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

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.

Bishop Middleham Quarry - 27th July 2010

I was working in the North East of England and decided to take my lunch brake at Bishop Middleham Quarry as I'd read that it was a good area to observe both buterflies and orchids.
Having now looked at the map the area seems to cover quite a large area which is why I missed the Northern Brown Argos which I'd hoped to see. The area I covered was around NZ329325 and I only managed a brief visit so more than likely missed quite a lot that can be seen in the area.

SMALL COPPER

MEADOW BROWN

BELOW SMALL SKIPPER

ABOVE SMALL WHITE BELOW GREEN-VEINED WHITE

Other butterflies included Peacock and Gatekeeper. Also in the area I came across 2 species of orchid, Common Spotted which I've seen at several sites including Stags lodge though the plants do have a slightly different shape here than the ones I have seen before. The other orchid I found was the Chalk Fragrant-Orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea)  the first time I have come across this orchid.

ABOVE COMMON SPOTTED ORCHID

ABOVE AND BELOW CHALK FRAGRANT-ORCHID