Wood Whites and Silver-spotted Skippers

After much gallivanting around the higher bits of France and Scotland it was nice to be out on the local patch again. Whilst I was away Martin had managed to add two butterflies to his Sussex list, Wood White and Black Hairstreak, and I was keen to make an effort to catch up. The Black Hairstreaks were long gone and they will definitely have to wait for next year. A quick foray for the Wood Whites resulted in a dip but of course there is always a chance of a second brood. 

And so it proved, within minutes of entering the site we had a very compliant subject. Smug satisfaction at what is my 46th species of Sussex butterfly. Of course depending who and what you consult, the list is variable. We located another four specimens which is encouraging, hopefully the colony will continue to thrive.

It's always good to find the first Silver-spotted Skipper of the year, so we paid a visit to Newtimber Hill. This venue has been a banker for them over the last few years, of course they are becoming more widespread throughout the county but Newtimber remains a favourite venue. Good eyesight and the ability to chase a small, fast flying and easily camouflaged subject will result in getting close.

So, unless I have sole access to an influx of an exotic continental butterfly species, Martin has the bragging rights until next year.

Up On the Downs

Around this time of year the butterfly season slowly winds down and there is always a bit of a gap before the autumn migration gets underway.  So today was a trip out on the South Downs, ostensibly to see if I could get to grips with some Orthoptera but mostly to take the camera for a walk. Having read about Southern Water's project to re-introduce the Wart-biter to an ideal habitat at the Deep Dean water treatment plant I was keen to give it the once over. Not necessarily to find a Wart-biter but to understand the habitat and of course the possibility of a late Grayling to add to the season's tally.

I can hear myself saying it, sat high in an alpine meadow, surrounded by butterflies - "We don't have anything like this at home". Today I was proved very wrong. When I parked off  the road below Wilmington and started up the Col de Windover I was expecting to find the usual suspects, Meadow Browns, Chalk Hill Blues and even some Silver-spotted Skippers but not in the numbers present. There were literally thousands of Meadow Browns and Chalk Hill Blues, all in various states of wear and tear. The Silver-spotted Skippers were the big surprise, hundreds, no - many hundreds of specimens between the top of the hill and the bottom of the dean. Martin and I had witnessed 200 plus specimens at Newtimber hill and this surpassed that by a long way.

I had arrived at 0900 and started up towards the reservoir, the south facing bank taking the early morning sunshine was already well populated with CHBs, predominantly males as I didn't see a female until at the reservoir itself. Just before the top there is a triangular patch of grass on the right hand side of the path, always a good bet for an SSS - and this time it was well populated. On up to the cattle drink and finally into the combe itself. A myriad of Meadow Browns dancing all over the south facing slope, I searched all the chalky rabbit hole aprons for a Grayling but it was a hopeless task, the place was overwhelmed with browns.

The season is coming to an end

Some males not quite so worn

Females showed in greater numbers later in the day

That electric blue can only mean a second brood Adonis

 

Plenty of other butterflies about

 
I followed the path south west towards the water treatment plant, the habitat changing from the dry steep slopes to flower filled meadow. Great stands of Harebell,and Wild Marjoram attracting butterflies. This ground hasn't been sprayed with anything for years and the density of flowers is amazing. These combes can be very sheltered and therefore get extremely warm, so at the lower end I managed to find a breeze and sat and enjoyed a comfortable lunch.

Deep Dean

Stunning wild flowers

Harebells

Wild Marjoram

Scouting the area around the treatment plant gave me three great finds. First a fine Wasp Spider that I initially spooked but just a couple of minutes later it reappeared and posed well for the lens.

Second was a very aggressive Hornet Robber Fly that had captured a bee, I tried to get close but it adopted a more aggressive pose and finally flew.

Third subject was a huge Great Green Bush Cricket, at first, because of its size, I thought I had a WB but sadly not. It posed obligingly and I left it where I had found it.

Of course it is pleasant to take a mile plus walk down hill, the downside was that I had to get back to the top.


Just a few from last week, we did a circuit of Pagham and the juvenile Barn Swallows and Sedge Warblers  on the North Wall were definitely worth recording. Sadly little else but it was nice to see an early Short-eared Owl that was spooked off the Church Norton Spit by a walker. It flew over the spit and out to sea and I failed to see it return.

Finally a new garden tick butterfly, Purple Hairstreak. Obviously attracted by the honeydew from the Whitefly aphids that have infested our plum trees. The recent heavy rains have washed away most of the sticky substance but the Whiteflies remain, much to the delight of the Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers that are passing through.

One from some time ago, taken on Frensham Common, a Red-banded Sand Wasp, Ammophila sabulosa  with prey.

Silver-spotted Skipper

A short visit to Newtimber Hill, on the border between East and West Sussex and usually home to many Silver-spotted Skippers. A good excuse to get out and about and to get a year tick in the bag. The weather forecast for the early part of the week was not too good so we took advantage of the dry start to the day. When we arrived the weak sunshine had all but disappeared and it was a tad cooler than previous. Nonetheless, it wasn't long before we found a specimen perched up on a flower head and it was duly recorded. I had thought that this would be the first of many but they remained elusive - well hidden in the grass due to the lack of sunshine.

 

Several nice specimens of Chalk Hill Blue provided some material for the camera.

 

 

The Marbled Whites are just about over, this specimen looking tired and somewhat overwhelmed by the red mite Trombidium breei. This parasite has been particularly common at this site over the past three years.

The temperature dropped even further and fewer butterflies were on the wing, even the Meadow Browns struggled to get airborne - so it was time to call it a day.

Silver-spotted Skipper and Chalkhill Blues

 

Today's outing was a walk up Windover Hill in East Sussex, supposedly a search for Grayling, unfortunately they appear to be a little late this year. I diligently searched the area, where last year we found plenty on  a date nearly a fortnight earlier, with no success. Never mind there was still much to be found and photographed. I was very pleased when a Silver-spotted Skipper photo bombed the recording of a fresh Chalkhill  Blue. Plenty of other Skippers and Small Coppers on the wing, most of them looking fairly fresh too.
A strong south westerly breeze wasn't helping so I gave up early - hope the weather is better tomorrow.

A Large Skipper for comparison

Deep Dean - home of the Grayling

 When I took the Deep Dean photograph I was sat on a bit of an anomaly, Chalk Heath, a habitat that forms very locally when a shallow layer of sand or acid drift material overlies the chalk. Heather (Calluna vulgaris) and other calcifuges, plants that normally avoid calcareous soils growing in gay abandon.


It is so interesting that Miss M Cheveley Rayner published an article about it called "The Ecology of Calluna Vulgaris" in 1912.

 

 

   

 

 

Wild Strawberry, Fragaria vesca - delicious