The 58 - Episode IX - Rapid progress

Sunday, 31st May 2020

Episode VIII was only relentless progress but this episode documents rapid progress as SIX species of butterfly were ticked off the list in TWO days. Not only that but two worrisome species, High brown fritillary and Small white were finally encountered.

Following our failure to find High brown fritillary at Whitbarrow Scar our hero spent many an anxious hour searching the internet for any clue as to where they may be found . Eventually he came up with Craig Ddu which is south east part of Old Castle Down, Ewenni.

Now I am sure you will all know where that is, but just in case you have a slight doubt, the site is located just south of Bridgend.

On a beautiful summer's day our hero with his two companions made our way down the M6, M5 and M4 to Bridgend and then onto Ewenni, Here the fun began as we tried to find the road to the site. 

After negotiating some very narrow sections the road eventually led us to start of the path to Craig Ddu.

We parked opposite a well vegetated area and whilst scanning this we noticed that there were large fritillaries flying about.

Could they be ...?

When I said well-vegetated I mean the vegetation was almost as tall as we were and very dense. This made chasing a flighty orange butterfly quite tricky, and getting close enough to one when it briefly settled almost impossible.

But we persevered and managed to photograph one.

... No it wasn't!

It was Dark green fritillary.

Up the hill we went, eventually reaching a bracken covered plateau. Ideal habitat, I was told, for our target species of the day. All we needed now was for a High brown fritillary to know that it was ideal habitat and honour us with its presence long enough for us to be able to make a positive identification.

An orange butterfly appeared.

And disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Then another, and another.

None hung around long enough to be identified.

One settled ...

Dark green fritillary.

Another settled … another Dark green.

And so it continued until this butterfly was photographed.

Number 46: High brown fritillary

Photograph: Bob Kemp

You can see the silver dots surrounded by a brown ring on the underside of the hindwing which indicates this species. No mistake this time.

Target species found we continued to explore the site accompanied by the piercing "little bit of bread and no cheese" call of a yellowhammer.

Whilst being watched by an alert Stonechat.

And we had the opportunity to see one of our star photographers in his natural environment.

Flushed by success we returned home happy and our hero was wearing a couple less furrows on his brow.

But still no small white. Surely this butterfly was not going to scupper the quest. A furrow was added

No rest. The following day a return trip to Whitecross Green wood was undertaken. Unfortunately I had a date with the gasman and could not go, so am unable to flesh out the details of this trip in which five butterflies were ticked off the list taking our hero into the fifties and onto the home stretch.

Number 47: White admiral

Photographer: David Williams

Number 48: Purple emperor

Photographer: David Williams

Number 49: Silver-washed fritillary

Photographer: Bob Kemp

Photographer: David Williams

Photographer: David Williams

Number 50: Gatekeeper

And at long last ...

Number 51: Small white

Photographer: David Williams

Phew!

51 down 7 to go.

More next time when it will include a couple of trips on which I did accompany our hero.

To finish, here are some of the photographs I have taken or been sent over the last seven days or so of things that have been spotted when exercising or in our gardens.

A pair of Azure damselflies concentrating on generating the next generation.

A birch shieldbug

Photograph: John Martin

A Common carder bee on the flower of a Yellow iris.

 

A Broad-bodied chaser.

Photograph: David Williams

Photograph: David Williams

A recent arrival in the county, the mirid bug, Closterotomus trivialis.

Photograph: Dan Wrench

A Common green grasshopper.

Photograph: David Williams

A Common spotted orchid.

Amorous Dingy skippers.

Photograph: David Williams

An Elephant hawk-moth.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

A purple Field grasshopper nymph

Photograph: David Williams

A Forest bug nymph

A Hairy shieldbug.

A Poplar hawkmoth.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

And finally a Rhingia campestris feeding at Ragged robin.

Keep well.

The 58 - Episode VIII - Relentless progress

Sunday, 24th May 2020

Before continuing the saga of the search for all 58 Great British butterflies it may be worth summarising the situation.

Approaching the end of Spring our hero had seen and positively identified 38 species. Just the 20 to go!

Everything seemed to be going well but there were a few concerns; High brown fritillary being at the forefront of these.

Another was Small white, a relatively common butterfly, which had so far evaded our hero, even though those assisting him in his quest had already seen them. This was a source of amusement to us but great frustration to Jim.

We are allowed to have a bit of fun at our hero's expense.

On the last day of Spring I went on holiday and our hero went to Furber's Scrapyard.

A couple of years ago Natural England and Shropshire Wildlife Trust were awarded funding to acquire land abutting Whixall Moss to enhance the well-being of the moss. Part of the acquisition was the disused scrapyard. We have visited the site a couple of times to carry out surveys but on this occasion Jim ventured there alone.

His trip was rewarded with:

Number 39: Ringlet

On the following day our hero, with Bob as companion, ventured north to Meathrop Moss which lies not far from where the River Kent flows into the north of Morecambe Bay.

Information about the site can be found by following this link - Meathrop Moss

The reason it drew the attention of our butterfly hunter is that it is a good site for the Large heath butterfly. On this visit plenty were seen flitting about the site, but only one posed long enough to be photographed.

Number 40: Large heath

Large heath can also be found, more locally, at Whixall Moss.

A few days later the pair were off on another jaunt. This time to Daneway Banks, a Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust site well known as a site for Large blue butterfly. For more information on this site follow this link - Daneway Banks

Not many years ago this butterfly was extinct in Britain but it has been reintroduced into a few reserves from stock taken from Sweden.

Parking at Daneways Bank is very limited and our hero, finding the car parking spaces full, dropped off his companion and went to find a safe place to park. By the time that he had done this and returned Bob had found and photographed a Large blue.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Jim was not so lucky, he was unable to capture a photograph where the butterfly had open wings but he did manage a more distant shot of the underwings.

Number 41: Large blue

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

The site is also known for another rarity, a bee fly, Villa cingulata. With careful study of the low vegetation you can spot them going about their business. This one is a female which is ovipositing.

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

To show that he was thinking of me in my absence Jim also found this colourful mirid bug Calocoris roseomaculatus.

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

Two days later our intrepid duo were out again, this time, locally, at Prees Heath to look for Silver-studied blue. The stronghold of this butterfly is the heathlands of the south but there are other colonies dotted around, one of which is Prees Heath.

The reserve is managed by Butterfly Conservation principally for this butterfly and hundreds can be seen there if you go at the right time and the conditions are suitable. follow this link for more information about this site - Prees Heath

And, yes, our duo did go at the right time and in the right conditions to confirm:

Number 42: Silver-studded blue

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Photograph: Bob Kemp

They also checked some oaks in a small woodland area and found:

Number 43 - Purple hairstreak

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Photograph: David Williams

I was now back from holiday and our hero had decided that his next target would be another tricky butterfly to find for someone living in the West Midlands - Lulworth skipper. Unlike the other skipper named after a place, the Essex skipper, which can be found well away from its named locality, the Lulworth skipper is confined to extreme south of Dorset centred around Lulworth.

The trip was planned, the weather forecast consulted and a day chosen. Unfortunately it was on my birthday, so I declined to join our hero. For some reason his other regular companion also decided not to go, leaving Jim to make the journey on his own.

Did this put him off.

Of course not!

Setting off about 6,20am our hero arrived at his chosen destination, Durlston Country Park,  five hours and 188 miles later. Jim has provided me with a description of the route he took. I will not go into detail here but it is fair to say that some of the roads, designated as A roads, provided challenging conditions, being at certain points narrow and not wide enough to accommodate cars and lorries passing in both directions.

Having arrived at the Country Park Jim takes up the story ...

From the car park I made my way into the main park. Within 100 yards I could see only a few people, the Isle of Purbeck rolled ahead of me towards Worth Matravers and beyond, beautiful downland. A breeze towards the sea (!) and warm sunshine, what a perfect spot. Dark Green Fritillaries looked so out of place and there were skippers. I tried so hard to identify a Lulworth Skipper, almost succeeding a time or two. But onwards to the west! I was pretty much on my own by now, lots of butterflies, lots of skippers, and then the first Lulworth Skipper, so obviously a Lulworth Skipper, there was a large amount and variety of nectar sources but the breeze was a problem, if a butterfly got into it then it was 20 yards away in the blink of an eye. Large, Small and Essex Skippers in profusion. I walked most of the way to St. Aldhelm's Head then slowly back nearer the edge of the cliffs.

The results of this outing were:

Number 44: Essex skipper

Photograph: David Williams

Number 45: Lulworth skipper

Photograph: Jim Cresswell

By the start of July relentless progress had been made. Only 13 to go. An unlucky number?

Still no High brown fritillary or Small white. And there were a few other tricky butterflies coming into their flight season. The pressure was mounting.

Like our hero you will have to fret another week to find out how he got on.

And now for some of the photographs that have come my way this week, plus a few of my own, for your enjoyment.

A moth, Alder kitten.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

A slug, Arion flagellus, feasting, I am informed, on Badger excrement.

Photograph: John Lyden

A  moth, Buff-tip.

Another moth, Burnet companion.

Photograph: Peter Hodgkinson

Following my ascent of Little Hill to confirm that Callicera rufa were still in residence, I made the trip to Grinshill where the Scot's pine are about 50 yards from the car park to check that they were still present there. The drawback of Grinshill is that there is not a single dominant tree the hoverfly may use, resulting in having to check a good number in order to find the distinctive insect.

The good news is that I found them on three trees.

A pair of froghoppers, Cercopis vulnerata.

A butterfly, Common blue.

Photograph: Peter Hodgkinson

Another hoverfly, Criorhina berberina.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

An orchid, Early purple orchid.

Another orchid, Greater butterfly-orchid.

A second butterfly, Green hairstreak.

Photograph: Peter Hodgkinson

A third hoverfly, Merodon equestris.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A pair of craneflies, Nephrotoma appendiculata.

Photograph: John Lyden

A further hoverfly, Parasyrphus nigritarsis.

Photograph: John Lyden

A fungus, Dryad's saddle.

Photograph: John Lyden

A final moth, Ruby tiger.

And to finish another cranefly, Tipula lunata.

Photograph: Peter Hodgkinson

Thank you for reading this.

Keep well.