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 Wood - 29th July 2010

I'd been working in Braintree so while traveling back along the A14 a quick visit to Brampton Wood near Huntingdon was a no brainer. With the woods known for White Admiral, White-letter Hairstreak, Purple Hairstreak and probably the best site in the UK for Black Hairstreak (though I'd missed them by a few weeks as they fly at the end of June begining of July) I was hoping to add a new butterfly to my growing list but as happens when I'm out birding it wasn't to be. The weather was warm but white cloud dominated the sky so maybe I shouldn't have expected to much from this ancient woodland and again like my visit to Bishop Middleham Quarry I only covered a small amount of the area. Ringlet were absolutely everywhere and by far the most common species throughout my walk.

RINGLET SEEN THROUGHOUT THE WOODS

Meadow Brown were about in numbers as usual and the odd Peacock made an appearance along with Speckled Wood and Gatekeeper.

FEMALE GATEKEEPER

Both Small and Large Skippers made an appearance along with a single Common Blue

ABOVE SMALL SKIPPER BELOW LARGE SKIPPER

MALE COMMON BLUE

There was a number of dragonfly and damselfly in the area I walked most of which I couldn't identify or photograph due to them being in flight though I did see a male Empreror Dragonfly patrolling a small pond deep within the woods.

Brockholes Nature Reserve - 24th July 2010

Okay I thought I'd start the post with this juvenile Robin as I haven't posted much about birds lately on what started out as a birding blog and it looked kinda cute sat amongst the undergrowth. More about birds later, the reason for this trip down to Brockholes NR was again to try and see the White-letter Hairstreak. The sun had been out all morning but by the time I managed my visit it was still warm but the sun was behind a mass of white cloud so spotting one was going to be difficult. The caterpillar feeds exclusively on the leaves of elm and the butterfly feeds on the honeydew in the canopy of elms only occasionaly coming down to feed on brambles or thistles in the warmth of sunlight. On my walk up to the area they had previously been sighted I counted 20+ Meadow Browns amongst the grass as well as several Gatekeepers, Small Tortoiseshell and Green-veined White. As I approached the brambles several species were feeding and taking in the warmth and while l scanning through them a single White-letter Hairstreak flew from the bottom of the brambles and perched on a high branch.

ABOVE AND BELOW WHITE-LETTERED HAIRSTREAK

Other species on the Brambles including those already mentioned were Coma, Peackock and Small White.

ABOVE PEACOCK BELOW COMA

BELOW SMALL WHITE IN FLIGHT AND 2 GATEKEEPERS

Bill and Mike joined me but as Mike arived the White-letter Hairstreak flew back into the woods not to return on our visit.

Text had been coming through over the last few days about a Hobby that has been hunting around the M6 end of pool No1 so this was the next stop with the hope of seeing my first one of the year. Nick Green (who later spotted an Osprey breifly over the Ribble) and several other birders were watching the Hobby as it sat on the top of a lamp post. I managed a few record shots including a poor one in flight but it was just to far for my 300mm lens.

ABOVE HOBBY ON ITS REGULAR PERCH AND BELOW POOR FLIGHT SHOT

Once the Hobby flew off I spotted a female Common Darter which thankfully stayed around while both Mike and I photgraphed it.

TOP, MIDDLE AND BOTTOM FEMALE COMMON DARTER

A single Small Skipper few from under the undergrowth, the first I'd seen but not much different from the Large Skipper I photographed a few weeks ago here.

ABOVE AND BELOW SMALL SKIPPER

Butterflies, Brockholes Nature Reserve - 18th July 2010

After getting the Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown mixed up in an earlier post (now corrected thanks to Bill Gregory) I decided to make the most of a brake in the rain this afternoon to try and photograph both species down at Brockholes Nature Reserve. The Gatekeeper flies between the end of June to the begining of September and can be found south of Cumbria in England and mainly coastal areas in Wales. The main distinguishing features between the two species is the Meadow Brown is a duller butterfly and the Gatekeeper has 2 white pupils in the eyespots of the forewings.

ABOVE GATEKEEPER BELOW MEADOW BROWN

NOTE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE EYESPOTS

The Meadow Brown has a longer flying season starting from the begining of June and going through to the end of September and can be found through out Britain below 300m.

TOP FEMALE GATEKEEPER BELOW MALE GATEKEEPER,

NOTE THE SEX BANDS ON THE FOREWING OF THE MALE

ABOVE A NEWLY EMERGED GATEKEEPER WITH ITS WINGS YET TO EXTEND

ABOVE A FEMALE MEADOW BROWN

There were several white butterflies flying but I only managed to photograph these Green-veined Whites the most common of all the whites. It can be found through out most of Britain and flies between the beginig of April and the end of September, being such a long flighing period it is one of the species of buterflies that has 2 broods.

ABOVE & BELOW GREEN-VEINED WHITE, NOTE THE GREEN VEINS

ON THE UNDERSIDE OF ITS WING THAT GIVES IT ITS NAME