Mottisfont 11-12-2022
As my sister had come back for a family Christmas from Perth WA of course the weather took a turn for the cold – with minus temperatures, snow in some southern counties and layers of frost building daily as the weak sun failed to melt it away come morning. Bundled up in many, many layers we set forth along the pathways accompanied by fluffed up Robins and with ice shards coating everything in sight. It was all very fitting as we’d come primarily to see the C.S.Lewis Christmas in Narnia exhibition and so we walked the paths of the Snow Queen’s kingdom stopping to look in various wardrobes that had been placed along the trail and dodging the odd snowflake as it desperately tried to snow.
Before we ventured into the house I had a few moments to look in on the Small Torts in the cellarium. After the initial surprise of having to defog my lens (coming in from minus temperatures to the relative warmth of 5 degrees having misted it up to the same extent as entering the tropical house at Bristol Zoo!) it was good to see the three Small Torts still snuggled down and tucked up in the same positions. The loner was still in the alcove and the other two were still on the vaulted ceiling. A few Xmas decorations had been put up and with them a few lights as well and so I experienced an unusual feeling – gratitude for H&S! Yet in the darkness shineth a fluorescent light, illuminating a Peacock hibernating tight. Maybe I’ll get back here at the end of Jan to see if they’re all still here?
Winter bites down hard
And butterflies hide away
Sleep snugly ‘til spring
P.S…And so ended the year as, at the time of writing at least, there have been no other butterflies for me. Hopefully 2023 will bring us plenty more butterflies.
Before we ventured into the house I had a few moments to look in on the Small Torts in the cellarium. After the initial surprise of having to defog my lens (coming in from minus temperatures to the relative warmth of 5 degrees having misted it up to the same extent as entering the tropical house at Bristol Zoo!) it was good to see the three Small Torts still snuggled down and tucked up in the same positions. The loner was still in the alcove and the other two were still on the vaulted ceiling. A few Xmas decorations had been put up and with them a few lights as well and so I experienced an unusual feeling – gratitude for H&S! Yet in the darkness shineth a fluorescent light, illuminating a Peacock hibernating tight. Maybe I’ll get back here at the end of Jan to see if they’re all still here?
Winter bites down hard
And butterflies hide away
Sleep snugly ‘til spring
P.S…And so ended the year as, at the time of writing at least, there have been no other butterflies for me. Hopefully 2023 will bring us plenty more butterflies.
Five Rivers 28-10-2022
I thought things were done and dusted but the sun still shone…just, and so once again I found myself winding my way along the tracks of Five Rivers. As over the last few times I wondered if this would be it, the last productive trip of the season. With the leaves finally falling, drifting down in zigs and gliding by in zags it certainly felt that way. As I ambled along checking all of the usual spots on the lead up to the Glades nothing butterfly-wise was flying and despite checking likely looking perching spots and seeking out the patches of flowers still in bloom I drew a blank. The small passerines were starting to band together into the mixed tit flocks of winter which suggested the end had inevitably arrived and this was further made clear when I heard the ‘tsp tsp’ of a few Redwings passing by as I broached the Banks.
All along the top I passed and then dove down the little tree lined path to the Lower Banks. As I broke from the cover I spotted something on the wing. It was a Red Admiral gliding backwards and forwards over the tops of the grasses. It went down and I made my way slowly towards it but it was very flighty and I’d only taken a couple of steps before it took to the wing again. I watched its progress and when it landed again I started towards it only to lose sight of it as a large dog appeared from the riverside path. It started barking and growling aggressively at me but apparently “He isn’t normally like this”; “He’s just not used to seeing people here as normally we walk in the dark” – by which she seemed to be implying that it was obviously my fault that the dog was uncontrollable and a bit of a brute? I mean how dare I use a public space during the daylight hours – what was I thinking?!
Slightly bemused I watched as she struggled to drag the beast away and with its baying and barking receding into the distance I got back to butterflying again. Reasoning that the butterflies at this time of year don’t venture that far between disturbances I looked around the locale. Somehow I managed to spy out the red bands amid the yellow and oranges of the dead leaves and there was the Red Admiral. So I settled down and got back into staling mode so that I could grab a few shots. Once I’d gotten one or two I’d back off and then the butterfly would fly to another (more suitable?) spot.
Eventually I left it in peace and strolled back towards the Glades taking the riverside path, the smell of bonfires on the allotments lurking like a river-born mist. I tried a little ‘pishing’, a technique favoured by American birders. I’ve tried it before and it works quite well for Goldcrests and it didn’t work out too badly today. The random sounding call brought in two Great Tits, a male and female Chaffinch, 5 Goldfinches and a Nuthatch; all eager to investigate the ‘pish’ call. I pressed on and bimbled through the Glades checking the falling leaves as I walked. As I was leaving the Glades one of these falling leaves turned into a Red Admiral. I knew it was this for as I watched from a distance the ‘leaf’ hit the deck and then promptly went back up again. I watched it do a circuit of the clearing before it came back to earth, landing one leaf over from where it had taken off. I don’t know whether it felt too exposed sitting out in the middle of the clearing but it was very flighty and once more took to the wing. This time I watched as it came down on a Bramble bush on the margins of the Glades so I was able to approach it for a few shots. Once again up it went and again it came down within a few inches/several centimetres from where it had previously posed. Chuffed I made my way home the acrid bonfire scent replaced by a more herbal variety courtesy of a local stoner.
Five Rivers again
Admirals still on the wing
But that’s all folks
All along the top I passed and then dove down the little tree lined path to the Lower Banks. As I broke from the cover I spotted something on the wing. It was a Red Admiral gliding backwards and forwards over the tops of the grasses. It went down and I made my way slowly towards it but it was very flighty and I’d only taken a couple of steps before it took to the wing again. I watched its progress and when it landed again I started towards it only to lose sight of it as a large dog appeared from the riverside path. It started barking and growling aggressively at me but apparently “He isn’t normally like this”; “He’s just not used to seeing people here as normally we walk in the dark” – by which she seemed to be implying that it was obviously my fault that the dog was uncontrollable and a bit of a brute? I mean how dare I use a public space during the daylight hours – what was I thinking?!
Slightly bemused I watched as she struggled to drag the beast away and with its baying and barking receding into the distance I got back to butterflying again. Reasoning that the butterflies at this time of year don’t venture that far between disturbances I looked around the locale. Somehow I managed to spy out the red bands amid the yellow and oranges of the dead leaves and there was the Red Admiral. So I settled down and got back into staling mode so that I could grab a few shots. Once I’d gotten one or two I’d back off and then the butterfly would fly to another (more suitable?) spot.
Eventually I left it in peace and strolled back towards the Glades taking the riverside path, the smell of bonfires on the allotments lurking like a river-born mist. I tried a little ‘pishing’, a technique favoured by American birders. I’ve tried it before and it works quite well for Goldcrests and it didn’t work out too badly today. The random sounding call brought in two Great Tits, a male and female Chaffinch, 5 Goldfinches and a Nuthatch; all eager to investigate the ‘pish’ call. I pressed on and bimbled through the Glades checking the falling leaves as I walked. As I was leaving the Glades one of these falling leaves turned into a Red Admiral. I knew it was this for as I watched from a distance the ‘leaf’ hit the deck and then promptly went back up again. I watched it do a circuit of the clearing before it came back to earth, landing one leaf over from where it had taken off. I don’t know whether it felt too exposed sitting out in the middle of the clearing but it was very flighty and once more took to the wing. This time I watched as it came down on a Bramble bush on the margins of the Glades so I was able to approach it for a few shots. Once again up it went and again it came down within a few inches/several centimetres from where it had previously posed. Chuffed I made my way home the acrid bonfire scent replaced by a more herbal variety courtesy of a local stoner.
Five Rivers again
Admirals still on the wing
But that’s all folks
Mottisfont 27-10-2022
I had high hopes for this visit to Mottisfont but it turned out to be one of those trips where things didn’t play out as I’d wanted. When I was in the right places where butterflies have flown and put on a late show before the sun would sit stubbornly behind the thick blanket of cloud and the wind would pick up sending the temperatures down further. When I was in spots that have always been bereft of butterflies (namely along the river path) the sun would peek out enough to encourage the odd dragonfly to venture forth. No moths flew and a Caddisfly now and again would catch me out momentarily.
I’d almost given up and I’d packed my camera away ready to take a tour of the house…but before we went in we popped into the cellarium. I told the girls to look up and along the vaulted ceilings for dark triangles against the grey stone. As I was investigating a Plume Moth on one side Kitty spotted 2 triangles on the other. So I cranked the flash up and when I checked back on the viewing screen there were two Small Torts hibernating away – antennae tucked behind their heads and between their wings. Surprisingly they were just out in the middle of the cellarium and not hidden away in the nooks and crannies or along the edges or in the corners. As we left I found a third which was slightly lower down and so easier to approach. It was tucked into one of the arched shelves cut into the side of one of the small corridors/chambers and so I was able to get side on with most of the wings in focus.
I checked it again later and they all three hadn’t moved. I’ll have to head back and check their progress later…
The cellarium
Hidden away in the dark
Hibernating Torts
I’d almost given up and I’d packed my camera away ready to take a tour of the house…but before we went in we popped into the cellarium. I told the girls to look up and along the vaulted ceilings for dark triangles against the grey stone. As I was investigating a Plume Moth on one side Kitty spotted 2 triangles on the other. So I cranked the flash up and when I checked back on the viewing screen there were two Small Torts hibernating away – antennae tucked behind their heads and between their wings. Surprisingly they were just out in the middle of the cellarium and not hidden away in the nooks and crannies or along the edges or in the corners. As we left I found a third which was slightly lower down and so easier to approach. It was tucked into one of the arched shelves cut into the side of one of the small corridors/chambers and so I was able to get side on with most of the wings in focus.
I checked it again later and they all three hadn’t moved. I’ll have to head back and check their progress later…
The cellarium
Hidden away in the dark
Hibernating Torts
Five Rivers 24-10-2022
I needed to pop to Waitrose and so I grabbed my camera just in case. On the journey over I felt like I needn’t have bothered as there noting flying despite not needing a coat or jacket myself. With the shopping done and safely packed Tetris style in my rucksack I started for home but as I was so close to Five Rivers I decided to take the long way round. So I turned left onto the Town Path, crossed over the Wooden Bridge and somehow I’d ended up at Five Rivers! Oh well as I was there…
I followed track along the riverside, the odd leaf had already fallen and a few were strewn over the path but despite that the air was still warm. As I drew near to the usual Red Admiral haunt one flew into view, scything through the air towards me. It banked sharply and then cut its way across the river and out of sight. Just ahead of me was the cause of the spooking – a dog of its lead and well ahead of its owner. Inwardly I rolled my eyes and strode onwards to Comma Corner where there was nowt about. Things were so quiet that I decided that it would be best if I just made for home and so I worked my way back through the Glades. As I broached the final one a Specklie went up from an unseen position and it flew off strongly towards the Leisure Centre. Somehow I manged to overcome the reflex action of running after it which was a good thing as I was still carrying my shopping and so didn’t want to damage any of my precious cargo.
Back at the usual spot a/the Red Admiral was waiting and it granted me an audience. First it was in the Nettle bed and then it decided to have a bit of a pootle about down on the path before reverting to sitting back in the Nettles and allowing me to get some nice backlit/stained glass shots which I paid for in terms of stings to my ears and neck. I was just pausing to check back some of my images when another dog, off the lead, came bounding up through the Nettles, spittle and slobber flying along with any foliage that got in its way. After a curt “Bugger off!” saw it on its way I looked for the Admiral which unfortunately had retreated to the standing dead tree. I didn’t want to get much closer for fear of spooking it more and also as I didn’t want to trample the Nettles so I settled for a few distant shots.
After this I actually got back on the homeward track and as I walked I mused that this might make a handy stop off point on my usual Saturday shopping trip, although I’m usually laden to the gunnels(?).
Whilst at Five Rivers
There’s life in the season yet
Admiral’s about
I followed track along the riverside, the odd leaf had already fallen and a few were strewn over the path but despite that the air was still warm. As I drew near to the usual Red Admiral haunt one flew into view, scything through the air towards me. It banked sharply and then cut its way across the river and out of sight. Just ahead of me was the cause of the spooking – a dog of its lead and well ahead of its owner. Inwardly I rolled my eyes and strode onwards to Comma Corner where there was nowt about. Things were so quiet that I decided that it would be best if I just made for home and so I worked my way back through the Glades. As I broached the final one a Specklie went up from an unseen position and it flew off strongly towards the Leisure Centre. Somehow I manged to overcome the reflex action of running after it which was a good thing as I was still carrying my shopping and so didn’t want to damage any of my precious cargo.
Back at the usual spot a/the Red Admiral was waiting and it granted me an audience. First it was in the Nettle bed and then it decided to have a bit of a pootle about down on the path before reverting to sitting back in the Nettles and allowing me to get some nice backlit/stained glass shots which I paid for in terms of stings to my ears and neck. I was just pausing to check back some of my images when another dog, off the lead, came bounding up through the Nettles, spittle and slobber flying along with any foliage that got in its way. After a curt “Bugger off!” saw it on its way I looked for the Admiral which unfortunately had retreated to the standing dead tree. I didn’t want to get much closer for fear of spooking it more and also as I didn’t want to trample the Nettles so I settled for a few distant shots.
After this I actually got back on the homeward track and as I walked I mused that this might make a handy stop off point on my usual Saturday shopping trip, although I’m usually laden to the gunnels(?).
Whilst at Five Rivers
There’s life in the season yet
Admiral’s about
Five Rivers 23-10-2022
As it was so mild and dry I decided to take an afternoon stroll around an about, plus ‘dbeen given an ‘additional’ shopping list... All was quiet on the walk over to Waitrose and then with the barest of stuff in the rucsac I made my way over to Five Rivers. As I drew near to the Wooden bridge a ‘piping’ call drew me up short and I spotted an electric blue flash of a Kingfish which skimmed the surface of the still water and flew on under the bridge. This sight never fails to lift my spirits and the lack of butterflies was now of no concern.
I picked my way along the track and waited around at the usual ‘Admiral Arena’ but there were no combative Red Admirals out and about and so instead I walked onto Comma Corner where I again drew a blank despite there still being some nectar sources along the banks. With nothing on the memory card I walked back revelling in the autumnal colours and smells; the piping call of a/the Kingfisher cut through the susurration of the skeletal leaves and added melody to the staccato beats of the percussive Cetti’s. The fine film of dust from the long dry summer was now a slippery film of mud covered in smushy old leaves and there is the wonderful smell of damp wood drifting up as the dampness from the night before evaporated away.
Back at the usual place; Admiral Arena as I now call it, a leaf drifted down as I kept vigil…only it wasn’t a leaf; there was no breeze to lift it upwards? As I watched it made landfall and I kept a close eye on where it had come down swiftly heading directly to the spot only for it to have disappeared. I was sure it was a butterfly but I just couldn’t spot it. I persevered and eventually managed to locate it. A decaying leaf standing upright resolved under my intense gaze into a Specklie. It took to the air again and flew across the patches of grass to the start of the glades so while I waited hopefully for it to return I watched a passing troop of Goldcrests, Long Tailed Tits and other passerines. As the final member of this mixed flock departed into the denser cover of the trees lining the river I saw another one of those ‘falling leaves’. It tumbled down and then when about a metre from the ground it shifted up a gear and shot off horizontally, luckily in my direction. It passed me by and landed in the scallop directly opposite the nettle bed, posed in perfect lighting. As we were in the tail end of October and even though I’d already had eyes on it I was taken aback at how good a condition it was in; I wondered if it was – it didn’t have a nick anywhere and every scale was intact.
Chuffed I decided to head for home and as I left a Red Admiral flew past and landed up high on the final tree by the wooden bridge. I walked on along the river with the odd Grey Wagtail ‘chis-icking’ and the Kingfisher doing another electrifying fly-by. The path under the railway bridge was closed and so I took a detour through the miniature housing estate and walked under the rail bridge on the other side. It joins up with the river and I reverted to looking intently at any falling leaves. Along the verge on the other side of the road I spotted a Red Admiral hanging around some scraggly looking Nettles and so I nipped across the road, got into position and managed a few shots before a car went by and spooked it. I watched it as it went up and along the verge and then over the road before it landed on the central reservation. So I crossed back and again tried for a few shots. Another car went past, in the other direction but having the same effect as the first. The butterfly again went up and this time it flew along the central reservation, went up high, crossed the road and eventually came back down to earth about 30cm from where it had originally started from. I tried for some final shots before giving this up as a bad job. I couldn’t quite see the attraction of this small row of Nettles to this particular butterfly especially as it was spooked by each passing car which was either entering or leaving the main car park for the city!
As I wandered along the final stretch of my walk along Fisherton Street another Red Admiral appeared. It seemed to take off from the window of the Asian Supermarket, flew across the road and after a brief look in the coffee shop’s window sought refuge in the gardens behind the row of shops. It was the last butterfly of the day but hopefully not the last of the season?
Autumn marches on
Falling leaves begin decay
Yet new life emerges
I picked my way along the track and waited around at the usual ‘Admiral Arena’ but there were no combative Red Admirals out and about and so instead I walked onto Comma Corner where I again drew a blank despite there still being some nectar sources along the banks. With nothing on the memory card I walked back revelling in the autumnal colours and smells; the piping call of a/the Kingfisher cut through the susurration of the skeletal leaves and added melody to the staccato beats of the percussive Cetti’s. The fine film of dust from the long dry summer was now a slippery film of mud covered in smushy old leaves and there is the wonderful smell of damp wood drifting up as the dampness from the night before evaporated away.
Back at the usual place; Admiral Arena as I now call it, a leaf drifted down as I kept vigil…only it wasn’t a leaf; there was no breeze to lift it upwards? As I watched it made landfall and I kept a close eye on where it had come down swiftly heading directly to the spot only for it to have disappeared. I was sure it was a butterfly but I just couldn’t spot it. I persevered and eventually managed to locate it. A decaying leaf standing upright resolved under my intense gaze into a Specklie. It took to the air again and flew across the patches of grass to the start of the glades so while I waited hopefully for it to return I watched a passing troop of Goldcrests, Long Tailed Tits and other passerines. As the final member of this mixed flock departed into the denser cover of the trees lining the river I saw another one of those ‘falling leaves’. It tumbled down and then when about a metre from the ground it shifted up a gear and shot off horizontally, luckily in my direction. It passed me by and landed in the scallop directly opposite the nettle bed, posed in perfect lighting. As we were in the tail end of October and even though I’d already had eyes on it I was taken aback at how good a condition it was in; I wondered if it was – it didn’t have a nick anywhere and every scale was intact.
Chuffed I decided to head for home and as I left a Red Admiral flew past and landed up high on the final tree by the wooden bridge. I walked on along the river with the odd Grey Wagtail ‘chis-icking’ and the Kingfisher doing another electrifying fly-by. The path under the railway bridge was closed and so I took a detour through the miniature housing estate and walked under the rail bridge on the other side. It joins up with the river and I reverted to looking intently at any falling leaves. Along the verge on the other side of the road I spotted a Red Admiral hanging around some scraggly looking Nettles and so I nipped across the road, got into position and managed a few shots before a car went by and spooked it. I watched it as it went up and along the verge and then over the road before it landed on the central reservation. So I crossed back and again tried for a few shots. Another car went past, in the other direction but having the same effect as the first. The butterfly again went up and this time it flew along the central reservation, went up high, crossed the road and eventually came back down to earth about 30cm from where it had originally started from. I tried for some final shots before giving this up as a bad job. I couldn’t quite see the attraction of this small row of Nettles to this particular butterfly especially as it was spooked by each passing car which was either entering or leaving the main car park for the city!
As I wandered along the final stretch of my walk along Fisherton Street another Red Admiral appeared. It seemed to take off from the window of the Asian Supermarket, flew across the road and after a brief look in the coffee shop’s window sought refuge in the gardens behind the row of shops. It was the last butterfly of the day but hopefully not the last of the season?
Autumn marches on
Falling leaves begin decay
Yet new life emerges
Five Rivers 19-10-2022
I’d taken a walk along the road parallel to the railway track the day before and I’d spotted a couple of Red Admirals. They’d played hard to get by swooping down along the road and then flying to the other side of the fence. Then I’d been called back to the house as the heating engineer was arriving to fix our boiler…
When I revisited without the imminent ‘you need to come home’ call there was only one Red Admiral and this one played even harder to get alighting right at the top of the vegetation which grew over the top of the tall fence. I approached it a couple of times, camera held up and as far ahead in front of me as possible and each time I got within range it would flick its wings and np over the fence for a few minutes before returning somewhere slightly further along and staring down witheringly at me. I managed a single record shot so that will have to suffice.
I kept walking to the end of the road, along the riverside path, over the wooden bridge and then down the river path on the way to the Glades at Five Rivers. Over the whole distance I’d not encountered a single butterfly…that is until I reached the ‘usual spot’. A line of trees runs the length of the path from the wooden bridge all the way to the Banks. Just before the Glades there is a sudden break where one or more of the trees has died, the remnants of which stands alone and naked of bark, denuded and shorn of limbs in the middle of a square of nettles and Hogweed. On the other side of the path there are little scallops of grass which the sunlight is focused on almost as if it has been refracted through a lens which the dark mud and stones of the path warm up really quickly. All of which makes this little spot a bit of a Red Admiral heaven – nectar sources, basking spots, a sheltered battleground with plenty of room for spiralling territorial disputes to be settled in, plenty of food source for the next generation and to cap it all mature trees with plenty of nooks and crannies to serve as hibernating spots.
As I approached I was greeted by a fast moving Admiral coming towards me. It was almost upon me, flying at head height when it veered off to my left and flew across the tops of the Nettles. As it did so a second went up and they both went at each other, spiralling upwards and making good use of the previously mentioned airspace. I stood back and watched and waited. Eventually they broke apart and one drifted down like a fallen leaf and landed on some low laying Nettles in the grassy scallop whilst the other did a few passes of the Nettle bed before taking up residence a few steps into the mess of stinging leaves. I managed to get some shots of both and then I left them in peace to recharge their batteries, lick their wounds before they inevitably started on each other again.
I carried on and had a quick look around the Glades but came up blank at all the usual places of interest so I decided that I’d wander slowly back towards the Admirals to see if they would deign to pose some more. As I was cutting across the last Glade I spotted an Admiral down on the vegetation which had been of interest to the Brimstone a trip or so previously. It had its wings open three quarters and so I waited to see if it was in the process of settling down to bask or getting to ready to take to the air. Unfortunately it was the later and it was up and off. As it climbed upwards nearly vertical in a clear space between two trees it was intercepted by a roving Tit flock which was moving from one spinney to another. It managed to evade several hungry beaks but needed a moment to compose itself and so I watched it return to ground level. I gave it a minute or so to calm down before I stalked in close enough to train my lens on it. At first I’d guessed that it was one of the pair I’d witnessed earlier but now I was close enough in there were obvious difference in the wear and tear, the nicks and chips so it became my fourth Admiral of the day. With a few record shots I backed up, moving on my knees until I was several metres away and my silhouette was masked by a tree. The knees of my jeans were soaked from the damp ground but luckily the butterfly was still in the same place.
Back at the Usual Spot which I’d started to think of as ‘Admiral Arena’ there as an Admiral in prime spot in the middle of the Nettle bed. As leant over I discovered that either my shirt wasn’t thick enough or the nettle stings were extraordinarily powerful as I felt the familiar pins and needles and sharp jabs of the stings. I did my best to ignore them and focus on the butterfly which I could only just get in shot by stretching my arms out fully and clicking away as I didn’t want to trample the nettles. I looked back at the photos and couldn’t see any chunks missing from the hind wings which meant that this was Admiral number 5 of the afternoon. After this I strolled on back pleased to have had my annual Admiral encounter.
Autumnal outing
And Admiral encounter
Out at Five Rivers
When I revisited without the imminent ‘you need to come home’ call there was only one Red Admiral and this one played even harder to get alighting right at the top of the vegetation which grew over the top of the tall fence. I approached it a couple of times, camera held up and as far ahead in front of me as possible and each time I got within range it would flick its wings and np over the fence for a few minutes before returning somewhere slightly further along and staring down witheringly at me. I managed a single record shot so that will have to suffice.
I kept walking to the end of the road, along the riverside path, over the wooden bridge and then down the river path on the way to the Glades at Five Rivers. Over the whole distance I’d not encountered a single butterfly…that is until I reached the ‘usual spot’. A line of trees runs the length of the path from the wooden bridge all the way to the Banks. Just before the Glades there is a sudden break where one or more of the trees has died, the remnants of which stands alone and naked of bark, denuded and shorn of limbs in the middle of a square of nettles and Hogweed. On the other side of the path there are little scallops of grass which the sunlight is focused on almost as if it has been refracted through a lens which the dark mud and stones of the path warm up really quickly. All of which makes this little spot a bit of a Red Admiral heaven – nectar sources, basking spots, a sheltered battleground with plenty of room for spiralling territorial disputes to be settled in, plenty of food source for the next generation and to cap it all mature trees with plenty of nooks and crannies to serve as hibernating spots.
As I approached I was greeted by a fast moving Admiral coming towards me. It was almost upon me, flying at head height when it veered off to my left and flew across the tops of the Nettles. As it did so a second went up and they both went at each other, spiralling upwards and making good use of the previously mentioned airspace. I stood back and watched and waited. Eventually they broke apart and one drifted down like a fallen leaf and landed on some low laying Nettles in the grassy scallop whilst the other did a few passes of the Nettle bed before taking up residence a few steps into the mess of stinging leaves. I managed to get some shots of both and then I left them in peace to recharge their batteries, lick their wounds before they inevitably started on each other again.
I carried on and had a quick look around the Glades but came up blank at all the usual places of interest so I decided that I’d wander slowly back towards the Admirals to see if they would deign to pose some more. As I was cutting across the last Glade I spotted an Admiral down on the vegetation which had been of interest to the Brimstone a trip or so previously. It had its wings open three quarters and so I waited to see if it was in the process of settling down to bask or getting to ready to take to the air. Unfortunately it was the later and it was up and off. As it climbed upwards nearly vertical in a clear space between two trees it was intercepted by a roving Tit flock which was moving from one spinney to another. It managed to evade several hungry beaks but needed a moment to compose itself and so I watched it return to ground level. I gave it a minute or so to calm down before I stalked in close enough to train my lens on it. At first I’d guessed that it was one of the pair I’d witnessed earlier but now I was close enough in there were obvious difference in the wear and tear, the nicks and chips so it became my fourth Admiral of the day. With a few record shots I backed up, moving on my knees until I was several metres away and my silhouette was masked by a tree. The knees of my jeans were soaked from the damp ground but luckily the butterfly was still in the same place.
Back at the Usual Spot which I’d started to think of as ‘Admiral Arena’ there as an Admiral in prime spot in the middle of the Nettle bed. As leant over I discovered that either my shirt wasn’t thick enough or the nettle stings were extraordinarily powerful as I felt the familiar pins and needles and sharp jabs of the stings. I did my best to ignore them and focus on the butterfly which I could only just get in shot by stretching my arms out fully and clicking away as I didn’t want to trample the nettles. I looked back at the photos and couldn’t see any chunks missing from the hind wings which meant that this was Admiral number 5 of the afternoon. After this I strolled on back pleased to have had my annual Admiral encounter.
Autumnal outing
And Admiral encounter
Out at Five Rivers
Grovely Woods 16-10-2022
I didn’t expect anything from this weekend walk, it was merely a chance to get out and breathe in the fresh air, to blow out the cobwebs and do a little ‘forest bathing’. I took my camera just in case of course but mainly in case there were any fruiting Fly Agaric.
The usual walk up the hill was quiet even on the bird front and soon we were walking along the old drove covered over from both side by the tall beeches trees. After plenty of walking we had the usual stop and general enquiry as to the whereabouts of the Witchy Trees and for once we hadn’t walked past them and they were only a little further on. As we walked into the gloom of the trees I chanced to look up and through a break in the canopy I saw blue sky which lifted my spirits. I actually took the lens cap off of my camera in readiness should the coming of the sun draw forth a butterfly. However the area around the Witchy Tree was dark as the canopy closed in again and the only movement was the occasional flicker from one of the dangling totems or offerings that festooned the lower limbs. A small group of fungi did catch my eye as they shone out in the relative murk. One of them was a glistening white orb, like a spat out peppermint sweet whilst growing at its foot were a small garden of more typical looking toadstools.
We carried on and my brother in-law remarked something along the lines that ‘the butterflies will all have gone’; “there may be one or two still about even today” I replied. As the words had left my lips I spotted a large lemon leaf gliding down from the tree tops. As it reached the tops of the taller grasses lignin the track it suddenly veered upwards and then banked a hard right before lopping up and back the way it had come. I tried a few in flight shots of the Brimstone but they turned out appalling. Luckily after a few more passes of the track it plopped down in a spot that offered a relatively unobstructed view.
After this I kept my eyes peeled and tried to walk and talk at the same time as scanning both the ground and the canopy. A short distance away there were plenty of the target species for the day – they were scattered all over the woodland floor. Some were flat like dinner plates, the ‘flies’ (white growths) looked like the left over crumbs whilst others hadn’t uncurled and looked lovely and rounded – which I find more aesthetically pleasing. The theme of decay continued as a dead mouse lay on the path further on from the Fungi and it was a Dormouse orange but not a Dormouse itself. Unfortunately though I didn’t spot any other butterflies until I was safely back in the car park. I say safely as the final stretch of path had become extra treacherous since my last visit in June. The fallen trees were now entwined with the Brambles lining either side of path, the previously clear coppice was overgrown and the end part of the track was now non-existent as the trees had been felled and left covering the bank that leads down into the car park. Once we’d picked out way around and I was stamping the mud off of my boots another Brimstone, a male, did a quick fly-by. That wasn’t quite it as a Small White fly along the top of the hedge on the drive away. Just goes to show that the butterflies are hardier than you think.
Leaves are yellowing
And used to its advantage
By a smart Brimstone
The usual walk up the hill was quiet even on the bird front and soon we were walking along the old drove covered over from both side by the tall beeches trees. After plenty of walking we had the usual stop and general enquiry as to the whereabouts of the Witchy Trees and for once we hadn’t walked past them and they were only a little further on. As we walked into the gloom of the trees I chanced to look up and through a break in the canopy I saw blue sky which lifted my spirits. I actually took the lens cap off of my camera in readiness should the coming of the sun draw forth a butterfly. However the area around the Witchy Tree was dark as the canopy closed in again and the only movement was the occasional flicker from one of the dangling totems or offerings that festooned the lower limbs. A small group of fungi did catch my eye as they shone out in the relative murk. One of them was a glistening white orb, like a spat out peppermint sweet whilst growing at its foot were a small garden of more typical looking toadstools.
We carried on and my brother in-law remarked something along the lines that ‘the butterflies will all have gone’; “there may be one or two still about even today” I replied. As the words had left my lips I spotted a large lemon leaf gliding down from the tree tops. As it reached the tops of the taller grasses lignin the track it suddenly veered upwards and then banked a hard right before lopping up and back the way it had come. I tried a few in flight shots of the Brimstone but they turned out appalling. Luckily after a few more passes of the track it plopped down in a spot that offered a relatively unobstructed view.
After this I kept my eyes peeled and tried to walk and talk at the same time as scanning both the ground and the canopy. A short distance away there were plenty of the target species for the day – they were scattered all over the woodland floor. Some were flat like dinner plates, the ‘flies’ (white growths) looked like the left over crumbs whilst others hadn’t uncurled and looked lovely and rounded – which I find more aesthetically pleasing. The theme of decay continued as a dead mouse lay on the path further on from the Fungi and it was a Dormouse orange but not a Dormouse itself. Unfortunately though I didn’t spot any other butterflies until I was safely back in the car park. I say safely as the final stretch of path had become extra treacherous since my last visit in June. The fallen trees were now entwined with the Brambles lining either side of path, the previously clear coppice was overgrown and the end part of the track was now non-existent as the trees had been felled and left covering the bank that leads down into the car park. Once we’d picked out way around and I was stamping the mud off of my boots another Brimstone, a male, did a quick fly-by. That wasn’t quite it as a Small White fly along the top of the hedge on the drive away. Just goes to show that the butterflies are hardier than you think.
Leaves are yellowing
And used to its advantage
By a smart Brimstone
Five Rivers 09-10-2022
It’s getting to that time of the year when the butterflying comes down to a wander over to Five Rivers. I reckon the trick at this time of the year, just like those first outings in early spring, is to leave later in the morning or if possible after lunch. It allows the mercury to creep upwards and the butterflies can arise when it’s warm enough, have a bit of breakfast and then a quick bask so that they’re ready when I come strolling along camera in hand. At least that is usually the case…this year the weather had been so mild with temperatures regularly in the high teens and nudging at the twenty border that the butterflies are all pretty active. So was the case when I strolled out after lunch on this day. The vegetation covering the tall fence along the railway; a mix of Ivy, Old Mans’ Beard and tumbling Bramble and Buddleia was alive with Ivy Bees and Wasps and the brace of Red Admirals teased me by doing slow glides down and across the road before veering back and soaring back up and over to the other side of the fence.
I pressed on eagerly but ultimately fruitlessly scanning all the vegetation along the hedges, verges and riverside path until I’d crossed the wooden bridge at the edge of Five Rivers. I ratcheted my scanning up a notch and tried to spot and watch every falling leaf or moving flower top just in case. All was quiet, the roving flock of Willow-Chiffs probably saw to that as they worked their way from branch to branch, twig to twig picking off anything edible as they went. So it continued until I reached the Glades. As I picked my way along the ever narrowing path a couple of Specklies flew towards me, not in greeting though, they were much more interested in tearing chunks out of each other either disputing territory or fending off unwanted advances. Chuckling I looked up and there was a Red Admiral staring back at me, surveying me imperiously and wondering whether I was worth deigning with its presence? I took it that I wasn’t as it stayed resolutely aloft as I meandered on by.
I kept on walking and did a quick sweep of the reserve but with the cloud bubbling up and passing by kept any other butterflies at bay and before I knew it I was back at the Glades. I looked about up high for the Admiral but it had moved off. Luckily the Specklies had worn themselves out/resolved their disputes and so they sat nicely for me. The first that I encountered was occupying the end of the Glades, the spot that seems to act like a magnet to the Whites during the spring. The other was keeping a lower profile in the little clearing behind the large Bramble bush. I watched it fluttering around the top of one of the trees and then it dropped down into the clearing and out of sight. I had to hack my way through several Bramble runners to get into the clearing itself but luckily the butterfly was still sitting in the sun and waiting for me.
I took another pass around the site with similar results. This was due to my timing being off – I kept choosing to investigate further afield just as the cloud started to roll over the sun. Again there was the odd dragonfly/darter along the lower banks and the birds out on a good show as the Willow-Chiffs moved through and Cetti’s exploded from deeper in the decaying reeds. Back at the Glades the initial Specklie had moved on – possibly checking another area of its territory but the second was still in the little clearing.
After this I looked up to examine the heavens and the prospects didn’t look good. Whilst I’d been enjoying the Specklie the cloud had crept up on me and now I was surrounded by an enveloping wall of dullness. The cloud took on the darker steel grey hue that normally forewarns of rain and so I said my goodbyes to the Specklie and beat a hasty retreat. But not so hasty as to avoid keeping an eye out on the return journey…As I walked up the rise towards the road along the railway fence I spotted a white flying parallel to me in the Kiddies Playpark. As I reached the corner I leant over the low fence and grabbed a couple of shots of it on a pale lilac, globular looking plant. It then took off and flew across the path and landed on some vegetation on the other side so I was able to get a little closer. It was a nice way to finish but as I hurried home before the rain came I wondered how much longer this could continue?
Autumn afternoon
With Specklies and Admirals
The final Stalwarts?
I pressed on eagerly but ultimately fruitlessly scanning all the vegetation along the hedges, verges and riverside path until I’d crossed the wooden bridge at the edge of Five Rivers. I ratcheted my scanning up a notch and tried to spot and watch every falling leaf or moving flower top just in case. All was quiet, the roving flock of Willow-Chiffs probably saw to that as they worked their way from branch to branch, twig to twig picking off anything edible as they went. So it continued until I reached the Glades. As I picked my way along the ever narrowing path a couple of Specklies flew towards me, not in greeting though, they were much more interested in tearing chunks out of each other either disputing territory or fending off unwanted advances. Chuckling I looked up and there was a Red Admiral staring back at me, surveying me imperiously and wondering whether I was worth deigning with its presence? I took it that I wasn’t as it stayed resolutely aloft as I meandered on by.
I kept on walking and did a quick sweep of the reserve but with the cloud bubbling up and passing by kept any other butterflies at bay and before I knew it I was back at the Glades. I looked about up high for the Admiral but it had moved off. Luckily the Specklies had worn themselves out/resolved their disputes and so they sat nicely for me. The first that I encountered was occupying the end of the Glades, the spot that seems to act like a magnet to the Whites during the spring. The other was keeping a lower profile in the little clearing behind the large Bramble bush. I watched it fluttering around the top of one of the trees and then it dropped down into the clearing and out of sight. I had to hack my way through several Bramble runners to get into the clearing itself but luckily the butterfly was still sitting in the sun and waiting for me.
I took another pass around the site with similar results. This was due to my timing being off – I kept choosing to investigate further afield just as the cloud started to roll over the sun. Again there was the odd dragonfly/darter along the lower banks and the birds out on a good show as the Willow-Chiffs moved through and Cetti’s exploded from deeper in the decaying reeds. Back at the Glades the initial Specklie had moved on – possibly checking another area of its territory but the second was still in the little clearing.
After this I looked up to examine the heavens and the prospects didn’t look good. Whilst I’d been enjoying the Specklie the cloud had crept up on me and now I was surrounded by an enveloping wall of dullness. The cloud took on the darker steel grey hue that normally forewarns of rain and so I said my goodbyes to the Specklie and beat a hasty retreat. But not so hasty as to avoid keeping an eye out on the return journey…As I walked up the rise towards the road along the railway fence I spotted a white flying parallel to me in the Kiddies Playpark. As I reached the corner I leant over the low fence and grabbed a couple of shots of it on a pale lilac, globular looking plant. It then took off and flew across the path and landed on some vegetation on the other side so I was able to get a little closer. It was a nice way to finish but as I hurried home before the rain came I wondered how much longer this could continue?
Autumn afternoon
With Specklies and Admirals
The final Stalwarts?
Five Rivers 01-10-2022
With the unseasonably warm weather continuing I wondered how much longer the butterflies would last? So to find out I picked up my camera and started towards Five Rivers. There were three ways to get there so I chose to walk past the Sorting Office and from there continue on through the housing estate along the road which runs parallel to the train track. I checked out all of the Ivy along the whole length of the road and then turned my attentions to the Brambles which lined the riverside path. Nothing, nada, zilch. I crossed over the road and as I approached the wooden bridge a Kingfisher shot past. As I watched it make it way along the flat of the river I looked up and the track on my left had a pair of Whites bimbling about. The first played proper Silly Buggers with me, leading towards it and then just as I’d lean in for the shot it would take off. Further and further along the river bank it led me until eventually I was well away from the Wooden Bridge and then it took off and flew across the river. The second started playing the same game but somehow I managed to successfully pre-empt where it would land and managed a few shots before it realised that I’d won this particular round.
After this I left them to their silly games and walked back to the bridge and crossed it. Once over I took the riverside path to the left along its winding route towards the Glades. The usual Red Admiral haunt was empty (perhaps I was a little too early) so I pressed on and cut across the first glade. As I made my way towards the little cut through to the second glade a caught a glance of a falling leaf out of the corner of my eye. It appeared the wrong colour, far too bright and lemon yellow in contrast to the burnt umber of the others. When it started falling upwards I realised that it was a Brimstone and so I stood still and waited and watched to see where it would land. When it drifted back down again it sat in amongst one of the sprawling Bramble bushes and did its best to mimic a dead leaf. It would have worked perfectly if I hadn’t have actually see it settle. I made as careful an approach as possible but alas I hadn't accounted for the trailing runners of Bramble and when one ensnared my foot the subsequent motion sent the Brimstone off again. I managed to watch it as it flew first up and then back down the line of trees and then it almost disappeared from view, tucked nicely in the shade of a large clump of nettles. It popped out again so I grabbed a few more shots and left it to try and find the ultimate hiding place.
I made my way through the little cut through which had become even narrower and walked along what had been a lovely wide path with trees and shrubs dotted about but was now widely overgrown. I started ahead at the spot favoured during the spring by the Orange-tips and I hoped that the winter would knock the bramble back a bit and open the glade back up a bit. My musings were brought to a halt as a Specklie waited for me at the end of the track. It moved around to a few spots as I watched and clicked away and I was able to witness the full effect of the glorious camouflage as it would land and then disappear from view. It did get a bit over confident a times and when I left it was sitting on a still green leaf, the magic of the camouflage ‘pfoof’ gone, leaving it sticking out like a sore thumb.
From here I had to change up a gear so I could get up the slight rise to the top of Banks so I could wander along the top. I passed Comma Corner on the way but it was all quiet except for a few passerines that doubtless would have hovered up and butterflies that hadn’t successfully kept a low profile. The same was to be found as I wandered along the top path and looked down into the three Banks. All the falling leaves were just that, falling leaves and the only movement were the skulking birds that were threading their way through the shrubbery. As the path reaches the far end it starts to decline and I took the closest path down to the Lower Banks (the area beloved by emerging hibernators). As I made my way down a Specklie popped up and say on the bush posing for me. As I clicked away I wondered if this was one of the three I’d seen on a previous visit? If it was it had seen a little action in the interim and had one, maybe two, lucky escapes of the tears and chunks missing from its hind wings were anything to go by.
I carried on to the far side, strolled down the hill and paused on the track on the corner to watch a few Dragonflies that were quartering here. I didn’t stand a chance of getting any shots of them as they were ceaselessly flying, zipping here and there, hovering for a few seconds and then zooming off. After a while I started back sticking to the riverside track at the bottom of the Banks. As I reached the diagonal track that bisected the Banks I spotted what I’d secretly hoped to find. It was a delightfully autumnal looking Comma. If the Specklie was adept at camouflage then it looked like this Comma was employing dazzling techniques to evade any would be predators. Against the dark green Bramble leaves that it was resting on it shone out almost as if a spotlight was trained on it. As I watched the sun started to come out and so it lowered its wings to catch more of the emerging rays. After about a minute of basking it must have warmed itself sufficiently and it was off. A quick pass round the locale before landing atop a tree to catch a few more rays possibly? It didn’t look like it was coming down any time soon so I left it there and took the track back past Comma Corner and on into the Glades where the Specklie was still guarding its spot. It wished me well and then I made for home, a Kingfisher flashed past as I crossed the wooden bridge giving the trip a nice circular feel.
Not the best camo
A Comma on the brambles
Nice autumn touch though
Martin Down 25-09-2022
Having probably used up almost all of my remaining luck on my last visit to Martin Down and drained the remnants at Southbourne I didn’t hold much hope for seeing anything much today. But the weather was holding and at this time of year it pays to get out while you can; better to have gone out and seen very little than stay in when you’ll assuredly see bugger all! I decided that it was time to check out Sillen’s Lane end and so I found myself wandering along the flat track along the hedge heading towards the Hotspot Hollow. In my rush to get out of the house I’d not eaten lunch and so I started munching on my hot pickle sandwich. I thought this would have been okay but the butterflies had other ideas as I’d barely taken three steps from the car when a Meadow Brown fluttered up from the grass catching the sun as it did so. I struggled but in the end managed to get my lens cap off and grab a few shots with one hand whilst the pickle ate it’s way though my cheek.
I quickly finished up my sandwich and as the final morsels were flowing like lava down my gullet O spotted the second butterfly of the day – a Cloudy. It seemed like I’d a secret stash of luck that I’d forgotten about! I watched it fly up and down the path before it dropped down. It was quite jittery despite its age so I decided to delay my approach until it had completed a few flaps about and it had settle properly. This didn’t happen and after about 10 seconds or so it would start fidgeting and would take off before settling shortly after. So I settled for watching and following from afar and then nipping in for a few shots when it was still for the 30 seconds or so. It led me on a merry dance along the track and over the scrub to the grassland track that runs parallel to the stony one. It seemed to like the taller vegetation and the longest time it was settled was whilst in a small sapling.
After a couple of sets of shots I left it in peace and it flew on ahead of me along the grassed track. I too followed this as eventually it fused back with the stony track and from there it would end up at the Hollow Hotspot. A Small White flew past and there were a brace of Small Coppers. At least I think they were a brace, one of them was in such a state that unless I’d gotten a close look it could have been anything! Just before the hedge started up again on my left hand side I spotted a familiar shape making its way towards me. It was a Cloudy and when it landed I managed to get in close I could see that it was the one I’d already encountered.
I didn’t add anything extra to the list until I reached the Hotspot itself and here things were quiet – with only a couple of Small Heath and Meadow Browns flying. This persisted all the way along the Dyke until I reached the halfway point where along the Dyke just prior to the bisecting track a few blues turned up. First was a female Common Blue, then a male Chalkhill before the set was completed by a Brown Argus; all one after the other which isn’t normally the way. Usually they descend on you en mass as you’re trying to get shots of one they don’t hang around in the background only appearing once they know you’ve finished with the previous model.
At the halfway point the exposed bit of bank along the track played the track host to upwards of 5 Meadow Browns all perched with wings akimbo. Whilst on the other side of the path and along the Dyke a tiny Common Blue and then a female Common Blue both stopped ever so briefly – literally just long enough to go: “What was that? Oh it’s a…” and then they were off. Eventually I reached the Butts and there were a couple of Meadow Browns in the corner at the foot of the Butts as well as a well-worn Adonis. This species seem to show their wear more; you can tell from a distance and in flight that they’re looking past their best. Whereas Chalkhills always look smart when you first catch a glimpse of them and when in flight, right up to the point when they land or sit still and reveal that they’re actually in bits! I had a brief look over Field 4 and 3 now behind, usually in front of the Butts and then returned empty handed back to the little corner. From here I retraced my steps and added a few Small Heath from the grassed path that runs around the foot of the Butts from the main track.
I was well on the way back from the Butts to the Halfway Hotspot when the sun dipped behind the clouds as it had been threatening to do all afternoon. As the sun went truant the breeze stiffened and set to quite a blow and I was about to give up and head for home when a Cloudy dropped in, quite literally. It was blown towards me by the breeze and then in the shortest of lulls it sought refuge in some vegetation on the side of the Dyke. This one was definitely a different individual for as I approached it I could see that it was in almost mint condish. I grabbed a couple of record shots as I stalked it but the lack of the sun and its supporting warmth grounded it. I got into a great position kneeling on the side of the Dyke and then waited for the return of the sun. As the light made its way towards me I trained my lens on the butterfly, focused in and as the light hit I started clicking away. I wondered if this would be the very last drop of luck, the final dreg as it were?
After a while it must have reached a suitable temperature as it flew and took to fluttering forward and back and perching in different places on either side of the Dyke – showing a penchant for both yellow flowers and also the taller bushes and shrubs/saplings. After I’d watched it land and then take off again from a few different places I set about following it reasoning that should it take off it wasn’t down to me disturbing it rather it was just behaving as had taken its fancy.
Eventually I left it still flitting between perching spots and made my way back to the Halfway Point. From there I followed the narrow track, past the basking Meadow Browns, and carried on along the diagonal track on a heading towards the Tunnel Track so beloved by Greenstreaks and Holly Blues in the spring. As I walked I’d stop very occasionally for a butterfly; first for a Small Copper, then a Small Heath and finally for another Small Copper. This one had me doing a double take as or a fraction of a second I wondered if it was an aberrant (a schmidtii)? However it was just aged, the wear and tear and the removal of scales giving it the grey-ish paler look that had made me stop and stare. At the end of the diagonal track I wandered along the top track rather than along the lower tunnel track and at the end I found a male Common Blue, Small Heath and another, much more resplendent looking Small Copper. The very final stretch along the main track back towards the car produced a Small White, a Comma and a Speckie which allowed me to reach double digits of species before a Meadow Brown (the same as at the very start?) neatly brought the trip to a nice circular completion. None too shabby when I thought it was (almost) all over!
With Autumn colour
Offered up by a Cloudy
Top spot Martin Down
I quickly finished up my sandwich and as the final morsels were flowing like lava down my gullet O spotted the second butterfly of the day – a Cloudy. It seemed like I’d a secret stash of luck that I’d forgotten about! I watched it fly up and down the path before it dropped down. It was quite jittery despite its age so I decided to delay my approach until it had completed a few flaps about and it had settle properly. This didn’t happen and after about 10 seconds or so it would start fidgeting and would take off before settling shortly after. So I settled for watching and following from afar and then nipping in for a few shots when it was still for the 30 seconds or so. It led me on a merry dance along the track and over the scrub to the grassland track that runs parallel to the stony one. It seemed to like the taller vegetation and the longest time it was settled was whilst in a small sapling.
After a couple of sets of shots I left it in peace and it flew on ahead of me along the grassed track. I too followed this as eventually it fused back with the stony track and from there it would end up at the Hollow Hotspot. A Small White flew past and there were a brace of Small Coppers. At least I think they were a brace, one of them was in such a state that unless I’d gotten a close look it could have been anything! Just before the hedge started up again on my left hand side I spotted a familiar shape making its way towards me. It was a Cloudy and when it landed I managed to get in close I could see that it was the one I’d already encountered.
I didn’t add anything extra to the list until I reached the Hotspot itself and here things were quiet – with only a couple of Small Heath and Meadow Browns flying. This persisted all the way along the Dyke until I reached the halfway point where along the Dyke just prior to the bisecting track a few blues turned up. First was a female Common Blue, then a male Chalkhill before the set was completed by a Brown Argus; all one after the other which isn’t normally the way. Usually they descend on you en mass as you’re trying to get shots of one they don’t hang around in the background only appearing once they know you’ve finished with the previous model.
At the halfway point the exposed bit of bank along the track played the track host to upwards of 5 Meadow Browns all perched with wings akimbo. Whilst on the other side of the path and along the Dyke a tiny Common Blue and then a female Common Blue both stopped ever so briefly – literally just long enough to go: “What was that? Oh it’s a…” and then they were off. Eventually I reached the Butts and there were a couple of Meadow Browns in the corner at the foot of the Butts as well as a well-worn Adonis. This species seem to show their wear more; you can tell from a distance and in flight that they’re looking past their best. Whereas Chalkhills always look smart when you first catch a glimpse of them and when in flight, right up to the point when they land or sit still and reveal that they’re actually in bits! I had a brief look over Field 4 and 3 now behind, usually in front of the Butts and then returned empty handed back to the little corner. From here I retraced my steps and added a few Small Heath from the grassed path that runs around the foot of the Butts from the main track.
I was well on the way back from the Butts to the Halfway Hotspot when the sun dipped behind the clouds as it had been threatening to do all afternoon. As the sun went truant the breeze stiffened and set to quite a blow and I was about to give up and head for home when a Cloudy dropped in, quite literally. It was blown towards me by the breeze and then in the shortest of lulls it sought refuge in some vegetation on the side of the Dyke. This one was definitely a different individual for as I approached it I could see that it was in almost mint condish. I grabbed a couple of record shots as I stalked it but the lack of the sun and its supporting warmth grounded it. I got into a great position kneeling on the side of the Dyke and then waited for the return of the sun. As the light made its way towards me I trained my lens on the butterfly, focused in and as the light hit I started clicking away. I wondered if this would be the very last drop of luck, the final dreg as it were?
After a while it must have reached a suitable temperature as it flew and took to fluttering forward and back and perching in different places on either side of the Dyke – showing a penchant for both yellow flowers and also the taller bushes and shrubs/saplings. After I’d watched it land and then take off again from a few different places I set about following it reasoning that should it take off it wasn’t down to me disturbing it rather it was just behaving as had taken its fancy.
Eventually I left it still flitting between perching spots and made my way back to the Halfway Point. From there I followed the narrow track, past the basking Meadow Browns, and carried on along the diagonal track on a heading towards the Tunnel Track so beloved by Greenstreaks and Holly Blues in the spring. As I walked I’d stop very occasionally for a butterfly; first for a Small Copper, then a Small Heath and finally for another Small Copper. This one had me doing a double take as or a fraction of a second I wondered if it was an aberrant (a schmidtii)? However it was just aged, the wear and tear and the removal of scales giving it the grey-ish paler look that had made me stop and stare. At the end of the diagonal track I wandered along the top track rather than along the lower tunnel track and at the end I found a male Common Blue, Small Heath and another, much more resplendent looking Small Copper. The very final stretch along the main track back towards the car produced a Small White, a Comma and a Speckie which allowed me to reach double digits of species before a Meadow Brown (the same as at the very start?) neatly brought the trip to a nice circular completion. None too shabby when I thought it was (almost) all over!
With Autumn colour
Offered up by a Cloudy
Top spot Martin Down
The Devenish 24-09-2022
‘That time of year’ had sprung up on me – the summer was gone, work was underway and the leaves were starting to fall from the trees. The weather had actually turned reasonable for a while and so I made the most of the unusually limited opportunity to head out and do a quick sweep of my local patches. I started off in the Orchid Meadow which was now a shadow of its former self – gone were the pinks and purples, the myriad of colours like individual pixels in the composite image. Instead it was more of the same, a greyish beige of straw with the odd patch of green and pinprick oases where the few remaining flowers poked their heads above the parapet. Unsurprisingly things started off quietly with a single Small White that had the whole of the meadow to itself. It didn’t want to have its picture taken so I pressed on and made my way up the narrow track to the Down proper. Once I’d negotiated the steps cut into the chalk I surveyed the view and then drifted diagonally back down to the line of beech trees at the ‘foot’ of the down where the Hemp Agrimony had now gone over. Bimbling about here was a Small Copper and with it a Specklie.
Once I’d gotten something on the memory I followed the Small Copper along and down into the Gully at the end of the reserve and this had much more activity. First off a Specklie flew past bisecting the Gully whilst a Large White flew rapidly up and down along the treeline but always just out of reach. As I drew near to the tall stand of Ivy covering a long dead but exceedingly tall tree a Comma shot off and after a few circles around me made for the cover of the ribbon spinney. I eyed the Ivy up and down and spotted two Red Admirals and 2 Specklies frequenting it but getting shots was a bit of a problem as they were so high up the tree. To make matters even more tricky a passing Hornet kept putting everything up as it carried out its patrol. Just as things would settle back down it would return and chase off individuals in turn. I persisted and eventually a few Specklies fell under the gleam of my lens. It definitely seemed that this was the place to hang out if you were a Pararage aegeria as by the time I’d clambered out of the Gully I’d counted 7 in total in a only a couple of metres square.
Once out of the Gully things quietened down again and I walked along the top, curving round into the two little cleared squares with nothing to add to the tally. As I braved the steep chalk steps back down I started seeing the butterflies again. It seemed typical that in the open and relatively flat fields there had been nothing and yet when I was having to wedge my feet into the side of the down for purchase and under threat of slipping A over T at any moment the butterflies should appear. If it had just been the passing Small White and a surprisingly fresh Meadow Brown I might have not bothered the reckless and dangerous pursuit but when a small, blood orange butterfly set about the Meadow Brown I reasoned that sometimes valour is the better part of prudence and so taking my life into my hands I descended much more swiftly than was safe. Luckily having seen off the Meadow Brown (I managed a record shot before it went) the Small Copper sat nicely atop its thrown surveying all of its territory and generally feeling pretty good about itself. To be fair its vanity wasn’t without reason as it was in exceedingly fine fettle.
Once I’d paid the Copper enough attention I hopped over the stile and made my way along the bottom path of the Middle Down to the Little Paddock. This track in the past has held Small Coppers but today only a few Common Darters flew its length. In the Little Paddock the were large numbers of Ivy Bees crawling over the floor and so densely packed were they that it looked a little like an errant flying carpet. A Specklie hung around on the gate at the Tunnel track whilst on the opposite gate a Common Darter rested in its dotage. A Comma and a Red Admiral hang out on the large Ivy growth on the surrounding trees the latter of which actually deigned to pay me a visit and drifted down in a series of gentle glides a la a falling leaf. When it did eventually make landfall it was very skittish at first and I felt like it was just toying with me. However a slight change of scene, flying to the other side of the gate and onto the Tunnel track, and it was much more approachable – it had obviously found its favoured basking spot and I could really get the lens up into its grill.
As I was now on the other side of the gate on the Tunnel Track I kept on following it the gate at the other end and from there over and into the Orchid Meadow. The/a Small White was still hanging around and after a quick dash I managed to ‘grab’ it and walk back along the Tunnel Track in a minute or so before bagging one final Specklie and hen making another dash, this time to get over to Five Rivers...
With the car abandoned I set off cutting across the grass and reaching the edge of the Glades from the rear. As it was the way through was tough going as the Hogweed and Bramble had run riot over the summer. I traipsed along the much narrower than normal trackways eyes peeled and also hoping that these paths beloved by the Orange-tips would open up by next spring. At the other side of the Glades at the miniature clearing a Specklie held its territory and sat nicely on one the larger leaves. There was a further brace occupying two spots at Comma Corner. Both sat for their portraits and unbeknownst to me they would be the last shots butterfly wise of the day.
I walked along the top and the Buddleia at Banks 2 still had a few florets remaining but sadly no butterflies. So I walked on to the end and back with a Small White and a few dragonflies. On my way up the track to the top of the Banks on the return leg I spooked three Specklies as I come through the low hanging vegetation. Had there been two I would have managed a shot of one of them but with three I didn’t know which way to look and so lost all of them. Back at the Glades there were two more Specklies with another at the end and another pair in the small clearing that the Red Admirals like so much. So ended the trip, not so much as with a Bang but more like out like a Lamb. There was a definite end of the season feel in the air and it looks like we might end up during the stage of the seasons with diminishing returns sooner than I’ve become accustomed too?
We’ve reached the tail end
As the range of species drops
And every one counts!
Once I’d gotten something on the memory I followed the Small Copper along and down into the Gully at the end of the reserve and this had much more activity. First off a Specklie flew past bisecting the Gully whilst a Large White flew rapidly up and down along the treeline but always just out of reach. As I drew near to the tall stand of Ivy covering a long dead but exceedingly tall tree a Comma shot off and after a few circles around me made for the cover of the ribbon spinney. I eyed the Ivy up and down and spotted two Red Admirals and 2 Specklies frequenting it but getting shots was a bit of a problem as they were so high up the tree. To make matters even more tricky a passing Hornet kept putting everything up as it carried out its patrol. Just as things would settle back down it would return and chase off individuals in turn. I persisted and eventually a few Specklies fell under the gleam of my lens. It definitely seemed that this was the place to hang out if you were a Pararage aegeria as by the time I’d clambered out of the Gully I’d counted 7 in total in a only a couple of metres square.
Once out of the Gully things quietened down again and I walked along the top, curving round into the two little cleared squares with nothing to add to the tally. As I braved the steep chalk steps back down I started seeing the butterflies again. It seemed typical that in the open and relatively flat fields there had been nothing and yet when I was having to wedge my feet into the side of the down for purchase and under threat of slipping A over T at any moment the butterflies should appear. If it had just been the passing Small White and a surprisingly fresh Meadow Brown I might have not bothered the reckless and dangerous pursuit but when a small, blood orange butterfly set about the Meadow Brown I reasoned that sometimes valour is the better part of prudence and so taking my life into my hands I descended much more swiftly than was safe. Luckily having seen off the Meadow Brown (I managed a record shot before it went) the Small Copper sat nicely atop its thrown surveying all of its territory and generally feeling pretty good about itself. To be fair its vanity wasn’t without reason as it was in exceedingly fine fettle.
Once I’d paid the Copper enough attention I hopped over the stile and made my way along the bottom path of the Middle Down to the Little Paddock. This track in the past has held Small Coppers but today only a few Common Darters flew its length. In the Little Paddock the were large numbers of Ivy Bees crawling over the floor and so densely packed were they that it looked a little like an errant flying carpet. A Specklie hung around on the gate at the Tunnel track whilst on the opposite gate a Common Darter rested in its dotage. A Comma and a Red Admiral hang out on the large Ivy growth on the surrounding trees the latter of which actually deigned to pay me a visit and drifted down in a series of gentle glides a la a falling leaf. When it did eventually make landfall it was very skittish at first and I felt like it was just toying with me. However a slight change of scene, flying to the other side of the gate and onto the Tunnel track, and it was much more approachable – it had obviously found its favoured basking spot and I could really get the lens up into its grill.
As I was now on the other side of the gate on the Tunnel Track I kept on following it the gate at the other end and from there over and into the Orchid Meadow. The/a Small White was still hanging around and after a quick dash I managed to ‘grab’ it and walk back along the Tunnel Track in a minute or so before bagging one final Specklie and hen making another dash, this time to get over to Five Rivers...
With the car abandoned I set off cutting across the grass and reaching the edge of the Glades from the rear. As it was the way through was tough going as the Hogweed and Bramble had run riot over the summer. I traipsed along the much narrower than normal trackways eyes peeled and also hoping that these paths beloved by the Orange-tips would open up by next spring. At the other side of the Glades at the miniature clearing a Specklie held its territory and sat nicely on one the larger leaves. There was a further brace occupying two spots at Comma Corner. Both sat for their portraits and unbeknownst to me they would be the last shots butterfly wise of the day.
I walked along the top and the Buddleia at Banks 2 still had a few florets remaining but sadly no butterflies. So I walked on to the end and back with a Small White and a few dragonflies. On my way up the track to the top of the Banks on the return leg I spooked three Specklies as I come through the low hanging vegetation. Had there been two I would have managed a shot of one of them but with three I didn’t know which way to look and so lost all of them. Back at the Glades there were two more Specklies with another at the end and another pair in the small clearing that the Red Admirals like so much. So ended the trip, not so much as with a Bang but more like out like a Lamb. There was a definite end of the season feel in the air and it looks like we might end up during the stage of the seasons with diminishing returns sooner than I’ve become accustomed too?
We’ve reached the tail end
As the range of species drops
And every one counts!
Bournemouth 18-09-2022
My back up plan from the day before had been to drop the girls in the middle of Bournemouth and then head over to Southbourne BUT I’d found fresh Cloudies AND a Helice so now I just relaxed and spent time with 2/3 of the girls (K was at home working away at her A level coursework).
We started out at Boscombe, birthplace of cheesemaker and Blur Bassist Alex James, and the houses and surrounding environs were very pleasant. We parked up and then as we left the car park a couple of whites fluttered about on the low hedge. The High Street itself had seen better days and so we beat a hasty retreat back to the car where the Whites now numbered three and moved over to Bournemouth itself. The drive was brilliant, up and down the chines and then driving along the clifftop round before sweeping down into the town. Again Whites were the order of the day and I checked each one hoping for the dirty yellow that I’d seen the day before which would mean a Helice. However all were brilliant white but I didn’t mind as I was still buzzing from the previous day.
We finished the shopping surprisingly quickly (I’d barely had time to rue offering to bring them once!) and so we returned the newly acquired chattels to the car and exchanged them for lunch before heading down to the beach. We walked past the roundabout near the BIC where Liam Gallagher, many moons ago, had shouted “Sausages” at me as he hung out of the Limo taking him to the ‘Battle of the Bands’ and then on down the hill to the Pier. After lunch we walked along the promenade heading East. All the while I kept whipping my head from the view of the beach and the sea to the undercliffs but the only butterflies that I saw were Whites – again all Persil bright and not the slightest hint of yellow. Mind you there were good numbers and the highest single count was 14 all in view at once. One Small White fluttered down from the cliff to nectar on one of the clumps of Seaside Daisy. I contemplated getting my camera out but it would have been a right hassle so it stayed buried and entangled in my bag.
We turned around and started back when I spotted a mustard yellow butterfly. It flew along the side of the cliff and then seemed to go down to nectar on some Seaside Daisies growing over the wall of the zig-zag footpath up the cliff. I rushed over and tried to extricate my camera. I managed to get my phone out of the way and stashed away in my pocket, the next obstacle was moving everything else out of the way, then disentangling it from the bag my flask was in before finally trying to take the lens cap off one handed. The near impossible job was done but sadly it looked like the butterfly had ‘done one’ itself. I walked towards the flowers I thought it had landed on anyway and I realised it was still there – just feeding in the horizontal plane. I clicked away, slowly walking up the footpath and curving my camera around to try and get it side on which somehow I manged. Then it was gone but at the same time a Wall Lizard popped out from a crevice to see what all the fuss was about.
I re-joined the others and as getting near to the cliff was prevented by the row of beach huts once more I stashed my camera away. Still the Whites flew and right at the end of the more sparsely vegetated part of the cliff before dense shrubbery covered it entirely, a Cloudy flew as of to wave us off. Others have witnessed amazing numbers of Cloudies this year but this single sighting for me, coming from a spontaneous and unassuming wander along the beach, is just as memorable and awe inspiring. Plus it was good to know that my back-up plan was a good one.
Shopping in Bournemouth
Then a stroll under the cliffs
A Cloudy drops in
We started out at Boscombe, birthplace of cheesemaker and Blur Bassist Alex James, and the houses and surrounding environs were very pleasant. We parked up and then as we left the car park a couple of whites fluttered about on the low hedge. The High Street itself had seen better days and so we beat a hasty retreat back to the car where the Whites now numbered three and moved over to Bournemouth itself. The drive was brilliant, up and down the chines and then driving along the clifftop round before sweeping down into the town. Again Whites were the order of the day and I checked each one hoping for the dirty yellow that I’d seen the day before which would mean a Helice. However all were brilliant white but I didn’t mind as I was still buzzing from the previous day.
We finished the shopping surprisingly quickly (I’d barely had time to rue offering to bring them once!) and so we returned the newly acquired chattels to the car and exchanged them for lunch before heading down to the beach. We walked past the roundabout near the BIC where Liam Gallagher, many moons ago, had shouted “Sausages” at me as he hung out of the Limo taking him to the ‘Battle of the Bands’ and then on down the hill to the Pier. After lunch we walked along the promenade heading East. All the while I kept whipping my head from the view of the beach and the sea to the undercliffs but the only butterflies that I saw were Whites – again all Persil bright and not the slightest hint of yellow. Mind you there were good numbers and the highest single count was 14 all in view at once. One Small White fluttered down from the cliff to nectar on one of the clumps of Seaside Daisy. I contemplated getting my camera out but it would have been a right hassle so it stayed buried and entangled in my bag.
We turned around and started back when I spotted a mustard yellow butterfly. It flew along the side of the cliff and then seemed to go down to nectar on some Seaside Daisies growing over the wall of the zig-zag footpath up the cliff. I rushed over and tried to extricate my camera. I managed to get my phone out of the way and stashed away in my pocket, the next obstacle was moving everything else out of the way, then disentangling it from the bag my flask was in before finally trying to take the lens cap off one handed. The near impossible job was done but sadly it looked like the butterfly had ‘done one’ itself. I walked towards the flowers I thought it had landed on anyway and I realised it was still there – just feeding in the horizontal plane. I clicked away, slowly walking up the footpath and curving my camera around to try and get it side on which somehow I manged. Then it was gone but at the same time a Wall Lizard popped out from a crevice to see what all the fuss was about.
I re-joined the others and as getting near to the cliff was prevented by the row of beach huts once more I stashed my camera away. Still the Whites flew and right at the end of the more sparsely vegetated part of the cliff before dense shrubbery covered it entirely, a Cloudy flew as of to wave us off. Others have witnessed amazing numbers of Cloudies this year but this single sighting for me, coming from a spontaneous and unassuming wander along the beach, is just as memorable and awe inspiring. Plus it was good to know that my back-up plan was a good one.
Shopping in Bournemouth
Then a stroll under the cliffs
A Cloudy drops in
Martin Down 17-09-2022
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Last year I planned on visiting Southbourne to catch up on the Cloudy population that remains there. I ended up talking myself out of making the trip and regretted it later as I missed out on not only several Cloudies but among them was a Helice. This year I was resolute that I would get a Dorset Cloudy and so I googled street maps to find free parking, worked out the quickest route and even made contingency plans to drop the girls in Bournemouth first to maintain my stash of Brownie points. Everything was in place and then for some reason I talked myself out of it and instead I ended up doing the usual Saturday morning chores. I suppose that’s the thing with this end of the season – you’ve seen almost everything and most of what’s left looks a bit battered BUT you feel like you have to go out as it might just be the last trip of the season…and then the morning comes and the next day looks good so you reckon you might just put it off until then. Then you wait and hope but the next day your hopes are dashed. So it looked like happening again this year…but I did go out after lunch.
As I pulled up into the main car park at Martin Down a pair of Whites fluttered along the Bramble hedge but they were too far away for my lens to reach so I set off down the main track hoping that this wouldn’t be ‘one of those days’. As I continued down the track and the hedges on either side muffled the noise of the busy road and it grew quieter and quieter with each step and there weren’t any butterflies either. I stepped out from the dual hedges and within three steps a mustard yellow butterfly flew across the path. At first I was like “oh a butterfly”. Then I was “it’s a nice custard yellow colour” then I was like “It’s a cloudy!”. Luckily it was a female and see had a penchant for the yellow flowers which she sipped from regularly, not flying far in between sips. At one point the sun went in so she rested on the deck and I sat down and waited for the return of the sun with her. When it came back out the colour shone out from her – and what a hairdo!
Eventually I left her in peace and carried happily on. Martin Down at this end is a series of four fields delineated by a raised bank or shooting butt. The second was quiet and then I cut diagonally across the third and climbed out to be greeted by a Cloudy flying at me from the Dyke. This was a male and it flew strongly and ceaselessly. Four times I lost it and then managed to pick it back up flying along the Dyke and down into the third field. I would watch fly along the bank and then down but somehow it would disappear once it was in the field. I did find a Small Copper and a brace of Common blues here amid a few Meadow Browns whilst wondering where the Cloudy had gotten too which served as a slight compensation. The last time I saw it, it flew down into the forth field below the tallest of the Butts so I followed it and a few Blues flew before it but once again it somehow disappeared from view. I wondered if it had dropped down unseen to feed on some of the smattering of flowers but in this particular field the turf was so closely cropped that a Cloudy sitting feeding would have been even more obvious than a flying one.
I climbed back out of the sunken field and followed the track around the corner and then along the foot of the Butt. The sheltered corner again produced the goods with a tired Adonis, 2 Small Coppers, a Common Blue and a tiny Brown Argus as well as a few more Meadow Browns. The Small Heath flew around the path down into the field but as I strolled across it there were only a few more Meadow Browns and a couple of Blues, most, if not all of which were looking well past their best! I pressed on along the Dyke to the half way point and as I reached it I saw another/the male Cloudy, just as the sun went in. I wasn’t able to see where it had gone down with the failing sun and so while I waited for both to return I had a mooch around and spotted a female Brimstone and a few Meadow Browns. Alas my waiting was to no avail as the sun stubbornly remained behind the clouds and so I moved off once again along the well-trodden track along the Dyke. Next were a couple more Blues and a tired Chalkhill but the lack of sun was proving to be a pain – the cloud sat right overhead and as it covered the sun the temperature dropped noticeably and the breeze picked up. Annoyingly the fields on other side of the reserve were bathed in sun and as I walked I watched as the light drew closer achingly slowly.
I was a good way along the Dyke when the sun finally emerged and I recognised the spot as the very place I’d seen my last Cloudy a few weeks back. I looked around and there was just a white…wait a minute I thought there’s something not quite right about that one? As I approached it looked a little like a chop job. Someone had bolted the fore wings of a White with the hind wings of a Cloudy – it was my first ever Helice! I managed to keep up with it as it flew first along the Dyke back the way I’d just come and then turned around and retraced its wingbeats(?). Despite the relatively rapid progress it would make it was not too difficult to keep up with as Helices are female and so it would flutter from one feeding stop to another. The trick came in second guessing which flower it would feed from next as the flowers didn’t seem to have an awful lot of nectar and it would only be at each one for a matter of seconds. I’d have to walk/run to keep up with it and then as soon as it landed swoop in and click away. This seemed to pay off and eventually it found some better nectar sources so I was able to start filling the memory card. However it didn’t like me getting on it’s right side for some reason(?) and so the backlit/stained glass shots were at a premium. I didn’t mind though as she was gorgeous – the pink margins showed up brilliantly along the pale white edge as did the lemon wash on the tip of the forewing against of the rest of the wing and contrasted nicely with the almost blue-white underwing. After a while I left it alone and headed back along the diagonal track that runs from the end of the Tunnel track to the half way spot where I was again greeted by the male Cloudy flying swiftly along the Dyke. It kept going until it was just a blur on the memory.
To be honest I can’t remember much else after this as I strolled back to the car in a daze – that Helice what a beauty!
I put off Southbourne
Martin Down’s all yellow
And joyful Helice
