Andy Wilson

[Wurzel]

Fingers crossed for Chalkhill clouds later in the year then Andy The downs and fields round this way are a lovely shade of yellow in places too

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

...The Adonis Blues are doing particularly well this year, and I don't remember seeing so many first-brood individuals here before. There are also carpets of Horseshoe Vetch all over the site, including some areas where it is not usually present. I suspect this is because this year's Spring drought has suppressed some of the bullying grasses. Hopefully this bodes well for Chalk Hill Blues and the second-brood Adonis Blues later in the summer.

Nice to hear, Andy, and yes, I suspect the prolonged dry spell has provided near ideal conditions for both the pupating butterflies and the horseshoe vetch.

It's been dry and sunny, but it hasn't been cracking the flags and there HAS been a little precipitation, so I guess that all adds up to a perfect storm of reasons why species emerging in mid-May have prospered. Certainly, Common Blues are around by my way in spectacular numbers, alhough Wales is obviously outside the reach of bellargus.

[Andy Wilson]

Knepp still in the June Gap

This is a mainly negative report, I'm afraid. I spent yesterday morning searching Knepp for Purple Emperors, or even His Imperial Majesty's acolytes, the White Admiral and Silver-washed Fritillary, but with no luck. Conditions were marginal, averaging about 18C and with patchy cloud cover. However, in the sunnier interludes there were plenty of Meadow Browns flying, several Large Skippers, some Whites and a couple of Red Admirals. All fairly standard June Gap fodder and no high summer butterflies yet. It seems the recent cooler weather has slowed down what has up to now been a very early season.

I don't think we are going to see an emergence of the Purple Emperor and other summer butterflies until it warms up -- hopefully this coming weekend. Let's remember that it is still not yet the middle of June.

I consoled myself by taking a few pictures of the nesting storks. A word of warning, though: with all the publicity about the storks on Springwatch and elsewhere, it is getting very popular. I've never seen so many people wandering around the paths of the estate. The car parks were full and cars were strewn around the country lanes and streets of the nearby village of Dial Post. My advice if you're going there, especially at the weekends, is get there early. Either that, or be prepared to park further away and walk.

[Wurzel]

Great shot Andy. That's the thing with Springwatch etc - they're a bit of a double edged sword, it's great that the masses learn about the natural world and start to care for it but on the other hand it's nice to go out into the natural world without the masses following you

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

Yes, the season seems to have come to almost a grinding halt lately, Andy. That's no bad thing as we were in danger of things burning out by late July.

For once, I'm glad to have a little cool, wet weather to re-energise things and like you, am sure that normal service will be resumed as soon as the warmer conditions return.

Purple Emperors in early June just doesn't seem right.

[Andy Wilson]

First Emperor at Knepp

I had the pleasure of spending today (or yesterday, as I belatedly post this) at Knepp in the company of Matthew Oates and Paul Fosterjohn.

The morning proved fruitless, Emperor-wise, although we saw a Purple Hairstreak, a possible White-letter Hairstreak, numerous Meadow Browns and Large Skippers, and the first few (for me at least) Small Skippers. We also saw a newly-minted Hutchinsoni Comma and later I saw a rather faded Painted Lady, which was a good sign that immigrants are on their way.

We were all getting pessimistic when just after 2 pm Matthew and I got a glimpse of something Emperor-like gliding across the canopy at a territory called Burrell's Bane. This was confirmed a couple of minutes later when Paul saw (probably) the same individual do a fly-by in front of the oak tree.

Possibly the first Emperor of 2020 and the start of something big to come. Time will tell...

[Andy Wilson]

No more Emperors at Knepp yet

I spent about 3 hours at Knepp today. Conditions were mostly sunny and warm, with the temperature in the mid 20's. The moderate south-easterly wind of Saturday had changed to a very light south-westerly. Despite this, and having been shown many of the favoured territories on Saturday, I saw no more Emperors.

I did however see 2, maybe 3, White Admirals in the bramble-filled sunny glade at the north end of Benton's Gorse. So maybe 2nd prize today, after the excitement of Saturday. With the weather forecast to settle down by the weekend and into early next week, let's hope for a large emergence soon.

[David M]

It'll be interesting to see how this species has responded to the uniquely warm, sunny spring this year. Their later larval stages were blessed by fine weather and although we've had changeable conditions since, things are warming up again so we may well see good numbers of adults over the next couple of weeks. Let's hope so.

[Andy Wilson]

Slow Progress at Knepp

Purple Emperor numbers are starting to increase at Knepp, but it's still slow going. My wife and I saw a total of 18 in about 4 hours today in very warm conditions with a moderate SE breeze. None came down to ground, but the last one we saw landed fairly low down, just within range of my camera.

We also saw 3 White Admirals and a flyby of a couple of Silver-washed Fritillaries - the latter being my first of the year.

Purple Hairstreaks were flitting around the oaks in fair numbers and I managed to get some shots of one that came down on to some bracken.

[Wurzel]

Great shots Andy Bracken is a brilliant plant for Purple Hairstreaks - most of my shots they're on this fern

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

The Emperors seem to be teasing us so far this year, Andy.

Purple Hairstreak isn't bad compensation though; nor White Admiral.

[Andy Wilson]

Another visit to Knepp

I had earmarked yesterday for yet another visit to Knepp, on the basis that the forecast had indicated that it would be the least windy day of the week. However, there were heavy showers around when we set off from home at about 1 pm, and almost immediately we ran into a torrential downpour. Thinking that we were mad, we persevered and arrived on site at about 1:40 pm. It was dry, but the ground was wet from an earlier shower, and the sky was largely grey and heavy with just a few blue patches.

It continued like this for about 45 minutes until at last the sun came out for about 10 minutes. Almost immediately, Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites started to fly, and I noticed some Purple Hairstreak activity high in the oaks. However, it soon clouded over again and we had almost given up hope when my wife spotted something very large buzzing around frantically within the canopy of a large spreading oak tree. It seemed almost the size of a bat, but was in fact a Purple Emperor. From its size, I guess it was a female, and it continued to fly around for several minutes before it disappeared, possibly settling somewhere deep within the tree.

I contacted the expert (Matthew Oates) and he said that this meant it was a "feeder tree" that oozes sap that both males and females visit to get plastered on the sugary fluid. It was a tree that he had long suspected had a sap run, but he had never witnessed feeding behaviour in it before. So, that was a nice discovery!

Apart from that, we saw just two other male Emperors high in the oaks, so a rather disappointing total of just 3 in an hour and a half. Still, conditions were very much against us.

[Andy Wilson]

Friston Gallops turning Blue (despite the wind)

I went for a bracing walk on the South Downs at Friston Gallops yesterday. It was sunny and reasonably warm, despite the fact it was blowing a gale. Most butterflies were hunkering down from the wind, but I saw a lot of Marbled Whites, a myriad of "little" skippers (mostly Small, but some Essex), and several Small Coppers. I also saw about 30 Chalk Hill Blues, which are just starting. In a week or so, and hopefully in less wind, I expect there will be many more of them.

There were a few Dark Green Fritillaries battling against the wind, and one good thing about the conditions was that they were more reluctant than usual to fly, so I got a few record shots (nothing good enough to publish). The skippers also seemed to be coping better than other species with the wind, buzzing around low down and then hanging on the flower heads (e.g. Knapweed) for dear life.

[Andy Wilson]

My First Pearls of 2021

I finally saw my first Pearl-bordered Fritillaries of the year at Abbot's Wood today. Despite the sunshine, it was still quite cool when I arrived at Site 1, and no fritillaries were seen. However, my spirits were lifted by an enthusiastic Nightingale singing nearby. At the northern bluebell field, which I learnt is called the Mulch Triangle, there were several flying in the sheltered south-west corner - maybe up to 10. Photos were difficult, because the sun was warming things up now, and the butterflies were very active.

The Forestry Commission have embarked on a programme of clear-felling some quite large areas of the wood, and I was told that 9 acres have been cleared so far. One of these is the area to the east of the lake, and I was pleased to see 3 Pearls in this area, indicating that they have already started to colonise. Hopefully, numbers will go up as they colonise more felled areas over the next few years.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary. Abbot's Wood, east of the lake

[Wurzel]

Great news Andy - there's something special about getting the first Pearl of the season If you can an evening trip when they start to 'peak' can be good - as they're starting to settle down a little and also you get the gorgeous evening light

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Andy Wilson]

Dozens of Dingies at Friston Gallops

I visited Friston Gallops today. As I entered the site, there was a nice female Orange Tip egg-laying on Garlic Mustard. On the gallops themselves, the most numerous species by far was Dingy Skipper. I must have seen at least 100. At one point, walking along the eastern lower edge of the site, there was one every few yards. There were also a few Grizzled Skippers. Small Copper and Small Heath were present in good numbers and I also saw one nice Green Hairstreak hunkering down from the wind and nectaring on Ground Ivy.

Green Hairstreak

I also saw about 8 Painted Ladies in various parts of the site. Some resting and others flying past at speed on the south-west wind. Not quite an immigration on the 2009 scale yet, but still 6 more than I saw during the whole of last summer.

[David M]

Good news regarding the Painted Ladies, Andy. With any luck they will appear in far greater numbers than last year's annus horriblis.

As for your count of 100 Dingy Skippers, I'm not sure what to say. Ten is good going in my part of the world.

[Andy Wilson]

Friston Gallops and Park Corner Heath

I visited Friston Gallops around lunchtime today. There was quite a fresh sea breeze blowing in from the south-west and it was a lot cooler than the last few days. However, both Common Blue and Adonis Blue were present in good numbers. Plenty of Small Heath and Dingy Skippers too, but the latter are now past their peak. I also saw a single Wall Brown at the top of the site and a Painted Lady that looked like it had travelled a long way.

Adonis Blue (male)

On my way home, I called in at Park Corner Heath. Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries are now flying, but still in relatively small numbers. I saw about 8 in total, including 3 individuals in one vista.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (female)

[trevor]

I saw a female SPBF there myself this morning, I initially thought
it was the same one as yours, but comparing images your is a different one.
With so few flying at the moment it's good to know that these females, at least.
will contribute to future generations.

Great stuff,
Trevor.

[David M]

Emergences seem to have been delayed for some species and are relatively on cue for others at the moment, Andy, meaning we have an unusual situation right now at a time of year when things are traditionally very quiet.

I'm still seeing fresh Grizzled and Dingy Skippers alongside Common and Adonis Blues which doesn't feel right. Throw in a few Painted Ladies and the whole picture looks a little bizarre.

Given the settled weather for the next week or so, I envisage there being quite a range of butterflies around soon with Large Skippers & Meadow Browns due any time. There will be no 'June Gap' in 2021.