RAVENSWOOD

A couple of visits to Ravenswood nature reserve this week gave me my first sightings of silver washed fritillaries this year. With the hot weather continuing it was pleasant to stroll along the paths through the shady woodland. Plenty of ringlets and meadow browns around, also several whites, (including marbled white), speckled wood and large skippers. 

I also explored further into the  wood as far as  a pond where dragonflies and damselflies were everywhere, and in this area I saw a white admiral. Both purple and white letter hairstreaks have been seen this week at Ravenswood, but disappointingly I didn't find them. However, I did see and hear a couple of ravens after which the wood is named.

silver washed fritillary

white admiral

comma

BENTLEY WOOD BUTTERFLIES

I wanted to visit Bentley Wood  earlier this month but had other committments on Saturdays so with  a good forecast  today, I left home at 20 to 8 hoping to have a clear run down to this ancient woodland, south east of Salisbury. This proved to be the case and I pulled into the carpark at just after 9 am. with the sun shining, and the temperature warming up. 

There is a clearing near the entrance known as the Eastern Clearing, which has a good population of Pearl bordered and Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries, and I was hoping to get my first sighting of the latter species.  Consequently I headed there initially.  Many  ringlets were fluttering about amongst the bracken, and a few marbled whites, but sadly no fritillaries. Checking the log book in the carpark later on, it seems that none have been seen for a while, and I concluded that they must have finished for the year, despite some butterfly guide books suggesting that they can even be around into July. 

I  had returned to the car park, to get refreshments from my car,  and decide which part of the wood to explore next, when a dog walker greeted me and made a passing comment that there were a some big butterflies around today, but he didn't know what they were!  BIG BUTTERFLIES!  Could it be... his majesty? 
There was one way to find out, so I asked for directions where he had seen them, which was a short way up a nearby track and forking left.  I walked purposefully along the track, and soon came across the fork  he had mentioned. As I turned to go down it, a large dark butterfly flew down to the ground ahead of me.   Was it..... yes it was.... a Purple Emperor! The blue sheen told me it was certainly a male, but it only stopped for a few seconds before flying off. I waited, and it appeared again, this time settling on some leaves at the side of the path at about knee height. I got my camera  ready but oh no, the battery symbol was showing red, but thankfully it lasted long enough to  enable me to take some photographs.  It then flew off again and I inserted my spare battery, but this beautiful butterfly did not appear again. 

At the back of the bracken, I caught sight of another slightly smaller dark butterfly, which proved to be a white admiral but was sadly too distant to photograph. 

Returning somewhat elated to the car park, I met a few more butterfly enthusiasts anxiously scanning the tree tops for purple emperors; apparently one had been seen briefly earlier but had now vanished.  This time it was my turn to show my photographs rather than enviously look at other people's!

Not being in a hurry I decided to take the 20 minute walk down to some elms which are the home of a colony of white letter hairstreaks, and where I had seen a single individual a few years back. A couple of visitors were already there, staring up into the tree tops, and the husband pointed out a butterfly which I  only glimpsed for a couple of seconds before it disappeared amongst the canopy. He told me it was a white letter hairstreak and he had seen three of them in total. We waited a while, but it had begun to cloud over and  we felt it was unlikely they would fly again. 

Getting into conversation, he told me that he had only two more species to see before he had seen the whole of the UK butterfly species. These were swallowtail and brown hairstreak - both of which I have seen. Questioning him about the northern butterflies, he said he had found it easier because he came from Newcastle. However, with a lot of butterflies found only in the south of the UK, he had to take regular mini breaks in order to see them. 

The problem with brown hairstreaks is that they appear in August, and he usually tried to avoid school holidays, but with just two to go, I guess he will just have to do it once! 

Although slightly disappointed to have missed the fritillaries this year, I was very happy with my purple emperor sighting, the past couple of years I have seen them high up on the column at Savernake forest, but never as close as today. 

MEADOW BUTTERFLIES

On the longest day of the year I headed over to Ravensroost Wood and nearby Somerford Common for a couple of hours this afternoon. 

I was on the look out for White Admirals which have already been seen elsewhere, but not yet at Ravensroost, but I didn't see any either!

However, over both sites I visited, I was able to find Marbled whites, large numbers of meadow browns and good numbers of large skippers too. At Somerford Common I also found a ringlet,  and common blue and at Ravensroost a speckled wood and small heath.

large skipper

common blue

marbled white

ringlet

LARGE BLUES

It is always interesting to meet new people when you're out butterfly spotting, and today as I pulled up in  the lay-by near to the Daneway Banks Reserce in Gloucestershire, I was shortly followed by a red convertible sports car, complete with driver wearing leather hat with ear flaps. He got out and asked me where to locate the nature reserve which I was able to do, and  he asked me if I would accompany him  up the hill to the entrance. 


The  driver turned out to be an elderly gentleman who, sadly, had been recently widowed.Once an eye surgeon,  who trained at Moorfield eye hospital and then worked as a surgeon at Oxford, he also was  once a professional wildlife photographer, specialising in mini- beasts, although that was before the age of digital cameras which he hadn't yet mastered!. Maybe his interest in tiny creatures was reflective of his job as an eye surgeon! Today he was camera-free but had wanted to see a large blue butterfly, once extinct but now breeding on the reserve. 

On arrival, there were several people who told  us that there were a number of the Large Blues  on the reserve and settling sufficiently to be photographed. With the sun intermittent I was unsure how easy it would to be see them, but in fact it turned to be my most successful year yet, with approx half a dozen individuals seen, and some with open wings. Initially there were one or two on the lower part of the reserve,  but  after bidding goodbye, to the ex-photographer/surgeon - who had achieved his objective , I then climbed to a plateau above  where there were a few more, and I waited patiently, focusing on one individual with closed wings, until the sun appeared and it was persuaded to gently open them. 

I also clocked up another couple of new species for the year; marbled white and ringlet but neither stopped to be photographed on this occasion.  Total butterflies seen today were: ringlet, speckled wood, marbled white, small heath, common blue, large blue, brown argus and large skipper.

entrance to Daneway Banks reserve

BLACK HAIRSTREAKS

This time last year I paid a visit to Whitecross Green Woods, Oxon and was rewarded with my first sighting of the rare black hairstreak butterfly. On that occasion I  managed to see about a dozen of these little butterflies, which at the time I was told was a good count for a first visit!

Today I drove over there once again, and there were black hairstreaks everywhere! Scores of them, I probably counted a dozen with ten minutes of my arrival. They were predominantly around some blackthorn and hawthorn bushes at the first junction of the rides. I even found a pair mating, but one of them seemed to have wings which were somewhat malformed. 

It was a hot day, so most were flying around the edges of the bushes, occasionally landing, but often in part shade or behind leaves!  I did manage a few photos though.

A few other species of butterflies were around, namely common blues, a few meadow browns and large skippers - both first sightings for this year.  I also saw a single red admiral, and a couple of people told me they'd seen two white admirals although I didn't find them even though I was told where they'd been seen. 

typical half hidden view!

this individual flew off as I pressed the shutter but gave me this blurred view of the open wings!

mating pair - note malformed butterfly underneath!

meadow brown

large skipper

SLIMBRIDGE CHICKS

May and June are always enjoyable months to visit Slimbridge WWT Centre. Breeding season is in full swing and around every corner it seems that you can see ducklings, goslings and  moorhen chicks etc. 

Today was no exception; as I arrived at Slimbridge, the weather brightened and there were frequent sunny  interals after a  rather dull morning, and as I toured the centre I saw adorable shelduck ducklings, greylag families at various stages and some tiny moorhen chicks as well as families of mallards and avocets. 

However, one highlight for me was the crane chick that hatched on the Rushy Pen only a few days ago.  Its parents had nested on an island visible via the webcam, and I saw today that the family had left the island and presumably were feeding amongst the vegetation.  When I got there, only one parent was visible, I was assured that the chick was there, but was so tiny that it could not be seen above the grasses. 

I waited patiently and then the other parent flew in, and as it waded toward them,  the chick appeared with its parent at the edge of the scrape. A few pictures, together with a short video clip are below. 

The other highlight of the day was watching a Little Grebe chick hatching from the Kingfisher Hide. I had heard that three had already hatched and as I entered the hide I was told that the fourth was hatching at that very moment and could be seen though binoculars/telescope.

little grebe family

 

adult removing egg shell after its chick had hatched.

greylag 

shoveler

shelduck family

mallard family

moorhen chick trying to stay dry?

shelduck and young

moorhen chicks

 young shelduck

SEARCHING FOR SWALLOWTAILS

My sister and I got up early to head for Strumpshaw Fen last week, hoping to see swallowtail butterflies. The weather was forecast mostly sunny although slightly breezy. We arrrived at about a quarter to ten and started to wander around the reserve. We saw a number of birds including a black swan and a marsh harrier, and despite the breeze a number of butterflies could be seen; peacock, red admiral and brimstone.  As we had our lunch on  a seat on the boardwalk where the butterflies are known to emerge,   we caught our first glimpse of a swallowtail butterfly as it flew past us and around the corner of some vegetation. 

After waiting around hopefully, no more sightings were made and we continued on the trail across the railway line towards the 'doctor's house' where  these butterflies  are known to be attracted to the garden. Again we had a glimpse of a swallowtail flying off behind some bushes. A couple of photographers assured as that it had been feeding recently on the flowers nearby. Again we waited but none materialised. We returned to the reserve's reception area where they had been spotted the previous day, a hot bank holiday, but drew a blank. 

I thought it would be worth retracing our steps to where we had seen them before, particularly the board walk area, and there we met a few people who were pleased to tell us that they had just taken some lovely photos of three butterflies feeding on the yellow flag irises!  As they had lifted from the flowers, apparently the swallowtails had been caught by the breeze and flown out of sight.

We waited but to no avail. It wasn't our day. But the brief glimpses we had had, made me determined to try again next year. I think it was fairly early in the season, and with the breeze, it was always going to be difficult, though evidently some people had had more success than we had!

Brimstone

jay