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On Wednesday 10th July, the early part of the morning seemed bright enough, and the chill was gone from the air. Realising that I'd not been further than my local patch for the best part of a week, and seeing ominous amounts of traffic on the southbound M25, I decided to go northwards and try catching up with Aston Rowant.

My meteorological optimism was somewhat unfounded - as I drove up the M40, I watched clouds build and the temperature drop. In the end, on arrival there was still a bit of sunshine and every now and again the cloud did part slightly, but I could see waves of unforecast rain showers coming across from the Cotswolds over to the west. Things looked like this a lot of the time. I set about to see if any butterflies were on the wing. Marbled Whites were by far the most frequently seen......followed by Small Skipper.Other species not put off by the conditions were Meadow Browns and Ringlets......and more surprisingly Dark Green Fritillaries. These were mostly hunkered down invisibly in the grass, but every now and again one would explode upwards and head off with the wind in an orange blur. In the end I found one that felt the need to refuel.Except for a single Small Heath, that's all there was.

I headed homewards, and once into the rain shadow of the Chilterns, things brightened a bit more and the temperature rose into the low 20s. There was nothing for it but another wander round my local patch...

Dave

The main highlight of my local walk later on, during the afternoon of 10th July, was finding the first of the new brood of Holly Blues. Initially seen puddling (it was spoilt for choice... ), it took a break to wait for a bit of sunshine to warm up in.It was one of 16 species seen - far more variety than I'd come across up on the Chilterns earlier in the day, and my highest one-day species count so far this year - but none with the cachet of the DGF of course. The full list:

Meadow Brown
Gatekeeper
Marbled White
Speckled Wood
Small Heath
Large White
Small White
GVW
Small Skipper
Essex Skipper
Red Admiral
Comma
Peacock
Common Blue
Holly Blue
Purple Hairstreak

The last of these were as ever flitting back and forth between the oaks and ashes near J14. I tried several times to capture the moment, but failed - there are at least two hairstreaks in this shot somewhere...A few others from the afternoon... Dave

After ten days of weather that was less than what most folk would think of as summery, Thursday 11th July was promised to be largely sunny and back to average temperatures - maybe a tad above. My plan was to head down to Bookham first thing, but a quick glance at the AA traffic planner soon postponed that idea. However, I wasn't going to waste the rare brilliantly sunny early morning and had a short walk locally before revisiting the Bookham idea.

A variety of common butterflies were already up and about, and some were in morning nectaring mode.One or two others posed nicely......and these two had wasted no time getting together.Several Gatekeepers were flying, including this male with a forewing eyespot that had only one pupil instead of two.A good start to the day.

When I returned and checked the traffic, things had cleared sufficiently to make a trip down the dreaded M25 worth it.

Dave

"You never know, their offspring might actually be genuine Smessex Skippers... "...that would be brill
"explode upwards and head off with the wind" this is a very accurate and precise description of their typical behaviour
Shipton has started...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers, Wurzel - good news about Shipton. I was at Bookham today and drew a blank there...

And here is a report from there from a fortnight ago!

So, rather later than originally planned on 11th July, I ended up down at Bookham. As luck would have it, I found Bugboy down there (travelling by train had got him there by 0800), and he soon was telling me about the Purple Hairstreaks down nectaring on brambles. Better still, he soon delivered on that promise.We continued to wander through the woods, and to be honest there wasn't that much to see - a bit of variety, true, but definitely not numbers.At one point I spotted another SWF over on some bracken, and Paul's keener eyes quickly identified it as a pairing. Unfortunately they were a bit distant for my zoom to cope with well, but ever optimistic I took quite a few shots in case some turned out OK.At one point, the couple were hassled by another male.The other highpoint of the morning was finding a brand new male Purple Hairstreak taking minerals from the track much like a Holly Blue.It allowed a very close approach, so absorbed it was in its mission.Eventually it started to open up, and fingers were crossed that for one of us at least the angle might be right to give us some of the blue sheen fresh males can display. However, neither of us was in luck...A shame, as it really was a pretty pristine individual.

Having started late, I realised that I would have to leave at this point, leaving Bugboy to consider where to head to next. Good to see you as ever, Paul.

Dave

Looking at the photos again, I'm wondering whether the absence of a blue sheen, the merest hint of purple on the forewings, and the shape of the abdomen all point to this being a female butterfly... I assumed it was male just because it was behaving like males of other species...

Dave

Can't believe that day was 2 weeks ago Dave . Might be 2 months before my pictures from that day see the light of day though, I have a shed load of reports to wade through. I ended up on Box Hill that afternoon, it was a very long day!

The summer does seem to be cantering by this year, Paul! Thinking about Brown Hairstreaks already... I suspect the absence of migrating butterflies this year will mean we don't get the late summer bonus of LTB this time round - and maybe no Clouded Yellows either. That would be a shame.

Friday 12th July was a return on paper to lower temperatures and not much sunshine, but the day had a muggy feel to it and I was surprised by just how much was flying locally. I had started counting before I realised this, and my list surprised me by growing to a total of 359 from 14 species:

Meadow Brown 215
Gatekeeper 67
Essex Skipper 19
GVW 12
Small Skipper 8
Red Admiral 7
Small Heath 7
Large White 6
Peacock 6
Comma 3
Small White 3
Marbled White 2
Holly Blue 2
Speckled Wood 2

A selection from the multitude... Dave

millerd wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2024 8:48 pm Looking at the photos again, I'm wondering whether the absence of a blue sheen, the merest hint of purple on the forewings, and the shape of the abdomen all point to this being a female butterfly... I assumed it was male just because it was behaving like males of other species...

Dave

Yes, I came to the same conclusion when I looked at my pictures on my laptop.

Cracking Purps Dave As for the male/female - there are some images online showing the uniform ground colour but unhelpfully they don't identify is as a male or female It does seem to have quite a rotund abdomen...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers, both of you - I do now reckon that was a female Hairstreak...

Saturday 13th July was an almost identical day to 12th weatherwise, and the butterfly mix was unsurprisingly very similar - though for some reason there were more Commas and Peacocks around today.A few others from the day......but the highlight was a brand new male Holly Blue. The largely cloudy conditions meant a rare burst of sunshine meant it opened its wings wide.Something I never tire of.

Dave

Sunday 14th July included an interlude with a Red Admiral very reminiscent of encounters with bigger, showier butterflies...

Wandering along a stretch of damp path under the willow trees close to the river, I spotted a dark triangle down on the ground. With the Emperor season only a very recent thing, you almost start to wonder... But no, it was a Red Admiral.(I do sometimes think Purple Emperors would be at home here - there is plenty of sallow, some large ash trees and eminently suitable paths with noxious substances on them... )

Having sat for this shot, the butterfly started to circle around the spot, eventually including me in its circling. It then did a very Imperial thing and landed on my leg, becoming quite engrossed in whatever I might have recently knelt in.It was difficult to dislodge, but eventually it left and went to sit on a nearby bit of foliage.A definite family resemblance!

The rest of the sightings for the 14th I'll post separately.

Dave

Sunday 14th July was my preferred type of summer's day: pleasantly warm (23 degrees) rather than hot, and 8 hours of sunshine.

I was also aware from talking to the folk who (on behalf of Heathrow, technically the owners) look after the big area of grassland that forms a big part of my local patch that its annual haircut was about to take place. The timing of this is unfortunately based on nothing very scientific or conservation-related - it has to be during the week before the schools break up. The reasoning (I'm told) is that the long grass and flower-rich vegetation is a potential fire-risk, and that youngsters at a loose end may (deliberately or accidentally) set it alight. With the proximity to Heathrow (essentially close to the western ends of the runways) this risk cannot be taken.

The only mitigation for wildlife is that a few small areas (pretty well at random) are spared the cut to protect ground-nesting birds like skylarks. One or two other bits get missed because the tractor-mowers are big beasts. The effect this has on the butterfly population varies from year to year, as each species season and the actual state of the vegetation are different each year - but the cut is not a moveable feast.

Anyway, I suspected that today might possibly produce one of the highest counts of the summer - in the end I saw well over 400 individual butterflies from 16 species.

One or two new Brimstones appeared, so much easier to approach than the same individuals will be next spring.This new Peacock was also content to nectar, though I have already observed one or two indulging in territorial behaviour and scrapping with each other.I saw just the one Common Blue again, and wondered what the cut might mean for future sightings.There were plenty of Gatekeepers, and their preference for the hedgerows over the open grass will no doubt mean they won't suffer too much.Similarly, most of the GVW I've seen have been along the edges. I saw 27 today, a high for the summer brood so far, including a pair......and a very boldly marked female.Marbled Whites appeared to be nearing the end of their appearance now - I haven't seen any new ones lately - so the timing of the cut may just bring that end forward a day or two.However, the species I expect to be most affected are the Meadow Browns and the two Skippers. The Meadow Browns are so numerous, and have been for around six weeks, that I doubt there will be any long term issues (there never have been before). The Small and Essex Skippers though are both roughly at their peak and can be found everywhere. A lot of eggs will have been laid on grass stems that will be sliced through - and the mowings are taken offsite immediately. As if to make a point, both species provided some good poses today. Small......and Essex.Over the next few days it will be interesting to see how things change.

Dave

Monday 15th July was cooler and produced very little actual sunshine, but there must have been quite a bit of UV through the clouds in the middle of the day because there were still quite a few butterflies out on my local patch. The skippers seem to be happy enough without blazing sunshine, though Small Skipper numbers are tailing off now.Essex outnumbered them 12-2 today.Gatekeepers don't mind things dull either, and are much more likely to open up on cloudier days.Marbled Whites become less active and will sit in one spot for lengthy periods in these conditions......and also facilitating the more unusual kind of angle.Large Whites do prefer a bit of sun, and this one was not going anywhere.The flashy nymphalids tend to seek out patches of warm ground on dull days, and I often disturb them from the stonier bits of path. Painted Ladies are well-camouflaged on this background, but not Red Admirals.There are two more in this shot.This Peacock was just off the same bit of path......and nearby, what I thought was going to be another Red Admiral turned out to be a fresh Small Tortoiseshell.This is only the second one of the summer brood I've seen here this year (and it was a good km away from where I'd seen the other one).

Not bad for another cloudy day.

Dave

Tuesday 16th July was, as expected, The Day They Cut The Grass. It was another day much like many seen in the early part of July - partly sunny, partly cloudy, with modest temperatures just below average at 22 degrees.

I decided to go round as much of my usual walk as I could before the mowers arrived, and to be honest it was a bit depressing to see butterflies that within an hour or so would be violently displaced at best or succumb to the mower blades at worst. A pre-cut view of one of the more flowery bits, full of Meadow Browns plus a sprinkling of Skippers, Gatekeepers, Small Heaths, and Marbled Whites.Of course, some parts of my walk don't involve the big grassland areas, so anything there would be unaffected - like these Commas.I do like the way this species (like Red Admirals and Speckled Woods) takes up position to have a clear view along a stretch of path.Also seen along these parts of my walk were Red Admirals, Peacocks, Speckled Woods and various Whites.Now out onto the grassland. With really bad timing, Common Blues had started to appear - a species I suspect will be more affected by the cut than others as a substantial amount of the trefoil, clover and medick would be mown.One species in particular I wasn't likely to see here again after today was the Marbled White. To be fair, they were looking very worn.Skippers were definitely going to suffer too, probably at the peak of their season.Even if the Meadow Browns were reduced by half there would still be three figures. I took a couple of shots though - I rarely do so after the initial volley at the start of their season!Most Gatekeepers stick to the edges ('edge Brown, anyone? ), like this one......and this pair sitting on a hawthorn.One species I also had concerns about was the Small Heath. They have had a bit of a resurgence lately, and numbers were just increasing for the third time this year after peaks in mid-May and mid-June. I came across two new examples, the second of which was particularly striking with very bold markings.Towards the end of my walk, I could see where the mowers had already made substantial inroads into the grass. The looming weather seemed entirely appropriate for the occasion......and you could see the Red Kites gathering over the unseen mowers like vultures, no doubt looking for any unfortunate creatures caught up in the process. A tad dramatic I know, but the grass cut always marks a major turning point of the whole season here.

Dave

Beautifully marked Green-veined Whites in your last couple of posts Dave But that male Holly Blue - that's something else!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers, Wurzel - though there haven't been very many second brood Hollies around, those that have appeared have behaved very nicely. That one sat there for quite a while.

Half way through July and suddenly the weather changed (or became warmer at least...). The first 16 days of the month had only one day when the temperature locally reached 24 degrees (near enough the longterm average high here) - however, the remaining 15 days had only one day when it didn't reach this level. More on this when I reach the end of the month.

Wednesday 17th July heralded the improvement, with long hours of sunshine too. I started off the day up at Aston Rowant, and the promise of some Chalkhill Blues. As always, it was several degrees cooler up there on the Chilterns, and it took a while to find the target species, especially with good numbers of Marbled Whites still around.However, in the end I encountered a dozen or so Chalkhill males, all gleaming fresh and often happy to open up in the cooler conditions.I was surprised not to find any Common Blues, Brown Argus or Small Coppers, but there were still several Dark Green Fritillaries flying - mostly females disturbed from the grass, but a few males still cruising the slopes. Luckily, at least one of each paused briefly to nectar.There were numbers of Skippers scattered across the hillside - every one I was able to check turned out to be Small - no Essex, no late Large or early Silver-spotted.Also seen - a few Large, and a few GV Whites......and a Red Admiral patrolling the hedge at the bottom.There was also the welcome sight of a Small Tortoiseshell, but just the one...I still haven't reached double figures this year for sightings of this species.

Dave

Sublime male Holly Blue earlier, Dave, and good to see the Small Tort.
Hope Shipton B went well, I noticed a hum dinger of a storm in that area
on the radar, but it was possibly after BH bedtime, and you were on the way home.

trevor wrote: ↑Fri Aug 02, 2024 10:58 am Sublime male Holly Blue earlier, Dave, and good to see the Small Tort.
Hope Shipton B went well, I noticed a hum dinger of a storm in that area
on the radar, but it was possibly after BH bedtime, and you were on the way home.

Cheers, Trevor - in the end (like you) I decided that the risk of storms either during travelling or at Shipton itself made it a bit of an iffy venture, so I've postponed till next week sometime. It was also uncomfortably hot, and my car's AC isn't working! There were indeed some big storms by the end of the afternoon too. The weather next week looks more sensible.

Dave

The weather on 17th July was too good to waste, so during the afternoon with a little trepidation I set off round my local patch to see what the mowers had left. As mentioned, parts of my walk were not involved - the partly wooded paths near the lake - so things here carried on as normal. Gatekeepers, Commas and Peacocks predominated - sometimes together.Here are a couple of views of the mown grassland, showing one of the set-aside areas and that the edges have been left uncut.Deer enjoy the long grass, and I often found the flattened bits where they had been resting. This muntjac looked a bit confused, however, with all the cover removed...The huge areas of cut grass were now bereft of all but a few Meadow Browns. However, the uncut patches and edges were full of butterflies - mostly the aforesaid Meadow Browns, along with Gatekeepers, both Small and Essex Skippers and a few Small Heaths. They were like refugee camps for displaced lepidoptera. Here, life continued as normal, if a bit more crowded.I also found a few Holly Blues puddling along the paths - I'm not sure how their lives had been disrupted (if they had been at all). One kept flying round and round my feet, but never quite settled......but both the other two became engrossed in their mission.Though my walk wasn't perhaps its usual length (distance or duration), I still counted over 200 butterflies of 14 species - not too disappointing in the end. I will see how things go over the rest of the season and especially with regard to the second broods yet to properly kick off.

Dave