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

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



Brampton Woods - 11th July 2011

I called in at Brampton Woods with the hope of catching one of the UK's rarest butterflies the Black Hairstreak. There are 5 known sites in the woods where they can be seen but its at the end of their short flying season so hopes weren't high. The weather didn't help either, it was warm but cloudy with a slight wind not ideal conditions so I wasn't disapointed when I didn't see one maybe next year.

                                Ringlet

 There are plenty of other species to be seen with Ringlet being the main one flying low in the long grass and flowers rarely landing. The bottom photograph shows a very worn specmen which amazingly was still able to fly.

                               Essex Skipper

There were 3 species of Skipper, Essex Large and Small. They can be distinguished by their antenae with the Essex having a black tip and the Small having an orange tip.

                                Large Skipper 

                                Small Skipper                              

Only one Brown Argus could be found on my visit and no other small blues seemed to be present but this may be due to the weather.

 



Other species included Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood and Green-veined White also reported at the site are White and and Purple Hairstreak.

                                Gatekeeper

                                Green-veined White

                                Meadow Brown

                                Red Admiral

                                Speckled Wood

Aston Rowant NNR Revisted - 12th August 2010

I was again lucky to be travelling home from work via Aston Rowant and this time I met up with Mike Foley on the reserve who was hoping to photograph the Silver-spotted Skippers I saw last week. By the time I caught up with him he'd already seen Chalkhill Blue, Silver-spotted Skipper and Brown Argus, a species I'd hoped for but hadn't seen on my previous visit. As I emerged from the tree lined path down from the car park I spotted 2 Small Heath, something I thought I'd seen last week but upon searching around I couldn't find again to photograph. This time I took the opportunity when it presented itself and managed a few shots before it disappeared across the hillside.

MALE SMALL HEATH

I decided to search for the Brown Argus having not seen one before and I soon came across a worn example of a male (not shown). Whilst I searched for a better specimen I anaged to photograph a few of the species I saw last week.

ABOVE SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPER, BELOW MALE CHALKHILL BLUE

ABOVE MALE COMMON BLUE BELOW WELL WORN FEMALE COMMON BLUE

I finally managed to find several Brown Argus flying hurredly between the plants and only occasionally alighting to feed. The female is distinguished from the male by its larger form, more rounded wings and bolder orange markings that reach the wingtip. 

ABOVE FEMALE BROWN ARGUS BELOW AND BOTTOM MALE BROWN ARGUS

Although the the weather was similar to last weeks visit there didn't seem to be as many butterflies around until the sun made an appearance from behind the clouds. It was during one such appearnce I came across 2 Small Copper a butterfly I'd only previously seen at my visit to Bishop Middleham Quarry.

ABOVE AND BELOW SMALL COPPER

The last species I managed to photograph and another first for me was the Essex Skipper. I'd read that they could be seen on the reserve but hadn't found one on my first visit and it wasn't until I was almost ready to leave that I found what at first I thought was a Small Skipper. The two species are very difficult to distinguish unless viewed through binoculars or a camera as the antennae of the Essex Skipper has a black tip.

ABOVE ESSEX SKIPPER BELOW NOTE THE BLACK TIP OF THE ANTENNAE

ESSEX SKIPPER

All in all another great visit to the reserve with a total of 4 new species and a grand total of 10 species across the 2 visits and I'm sure there is more to be seen through out the year.