Birding to the East

 During the middle part of September we went over to the eastern end of Sussex to do a little birding. On the way to Rye Harbour we picked up David too. As Lisa has been living in Worthing for many years she has rarely visited this part of Sussex before. Walking around the reserve on such a brilliant day was difficult for birding, as there were so many people walking around the reserve that day. and for some time it was looking as though we would not be taking many photos. However, a stop off in one of the hides did produce close up views of a Little Grebe. Hardly a sought after bird, but still nice to see.

Little Grebe.

Walking further we had a lovely encounter with an egg laying Clouded Yellow, which Lisa and David spent some time photographing. However, at this point I had seen a couple of Wheatear on posts in the distance that appeared to be quite approachable. Through the binoculars I had seen dog walkers walking past the birds quite close without the birds flying away, so I left the other 2 and headed to where the Wheatears were settling. Lisa and David soon followed and we all had some lovely encounters with the birds. There were actually 5 or 6 Wheatear there, although only a couple were very approachable.

A sinister look from the Wheatear!

Wheatear.

David had just mentioned that it was strange that Rye Harbour never seemed to have Whinchats moving through, when I spotted one in with the Wheatears. This too was a little less wary than this species normally is, although it only settled on an unsightly fence. Still lovely seeing it reasonably close though.

Whinchat.

One week later Lisa and I had booked tickets to see the film 'Ocean' by David Attenborough at Rye Harbour. We decided that as we had visited Rye the week before, that we would try Dungeness during the day. This was to be Lisa's first visit to Dungeness. Having checked to see what birds were around online it wasn't looking as though we would see an awful lot, but it's always good going somewhere different, and there was a good chance of some Glossy Ibis as well as the usual Dungeness species.

As it was, we did get lucky at one of the hides, as just after we arrived a Glossy Ibis flew in. There was only one other person in the hide and he said he had been there for some time hoping for a Glossy Ibis so our timing was perfect. We watched it as it walked around the pool in front of us as it gradually got closer. Eventually it was as close as it was going to get, and as it took flight I got a couple of shots as it flew.

Glossy Ibis.

Walking further around the reserve we spotted some of the regular birds such as Marsh Harrier and Great White Egrets. The Bearded Tits though were not seen, although I did see a distant Stoat run across the track.

Eventually we made it around to the ARC pit, where we found the hide was closed for essential maintenance. However, we still lucked out when a Bittern flew in and landed in the reedbed, landing it seems on a post in the reedbed, as it remained in view above the reeds for several minutes.

Bittern in the Reedbed.

We kept focus on the bird all the time it was there, hoping it would fly along in front of us. However, when it did eventually fly, it flew slightly away from us so we didn't get the shot we were really hoping for. However, it was a very lucky break getting views rarely seen of this very elusive bird.

Bittern flying in the wrong direction.

Following this we departed and headed to Rye Harbour for the viewing of 'Ocean'. For anyone that hasn't seen this fabulous, hard hitting film, it really is worth seeing. It certainly makes one realise how badly humans treat the oceans around the World. If only the so called leaders would watch programs like this the planet would probably be in a much better place. However, with many of David Attenborough's excellent films there is optimism for the future, if only we give the oceans a chance to recover.

Just a Comma.

 With large numbers of 3rd brood Wall Brown flying from early September, I decided to do a Wall Brown count on a day that promised to be suitable. Well, it was at the start of the count, and numbers grew as I approached the 2 mile, halfway point of the walk. However, just after this it started to rain!!

Feeling a little frustrated I decided to wait for 15 minutes to see if the shower was going to be short lived. While I was waiting in a small wooded section, sheltering from the light drizzle, I spotted a very fresh Comma. Of course, in the rain it was not going anywhere either, and as it was posing so well I filled my boots. The resulting photos I feel are my best of the year.

Comma.

The day was now a very successful one, and the fact that the weather did improve again, and I also had my best ever 3rd brood Wall Brown count of 72 making it all very worthwhile.

Female Wall Brown.

The 3rd brood started on 23rd August, the earliest date I have seen the 3rd brood. The first 3rd brood that I saw was a female that was actually mating with a male from the 2nd brood. He was rather tatty and tired looking and even had a red mite attached to him, which only happens on older individuals. As I was following the pair down a slope near High and Over, I spotted a very nice Autumn Lady's Tresses orchid, which was too nice to ignore.

Autumn Lady's Tresses.

A couple of weeks later I was walking through Abbott's Wood with Chris, my eldest son, who was recovering from a minor operation. I didn't bother taking the camera as it was just a casual walk, but halfway around I spotted a superb Panther Cap fungi. The following day I decided to head back with the camera so I could photograph it properly. Of course, the fungi had opened fully, which is not quite so nice to photograph. However, as I had never photographed this species before I got a few shots of the main fungi and a smaller one nearby that was still growing.

Panther Cap.

Panther Cap.

After photographing these I walked further around the wood and came across some Devil's-bit Scabious that were being visited by 3 Comma and another female Wall Brown.

Comma on Devil's-bit Scabious.

Female Wall Brown on Devil's-bit Scabious.

Time Fades Away.

 After returning from the Dolomites, it was a busy old time with hunting local dragonflies and trying to catch up with the odd species that either myself or Lisa wanted to see.

A visit to Southwater Woods hoping to find a late season Purple Emperor proved lucky, as to start with we had great views of an egg laying Purple Hairstreak, this was followed by a White Admiral aberrant obliterae as well as the sought after species, with a female Purple Emperor on the track. All the butterflies were slightly past their best, but it was great to at least see them all.

White Admiral ab. obliterae

Female Purple Emperor.

One big surprise during the summer was seeing a Marbled White lay some eggs. This species is different from many of the brown family of butterflies that lay their eggs on the foodplant, as the Marbled White just drops them anywhere, scattering them as she flies. For that reason, I have never expected to find the eggs of this species. I was walking across the local meadow when I saw a female Marbled White fluttering about just above the grass, which made it obvious what she was up to. She then landed on a plant with cupped leaves. Suddenly 2 big white eggs dropped from her into the cupped leaves of the plant. Very bizarre and very unusual.

Marbled White ova.

Gary and David invited me to join them for an orchid day in the late summer, to hopefully see the Slender-lipped Helleborine, a species that I had never seen before. It was quite a long day out, as this rarity does not grown in this area. We had to head up to the North Downs. However, once at the site we did manage to find a reasonable number of this excellent plant.

Slender-lipped Helleborine.

Nearby was a few Yellow Birds-nest. This is not an orchid, but one of the parasitic plants that live in the darkness under the Beech trees.

Yellow Birds-nest.

My thanks to both Gary, the driver, and David for inviting me along.

White-letter Hairstreak.

 Possibly my favourite UK butterfly is the White-letter Hairstreak, a butterfly that has become increasingly scarce due to its only larval foodplant being Elm trees which have suffered enormously in recent years through Dutch Elm Disease, resulting in the butterfly losing many colonies.

I do still have a tiny colony very near to my house, but all I generally see these days here is a couple of males high up in the trees being very territorial. Long gone are the days when I could walk from home to some large colonies along the River Cuckmere.

This year I heard about a large colony in Eastbourne, so David and I headed there one day in the summer hoping to find the colony. It did take a little time before we stumbled across them, but eventually we did find good numbers of them, although they were extremely difficult to photograph as they were generally just out of reach, and with the sun behind them much of the time. However, with some patience and determination, and a 2nd visit, we did get a few photos.

Male White-letter Hairstreak.

At one point I wandered off to see if I could find any nectaring butterflies  nearby, when I stumbled across a female that was obviously egg laying, walking amongst the Elm leaves. Although I didn't actually see her lay any eggs it was clear what she was up to. The female is even better looking than the male, with longer tails, and also a more pronounced 'W' shape on the wing, which is where the butterfly gets its name. At one point she stopped to rest on an Elm leaf, which is when I managed to get my best shot of the day.

Female White-letter Hairstreak.

A few of my other local images from the latter half of the summer include a very lucky sighting near Beachy Head, when Lisa and I were doing a little recce for a tour I was leading. After seeing many butterflies, mainly Chalkhill Blue and Common Blue, I spotted a Clouded Yellow. This was a special butterfly as it was also a female 'helise' form. This is much paler than the usual colour, and was also Lisa's first ever helise Clouded Yellow.

After Lisa had got a few photos I decided to also have a go, and this is when I got lucky. I only took 2 photos, but on the 2nd one the butterfly took flight. This normally results in a totally rubbish photo, but for once the image was quite sharp.

Female Clouded Yellow. (helise form).

Taking flight!!

The following photos were taken on various walks over the South Downs National Park during August and September.

Female Common Blue.

Male Common Blue.

Small Copper.

Male Brown Argus.

Silver-spotted Skipper.

Male Brimstone.

Back to Summer.

 With most of my posts recently being from some very special trips, I realise I missed quite a few of my special local days that hold some great memories, and some notable sightings and photos.

Going all the way back to mid June, when the weather was particularly good I had several days close together when things went rather well. Including a walk to my local meadow that I monitor for wildlife. In just a very short time there I managed to get a few worthwhile photos. Nothing particularly rare, but some extremely fresh individuals of both Comma and Small and Large Skipper.

Comma that posed well twice for me.

Male Small Skipper.

Male Large Skipper.

The attractive and delicate Grass Vetchling.

The next day I was doing a butterfly survey in a local woodland, when I spotted a female Honey Buzzard flying overhead. These birds are gradually increasing in number locally, but are still considered pretty scarce, so was very pleasing to see.

Female Honey Buzzard.

This woodland is also good for dragonflies and damselflies. There were several Beautiful Demoiselles flying with males holding territory.

Male Beautiful Demoiselle.

My visit also coincided with the first Silver-washed Fritillaries on the wing. These very large butterflies are spectacular when very fresh, and it was good to see so many fresh ones flying up and down the rides.

Male Silver-washed Fritillary.

Near the large pond there were many damselflies, with some mating couples of both Azure and Large Red Damselflies.

Mating Azure Damselflies.

Whilst admiring a very nice Common Spotted Orchid I noticed that a Crab Spider had caught a hoverfly for its lunch.

An unlucky Hoverfly in the jaws of a Crab Spider.

On another day that week David and I went to look for the beautiful Scarlet Tiger, a moth that I've been following now for some years. I have always struggled getting a fully open wing with the scarlet hindwings showing. This one had almost certainly just emerged and possibly hadn't even had its first flight. That may well be why it behaved so well by showing off its beautiful colours.

Scarlet Tiger.

An Aberrant Blog.

 Having seen all of the British butterfly species several times the fascination remains, but I now look for more than just the butterfly. Now I enjoy looking for immature stages as well as aberrant individuals. These being butterflies that have developed markings or colours that are not the normal and can make a common butterfly a rare version of that species.

You can never know when one will appear, but casually checking anything that you see flying or just sitting there, occasionally one will catch the eye as being a little different.

Over the years my rarest finds have probably been common butterfly species including a certain Large Skipper and Chalkhill Blue. The Large Skipper remains the only aberrant pallida ever recorded in Sussex, and was found whilst looking for White-letter Hairstreaks back in July 2013. The Chalkhill Blue was a bilateral gynandromorph which means the butterfly is split down the middle with one side being male and the other side female. As females are slightly bigger than the males, this actually means that half the body is bigger than the other side. This gives a distortion along the length of the abdomen as well as the wings being one side the blue of the male and the other wing being the brown of the female!!  I spotted this one in July 2019 when it flew past me whilst I was looking for Grayling. It was a particularly good year for Chalkhill Blue and there were thousands on the site. Fortunately, I managed to find the butterfly and get 3 grab shots before it vanished never to be seen again.

Large Skipper ab. pallida.

Chalkhill Blue bilateral gynandromorph.

In recent weeks I have been lucky to find 3 notable aberrant butterflies, and all of them on my many walks on my normal patch. The first one was just a Small Heath, one of the commonest butterflies I get along the valley. However, this one caught my eye as being a little different, brighter and with more contrast than usual, as it flew past. I was extremely lucky at this point, as a small heavy cloud covered the sun and the butterfly briefly went to roost on tall grass. On closer inspection I could see it had an enlarged eye spot on the wing. It also had 2 white dots in the eye spot instead of the normal one. After getting a couple of shots, I disturbed the butterfly and it flew a few metres before landing again on tall grass. I then managed to photograph the other side of it. When I got home I realised that this side was actually different again, with a different shaped eye spot and 3 small white dots in it. I sent the photos to the Sussex recorder, and he suggested that I send the photos to the top UK aberrant butterfly expert. He came back with the name of the aberrant as ab. anticrassipuncta addenda. It actually has 2 names due to the enlarged eye spot being the first part and the addenda due to the extra white spots.

                                Both sides of the Small Heath ab. anticrassipuncta addenda.

Exactly a week after finding the Small Heath, I was walking the other way along the valley. The weather was not particularly good, so I had decided to only take binoculars with me, as it was highly unlikely that I would find anything of interest, and the camera does get heavy during a long walk. However, towards the end of the valley the weather started to improve and a few insects started to fly around. I then spotted a very fresh, but pale straw coloured Small Copper. Strangely, this was in exactly the same spot as I found a Red-veined Darter dragonfly last year, and that day too I hadn't brought the camera. That darter was the only Sussex record of the species in 2024, and the insect fortunately hung around for me to get home and come back with the camera. This time I did have a secret weapon as Lisa was at home doing some correspondence and I was pretty sure that she would want to see this particularly rare specimen, so after contacting her she drove up to the car park with my camera as well as hers. The butterfly was also easy to re-find as it was still in the same area, and we both got several photos. I then contacted the aberrant expert again, and this time the result was that the Small Copper was an ab. lacticolor. 

I actually walked along the valley several times over the following week and each time the butterfly was still there in exactly the same spot. Gradually it began to look a little bit more tatty, but it still remained, sometimes chasing off rivals as well as chasing the female Small Coppers. It was certainly a very territorial butterfly. It remained in that small area, no bigger than the footprint of my house, for 10 days after I had found it.

Small Copper ab. lacticolor.

The photos above are from the first day that I found the Small Copper. The photo below is from 3 days later.

Small Copper ab. lacticolor.

The third aberrant find was actually on the final day of the Small Copper being present, and was only around 200 metres away from it. It is also not such a rare aberrant as the other 2. This one was a Comma butterfly. The Comma gets its name from the white mark on the underside of the wing which looks very much like a comma mark. Occasionally the 'comma' mark becomes a full circle instead, and any Comma butterfly that shows this is regarded as an ab. o-album.

I have seen this a couple of times over the years, but not for some time. As the butterfly was in the middle of a bush, I did struggle to get close enough for a photograph as the brambles were all inter-connected, but on its 3rd landing, I got one grab shot before it flew. That was the end of it. I did hang around for a while hoping to see the butterfly again, and I also walked the same way the following day, but with no further sighting.

Comma ab. o-album.

With 3 aberrant butterflies in less than 3 weeks, I will now probably have to wait for ages before another, but then again, it could be much sooner. One of the delights of being outside as much as I can searching for wildlife moments.