BUTTERFLY BONANZA AT SOMERFORD COMMON

 Usually, when I have a free Saturday I use the opportunity to drive a bit further afield to see birds or butterflies. However with no additional butterfly species still to  find, and no bird rarities that I wished to travel a distance to see, I decided to follow up a local sighting record for a range of butterflies at Somerford Common, especially as a dozen or more clouded yellows had been noted, including two 'helice' forms of the latter.   

As the temperature began to rise mid morning I drove over to this reserve owned by  Forestry England and joined a couple of cars in the small carpark. The area consists of mainly oak and beech woodland criss-crossed by a number of paths and is known for its butterflies and birds although I admit I rarely visit as often as I could.

The path from the carpark leads uphill along a deeply rutted track which can often become very muddy. However, after a dry summer, this was hard baked with cracks in it. As the track meets a crossroads of paths, I started to see butterflies, firstly a common blue and a small white, followed by a clouded yellow. Taking the path straight ahead I found another clouded yellow, together with brown argus ( fresh) some whites, comma and brimstone. At one place I could see four clouded yellows in close proximity, each nectarring on the plentiful scabious flower heads. 

I spent the next hour or so, exploring different paths; clouded  yellows ( 12)  were the easiest to find, owing to their bright golden yellow colouring but I also found painted lady (3), comma (3)  red admiral (1) brimstone (1) small copper (1), speckled wood (2)  brown argus (8) common blue (4) green veined white (2) small white (2) large white (2) . (Numbers in brackets are minimum seen).  After taking many photos, especially of clouded yellows, I decided to stay a little longer to  look out for a  'helice' form of the clouded yellow which I had never seen before but had been recorded here.  This is a rarer paler version of the female butterfly which sometimes occurs.  I was therefore pleasantly surprised when one did appear,  which was interesting to compare with the usual form; as both colour versions flew together, the 'whiter' form was clear to see, but impossible to photograph in flight!

clouded yellows ( females)

clouded yellow

'helice' female form

brown argus

green veined white

comma

common blue

two migrants plus a small white

speckled wood

small white

small copper

painted lady

large white

IT'S STILL HERE!

 The long tailed shrike has now remained at Eastleach Downs for almost two months, and has been presenting closer and better views as it appears to grow more confident with birders around it. With the bird being so close to home, and even closer to my workplace, it has been easy to drive over to see it, and I've now visited the site six times, each time hoping for improved photos but at the same time enjoying the presence of this remarkable bird, as it allows people to get within 20 feet, and also flying down to the ground in front of photographers at a lesser distance than even that. The shrike has moved further away from the county border, and has settled on the Gloucestershire side, even sitting in the hedge right close to the road rather than half way along the footpath. One wonders just how much longer it will stay, perhaps it will wait until the weather has a definite colder feel to it. Meanwhile we can just stand back and admire its beautiful plumage, now it has come to the end of its moult.  A  selection of the (far too many) photos I took yesterday are below.

LONG TAILED BLUES AT PORTSDOWN HILL

My best butterfly year is continuing as I added another rare species to my year list today. Long tailed blues are relatively scarce migrants which turn up from time to time along the south coast of the UK and occasionally further inland.  I saw my first one several years back when there were records coming in from Lancing Ring  near Worthing. However on that occasion I never managed any really close shots, or butterflies with closed wings, showing their unmistakeable wavy underwing pattern. 

Portsdown Hill is a much closer location to me, and is described in the Hants and IOW Butterfly walk book, so I was able to find it fairly easily, although when I arrived at the carpark ate 9.30 am I was  somewhat surprised to see it almost full. Surely these cars didn't just belong to butterfly enthusiasts? I would expect birders to arrive early, but butterflies often fly later in the day.  As the carpark had fine views of  Portsmouth harbour and the Isle of Wight, it would perhaps be a  good stop off point for  people wanting a  break or  to make a phone call etc..  

Anyway, after securing a place to park, I had my coffee and then got out to explore. There was a path leading to some wild flower areas directly west of the car park, so I took a quick walk to see what I could find, however, this didn't fit with the description of a bench at the east of the reserve. Then after  bumping into someone else who hadn't visited before, ( and I discovered actually read some of  my blogs!),  we decided that the location we needed was across the road where a number of paths criss-crossed a  gently sloping chalk hillside. Once across the busy road, a gap in the hedge provided access to the area we wanted to reach, and led down to a path. We headed east and found a basic bench around which the grass  had been trampled down,  a clear sign that we were close to  our target butterfly!  Some white butterflies were flying about, and some common blues landed on vegetation, and I saw a butterfly which settled briefly on a leaf which I was pretty sure was a long tailed blue though it soon flew off. A couple of people  with cameras passed by and directed us to another area a little further along  where a path led up behind some wild flowers  then back  down again to the main  path. They'd seen a couple of LTBs and went back and pointed one out. In fact over the next    half hour or so, there were two LTBs, interacting with each other in the air, before occasionally settling on a piece of vegetation near enough to photograph them,  Their fast. zig zag flight made it difficult to follow them . Although rather tatty and faded, one did still have its 'tails' and it was possible to get a decent photo or two.  On the paths lower down the slopes I  saw several chalk hill blues, common blues, and a clouded yellow, also  meadow browns and small heaths.

I think I need to keep an eye on the  sightings page to see if any butterflies of this rare species emerge later in  September or October and make another trip if time permits.  

THE EASTLEACH SHRIKE AGAIN

I paid my  third (and final?) visit to  Eastleach Downs yesterday to see the Long Tailed shrike which has been resident there for the past month. I gather that it has been  undergoing a moult which would explain its long stay, it certainly hasn't been short of food, with plenty of grasshoppers and the occasional small rodent amongst its food. Over the past couple of weeks it has been perched frequently along a fence line and on long stemmed grasses only 20 feet from the path, returning to roost in a bramble bush adjacent to the path. I'd seen many reports of how well it had been showing,  accompanied by some excellent close photos, so with a few free hours I drove the  twenty minutes from home over to the field car park before walking the quarter mile or so to the footpath which passes alongside the shrike's favourite locations. 

There was only a handful of cars in the carpark and about 8 - 10 people with cameras waiting for the shrike to make an appearance after having disappeared for the past half hour. I was assured it would return, and it wasn't long before it did. The bird perched along the wire fence, watching the dried grass below it for anything it could feed on. Occasionally it would  drop down then appear further along, sometimes on the wire, or a post, or on some tall plants. It wasn't always easy to get a clear sighting   through the long grass but when you did, it gave great views as  perched almost still for several minutes before moving along to its next look out point. 

Several visitors had travelled south from places such as Manchester and Birmingham to see it, and a few mentioned that they'd even  been up to Scotland to see the one which was seen a few weeks before, but had only seen a small shape through a 'scope of binoculars. Certainly that was my experience on my first visit, but since then it has provided closer and closer views. I wonder how much longer it will stay, it has certainly given many birders a lot of pleasure to see a Long Tailed shrike at such close proximity.  

AN AUDIENCE WITH THE QUEEN OF SPAIN

 Well, what a year it's proving to be for butterflies, especially with summer migrants such as painted lady and clouded yellow. I've had a good year too, with three new lifers so far. Today I was able to add that total, by following up a sightings report of  several Queen of Spain fritillaries which had been seen in a field in a  small village in Hampshire. 

Some of these extremely rare migratory fritillaries have already been recorded in the Isle of Wight, and with a holiday booked there for next week, I was hoping to catch sight of them then. However, a couple of days ago another sighting was reported in Hampshire in a field in Monk Sherborne. I didn't initially think of looking into this sighting, but then realised it was only an hour from my home, and twenty minutes from my daughter's. And with at least four butterflies seen, it was highly likely that they would still be around if I visited today. 

I set off at eight o'clock thinking that traffic should be easier ( on a Saturday) and hoping that the warm temperatures would bring the butterflies out early in the day. I was right on both accounts, but I hadn't really expected it to be something of a twitch, with a dozen or so cars already parked at the entrance to the farm through which the public footpath led to the location site. 

Some butterfly enthusiasts had travelled from as far as Manchester, but others only an hour or less as I did. I suppose living towards the south of the country, most rare migrants are likely to be coming up from Europe, possibly making it nearer for me to travel to. I heard some people talk of long tailed blues north of Portsmouth so I made a mental note to try and fit in that visit in the last two weeks of the summer holidays. 

As I  followed the footpath from the car, I met someone returning who assured me I would find the butterflies easily, and to follow the path until I saw a group of people all with the same purpose. As I reached them, I could easily see an orange butterfly sunning  itself on the path ahead of me. The Queen of Spain fritillary is a medium-sized orange butterfly with black markings, similar to the other fritillaries. However, it has distinctive large pearly-silver spangles on the underside of its hind wings and  this regal appearance gives the butterfly its name. The species has a preference for warm dry conditions and often basks on bare ground to absorb heat to give it rapid flight.

This was the first of many sightings of these fritillaries. There were perhaps four or more, mainly males, ( should they be called the King of Spain?)  apparently, though I have not learnt how to differentiate between the sexes yet. 

Initially they were stopping on the bare ground, occasionally shutting their wings, but eventually one or two stopped to rest or nectar on thistles which gave everyone the chance for the better photographs they were after. Even when they disappeared, it was not long before they returned to the same area, an area of set-aside bordering the wide stony footpath. I also saw common blues, small copper, small white and a clouded yellow whilst there. After a couple of hours enjoying this  'twitch'  and having achieved the photos I was hoping for,   I left  having added species #51 to my year list and being a  'lifer' too.