Wurzel

[trevor]

I've been admiring your stunning Specklie shots further up the previous page.
Very nice well marked specimens they are too.

[bugboy]

I'd say that Gatekeeper is a halfway house between standard version and my ab lugens I found in August[.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor I think there must have been a local emergence as there were plenty of fresh looking ones- my favourite is the one which is almost black and white
Cheers Bugboy Should I put that down as ab.semilugens

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

The Lost Posts…

Every year, for one reason or another, some of my posts get waylaid somewhere between the getting out there and seeing stuff and eventually posting about it on UKB. It could be that I’m feeling the pressure to ‘catch-up’ what with work seeming to take up even more and more of my time or possibly I get a little over excited and want to post about a particular trip and maybe sometimes I feel like ‘here we go ANOTHER post from work featuring the same butterflies as the last 8 posts about work’. But these posts don’t disappear they just sit in a folder, on the back burner, in various stages of completeness awaiting the time when my enthusiasm for certain species has been rekindled as unfamiliarity has buried contempt or when I actually have some time – generally once I’ve finished writing up all the other posts and I’m pretty close to catching up. Then is the time to look though and write what needs to be written or process the images that need to be processed and even occasionally in the case of the ‘similar sounding posts’ just to post the piece that I completed many months before.

So here are the Lost Posts of 2023…

The first comes from one of our trips to Wales way back in February. The day before I’d spied a Red Admiral and managed a few shots, first with the kind permission of one of my Outlaws neighbours as it was sitting basking on their wall and latterly by wandering out to the summer house and clicking away. The following day we’d been busy and while I was prepping the veg for tea the sun finally arrived and started shining over west Wales. I looked out of the window and there waving at me by flashing its wings open and closed was a Red Admiral, perched jauntily on the door of the summerhouse. I finished up what I was doing and then, hands still reeking of onions, I grabbed my camera and strode across the garden, clicking as I went in case I spooked it or the smell of onions sent it packing.

When I was closer to it I settled down, and despite many months of butterfly free days the old habits came back to me (helped by the crash/refresher course the day before). Muscles relaxed, breathing slowed, focus and when ready ‘click’. After a few shots that I was happy with I left it sitting there absorbing the final rays of the day and made my way back inside. As I checked the images I could see that it was the same individual that I’d befriended the day before paying me another visit.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Cheers Bugboy Should I put that down as ab.semilugens

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Go for it, I created ab. tripupilata for my Small Heath ab

[Wurzel]

Cheers Bugboy I think UKB counts as a 'peer reviewed publication' so our names should stand

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Work 17-03-2023

It was one of those frustrating days at the start of the season. The Aconites had been out for an age and were in danger of going over so the butterflies should have been flying. Added to this the temperature had climbed past double digits, the wind had dropped and the sun was shining. Almost perfect conditions for getting out and finding a Small Tort or Peacock in fact. The frustration started to build however as first break and then lunch time approached. From my vantage point in my lab I was able to watch the light intensity drop in infinitesimal increments and I could see the wind start to stir the trees on the other side of the Quad. When I was finally free to roam at lunch time I made it to the start of the fences and hedges along the football pitch before the sun disappeared. I managed a few shots of an Oil Beetle before I decided to retreat back to the lab, a decision that was compounded after yet another run in with the owner of the vicious black and white dog.

After work I called in at Waitrose to pick a few things up; free coffee, free paper, some Green tea oh and my not forgetting my daughters! With the shopping stowed I ambled over to a little square of grass in the far corner of the car park. On the other side of the boundary hedge the Town path and river run on into the city centre so butterflies often drop in for a pit-stop as they navigate along the water way. Something orange caught my eye and there was what I’d been hoping to find at work - a Small Tort. A few clicks and it was away but those few seconds were more than enough to totally alter my perception of the day!

Nowt doing at work
But spy a Small Tort pit-stop
Nicely lifts the day!
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Work 18-04-2023

As the Spring had been so dismal I’d seldom been out to do my ‘lunchtime transect’. Yet on this day there was a break in the cloud and so I headed out. Normally by this time in the year the Small Torts would be well past their best and I’d be seeking Specklies or Holly Blues but this year has seemed ‘later’ than most (or is it that we’ve had earlier springs previously?) so for this reason as well as the fact that I’d not seen many Small Torts I was hoping to catch up with a few of them…

As I stepped foot onto the field I could see my Nemesis of 2023, a large block of cloud, away in the distance steadily working its way towards me. This meant that I was once more playing ‘Race the Clouds’ and I made it to the end of the school field before the first finger of cloud, the vanguard of a greater offensive, covered the sun. I was still without a butterfly and so it was with a mixture of relief and trepidation that I watched a Brimstone fluttering around some of the vegetation on the corner of the field. However, it landed on the wrong side of the fence (of course) but by poking my lens between the wires I was able to break the days Duck.

The vanguard of cloud moved on, scouting out the next territory to cloud was looking to conquer so to try to make the most the remaining sun I fairly flew along the footpath to the half-way spot. As O drew near a Brimstone flew across the path well ahead of me. I hoped that it would cease its wandering but it never did eventually flying back at me and then away across the fields. I carried on but all the usual little bays and inlets into the Brambles, all the basking sots were severely lacking in lepidoptera. I’d almost reached the turn-around point when I spotted a dark blob on the path. I slowed myself and my footsteps became more deliberate and delicate. It didn’t take off, possibly the only blessing of the cloud cover that had crept up on me while I’d been concentrating…

A few shots later it was gone and now that the cloud have covered the sky and conquered the sun embattled sun I cut my losses and headed back in.
Can I see the sun?
Actually get out at work
Slim pickings though

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

The Devenish 21-05-2023

After a magnificent day yesterday this trip out was going to be case of meagre rations. We were off to The Devenish which does have quite a good selection of butterflies but I wouldn’t be able to stop long as it was a family walk out. Luckily I was still sated from the tally busting day before (21 species with 7 firsts for the year amongst them) so I could just enjoy the walk and the company and maybe dart off for a minute or two to try and capture some butterfly shots…

We followed the familiar route from the car park through the boundary line of trees and through the gate into the Orchid Meadow. I was quite surprised that I couldn’t see any noticeable Orchids but it may be a little early for the Heath/Narrow Bordered that bloom here. What did catch my eye was a little butterfly which alternated rapidly from silver to dark and back again as it flew. It was a Brown Argus and when it eventually paused on a flower head I was able to take a few steps towards it and get in a little closer.

We then set off up the steps cut into the side of the Down; I swear this gets steeper each time! In between deep breaths and brief pauses to allow the others to catch up I spotted both Grizzlie and Dingy Skippers and saw a Specklie keeping a low profile along the edge of the beech wood. All three were out of reach as we continued seemingly ever upwards to the top of the Down. We then walked along the top through the Beech Hanger and round to the other side of the hill. I was able to pause once again in a little dappled clearing where a Holly Blue was fluttering up high and a Specklie sat nicely on a leaf for me. The butterflies along the back track weren’t as predisposed to posing so I wasn’t able add a second Specklie or Green-veined White to the Tally and this trend continued as we left the woods behind and set off along the Avenue between the fields. A Small White, male Orange-tip and another Specklie all flew just a little too far for my lens to make anything of them. At the end of the Avenue finally the curse was lifted and a Specklie sat so calmly for me that I was able to get plenty of shots whilst not missing a sentence from my conversation.

We stuck rigidly to the usual route and so next was out across the fields, now a blinding yellow in colour as the Oil Seed Rape was fully out. The walk up the tree-lined track on the far side of the field was quiet excepting a passing UFW and it wasn’t until the final stretch that I encountered another butterfly. This one was a little gem, and seeing as how we were in the middle of a monoculture field, a little unexpected. It was a Small Copper but with pale patches on one side and a nice array of blue badges to boot. This was the last butterfly that I got to photograph during the visit although there was a Holly Blue (possibly the same as earlier) at the top of the wooden steps down to the car. Not really groundbreaking or earth shattering but a pleasant walk punctuated with little pockets of photography.

A family walk
With not many butterflies
But some tiny jewells

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

School Pick-up 23-05-2023

I managed to arrive with 15 minutes or so to spare before I needed to do the school pick-up. So I grabbed the camera and set off across the green and waded through the unmown grasses which in short time will hold Ringlets, Marbled Whites and Smessex Skippers. As I reached the start of the Glades a Red Admiral buzzed me and Banded Demoiselles took off looking like slow motion helicopters. A Specklie shot off and another sat looking down imperiously at me from its lofty vantage point as I entered the Glades proper through an imperceptibly narrow gap between the Nettles. At the other end one of the Demoiselles floated up and as it perched it wings glowed a gorgeous copper colour as they caught the light. But still there was nothing on my memory card.

I pressed on up to the top of the Bank path but apart from a brace of Brimstones all was quiet. I checked the time and realised that I’d have to head back to I did an about turn and retraced my steps. Banded Demoiselles again took off as I worked through the Glades and once I’d negotiated the narrow gap with only a few stings I the phone rang. As I answered the Red Admiral and the Specklie from earlier showed themselves, sitting on Bramble leaves only 60 cm away from each other. I managed a few hurried shots of both before legging back to the car and getting the girls home.

Do the school pick-up
But they’re playing hard to get
Show up at the end
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

School Pick-up 24-05-2023
It was another day and another school pick up…Once again I abandoned the car at Five Rivers and then strode quickly round the back of the leisure centre and then down into the other side of the Glades. A Specklie and Red Admiral were in what I’d come to think off as their usual places at the rear of the Glades near to the little cut through. From there I wandered on along and through the Glades where a brace of Specklies battled it out with each other for the prime basking spot in the late afternoon sun.

When I reached ‘Specklie Intersection’ I arrested my progress and scanned down the length of the Banks. As on previous visits various things flew along and as one previous visits things didn’t stop. I only hung around long enough to clock an Orange-tip, Green-veined White and a Comma before I turned round and started back hopefully to find more pliable butterflies back at the Glades. This turned out to be partially true. Indeed the butterflies that were present were very pliable, it was just that they were the same ones as before, namely the Specklies and Red Admirals. All too soon it was time to start back to and collect the girls.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

The Devenish 31-05-2023

After a busy few days this was a chance to just have a walk and enjoy some family time, but I took my camera with me just in case. We set off through the Orchid Meadow which was certainly living up to its name with Common Spotted Orchid popping up all over the small field that is Orchid Meadow. Scanning around I only found a single Brown Argus and so I turned my attention with the limited time that I had to the Orchids themselves. One of them didn’t seem like the others – a darker almost violet pink and instead of garish spots and three lobes the markings were much more subtle. It was one of the Marsh Orchids – more probably Southern.

From here we set about climbing the Down. My recent forays and butterflying escapades had seen me striding up Downs and clinging with the sides of my feet to vertiginous slopes so I made short work of the Down itself and whilst the others huffed and puffed up I nipped out sideways from the path to capture errant butterflies on my memory card. First there was a Common Blue and the next was a Brown Argus. There were also a couple of Dingies, looking a little more worn than some I’d seen and so actually looking like a piece of old carpet and so living up to their name as well.

Once we reached the top we dove into the shade of the Beech hanger and wove our way along the various trackways all along the top and then over through the mixed woodland to the parallel path along the back of the reserve. On our way we were accompanied by various Specklies which would fly up and at us as we entered each of their respective territories. A single white flew along the back track in the distance (too distant to positively ID) and a Red Admiral went up from the deck at the far end as the girls approached. By the time we were walking down the hill towards the avenue of trees and fields beyond all I had to show on my memory card was a Beetle that had been clambering laboriously over a log deep in the wood. Normally a Beetle would have been a poor level of compensation for the lack of butterfly shots but this was a monster, well a lesser monster really as it was a Lesser Stag Beetle.

From here the walk opened up and we wandered along a dusty and level avenue. An Orange-tip flew parallel to us but on the other side of the line of trees and a brace of Specklies battled it out at the far end as the trees thinned and the light intensity increased. After the avenue we broke out into the sun and followed both the path which bisected the Oil Seed Rape field and a brace of Large Whites which disappeared from view once we got to the other side of the bright yellow field. We turned left and followed the boundary path sandwiched in tightly between overgrown hedges. I racked up a grand total of four different Specklies dispersed at almost regular intervals along its length and as we took a turn across the final field a Green-veined White cut across the path in front of us heading in the same direction as the Large Whites from earlier. By now the girls had grown weary and so rather than racing off ahead they’d fallen back and so I switched my butterfly senses off and concentrated on the conversation.

To The Devenish
Recently it’s been busy
Now time to relax

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Dyrham Park 03-06-2023

This was a family meet up; three sisters together and us the respective partners tagging along to make up the numbers. I consoled myself that on our last visit here things had actually been pretty good butterfly wise and this time we were visiting earlier in the year so things should be even better…

So we walked and talked along the upper parts of the site following the winding grassed paths out along to the various viewpoints from whence we could look down towards the Severn and Bristol away in the distance. All was quiet and I wondered if this was the dreaded ‘June Gap’? Finally after much walking a Specklie appeared and broke the duck but it was only a passing view and came right at the end of our initial descent along the main path before making our way down the rise to the main house along the drive. Once we’d continued on into the gardens I spotted another butterfly –a distant White but despite a veritable banquet of nectar from the formal beds that was it. The last time this had been the best spot with 3 species of Vanessids (Red Admiral, Small Tort and Painted Lady), three whites and a Brown Argus. Today nowt. I girded my loins to the disappointment and set off the steep paths of the Lost Terraces to catch the others up.

Finally THE butterflies started appearing and also more importantly sitting still for their photographs. As we wandered the meandering trackways I would stray into a Specklie territory and then the next and so on. Eventually by the time we’d made it round the ‘loop’ I’d encountered 6 or 7 different individuals and a further couple drifted along the steep bank in the graveyard of the small church at the bottom of the hill as well.

Whilst this was nice to see a single species was a little disappointing for the trip. So we repaired for lunch and whilst munching away a Small White flew through, mocking me slightly as I was half way through my sandwich and a conversation. In the past I have dropped everything and given chase. However a Small White wasn’t worth the admonishment or strife and so I glared at it and added further to discourse. We continued walking again after lunch, all uphill now and once more through Parkland. The odd Specklie hung around various of the trees dotted here and there along the path. Then, almost as a reward for my patience and continued vigilance a Common Blue dropped down a few paces ahead of me. Luckily this was during a lull in the conversation and so I could stride forward from the group, kneel down and fire off a few shots before standing up and continuing once more in-step with the group. It was a very slick manoeuvre, almost seamless.

As we drove home I couldn’t help but think that this is the way sometimes; a trip looks set to be so promising, often more so than on previous occasions only for things to not pan out that way at all. And when this happens it’s a good idea to let the usually mundane take on extra significance so you can enjoy them all the more.
Promising visit
Dryham Park was all Specklies
And Uncommon Blue

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

School Pick-up 07-06-2023

I had plenty of time on this school pick-up, a whole 18 minutes in fact! I walked along the back of the Leisure Centre and through the back way into the Glades. I had hoped that things here would be busier than at Work after a completely butterfly-less lunch time walk but alas all was quiet. As I broached the miniature clearing behind the main part of the Glades a brace of Specklies were busy battling each other. The victor, once his combatant was suitably battered, return to his perch at the entrance to the Glades. Bearing in mind that I was wearing my work trousers I cautiously lowered myself to try and get to roughly the same level as the butterfly and clicked away.

Cheered I pressed on with a seemingly endless stream of Banded-demoiselles launching themselves vertically from the vegetation in front of me. I looked on in wonder as the light would occasionally catch their wings in just the right way so as to blaze out like liquid silver. A Holly Blue did a brief fly past and was gone in the blink of an eye and as I left the increasingly claustrophobic (the Bramble had been growing at a considerable pace) confines of the Glades I heard a strange croaking/grunting noise. Following the direction of the sound I saw a mass of duck. I looked again as something about their profile hadn’t sat right in my mind, they were too sleek, too long in the body to be plain old Mallards. I got a little closer using the thick trunk of a tree as cover and then peering through the ‘V’ of the trunk as it split into two. Sure enough they weren’t Mallards but were a family of Goosanders – hence the torpedo like bodies; “…all the better to swim after you little fishy”.

I pressed on up to Comma Corner, round the back and then up to Bank 1. No butterflies. I walked along the top path past Bank 2. Still no butterflies. I was starting to worry that this trip would turn out like my lunchtime walk when something caught my eye not in Bank 3 but on the other side of the Bank Path. It was a Meadow Brown and I followed it down the slope and across into the vegetation in the main body of the field. As I did I was reminded at how duplicitous this species is. If you watch it fly it looks quite ungainly, a bit ‘flappy’ in fact. But its goofy looking flight is surprisingly fast and at times difficult to follow. They also have a little trick where they’ll suddenly just drop down into cover and completely disappear as they crawl into the shade-come-shelter of a tussock of grass or the base of a shrub. Luckily this one was still acquiring the skills of deception but even so it made me work for my photos.

With time almost up I worked back up to the Bank Path and made for the car stopping for a newly bloomed Pyramidal Orchid and also a few more portraits of the Goosander Family. I was almost back at the car when a Small White overtook me and tempted me to follow it down to the River Path. Alas I could just make out L in the distance and so not wanting to keep her waiting I deigned to follow it and instead did the honourable thing and competed the School Pick-up.

School pick-up again
With Goosander family
And a Meadow Brown
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

School Pick-up 20-06-2023

Another day and another day experiencing the delight of the school pick-up, or was it enjoying some bonus butterflying? Either way, the car was abandoned in the car park and as numerous meadow Browns erupted from the grasses I strode towards the Glades. I worked through the back part where a Specklie stood on guard at the entrance and as I rounded the corner of the huger Bramble bush that bisects this section of the Glades a vivid orange Comma (the hutchinsoni form) flashed by. As I stared across the length of the briar I managed to pick out three Commas in total. Even more Meadow Browns adorned themselves along the lower reaches of the bramble whippings and overflowed into the longer grasses around the foot/feet of the Briar. Whilst I waited or one of the Commas to settle a Brimstone also went past. Of course it was at this moment, while I was distracted, that two of the Commas landed. I managed a quick record shot (that didn’t turn but too bad) of the first but the second was brilliantly behaved, sitting out in the clear within easy striking distance of my lens and even tilting slightly bringing itself into relief. After a quick fly around to check its territory it settled again and this time it was even closer in and so even easier to photograph.

I then ventured forth towards the Banks hoping to find it awash with Browns and Golden Skippers. There were a few fly-by Whites and the odd Meadow Brown but Bank 1 and 3 were actually pretty quiet. At Bank 2 I managed to find 2 Small Skippers which were having a bit of an argument and there was also a Marbled White. I cut down the Banks and worked around the back of the Copse at Comma Corner where again I found a Marbled White and a Small Skipper. As the Skipper wasn’t involved in a territorial dispute it actually sat still, nicely perched on tippy-toes on an arched blade of grass in a manner that reminded me of the tale of the Billy Goats Gruff.

In the Compost heap a Small White fed on the Creeping Thistles while Meadow Browns did their best to distract me but all too soon my phone rang and L was enquiring where the car was and so I had to beat a hasty retreat. However, as is often the way, this was when I spotted a Comma sunning itself on a Bramble leaf, wings held open wide, its extreme ginger colour clashing delightfully horribly with the bright green of the foliage. Whispering ‘L won’t mind’ to myself I nipped in and grabbed a few shots before the butterfly even realised that I was there and then off swiftly to the car.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Happy March

Hopefully it'll come in like a Lion and then we can get cracking

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

And go out like a Lamb????

[Wurzel]

You got it Trevor, fingers crossed for blue sky and warmish days...eventually

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

School Pick-up 21-06-2023

Hopefully today things would take off a bit more on this version of the School Pick-up. They’d been quite subdued previously, more of slightly damp with rather than awash with Browns and Skippers? Perhaps the heat was working against me and the butterflies were lower down in the shade and having spent a while in the Glades I’d not looked hard enough hence I’d only clocked the obvious or free flying butterflies? With that in mind I took to the back path which runs from the car park, alongside the ends of the football pitches and straight up to the Bank at Comma Corner. Along the way the Meadow Browns and the odd White did their thing as if trapped in their own version of Groundhog Day but along the bank that runs parallel to the side-lines of the football pitches the Marbled Whites and Golden Skippers started showing themselves more. I made a point of checking as many of the Skippers just in case there was a finger printed perp amongst those with indicators flashing but I couldn’t find an Essex.

Around the corner and up the slight slope I headed and the Marbled Whites actually started sitting still and some were even in slightly more accessible spots. So I took advantage of this, following one as it looked a little lost flying along the open track way rather than in between the tall stems of the grasses. The path split in two before merging with another which ran across the larger expanse of the site forming a small triangle of vegetation. This meant that I could easily angle the camera so as to get shots without having to wade in to reach the butterfly and so not trampling everything along the way. There were several Marbled Whites here and a few Smessex Skippers – three grouping together and so I was able to check that they were all Smalls. Once I’d got a few photos I was amazed to find that my time was almost up and as I set off a female Brimstone drifted by wish me adieu.

However like yesterday the H.Comma had other ideas about letting me go and I’d made it all the way back to the edge of the car park when one flashed its wings at me enticing me over. I’m glad that it did as it was a stunning looking butterfly. However it did mean that once again I received the “where are you?” call from L.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Work 23-06-2023

As the bell rang I was already on my way out of the building and once the fence was negotiated I concentrated on getting to the Pits. As I drew near to the easily defined boundary of the Pits a White shot past me. I say easily defined as on one side the grass is mown to within an inch of its life and on the other it is a beautiful and unruly mess of grasses of various heights, some up to your armpits! As I travailed through the narrow paths between giant tufts of grass a few Meadow Browns broke cover and in the cleared section a few Small Skippers zipped across the shortened sward as swiftly as possible seeking shelter.

The Bramble also offered shelter and sustenance too boot and so it was no surprise to see various species clinging in various parts of the foliage. There were a few each of Smessex Skippers and Meadow Browns as well as singletons of Marbled White and Large Skipper. I picked my way past carefully as the tendrils of this Triffid-esque plant did their best to snag my work trousers and the grass heads dusted me in black pollen which smudged into the fabric. I didn’t mind as the Thistle bed beyond was starting to look good, the little greenish triangles had started to split and some already had the lilac strands of the flower showing. In here there were Mr and Mrs Large Skipper awaiting the arrival of their smaller kin it seemed.

After this I made for the break in the trees so that I could start working down the main hedge. A Specklie was in residence in the corner and as I waited patiently for it so sit still a Small Tort dropped in to add a little colour (until it closed up) as the other butterflies were all a bit brown and blobish. After a trying for a few shots I carried on down the hedge finding plenty of Meadow Browns and Smessex Skippers along the way. The Large Skippers here were on the wane and the Marbled Whites seemed to be fewer in number than in some years with the Small Heaths even less so. Soon my internal clock rang out the alarm and so I returned the way I’d come, seeing more of the same and even relocating the Small Tort – which once again closed up shop the minute it heard the motor of my autofocus. Still it was nice to get out.

Lunch time walk at work
With all things progressing well
Soon be Essex time…

Have a goodun

Wurzel