Adonis Blue at Aston Rowant NNR

I haven't had much luck this year in adding to my Butterfly list but in the first week of September I called back in at Aston Rowant with the hope of seeing one of the most vibrant blues seen in the UK. The Adonis Blue is only seen in small numbers here and after switching on my camera on only to find the battery flat I wasn't holding out much hope. Most of the plants were putting to seed but there was a small patch were I found several mostly worn butterflies feeding and amongst them a Male Blue Adonis. Luckily my smart phone had packed in and I was using my trusty old sony C905 and with a 8.1M camera, with a little patience I managed to get a few shots. I counted 3 males during my hour visit along with 1 Siver-spotted Skipper, 6+ Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell, 1 Painted Lady, Brown Argus and Common Blue.

Blue Adonis

 Above Painted Lady

 Above Brown Argus Below Common Blue

Aston Rowant NNR - 2nd August 2011

I managed a second visit to this wonderful butterfly site in just over a week and what a difference. The temperature was around 25C  with very little wind and though it was cloudy the number of butterflies was treble the amount I saw on my previous visit.
Chalkhill Blue were flying in large numbers and were certainly the predominant species. Small Heath ans Small Copper numbers were up and I saw at least 10 Silver -Spotted Skippers which were not flying on my previous visit.

 Above the Silver-Spotted Skipper is common during its flying season at Aston Rowant and can be distinguished from other UK Skippers by the silver spots on its under wing.

 Above Essex Skipper below Large Skipper

The Large and Essex Skippers can be distinguished by the Essex Skippers black tip to the antenna.

  Above Small Copper below Small Heath

 Above Common Blue, below female Chalkhill Blue, bottom male Chalkhill Blue

 Top Small Tortoiseshell, above Speckled Wood below female Brown Argus

Bowdown Woods BBOWT - 29th July 2011

I haven't had much chance to increase my Butterfly list that I started last year so when I knew I was working in Thatcham I couldn't resist in calling in at Bowdown Woods where 2 of my target species the Silver-washed Fritillary and White Admiral are currently flying. Unfortunately things conspired against me and after a phone call from the office I had to cut short my visit without seeing either. I came across a small glade where I saw most of the species which included an unusual marked Green-veined White (below) and thanks to Andy on the UK Butterfly forum for helping with its ID.

Green-veined White

Speckled Wood

Meadow Brown

Some luck was with me and I stopped to watch 2 Green Woodpeckers as finished my walk along the Bomb Site path I noticed an Oak Tree and knowing there are Purple Hairstreak reported I took a good look finding one high up and just within my lens range, though the quality wasn't to good with shooting into the sunlight.

Purple Hairstreak 

 Male Common Blue

Female Common Blue

Other butterflies included Peackock and Gatekeeper

Aston Rowant NNR - 26th July 2011

Aston Rowant NNR is a great place for butterflies with 35 species recorded on the site and 20 recorded the day before my vist. The sun wasn't out and there was a slight wind so hopes of seeing a high species count on my visit were not very high but with at least 10 on show I don't think I did to bad.

  Male Chalkhill Blue

 Female Chalkhill Blue

 Female Common Blue

Brown Argus
There were several species of Blue flying and along with Skippers I find them very difficult to identify until I get home and trawl through my photos. Chalkhill Blue were flying in large numbers and with it being the middle of their flying season and Aston Rowants chalk fields its main habbitat it wasn't a supprise.

Essex Skipper

Small Skipper

 Gatekeeper

 Small Copper

Small Heath

The Small Heath was both a difficult species to find and photograph with only 2 subjects seen on my visit and both deep in the grasses. Other species onsite but not photographed were Large Skipper and Meadow Brown



Brockholes Nature Reserve LWT - 15th August 2010

The plan was to head out to Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB but just before we left a text came through from Mike saying the Purple Hairstreak were showing at Brockholes Nature Reserve so off we went. Walking towards the Oak tree where they had been spotted at the edge of Boilton Wood we spotted several other species of Butterflies some being a first time for Reece. I've always had a mild interest in butterflies and could probably have named a dozen or so species but this year as you can probably tell by the increased postings on the blog I've increased my knowledge and the amount of species I've seen. The one thing that has amazed me though is the size of some of the butterflies as shown in the photograph of the Small Copper below. I spotted it when passing some Ragwort and Reece was shocked at both how I'd picked it out and how small it was.

ABOVE SMALL COPPER BELOW WORN FEMALE COMMON BLUE BOTH ON RAGWORT

There were 5 or 6 people observing the Oak tree where the Purple Hairstreak had been seen but as we arived none had shown for 20 minutes but it wasn't long before one made an appearance. They were quite distant and being a small butterfly with a wingspan up to 40mm I couldn't get in close as I usually do. Unlike most species they feed on the honeydew of Oak trees so they are hard to spot as they spend most of the time in the tops of the trees.

They fly between the begining of July to the first week in September and I'm hoping we have another sunny day so I get the chance to try and photograph them again. Other species on the wing included Common Blue, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Comma, Small White and Green Veined White.

TOP SMALL TORTOISESHELL BELOW COMMA BOTTOM SPECKLED WOOD

Dragonflies were also flying and none more than the Common Darter. Both the males and females were showing well across the reserve and were quite happy to remain perched as we both photographed them. No such luck with the Brown Hawker which never seems to land though a female was seen oviposting on the fishing pond but none of my photographs were any good to show. We also saw a Southern Hawker and a Migrant Hawker but again with them being on the wing photos were near imposible. Not forgeting birds we saw a Green Sandpiper fly from one of the smaller pools and a Little Egret was seen on pool No 1 but not by ourselves.

ABOVE FEMALE COMMON DARTER BELOW MALE COMMON DARTER