WHITE LETTER HAIRSTREAKS AT KNAPWELL WOOD

 One of the butterflies I failed to record last year was the white letter  hairstreak. I used to regularly find one of two of these small butterflies at a woodland near home but have been unable to locate them recently. However, as I was staying with my sister I asked if she knew of a colony near to her in Cambridgeshire and she told  about some she'd seen in a small clearing in Knapwell wood. 

On arrival in the small carpark, I followed her down a path and into the woodland where she located the clearing, although it had become somewhat overgrown. We focused on an area of brambles just below some elms, and making our way through some shoulder high cow parsley soon spotted our first white letter hairstreak on the bramble. They were hard to photograph as they appeared as small dark triangles with the sun behind them, but eventually I succeeded in getting a few decent images. 

We then made for a golf course at Therfield heath where we found some dark green fritillaries flying at great speed across the long grass before disappearing. These were new for the year, together with a single chalk hill blue which we found clinging to some grass for a few seconds. Sadly I was unable to photograph either species on this visit. 

DAY OUT IN SUFFOLK

 Our original plan for this weekend was to visit Norfolk to  see swallowtail butterflies but as they have had an early season and we could not be confident of  sightings we decided to visit the RSPB reserve at Minsmere which I've never  been to before.

After an uneventful two hour car journey we reached Minsmere at 10am with clear blue skies and a warm sunshine. Leaving the visitor centre we spent some time watching a colony of sand martins using a  nesting bank, before heading off to the hides. The gravel islands on the coast trail  held various gulls as well as common and sandwich terns with a few waders present e.g oyster catchers and lapwings.We could feel the brisk wind on oud faces whilst it whipped up waves on the sea.

Passing the reed beds we listened out for bearded tits but they proved elusive now their first broods have fledged. However at the bittern hide we had scarcely entered when a bittern did a fly past in front of the hide. This was the first of a few flights over the next ten minutes. Squeezing into a seat at the right hand corner we saw a kingfisher fly along the water channel before returning to settle on a perch in the shelter of the ditch below us. Beyond us we could see a couple of marsh harriers hunting over the reedbeds. 

Other hides yielded nothing new but we did spot some dragonflies including a  green eyed norfolk hawker which was busy patrolling a ditch alongside the path. 

Discovering that silver studded blue butterflies could be found on neighboutring heath we decided to try and incorporate a visit to a Dunwich Hesth. owned by the NT. It was only a short visit, and most of the heather seemed to have gone over,  but  eventually, having made a circular walk,  I spotted three rather worn butterflies on a clump of heather which was still in flower, only fifty yards or so from the carpark. I should add though that we also saw an adder slither quickly across the path in front of us, a creature I'd not seen in the wild before. 

sand martins

avocet

sandwich terns

kingfisher

Norfolk hawker

silver studded blues

adder

 

RAVENSROOST

I usually make a couple of forays each year during June and July to some old woodland at Ravensroost, not far from Minety to see the woodland species of butterflies. Today was another hot and sunny day and I had heard that White Admirals have already emerged in the local area so I went over there after lunch. 

There is a main track which leads from the car park around some bends and ends at the far end of the woodland. Along this route I  found three White Admirals on the way and seven on my return. Only one of them settled and that was for just long enough for a quick photo.  No silver washed fritillaries though I was told a couple had been seen that morning. There were a few dragonflies and damselflies around the pond and in the meadow I saw my first ringlets and small skippers.

meadow brown

four spotted chaser

orchids alongside the main path

large red damselfly

white admiral

small skipper

ringlet

 

SILVER STUDDED BLUES AND HEATH FRITILLARIES

On a short trip to Kent I managed to squeeze in a couple of butterfly spotting visits. On Friday I  drove over to East Blean woods where there is a colony of the rare heath fritillary butterflies. I first visited the site 3 years ago but thought it would be rather nice to see them again. It was a hot day but I got to the carpark by 1030 and ventured into the woods where the trees were keeping things somewhat cooler. I was slightly unsure if I would still find the heath fritillaries in the same place as before but I needn't have worried. Cow wheat which is the caterpillar  food  plant was still growing alongside the path and I saw my first butterfly sunbathing on some bracken a few hundred metres after the reserve entrance. I think I saw a couple of dozen butterflies although there were probably many more. As the temperature rose the butterflies became more active and less inclined to settle but it was good to see them once again.

On my return journey home the forecast was for substantiallly lower temperatures and some rain  spreading from the west so I left Kent in good time to try and reach Silchester Common to search for silver studded blues. It was still quite warm at 22° when I got there but it had clouded over and I felt a few spots of rain. I thought it would still be worth taking a look in case it brightened up so followed a  route to an area of heather and gorse. It was still spitting a bit with rain so I was quite surprised to see two butterflies suddenly start fluttering about just above the heather. I lost them as they flew off but as the sky brightened, others became noticeable and I saw up to six at any one time. I'm sure I  would have seen a lot more if it had been sunnier. The ones I saw were all males. 

Whilst there, I saw a lare yellow and black dragonfly zoom past which I suspected could have been a golden ringed but sadly I couldn't identify it. It appeared to come to a halt  behind a group of bushes but I couldn't locate it .A pity as I would have loved to seen it closer and be able to identify it as I've not see one before.  .  

As I turned to go back to the car the rain started in earnest.....

cow wheat

heath fritillary

path through East Blean woods, butterflies could be found each side of the path

male and female

silver studded blue

underwing, - spot the blue studs

large skipper

Emperor moth caterpillar

COLN COUNTRY PARK DRAGONFLIES

 It was a hot day today so I decided to stay fairly local and visited a small country park just outside Fairford. It consists of a circular walk around a sailing lake but nothing else of note, although I noticed today there were signs saying that a visitor centre was being built. I've yet to discover if this is for the country park or something else. 

It was calm on the water, I could see some small flocks of greylag and canada geese in the distance and had fleeting glimpses of a couple of reed buntings and reed warblers .

There were numerous blue damselflies, and  a couple of dragonflies; a male black tailed skimmer and my first emperor dragonfly of the year, which conveniently perched on a nearby reed for a short period to enable a photo. On the butterfly front, I saw a red admiral, small tortoiseshell and a large skipper. 

black tailed skimmer

emperor dragonfly

LARGE BLUE AT DANEWAY BANK

The  large blue butterflies have just started emerging at Daneway banks reserve near Cirencester so I headed over there this afternoon straight from work. The forecast was sunny with some cloud around, so I thought that would be perfect for some sightings of these rare butterflies. 

I parked the car in a layby at the bottom of the hill then walked up the narrow steep road to the gate to the reserve. Someone was just leaving and informed me that there were a few butterflies around, through the main gate then through another gate on the left.  I could see a few people gathered in one area so made for that spot. 

I was shown a  butterfly which perched briefly, wings closed on a seed head and then another which remained for longer. I have learned that large blues prefer to keep their wings closed during the hot sun, only opening them when it clouds over so, with only a few patches of cloud around, it  had  its wings tightly shut.  

Some people tried casting a shadow over it to encourage it to open its wings but to no avail. Eventually a cloud  covered the sun and the wings opened, ever so slightly but sufficiently to give everyone a chance to  see the pattern on the wing and to obtain some record photos.

I only saw about three or four of these large blues, including a mating pair. It seemed as if they had only just started emerging and the usual area  I find them in had none at all yet. Walking through the reserve, I spotted my first marbled whites of the year, and there were a few meadow browns too. Surprisingly there were not the numbers of butterflies I had expected on such a sunny day.  Some other visitors who had spent the morning at the reserve had also spotted ringlet, brown argus, small skipper and dark green fritillary but I didn't see these.

I was pleased for one young chap, who said that the large blue was his final UK butterfly to have seen. He had come down from Lincolnshire especially and was even prepared to go on to Somerset if he didn't find one in Gloucestershire!  It seems it was just in time, as he also told me he was about to go out to Australia with a view to emigrating there! 

  

BUTTERFLY UPS AND DOWNS

 June is a busy month for butterfy enthusiasts with many species starting to emerge at this time. However, with a relatively warm May some species have begun their flight period a little earlier than usual and I was to find that out to my cost. 

My few days in Cambridgeshire began with a visit en route to Bucknell wood near Silverstone to look for wood whites, of which dozens had been recorded in recent days. Despite cloudy conditions, I spotted my first one about half a mile along the main track, a  white shape suspended under a flower.   At this point  the sky did start to brighten and  I observed about half a dozen individuals fluttering weakly above the grasses at the edge of the track before I returned to my car to continue my journey.

wood whites at Bucknell wood

main track from car park at Bucknell wood, near Silverstone

With the recent introduction of chequered skipper butterflies to Rockingham Forest.  I had been looking forward to seeing these pretty little butterflies for  myself. The exact location had been revealed earlier this year and a recent blog saying they had emerged mid May was the principal reason for fitting in this additional trip to stay with my sister. I knew that sightings could not be guaranteed as only a few individuals had been seen per guided walk, nevertheless I was still optimistic as someone I met earlier in the week had shown me some photos he'd taken last weekend and the website said that guided walks would be continuing until 12 June.  At Fineshade wood near Corby we followed the children's  'Gruffalo' trail through the trees to a crossroads. A couple of people who had travelled down from Liverpool to see butterflies  told us the best area to look but despite a good search, the only skippers we found were dingy and grizzled so slightly disappointed we returned to the carpark before heading over to the visitor centre.  Here a notice outside informed us that daily guided walks had been discontinued due to lack of sightings and the flight period was assumed to have ended!. A shame it hadn't been noted on the website!   Ah well, at least I'll know where to look next year all being well!. We enjoyed some hot soup and bread in the café before a fire alarm necessitated evacuation and put a premature end to our meal and we returned to the car. 

characters from 'The Gruffalo' at Fineshade wood

grizzled skipper

common blue

dingy skipper

Our next stop was  a wildlife trust reserve about fifteen minutes away  known as Glapthorn cow pastures where  the growth of a lot of blackthorn scrub has mad the site attractive to black hairstreak butterflies.  After parking along the side of a track opposite the entrance, we took the the advice of a  visitor just leaving, to take the third path on the right where we soon   came across a few people all eagerly examining areas of bramble and blackthorn bushes at various spots.  It didn't take long to realise that this was indeed a hotspot for numerous black hairstreaks which were  fluttering about and settling regularly providing ample opportunities for watching and photographing them within touchable distance. In this case we'd succeeded in seeing the species at the height of its short flight season! 

black hairstreak at Glapthorn cow pastures

I'm hoping to return in a couple of weeks for a visit to see swallowtails in Norfolk although  having heard that their flight season has also started early my confidence of seeing them is beginning to wane...(but at least they may have a second brood)