Walls

As I have no doubt said before, the hunt for Brown Hairstreaks symbolises, for me,  the end of the butterfly season. Last year, here in Sussex, we had an extension with Long-tailed Blues emerging at the end of October and even into November. The season is slowly winding down and soon it will be time to start looking for some elusive birds.

Over the last week I have visited some of my local sites and found that butterfly numbers have, at long last, increased. Good numbers of Red Admirals and Silver-Washed Fritillaries in particular, the odd Painted Lady and an emergence of some fresh Brimstones. Generally the condition of some of the specimens can be described as "well worn". It never ceases to amaze me that SwF males continue to make advances to females when most of their wings have disappeared and they can barely fly - driven solely by the urge to procreate. Later, I sat for an hour exactly between two territories of Walls, anything that flew through was vigorously intercepted and engaged, even the Dandelion seed heads that drifted past were attacked. Occasionally the two Walls would meet at the junction of their properties and mayhem ensued, no wonder I struggled to find one suitable for recording as they are constantly engaged in combat.

Last Thursday found me at Houghton, I live in hope of finding the SwF forma valesina on my patch, plenty of SwF about and I searched in vain. A single, very worn, White Admiral was nectaring on the Hemp Agrimony, a once stunning butterfly now full of holes. Back at Whiteways I was entertained by some freshly emerged Common Blues which I recorded.



Only a few scratches on this one

 

Monday I ventured to Anchor Bottom, again in search of some 2nd brood butterflies, this time - Adonis Blues - alas very little to be seen in the extensive wild flowers that cover the south facing slope. I also failed to find any sign of the Silver-spotted Skipper colony that used to be below the rabbit warren. It was all a bit depressing until a fly by of a Small Tortoiseshell had me puffing up the slope. I finally caught up with it as it came to rest on a sun baked cow pat - amazing how such beautiful creatures are attracted to so much poo! Not long before these slopes are covered in countless Autumn Lady's Tresses, another sign of the end of the butterflying year.

 

Tuesday, Martin picked me up and we set off for Tillets Lane Fields near Warnham, ostensibly for some late season Purple Hairstreaks and a slim chance of a Brown Hairstreak. With clear skies we were scouring the tops of some magnificent oaks, wondering if we were too late, when down fluttered a silver object that crash landed right in front of us - another worn specimen of what we had come for. And to top it all, on the way back to the car I found a male Brown Hairstreak, unfortunately I managed only two out of focus shots before it disappeared for good.

Proof - but no prize for the photo.

Next up was Madgelands Wood, again a search for possible late Purple Emperor and perhaps a White Admiral - no such luck. A fleeting glance of a large butterfly in the top of an oak was probably a purply, but there again no positive ID. So none of our targets were achieved but we were rewarded by some obliging Southern Hawkers, posing in the sunshine that penetrates the rides.

We finished the day touring the rides of Houghton Forest, lots of SwFs, Red Admirals and Brimstones but for me the blue female Common Blue was the best of the bunch.

Grayling

Butterflying in the Pyrenees was a fantastic experience and I thought returning to the usual haunts would be something of an anti-climax. Not so - it was quite refreshing to add some of the regulars to my year list.

First up was a gentle walk around Houghton Forest where I added White Admiral and Silver Washed Fritillary - alas no Purple Emperor but it was good to record 16 species on a two hour amble. A nice Brimstone posed and was duly recorded.

Yesterday was a trip to Alners Gorse, the butterfly reserve in Dorset. Martin had Purple Hairstreak at the top of his photographic list and I had some success with them here last year. It is the only place I know where they reliably come down to nectar. They weren't coming down in their hundreds but at least we had some to record.

Today was a walk up Windover Hill, I noticed some wag on BC Sussex call it Col de Windover - nowhere near it mate - it's just a gentle uphill stroll. On the way up we recorded plenty of Chalk Hill Blues - most showing signs of wear and some making more CHBs. As we paused for lunch we had a good looking Small Copper and a fleeting glimpse of a Silver Spotted Skipper that I failed to relocate.

Living up to its name.

Yup - it's dog poo!

Has to be the last of the Dark Green Frits - year tick for Martin.

On to the top and it wasn't long before sharp-eyed Martin spotted our first Grayling, which unfortunately did a bunk before I recorded it. Never mind during the course of an hour we found several more and managed some nice record shots.

So, it's nice to be back in business - perhaps another outing on the downs for the missing Silver Spotted Skipper.

Purple Emperor

It has been a madcap couple of weeks on the butterfly front, so this afternoon I decided to do a tour of the local patch - Houghton Forest , where I expected things to be a bit steadier. I started at Whiteways meadow and had immediate success with a Gatekeeper ab excessa, albeit with most of the rear half missing.

With the sun coming through the thick clouds the place was buzzing, unfortunately none of the larger butterflies were up for nectaring nor perching for a photo. I decided to give the inner rides a look and it wasn't long before I had a White Admiral - but on the gravel of the ride rather than posing on a branch.

Then I was buzzed my a much larger butterfly which landed about twenty yards away. I left it for a couple of minutes before I approached - a nice clean Purple Emperor probing for salts in the damp gravel.  In the end I managed to get within three feet of the butterfly as it fed, unconcerned by my presence.

Not a bad return for about 400 yds of walking, seventeen species in all and a photogenic Purple Emperor.



Turtle Dove

It has been a couple of months since my last birding tick, in fact it was twitching the Short-toed Snake Eagle in the Ashdown Forest, which seems ages ago. With the butterfly populations on the wane and my photographs up to date, I decided that it was time to re-join the birding scene. Several times on butterflying outings I have heard the distinctive purr of Turtle Doves but never had visual contact. So a visit to Woods Mill where a pair have been residing, and unlike other birds, have not been shy. In fact one bird has a preference for a perch in a dead tree that stands over the lake.

As I took the camera gear from the car I could hear a bird purring away in a high tree at the end of the lake. I located it immediately and sat down to wait for it to occupy its favourite perch. Actually it took some time before the action started and I wasn't really prepared for what happened next. The Turtle Dove was happily calling away when an interloper in the shape of a Great-spotted Woodpecker arrived on the scene. The woodpecker took an instant dislike to the TD and sent it away in a most violent attack, something that I never expected to happen. I sat and waited for the return of the TD as it was some distance away but still calling, Two kind birders then informed me that it was in a dead Ash tree just the other side of the leat path. I found the bird and snapped away to my hearts content, the bird not being spooked by passing families and noisy children - so much for the description "shy".

 

 

As always, photographing a bird in silhouette never produces the best quality and despite constant tinkering with the exposure, I never got that shot that says - nailed it. Still they are a lot better than anything else I have had so far and there is always tomorrow.

I then decided to check up on the progress of the "grebelings", well I can report that at least two have survived and grown well. Each occupies its own raft of water lilies and both are constantly diving for food. Every now and again each makes a call to the parent bird which now studiously ignores them.

Next venue was Anchor Bottom, specifically to find and count any Silver-spotted Skippers that might be present. The upshot was that I found only six, just to the east of the large rabbit warren. It is encouraging that the rabbit population hasn't been persecuted so much recently and their activity is creating a better environment for the butterflies. The upside is that the specimen that I managed to record on camera was a female and that she laid at least two eggs, one of which I recorded.

 

 
Finally a quick visit to Houghton where I found nothing exciting, just the usual suspects. The Painted Lady appeared fresh and was happy to be snapped nectaring on the Hemp Agrimony.