs and about 10 Gatekeepers on the go too, with 5 or 6 DGF's (1 female) buzzing around, one of which stopped briefly to re-fuel, and a single fresh Comma and male Brimstone.

Nice to have sunny day, with a shady tree to sit under, and watch - too hot to try much photography - to see Yellowhammers and hear the screeches of buzzards overhead.....

[Pete Eeles]

Trev, that is an extrarordinary and wonderful photo of the swallowtail wending its way over the fen! I just sat and stared at it...

Guy

Somehow I managed to miss that. I agree - absolutely stunning. Would make a superb piece of art for any lounge

Cheers,

- Pete

[A_T]

Good to see a few Whites around locally. Also the Browns looking good - making the most of it with the weather forecast to become unsettled again.

[MikeOxon]

Durlston CP, near Swanage, is looking splendid at present.

I can only describe the wild flowers as exuberant and they were well attended by butterflies and a multitude of Burnet moths.

Heavy traffic delayed my arrival this morning and the 'perpetual motion' of the butterflies in the hot sunshine was remarkable, though it made photography almost impossible. As well as huge numbers of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, Marbled Whites were everywhere and fair numbers of Dark Green Fritillaries were dashing over the tall grasses.

After a very disappointing year, last year, it was good to see Lulworth Skippers in abundance and at least one Clouded Yellow made several passes across the path heading west from the old visitor centre. A few Red Admirals were present but I saw only one blue - presumably Common Blue.

The new visitor centre and restaurant is now open in the Castle, from where a rooftop terrace gives magnificent views along this spectacular coast. I overheard another visitor commenting that one should enjoy the view before the proposed offshore wind farm is built.

Mike

[Charles Nicol]

Went to Fermyn this morning... had to wait until elevenses time:

Charles

[NickB]

Nice abs! Worth the wait, eh?

[David M]

Quality find, Charles!!