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.

Silver-studded Blue (Plebeius argus) - 2nd July 2010

Those who had read Mike Foleys Natural History blog will recognise this stunning butterfly straight away and it was after reading it I decided to pay the area a visit on my way back from Nuneaton. The area is an old airfield that is in the process of being restored back to heathland by the Butterfly Conservation. Though very similar in appearance the Silver-studded Blue can be distinguished from the Common Blue by the thicker black margins to the wings. Their name comes from the silver studs that can be seen in some of the spots on the underside of their wings, some having more studs than others. On my hour long visit at least 40 Silver-studded were on the wing in a relatively small area, mostly males.

ABOVE SILVER-STUDDED BLUE BELOW A WORN EXAMPLE

ABOVE AND BELOW ON ITS MAIN NECTAR SOURCE HEATHER

BELOW A SILVER STUD CAN JUST BE MADE OUT ON THE FIFTH SPOT OF ITS HINDWING

Several other species of butterfly could also be seen in the area including Ringlet and Small Heath. Both in were in small numbers and difficult to photograph as they spent most of the time flying low across the ground.

ABOVE SMALL HEATH BELOW RINGLET