SILVER WASHED FRITILLARIES

 I managed to squeeze in a quick visit to Ravensroost Woods early this afternoon in between an electrician's visit and a meet- up with friends. The sun came out just as I arrived which made me hopeful of seeing the largest of the fritillaries, the silver washed fritillary. 

I walked fairly briskly down the main track, which had plenty of ringlets and meadow browns fluttering each side, crossed over another track, through a gate and round three bends to arrive at an area adjacent to a pond, where there is  a small clearing and an area of brambles. which is always a popular place for butterflies. Within a few minutes I had found a couple of silver washed fritillaries ( new) which were nectaring on the thistle-like flowers. At the pond, there were male and female emperor dragonflies, broad bodied chaser, brown hawker, large red damselfly, common blue damselfly. 

As I was speaking to the man who does the butterfly transect for the wood, a small purplish-grey butterfly passed us and fluttered up into a tree.  I couldn't see where it landed but he found it in his binoculars and confirmed it was a purple hairstreak ( new).  He told me that he had seen 2 white admirals and more silver washed fritillaries further along the track so I followed it but   only saw SWF but no white admirals.  

I retraced my steps to the pond, where a couple of people said that they'd just been watching a white admiral posing in front of them but it had now gone! I waited and eventually saw 3 white admirals but none was near enough for a photo. Other butterflies seen on my visit were red admiral, small skipper, speckled wood and comma. I would like to have remained longer in the wood but my time was limited and I had to leave. Hopefully I will be able to fit in another visit before the month is over. 

HERE AND THERE

I visited a couple of sites south of Swindon today to see what butterflies were about. At Barbury Castle the most noticeable species was small tortoiseshells which seemed to be everywhere. I saw  some meadow browns,  large skippers and small heaths, just a couple of common blues and a single marbled white. I also had some good views of a skylark on a fence post. 

From there I visited Martinsell hillfort where I found more marbled whites, meadow browns and small heaths, and saw ringlets ( too active for photographs today)  and a small skipper, the latter two species being  my  first  of the year.

small tortoiseshell

large skipper

skylark

marbled white

small skipper

LARGE BLUE

I paid a visit to Daneway banks near Cirencester this morning to see if I could tick off large blue butterfly for the year.  The forecast had originally predicted sun and cloud but there was no sun at all by the time I reached the reserve, however it was quite warm and barely a breath of wind. 

Having walked up the steep hill to the entrance I saw a scattering of people  with cameras;  that would  certainly make it easier to locate any butterflies as it would be obvious if they were all staring at a particular spot! 

I followed the path to where I expected to find some large blues and started speaking to someone who said that  about 4 had been seen that morning. He then said that if I quickly followed the path a bit further, there was a butterfly with open wings which I might be able to see. As I passed a tall bush I could see a handful of people with cameras  and made my way over to them. As I had been told,  a large blue was perched on a leaf with open wings and I found a vantage point which enabled a few photos.  However after a minute or so it closed its wings again and remained in that pose for the rest of the time I was there!  A few people came up behind and took photos of the closed wings and decided to wait to see if it would open its wings again, however, any early brightness had gone and it didn't look as if the sun would reappear anytime soon.

I got chatting to a lady  who said that she had travelled down from Stafford by herself using public transport ( 3 trains and a bus) to see the large blues! However, she had joined the group of photographers just after the butterfly had shut its wings! She did have another couple of hours before her bus was due, so I hope the sun came out sufficiently for her to see the open wings. She also told me she had just found her first small blue, again with closed wings.  

Despite wandering back through the reserve, I couldn't find any more large blues or people that had seen any so decided to return to the car, at least I had managed a couple of photos even if I only saw one individual large blue. 

SILVER STUDS AT SILCHESTER

 

At this time of  year I find myself making more journeys to locate specific species of butterfly to ensure I keep up with the emergence of butterflies during the year. Yesterday  I saw black hairstreaks and today it was the turn of the silver studded blue, of which there is a colony at Silchester common, which, happily for me, is only a short distance from where one of my daughters lives. 

I arrived at the parking area next to the adjacent Pamber forest to find a large group of people  armed with cameras and binoculars standing around chatting , and the car park full. However, after turning round,  I did manage to squeeze in at the side of the road a short distance away. It transpired that this was a Natural History group hoping to see butterflies as well as other flora and fauna. 

I made my way past the group and headed out onto to an area of Silchester Common where I know that my target species are usually found. I noted that there was a lot of heather still in flower, in contrast to  some of my previous visits  when most had gone over. Several stonechats were calling from the tops of the gorse bushes. Initially the sun only appeared at intervals although it was quite warm with little wind. But when it did come out, so did the  butterflies, fluttering only a few inches above the dry heathland. The blue males were predominant, but I did manage to find one brown female. In the sun, the butterflies settled with their wings open, and it took some time to find an individual with its wings closed, in order to look closely at the silver 'studs' which give the species its name. As the morning wore on, the clouds gradually disappeared and the numbers of butterflies increased before it was time to leave. I came across the Natural history group as I left, so was glad I had the site to myself for a while! 

silver studded blue male

silver studded blue female

underwing showing silver 'studs'

stonechat

I  went on to another site, Padworth common, to see if I could spot any dragonflies near the pond amongst the trees but only found  blue damselflies and the occasional broad bodied chaser flying at the other end of the pond. However, on my way back to the car I had  nice views of a roe deer which fed for quite a while before realising my presence. 

BIRDS AND BUTTERFLIES

 

  

Today I spent most of the morning at Slimbridge WWT centre.  I had been planning to make another visit and I'd noted that the little ringed plovers on the Rushy Pen now had two chicks (a further two had been predated). There have also been sightings of a white spotted bluethroat from the summer walkway  so I thought I may as well take a look there just in case...

From the Rushy Pen hide I easily spotted the little ringed plovers; their nest with eggs had been protected with a wire cage but now the family were outside it by the water's edge. While I was watching, there was a bit of drama when a pair of jackdaws started taking an interest in the chicks so the parents feigned being injured to lure them away. However, the jackdaws flew off after a while and they were left in peace.

With not much else on to see from the Holden Walkway I headed out via the summer walkway towards Mid point where the blue throat had been seen. The reeds were blowing about quite a bit in the wind so it was not surprising that the blue throat did not make an appearance. However I did meet my cousin Jon amongst the birders so it was nice to catch up. 

As I had spent quite a while watching for the blue throat, I did not have time to visit all the hides today.  However, I did decide to explore a couple of newly opened areas of the Centre, namely a Nene goose area and a large  new aviary  where it was possible to get close up photos of some common waders. 

avocet and chick

avocet chick

greylag and goslings

little egret

little ringed plover chick

adult LRP feigning injury

adult LRP and one of the chicks

nene goose

greylag goslings asleep in the middle of the path!

shelduck ducklings

ringed plover in the aviary

redshank in the aviary

oyster catcher and redshank in the aviary

With the promise of some late sunshine,  I went home  and then headed out again to Bernwood Meadows in the hope of finding some black hairstreaks, as they only have a very short flight season, and I wasn't sure how much longer they would be around.

I didn't arrive till 4 oclock and there were only a few spells of sunshine although it was still failry warm. Knowing where to find the butterflies meant that I could  head straight for the blackthorn hedge near the entrance  to the woods and  it wasn't long before I saw the first small black hairstreak fluttering above the hedge. However it went down on the opposite side where I could not see it.  I only found 3 of these butterflies in total, and they only appeared when the sun came out. On one occasion, one individual did settle where I could get my camera focussed on it although it wasn't the best angle, but it was the only photo I could get from the hour and a half I was there. There were a few dragonflies around, including broad bodied chaser and emperor and just one small heath butterfly in the meadow flowers.  

black hairstreak

the hairstreaks were found on the blackthorn hedge to the left of the sign board at the rear of the field

broad bodied chaser f

broad bodied chaser m

MORE BUTTERFLIES ON THE WING

 I paid a visit to Ravensroost woods this afternoon in cloudy weather; in the meadows I saw plenty of  meadow brown butterflies and a few large skippers. A largish dragonfly was flying around for a bit but not near enough to identify. I followed the track down to the ponds but the only butterfly seen was a speckled wood. Wating to turn onto the A419 I noticed a marbled white butterfly fluttering amongst the vegetation on the  verge. So that was three  new species for the year, although  being common species, I am sure they will occur regularly in my walks over the coming months. 

large skipper

large skipper

meadow brown