Neil Freeman

[Neil Freeman]

Saturday 11th August

Seeing that others are now reporting Peacocks, Small Coppers and Common Blues again, I wanted to get out to see if any of these were about locally at last.

With this in mind I decided to nip over to Shadowbrook Meadows near Solihull where I had seen all of these last year although checking my notes that was more than three weeks earlier than now.

Things looked promising even before I left home when I saw a nice fresh Peacock on my Buddleia in the front garden. I have two Buddleias, one in the front and one in the back and this was the first butterfly that has actually bothered with them this year.

Arriving at Shadowbrook mid afternoon, it was overcast but still warm and the first thing that struck me was the number of Meadow Browns, there were hundreds of them all over the place.
Many of the females were nectaring on the knapweed, thistles and bettony that was in flower and I noticed that a fair number of them had double pupils in their eyespots.

Shadowbrook Meadows - Solihull West Midlands

Shadowbrook Meadows - Solihull West Midlands

Meadow Brown female - Shadowbrook 11.08.2012

I spent a couple of hours here doing a couple of slow circuits of the meadows that make up the site and along with all the Meadow Browns there were good numbers of Hedge Browns (Gatekeepers) and Small Skippers plus Six-spot Burnet moths and a few Antler Moths.

Six-spot Burnet Moth - Shadowbrook 11.08.2012

I did not notice when I took the photo of the Antler Moths below but something is going on in the bottom left corner, Is that one spider or 2?

Antler Moths - Shadowbrook 11.08.2012

The cloud thinned during the second hour or so that I was there and when the sun broke through I saw at least half a dozen nice fresh Peacocks.

Peacock - Shadowbrook 11.08.2012

Peacock - Shadowbrook 11.08.2012

The one below has particularly blue eye-spots on its hindwings, in fact it looks as if a bit of blue has spilled over onto the wings

Peacock - Shadowbrook 11.08.2012

By way of contrast, I also managed to get a reasonable underside shot showing the subtle shades of brown and black.

Peacock underside - Shadowbrook 11.08.2012

After a bit seaching I found a couple of Small Coppers

Small Copper - Shadowbrook 11.08.2012

Small Copper - Shadowbrook 11.08.2012

Small Copper - Shadowbrook 11.08.2012

Small Copper - Shadowbrook 11.08.2012

Unfortunatly, despite looking carefully all over the site, I did not find any Common Blues here. As I did not come here earlier in the year I could not say if there were any first brood here this year although there were a fair number last year.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Nick Broomer]

Hi Neil,
Beautiful photos of the Peacock, well done, thats one butterfly i have not seen for a few months.
All the best, Nick.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Nick,

Many thanks for the comment

Those were my first summer Peacocks yesterday, a full month later than I saw them last year at Snitterfield on July 10th.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Just catching up after a night at my parents... great Peacock shots and I really like those Antler Moths, I'll have to look out for them

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Debbie]

Super pictures.
Debbie

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Wurzel, I was quite pleased with my Small Copper Shots as well until I saw yours Oh well!, all the more reason to go out again and look for some more

Hi Debbie, thanks for your comment, hope to see you posting your diary again soon

Tuesday 14th August.

Another spell in the garden after work just sitting and watching the butterflies coming and going.

The one Red Admiral is still defending his spot on the nettles. He is getting a bit faded now but is still full of life and is great to watch as he spirals all over the place.

Red Admiral - Coverdale 14.08.2012

I am making no excuses for posting another Speckled Wood photo, I just like the way this one looks in the evening light against the texture of the wood on one side and the dark background on the other.

Speckled Wood - Coverdale 14.08.2012

I had booked a day off work tomorrow but the weather looks like it may be a bit too wet for even me to go out with my wellies and brollie so have put it off until Thursday. Lets hope that I have made the right choice.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Thursday 16th August

Well, changing my day off proved to be the right choice as today turned out much better than yesterday with its band of heavy rain sweeping across the country.

Chris had also managed to arrange his shifts to get today off and as he had not yet seen Chalkhill Blues or Silver-spotted Skippers we decided to take a run down the M40 to Aston Rowant.

Arriving just after 10.00 it was overcast to start with but fairly warm. This gave us chance to get some photos of the silver-spotted Skippers before the sun came out and turned them into the little rockets that they can be.

Silver-spotted Skipper - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Silver-spotted Skipper - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Silver-spotted Skipper - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

There were already loads of Meadow Browns about but when sun started breaking through a little later they were joined by hundreds of Chalkhill Blues and the hillside was alive with butterflies.

Aston Rowant north side of M40. Hillsides that were alive with Meadow Browns and Chalkhill Blues when the sun came out.

Chalkhill Blue - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Chalkhill Blue - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Chalkhill Blue - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Chalkhill Blue - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

These were joined by good numbers of Silver-spotted Skippers with Brown Argus and Small Coppers on the lower slopes.

Most Brown Argus and Small Coppers seen along these lower parts of the hillsides.

Brown Argus - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Brown Argus - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Brown Argus - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Brown Argus courting couple - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Small Copper - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Small Copper - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Small Copper - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

I took some photos of a Small Copper var. caeruleo-punctata with the blue spots on the hind wings but sadly they are not in focus.

I also took the photos below of a Small Copper, a female I believe, but one with hind wings like I have never seen before.

Small Copper female ab. radiata - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Small Copper female ab. radiata - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Other Butterflies seen included Brimstones, Peacocks, Hedge Browns, Large, Small and Essex Skippers, a couple of Common Blues and single examples of Ringlet, Speckled Wood, Small Heath and Small Tortoiseshell.

A great day with 19 species seen at this one site. Some more photos to sort through so I will probably do a part 2.

Bye for now,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Neil I could be wrong but I think that's a radiata your var. Small Copper

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Neil,

You female Small Copper looks like ab. radiata to me. A nice find, well done.

Kind regards. Mark

[Neil Freeman]

Many thanks Wurzel and Mark,

I have just thought to look in the species gallery on this very site and it certainly looks like radiata

Cheers,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Thursday 16th August - more from Aston Rowant

I have edited my previous post and added some more photos including a couple of location shots plus 1 each of Chalkhill Blue, Brown Argus and Small Copper to keep them together.

A selection below of other butterflies seen during the day.

Meadow Brown - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012. The numbers of these present qualify for at least one shot.

Brimstone male - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Brimstone female - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Peacock - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Small Tortoiseshell - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Common Blue, very blue female - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

As mentioned before, the final tally of species came to nineteen (19) which were as follows;

Meadow Brown - hundreds
Chalkhill Blue - hundreds
Silver-spotted Skipper - dozens
Brown Argus - a couple of dozen or more.
Small Copper - a dozen or so.
Hedge Brown(Gatekeeper) - about a dozen.
Small Skipper - a dozen or so.
Brimstone - 4 males, 2 females.
Peacock - 6
Large Skipper - 4
Green-veined White - 4
Small White - 2
Large White - 1
Common Blue - 2
Small Tortoiseshell - 1
Speckled Wood - 1
Ringlet - 1
Small Heath - 1
Essex Skipper - 1 definite identified by photo, good enough for ID but that is about it

We also called in at Bernwood Meadows on the way back on the chance of Brown Hairstreak.

No luck with the BH but we did see a couple of faded female Silver-washed Fritillaries in the woods bringing our total for the day up to 20 species which we were well pleased with

I think if we want to get more than that at one site we will have to move further down south somewhere

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Pauline]

I love the composition of your Speckled Wood shot Neil and your Small Copper ab is stunning

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline, many thanks for your comments, very much appreciated

Saturday 18th August.

Following on from last Saturdays failure to find any Common Blues at Shadowbrook Meadows near Solihull, I thought that I would have another look given that there has been some warm weather between the rain this past week.
I nipped over this afternoon with the weather a bit overcast but very warm and muggy to start but with the sun coming out for longer spells later.

Two of the meadows had been cut sometime during the past week, something that I believe happens around this time each year.

Nevertheless, there are still two other areas that had not been cut and walking through to these I soon noticed a number of Peacocks flitting about, even more than the half dozen or so that I saw here last week.

Peacock - Shadowbrook 18.08.2012

It was not long before a rapid little orange blur attracted my attention to the first Small Copper of the day, a nice male that was soon joined by another one. Between bouts of chasing each other about, they both kept coming back to the same flower heads.

Small Copper male - Shadowbrook 18.08.2012

Small Coppers - Shadowbrook 18.08.2012

Moving further down the field I noticed the female Small Copper below that looked lighter orange than normal.
Closer examination revealed that not only did she have some blue spotting on the hind wings but the forewings were more lightly marked than normal.

Small Copper female - Shadowbrook 18.08.2012

Small Copper female - Shadowbrook 18.08.2012

I know that Small Coppers can be very variable and am not sure if she falls into the normal range or qualifies as an ab. either way I am happy as I think she is a very attractive individual.
Following the ab. radiata at Aston Rowant, I seem to be having some luck with Small Coppers

Anyway, getting back to the main reason that I came here, I was just on the point of heading back when I spied a bit of blue fluttering around some long grass.
There he was, a male Common Blue, the first one I have seen at any of my local sites, almost 4 weeks later than last year.

Common Blue male - Shadowbrook 18.08.2012

Oh well, now I have found one, I now need to get out and check other local areas

Also seen along with the still numerous Meadow Browns were quite a few Dragonflies, half a dozen or so large 'Hawker' types and about a dozen Common Darters of which I mangaged to get shots of a male and female

Common Darter female - Shadowbrook 18.08.2012

Common Darter male - Shadowbrook 18.08.2012

Bye for now.

Neil

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Neil I would hazard a guess that your Small Copper is a names ab, mainly due to the reduction in the size of the markings

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Wurzel, I have looked a bit but can't find a name for it yet.

Sunday 19th August.

Not quite as hot as further south perhaps but very warm and uncomfortably sticky. I was busy at home this morning and just had a couple of hours spare this afternoon.

Although Chris had seen a number of Peacocks at Aston Rowant last week, he had not managed to get a photo that he was really happy with.

Hearing that I had seen some at Shadowbrook Meadows yesterday, and also with him never having been there, we decided that I would take him this afternoon to show him where it was and so that he could have a chance to get some better Peacock photos.

The Peacocks were still there in the same numbers along with all the Meadow Browns plus a Couple of Small Coppers but unfortunately for Chris we did not see the faintly marked female from yesterday.

Chris stalking Peacocks at Shadowbrook

A couple of Peacocks - Shadowbrook Meadows 19.08.2012

Another Peacock at Shadowbrook - 19.08.2012

As well as loads of tired and worn Meadow Browns, I noticed today that some of the females looked a bit fresher.

Meadow Brown female - Shadowbrook Meadows 19.08.2012

We also found another male Common Blue in another part of the meadow.

Common Blue - Shadowbrook Meadows 19.08.2012

I have compared photos and, going by some small marks on the forewings of yesterdays, it is definitely a different individual. so that’s two now

Speaking of Blues, there were a few Holly Blues patrolling along the hedgerows and one of them actually decided to stop and nectar on some Willowherb for a while.

Holly Blue - Shadowbrook Meadows 19.08.2012

This site is actually under the flight path to Birmingham Airport (which gives me an excuse to post the photo below ), the opposite side to Sheldon Country Park, which is another of my local sites I need to get round to see how things are doing there.

There were a few distractions.

Back in the garden this evening, the nettle patch is still being defended by the same old Red Admiral although he is looking a bit tired and worn now.

Earlier whilst he was away, probably chasing something else, I noticed another Red Admiral fluttering in and out of the nettles.

Sneaking up slowly, this one looked like a female that was dipping in and out of the nettles and ovipositing.

Red Admiral female - Coverdale 19.08.2012. Flash used on this photo to fill in the shadow she was casting on herself.

Red Admiral female - Coverdale 19.08.2012

A nice end to a good afternoon that I didn't expect to be doing

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Great photos Neil and Shadowbrook looks like a cracking reserve

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Wurzel

Shadowbrook Meadows is a smashing place, just the right size to spend an hour or two there, and only 10 minutes from my house

I am going to be a 'grockle' in a couple of weeks heading down to Dorset for a weeks family break, should get chance to visit a couple of places.

I am thinking perhaps Durlston Country Park and Ballard Down maybe for Adonis Blue and whatever else may still be around in this late year. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Pauline]

Neil you are taking some lovely photos. The ones I particularly like are your Small Tort, Small Copper ab and Peacock - all the ones I would like to take

[Wurzel]

Alright Neil? Both those sites should produce butterflies, there were Lulworths at Durlsyon about a week ago so there should be one or three still about and Ballard might also have Wall. You could also try some of the heaths for Grayling, Dave found some at Studland just be careful of the nudists If you can get in land a bit to the north of the county then try to visit Alners Gorse for Brown Hairstreak. Almost forgot there are always rumours of Clouded Yellow at Bounemouth...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thank you Pauline, glad you like them

Many thanks for the info Wurzel , some food for thought there.

Hmmm!! Bournemouth...shops for the wife and daughter whilst I take a wander looking for Clouded Yellows, I see the beginnings of a cunning plan

Cheers,

Neil.