June 2015

[David M]

Wall Brown in the garden this afternoon - a first for the garden and a species I only see rarely and sporadically here in the east Mendips.

That's one hell of a sighting! They're not exactly common here where I live and that's within a mile or two of the coast.

[Essex Bertie]

Thursday 11th - still awaiting first Heath Fritillaries at Little Haven/Starvelarks, Pound Wood and Hadleigh Great Wood. 9 at Hockley Woods yesterday.

[Willrow]

On Wednesday I decided to take advantage of favourable weather conditions and head over to Haddon Hill, Somerset/Devon Border for the Heath Fritillary, the breezy conditions eased as I ventured down the hill to the more sheltered treeline and within twenty minutes I saw the first of several - more details for those interested can be found on my Personal Diary pages

Here are a few pics taken during my visit.

Superb Heath Fritillary basking

Heath Fritillary sheltering from the breezy conditions

Nice to find reasonably conditioned Green Hairstreak in company of HF

Green Hairstreak on bracken

Bill

"When in doubt -venture out"

[Allan.W.]

Hi all,
had a short visit to our local Grizzled Skipper site,only had about an hour to spare ,and wasn,t expecting much to be honest,having visited on half a dozen occasions,and not counting more than 3,a local blogger put one very sad looking individual on his blog ,saying" is this the last (Grizzly) of the season" ,well... no it wasn,t I was lucky enough to see 6
including a normal individual ,which is quite unusual here! of the thirteen I,ve seen here this season only one has been a normal ,the others either Taras or intermedia. Also 4 Common blues ,including a very blue female ,and a single Comma, and a terrific show of Common spotted orchid ,including 6 or 7 albino individuals.

[bugboy]

That grizzled is a real beauty!

[Allan.W.]

Thanks Buggy,
I must admit I was quite pleased with this one, one of four or five Grizzle abs seen on my short jaunt........I got lucky!!

[David M]

Lovely ab is that. Is there any other spring butterfly with such an extended flight period?

They're clearly still going strong in mid-June!!

[Matsukaze]

Wall Brown in the garden this afternoon - a first for the garden and a species I only see rarely and sporadically here in the east Mendips.

That's one hell of a sighting! They're not exactly common here where I live and that's within a mile or two of the coast.

We stayed at Rhossili last September, about a mile from the coast, and had Wall Brown in the garden there, so it can only be a matter of time...

[Matsukaze]

Willrow - I've occasionally wondered if Heath Fritillary might do well in parts of south Wales, large areas of which have similar geology to Exmoor. If only they would disperse long distances occasionally!

[Willrow]

Willrow - I've occasionally wondered if Heath Fritillary might do well in parts of south Wales, large areas of which have similar geology to Exmoor. If only they would disperse long distances occasionally!

That would be wonderful, sadly these little fritillaries are very sedentary in nature, if they did disperse more freely (even occasionally!) perhaps they would not be such threatened butterflies. Your quite right about the similar geology Matsukaze, certain parts of south Wales are similar to Exmoor, but I'm uncertain about Melitaea athalia historical status in south Wales, a little winter homework might be needed on that subject...far too busy during these summer months in the great British outdoors

Regards,

Bill


"When in doubt - venture out"

[Matsukaze]

True about their sedentary nature, I remember talking to someone connected with the reintroductions in Essex who was wondering why they bothered with wings, since they appeared incapable of flying 50 yards to colonise suitable habitat. That said, the Exmoor ones seem a little bolder than their south-eastern cousins as the populations move about the landscape a bit.

[Allan.W.]

Hi all,
Couldn,t resist another quick look at my local Grizzly site they,re still hanging on! 6 seen today ,5 abs ,I re found yesterdays Taras,and found other battle worn individuals.I struggle to follow these little devils once they,re up ,but I find that keeping an eye on patrolling Male Common Blues ,is good as they,re often chased by the Grizzlies
and give themselves away. Regards Allan W

[Testudo Man]

Really "hard going" today (14/6/15) what with the poor weather conditions here in my part of Kent.
We struggled to sight much in the way of Butterflies at all, I would say 5 Small Blues, 1 (fresh looking) female Common Blue, 2 (worn) male Common Blues................and a lone (fresh) Marbled White!

Exactly a year ago today, i took my youngest son, and one of my Grandsons to Darland Banks, specifically to sight the Marbled Whites. Even though the weather conditions last year, were very similar to today, we still saw very good numbers of Marbled Whites (both males and females).

Anyway, late in the afternoon, my son "flushed up" the only Marbled White sighting of the day...hes a good lad
But i only captured a few shots, then the butterfly took flight over some large bushes, and was gone!

Location - Darland Banks, Gillingham, Kent. Cheers Paul.

Still captured some pics though

[David M]

A dozen species seen at the Alun Valley High Brown site near Bridgend this afternoon:

Common Blue 10-15
Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary 10-15
Dark Green Fritillary 8-12
Painted Lady 6
Red Admiral 5
Brimstone 3
Peacock 3
Meadow Brown 2
Green Veined White 2
Speckled Wood 2
Large Skipper 1
Small Tortoiseshell 1

[Philzoid]

14/06/15
It was 5 years ago when I saw my first and only Heath Fritillaries at East Blean woods in Kent. For Wurzel this was to be a first-time trip and a chance to go for a lifer. This meet up and trip had been planned for months, dare I say it years .

The weather in the morning looked iffy, cloudy and cool with an occasional drizzle of rain but nothing was going to stop us making this journey. Thankfully it brightened up as we arrived just like it had done on my previous visit 5 years ago. On that occasion the sun would peep out from the clouds and the butterflies would suddenly rise from the undergrowth like phoenixes from the flames only to disappear again when the sun went in.

Unlike in 2010 the main concentration was not in the coppiced area next to the car park but in an area of around 30M square, 100+ yards in from the track then along a cut-back on the right. At first the area appeared larger and for me it felt a bit like being lost in a hall of mirrors. The coppice largely of Hornbeam(?), was around 6ft high perhaps 3 or 4 years growth from when it had first been cut. The foodplant, Common Cow Wheat was plentiful in this 'aged' coppice as were the butterflies. We checked but didn't find any butterflies in the freshly coppiced areas.

The weather made the butterflies so easy to find, desperate as they were to take to the wing at every opportunity but hampered by the cloudy spells keeping them hunkered down on Hornbeam or bramble leaves; Cow Wheat and other low-down vantage points. Some would be on the ground but this was dangerous due to the masses of foraging predatory wood ants . When the sun came out the butterflies went off on their delicate little flights, males checking out females etc etc. In fact I lost count of the number of pairs in cop that we came across ... close to double figures.

As well as the Heath Fritillaries I saw my first Meadow Brown of the season too and there were lots of other insects. One of the moths I managed to photo was this micro called Dasycera oliviella, a lifer species for me .

Dasycera oliviella

Four-dotted Footman

The propensity of butterflies and other insects in a largely quiet and secluded location made it a wonderful day

Look out for a more detailed account of the days' events that will appear in Wurzel's personal diary in due course .

Phil

[bugboy]

Look out for a more detailed account of the days' events that will appear in Wurzel's personal diary in due course .

Phil

In about 6 months time

[Philzoid]

two weeks I reckon ... pressure on

[Butterflysaurus rex]

two weeks I reckon ... pressure on

Great stuff Phil, I'm not ashamed to admit that I got a bit lost in that coppiced area! Hall of mirrors is an apt description. I became totally disoriented if it wasn't for a kind and helpful local butterfly enthusiast I would probably still be wondering around in there. Great photos btw.

ATB

James

[Philzoid]

Great stuff Phil, I'm not ashamed to admit that I got a bit lost in that coppiced area! Hall of mirrors is an apt description. I became totally disoriented if it wasn't for a kind and helpful local butterfly enthusiast I would probably still be wondering around in there. Great photos btw.

Thanks James. Glad to hear you got to the hot-spot

The 'kind local butterfly enthusiast' we met, nearly had us heading for home before we got started

[Wurzel]

It was a cracking day Philzoid Brill shots too I'm still sorting through mine
Have a goodun

Wurzel