CallumMac

[kevling]

Callum,

Lovely photos of the Swallowtails at Strumpshaw Fen, especially the photobombing Small Tortoiseshell one.
I had a great day there last week enjoying this rare but wonderful species.

Regards
Kev

[Wurzel]

More delectable shots of a delectable species Callum The stained glass one for me is the 'I wish I'd taken that' one

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Great stuff, Callum, and well done on getting the unlikely duo of Swallowtail and Small Tortoiseshell in the same image.

That Peacock and Brimstone must be practically a year old!

[CallumMac]

Thank you all!

15/06 and 16/06/2019 - Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors

The weather over the last week and into the weekend was really not up to much for butterfly-chasing, so my attention has mostly been on orchids instead. Mainly in the Yorkshire Dales on Saturday, and closer to home on the North York Moors on Sunday - a few highlights below. First, though, a brief run-down of what little butterfly activity there was on Sunday, during some brief spells of sun:

The mass arrival of Painted Ladies is very evident in Yorkshire, with individuals seen at every site I visited on Sunday.

My first stop of the day was at Fen Bog, where I didn't manage to locate a Large Heath - the main area of the bog currently being far too wet to navigate safely. I beat a hasty retreat after going in up to my knees (and narrowly averting a dunking for my camera!), but my spirits were lifted on the squelchy walk back to the car, first by a very nice Small Heath, and then by my first Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries of the year!

From there, I moved on to Dalby Forest and the adjacent Ellerburn Bank reserve. Nothing unusual here, but a nice smattering of the commoner species.

Next stop was the Yatts Farm SSSI, known to some as the best orchid field in Ryedale! It lived up to that billing, but also held my first Dark Green Fritillaries of the year (and Yorkshire's first of the year, too), with at least 5-6 individuals trying hard to warm up enough to fly.

Last port of call was Wharram Quarry, en route back through the Wolds. My first Yorkshire Meadow Brown of the year (having seen one down in Norfolk last weekend), and a nice roosting Common Blue were all I found before the heavens opened once again!

And a few other highlights from a marathon weekend of orchid-hunting...! Some five of these species were completely new to me...

Bird's-nest Orchid, Jubilee Park, Kirkby Stephen

Fly Orchid, Waitby Greenrigg

Lesser Butterfly Orchids, Waitby Greenrigg

Greater Butterfly Orchid, Smardale Gill

Spotted Flycatcher, Smardale Gill

Pugsley's Marsh Orchid, Dalby Forest

Heath Fragrant Orchid, Yatts Farm

Pyramidal Orchid, Wharram Quarry

Common Twayblade, Wharram Quarry

[ernie f]

Callum

Nice selection of orchids, there.

I am still waiting for the Painted Ladies to get to me.

[millerd]

Not exactly a deluge of Painted Ladies round here, either! They seem to be more reliable in Yorkshire than here to be honest, and my summer visits to that part of the world always feature the species. Good to see the DGF out too - I've not seen one down here yet. Nice shots. It also appears that Fen Bog is actually a bog this year after being only slightly squishy this time last year in the heat. I will take care if I get the chance to visit!

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Brilliant shots of the Spotted Fly and the Orchids Callum - what is the difference between Greater and Lesser Butterfly Orchid? Those DGFs are cracking - so fresh I especially like shot number three

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[CallumMac]

Thanks chaps! I think Spurn Head probably funnels migrant butterflies into Yorkshire, I've been there during a mass landfall of Large Whites and it's quite a spectacle.

what is the difference between Greater and Lesser Butterfly Orchid?

You have to look closely at the flower and find the pollinia (sometimes this takes a bit of searching on a mature plant to find a flower that hasn't yet been visited by a moth!). The way I remember it is that Greater BO has slantinG pollinia, whereas Lesser BO has paralleL pollinia! Helpfully, when they occur together (as at Yatts Farm) they also hybridise to produce individuals with slightly slanting pollinia...

18/06/2019 - Walmgate Stray, with a difference

My first lunchbreak Stray visit for a few weeks, and little has changed bar the appearance of the first few Meadow Browns. Today, rather than taking my usual meandering route, I strode purposefully to the allotments on the western boundary of the Stray intending to try out the Currant Clearwing lure that I bought in spring as part of a batch. I wasn't letting my hopes get up, since we are on or near the northern limits for most Clearwing species, but astonishingly the first moth arrived within 60 seconds of unbagging the lure!

A tricky species to photograph since they're generally reluctant to settle, but with a little bit of deceit I got one to settle on a Bramble leaf where it sat for 10 minutes, allowing close inspection from all angles.

[Wurzel]

Cheers for the Orchid ID tip - the slantinG and paralleL looks like a god way to remember it - now I've just got to work out what I'm actually looking for ROL/LOL (the emojis seem to have stopped working). Still not seen any of the Clearwings - very distinctive looking moths SMILE.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Fine, eclectic mix of flora and fauna again, Callum.

That fly orchid close up is stunning, and great that you managed to photograph a clearwing moth - they're tough to find even, let alone capture on camera.

[Neil Freeman]

Some more interesting reports recently Callum with a cracking selection of subjects

Cheers,

Neil.

[CallumMac]

Thanks David and Neil!

Last year I travelled down to Devon and Dorset in the last week of June, under some pretty difficult circumstances, and in spite of those, managed to have some good moments tracking down butterflies I wouldn't usually see up north. So this year I decided to do it properly! Today is the first day of a week's travelling through the southern counties - hopefully the weather will play ball and I'll have lots to share on here...

21/06/2019 - Glapthorn Cow Pastures, the holiday starts with a bang!

So a key target for this trip is Black Hairstreak, one of the few remaining species I haven't seen. Having wrapped up the week's jobs in double-quick time, I slipped away from work in the early afternoon and drove straight down the A1 to Glapthorn Cow Pastures, arriving in the early evening with patchy cloud occasionally covering the sun.

I walked into the reserve, not really knowing where I was heading, but soon spotted a man with a 105mm lens - always a giveaway! He was standing next to a bramble patch, and sure enough, there was my first Black Hairstreak!

After a little bit I wandered further into the reserve, and in due course came across a much larger area of brambles and dewberry that was literally swarming with Black Hairstreaks in the evening sun! Some were certainly past their best, but others looked still very fresh, especially one female.

With the temperature as warm as it's been for weeks, I was sweating in my work clothes and had some regrets about having lugged my big lens out from the car. But those dissolved as I spotted something Black Hairstreak-coloured, but roughly twice the size, drop into the brambles about 2m back...

I watched this pair for the best part of half an hour! The larger, fresher individual - the female - seemed very restless and continually dragged her partner from perch to perch. On a couple of occasions she pushed it too far, and only the male's patience, and grip, saved her from a tumble! Interestingly her struggles in these moments gave rare opportunities to get half a glance of the upperside of a hairstreak.

Eventually, with the light fading and my tummy rumbling, I headed back to the car and on to my hotel. A big day planned tomorrow...

[Wurzel]

Crickey Callum I'd have been happy with just getting a shot of a Blackstreak (still never seen one) so to get a pair in cop AND an ultra rare topside shot :shock:my cup floweth over with

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[CallumMac]

to get a pair in cop AND an ultra rare topside shot

I do feel lucky!

22/06/2019 - "in cop" a bit of this!

In theory today was a travel day, with an eventual stopping point in Kent. But I certainly didn't take the direct route!

First port of call was Salcey Forest, and a date with another of the British species I was yet to see. After half an hour wandering the rides without a single butterfly to show for it, the day was warming up and I decided to take advantage of a picnic bench in order to remove the legs of my zip-off trousers. Trousers unzipped and the legs round my ankles... boot laces undone... and in the corner of my eye, a white butterfly-ish shape coalesced at the top of a grass stem! With boot laces flapping everywhere I grabbed my camera and ran over... scaring the butterfly up, and off it flew to the back of a nettle patch. Only one thing for it, the trouser legs were zipped back up and in I plunged! Fortunately this time the butterfly let me approach, and there was my first ever Wood White!

I found a couple more around the rides before heading back to the car to hit the road south.

In brief, my journey was next punctuated by two stops to see rare orchids - Burnt Orchid (at Knocking Hoe, near Stevenage) and Lizard Orchid (Devil's Dyke, near Newmarket - I told you it was a meandering route!).

From there, I headed to Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, following some detailed directions from millerd in the hope of finally seeing White-letter Hairstreaks in a setting other than "distantly flapping around the top of a big tree"! It took me a few minutes to get my eye in, but once I had, it was clear that there were dozens of hairstreaks in a fairly small area, alongside Holly Blues, Marbled Whites and others.

It was past afternoon and well into evening by this point, but with the sun still shining strongly, I decided to try one more stop and drove up the road to Hockley Wood. I was greeted by a jaw-dropping number of Heath Fritillaries - I would guess comfortably into three figures around the rides and scallops of this attractive woodland. Amazing!

A super start to my southern holiday, let's hope I can keep up the pace as the weather gets a bit more tricky!

[trevor]

You are clearly starting to get a taste of what the south can offer, Callum.
If the weather holds you should see what we resident southerners take for granted.
Although I do need to change places with you as all my remaining ' lifers ' are up north!.

Have a great safari,
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

More fantastic stuff Callum - are you going to be able to hang around for the 'silly season' to bag an Emperor? Mind you if not you've still seen and photographed some cracking species

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[CallumMac]

If the weather holds you should see what we resident southerners take for granted.

Thanks Trevor. Fingers crossed! Looking at the forecast, a lot may depend on which species will fly when it's hot but not sunny. My past experience is that one can find Blues in these conditions but not necessarily the other groups. We shall see!

More fantastic stuff Callum - are you going to be able to hang around for the 'silly season' to bag an Emperor?

I hope so! I have a couple of options pencilled in to my schedule in case "His Nibs" shows his face - Knepp tomorrow (Monday) and Bentley Wood on Tuesday. But my return northwards is going to be up the western side of the country for Large Blue so the Emperors need to get a shuffle on! To be honest I thought they'd be out and about by now...

[CallumMac]

Into the third day of my holiday and still going strong! The cloudy weather today made looking for butterflies quite hard work, but I still saw loads of Marbled Whites (everywhere I went!) as well as my first Small Blues of the year (Windover Hill) and possibly my first Adonis Blues of the year (Denbies Hillside). Difficult to be certain with such tatty individuals - the wing margins are totally gone - but I have almost convinced myself!

However, given the weather, my main focus today was on orchids, with Musk Orchid (Park Gate Down) and Late Spider Orchid (Wye Downs) being new species for me. Also pleased to find two Man Orchids at Denbies Hillside - the first time since I've started taking an interest in orchids that I've found and identified a rare species when not actively searching for it, so that felt a bit like a milestone!

As I was about to leave Denbies, I had a nice encounter with a foxy lady, who was so busy keeping an eye on dog walkers that she failed to notice me walking up behind her!

[Wurzel]

The butterfly fest is continuing Callum, fingers crossed that His Nibbs puts in an appearence. I've Insta-d you the hot spots at Daneways

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

....I headed to Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, following some detailed directions from millerd in the hope of finally seeing White-letter Hairstreaks in a setting other than "distantly flapping around the top of a big tree"!

How I empathise with that, Callum!

Great that you got to see your first Black Hairstreaks, and what a treat to observe a mating pair. Excellent sequence of images.

I will look forward to reading about what followed.