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

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

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 - 26th June 2010

Not much going on bird wise at the moment so I'm trying to learn a little more about other wildlife including Butterflies, Dragonflies and Orchids (as shown in previous posts). The Butterfly and Orchid books are on order so my identification of both should improve, if only slightly in the coming months. I spent the afternoon down at Brockholes not looking for anything in perticular but hoping that something new would pop up in the afternoon sunshine. Dragonflies included 4 Empreror, 1 Black-tailed Skimmer, Blue-tailed Damselfly and Common Blue Damselfly.

ABOVE BLUE TAILED DAMSELFLY BELOW BLACK-TAILED SKIMMER

Common Spotted Orchid were in abundance across the reserve, more so than last year from what I remember. Butterflies included Large White, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown and Large Skipper.

ABOVE COMMON SPOTTED ORCHID BELOW LARGE SKIPPER

ABOVE MEADOW BROWN BELOW SMALL TORTOISESHELL

Of course there where some birds around including this juvenile Whitethroat singing over by the fishing pond.

                          

I also spent some time trying to photograph the Sand Martin over the River Ribble with this being my best effort.