A Kent Birthday.

 It has almost become a tradition now, for me to spend my birthday in the delights of Denge woods in Kent. I think this is either the 3rd or 4th time I have been over there on my birthday.

Apart from the usual delights of the impressive Lady Orchids, and the woodland setting for the lovely Duke of Burgundy, it's actually the delightful Anania funebris that pulls me back year after year. This is certainly one of my favourite micro moths, which is also very difficult to get really good photos of, as they are extremely flighty, and they have a habit of hiding under various leaves.

As Chris had invited me and Lisa over to his place for dinner that evening, my time was a bit more limited than I wanted, but, having said that, there is nothing like a fabulous day out in one of my favourite places, followed by a really good curry and wine with the family!!

As ever, the day started off with one of the large and impressive Lady Orchids, that are found in and around the site.

Lady Orchid.

It was then, after entering the site, walking really slowly, that I was hoping to find my main target of the day, the Anania funebris. This moth, also known as the White-spotted Sable, is probably now extinct in Sussex. Myself and Mike Mullis were the last people to record this moth in Sussex, back in 2018, in a private woodland that we both survey. Every year we hope to encounter the moth again in Sussex, but alas it still hasn't happened, but we still haven't given up.

 In this Kent woodland though, conservation efforts have been very successful in helping the moth increase its numbers, and it is a regular sight here. In fact I saw my first one within 10 minutes of entering the woodland, and I had only seen one Duke of Burgundy at that point. It was still quite cool when the tiny moth flew up in front of me, and with it being so cool, the moth landed on top of a leaf and seemed to fall asleep. I have never had it so easy with this species before!!

Anania funebris.

After a couple of minutes, it did walk a couple of centimetres to the edge of the leaf.

It was certainly  'fill the boots' time. Eventually it did move a little further, but it still performed extremely well.

It then flew a very short distance, but still it continued to show well.

After this birthday treat I thought it couldn't get any better, but after searching for more of them, and seeing several that kept hiding, another one eventually showed well enough to photograph. This one was more like the usual encounters, with several landings on the undersides of leaves, but one very brief chance, this time with its wings spread further than the earlier moth.

Anania funebris.

There is another micro moth found here that is probably extinct in Sussex. This is the Eucosma aspidiscana. Like the Anania funebris, the larval foodplant is Goldenrod, so the conservation efforts to help the Anania funebris, actually also helps the Eucosma aspidiscana. It too is found in reasonable numbers in the wood.

Eucosma aspidiscana.

Of course, the Duke of Burgundy, is the species most people go to this woodland for, and after some time the temptation to photograph one got too much, I found a half decent male to photograph.

Male Duke of Burgundy.

In the cooler conditions earlier in the day, I had also found a sleepy Orange-tailed Mining Bee, that I felt warranted a photograph.

Orange-tailed Mining Bee.

As the day wore on, I was thinking that I really ought to head home, as I had to get back to Seaford to pick Lisa up, before then heading over to Chris's. It's never an easy or fast drive back from Kent. I started to head back to the entrance, when I suddenly spotted a freshly emerged female Duke of Burgundy. This is the 3rd time that this has happened in this wood, that a very fresh female Duke has appeared. This one also performed extremely well for me, as it posed on Dogwood and Hazel leaves. It was so fresh, I think I possibly witnessed its maiden flight, and it certainly didn't want to fly far at all, so I spent around 20 minutes with her. I also managed to put other enthusiasts onto the butterfly, so they too hopefully got some great shots of her.

 

The beautiful female Duke of Burgundy.

It was certainly a fabulous and fitting finale to a perfect birthday!!

Local Highlights during Spring.

 

As mentioned on an earlier post, my local patch suffered for a very long time, with the cooler easterly winds, so to find interest I was having to look at sites that were not so affected.

One of my walks took me to Friston Forest, where after a long walk I came across a very small brown/ orange moth flying low over Bluebells. After getting the binoculars on it I spotted that it wasn't alone, so I crept a little closer and, then spotted a 3rd moth. This one was clearly a female, keeping quiet and resting whilst the males tried to scent her out. Although not a particularly rare moth, I think it's the first time that I've come across the Barred Hook-tip. 

Female Barred Hook-tip.

Back to the patch, and walking down Greenway Bank, I stumbled upon a mating pair of Adela reaumurella. This really shows the difference in the length of the antennae of the male and female.

Mating Adela reaumurella. Male on right.

At last in late April, we had some much warmer days, that brought out the local Green Hairstreaks. The first day I saw them, I was frustrated as they kept landing high up on the bushes, but the following day, I had another go at them, and after a little patience I found a couple staying lower on their chosen bushes as they surveyed their territories.

Male Green Hairstreak.

Male Green Hairstreak .

Although many insects were a little later than usual on the patch due to that breeze, there was the odd exception, and the main one of those was the lovely Lace Border. I managed to spot 3 before the end of April. An early record, and according to the county moth recorder, the earliest ever record for this species in Sussex.

An April record of Lace Border.

In early May, I do enjoy a river walk, searching early odonata and Mayflies. These delicate insects are always a thrill to find.

Mayfly. (Ethemera sp.)

Teneral Large Red Damselfly.

Back to the patch, and a beautiful larva that I only spotted due to a text coming through on the phone that stopped me in my tracks, and as I was checking the phone, my eye was caught by a strange shape, that turned out to be a Mottled Umber larva. 

Mottled Umber larva.

It was also good to find a large number of Peacock larvae amongst the nettles. I guess more than one female Peacock had laid eggs there as the larvae were spread over a large area.

Peacock larvae.

A couple of weeks after my Green Hairstreak season started, I came across this one asleep on a cool cloudy day. Green Hairstreak normally roost deep in the foliage and are almost impossible to find, so it was a very pleasing find. It was also of the form where the 'streak' covers both wings.

Green Hairstreak. form punctata.

On May 16th, I was doing my annual 1st brood Wall Brown count, when I came across my first Norfolk Hawker of the year. I'm yet to find out where the Norfolk Hawker is breeding locally, but it must be somewhere in the Cuckmere valley. This is the 3rd year running that I've found a very early Norfolk Hawker close to High and Over. After watching it for a few minutes, as it hawked away, hunting prey, it finally settled on a Gorse bush. It wasn't in an ideal position, but by standing on tip-toe I just managed to get a few record shots of it. Further along the walk, I came across a 2nd Norfolk Hawker. This time along the valley, where I also saw a couple of Scarce Chasers.

Teneral Norfolk Hawker.

The following day, just before Lisa and I were heading to the Isle of Wight to look for the Glanville Fritillary, we went along the valley, hoping to see both the Norfolk Hawker, and the gorgeous Alabonia geoffrella micro moth. James had found this moth a few years ago, and since then, I've been lucky enough to see and photograph them several times. We did come across another, or the same Norfolk Hawker, that Lisa managed to photograph, and then onto the area for the geoffrella, where we successfully found 3 of these stunners. Unusually one of them stayed long enough for both of us to get a few images too.

Alabonia geoffrella.

During our walk we also saw our first Small Blue's of the year. I've always struggled to get decent photos for some reason, of these smallest of British butterflies, so it was nice to actually get a few shots that I was pleased with. 

Small Blue.

Early Skippers Spring to Life.

 As the continuing easterly winds remained, and my patch was getting later for butterflies compared to several other sites, I decided to head over to the downland around Lewes. It was an area I used to know well, as I was born and brought up in Lewes, not moving away until Pen and I married in 1981, when I was 22, so it was really nice re-discovering the area that I have rarely gone to, despite it only being around 15 miles away.

The day I went there was sunny on arrival, but after a while the clouds built up. I do actually quite enjoy days like that, as often the butterflies are active, and then go to roost, and are easier to find.

Before getting to the site, I looked through the binoculars down onto Lewes, and was pleased to see the house I was born in. It did take a few minutes searching to get the right area of Lewes, before I found it.

Once on the main site I walked slowly down the steep slope and it wasn't long before I found my first Green Hairstreak, and it was a lovely fresh individual.

Green Hairstreak.

As I ventured further across the slope I then found my first Dingy and Grizzled Skippers, as well as seeing the first reported Small Heath of the year in Sussex. This one was followed by a couple more of them.

Small Heath.

My real hope for the day was to see and photograph some Grizzled Skippers. After a while I stopped to eat a bit of lunch, and while I was doing this the clouds built up. After finishing lunch I had a quick look around and I noticed something on the top of a young bush. Looking through the binoculars I saw it was a Grizzled Skipper. I quickly took a few photos  of the butterfly before the sun returned.

Male Grizzled Skipper at roost.

As the sun re-appeared, the butterfly flew a short distance to some fresh Bramble leaves. before opening its wings showing off what a lovely fresh individual it was.

Male Grizzled Skipper.

Soon the clouds built up again, and after finding a Dingy Skipper at roost, I decided to move around the hillside to a different area. I then spotted a mating pair of Grizzled Skipper. It looked as though the female had only just emerged when the male had found her, as she was extremely fresh. I was able to photograph them in 2 different positions as they moved from where I had originally found them.

Mating Grizzled Skippers. Female on left in both images.

The male did open his wings a couple of times, so I waited to see if the female would too. However, she stayed closed up. Whilst I was waiting I did have a look around the immediate area and found several Small Coppers. One I found roosting on a small Hawthorn sapling, and as the sun appeared very briefly it did open its wings.

Small Copper.

It was then back to the mating Grizzled Skippers. I had now been observing them for a couple of hours on and off, and I was still hoping that if the sun came out for any length of time, the female may open its wings. I could see that in the distance there was more blue sky getting nearer. Of course, as soon as the blue sky arrived, the butterflies split up and the male soon departed. However, the female only flew a very short distance and landed at the top of another Hawthorn sapling. I was able to get into position, so as the sun became stronger, I was able to photograph her as she opened her wings fully. It was fantastic seeing her gradually open.

Female Grizzled Skipper

Then, as the sun went behind yet another cloud, she closed up again.

Female Grizzled Skipper.

She then fluttered back down onto some Bramble leaves, and I was able to enjoy watching her as the late afternoon sun returned and she opened fully one more time.

Female Grizzled Skipper.

A few days later Lisa and I met up with our friends Graham and Joan, for a walk to see the Early Spider Orchids. We were also hoping to see some more butterflies, although, once again the sun was being a bit stubborn in coming out.

Eventually, I found a Dingy Skipper at roost on an old Knapweed seed-head. It then became a challenge for everyone to find other Dingy Skippers at roost. In the end, between us we found 4 of them.

Dingy Skipper roosting and hiding in plain sight.

We then headed on further to the main orchid site, seeing many of the lovely Early Spider Orchids. I have been going to this site for many years, and when I was a youngster, I did help the Nature Conservancy Council to count them sometimes. After the very dry spring this year, I was fearing that the orchids may have suffered, but there were plenty of them to see, even though the flowering season was a little shorter this year due to the dry conditions.

Early Spider Orchid.

Large Tortoiseshell Hunt.

 I was rather late to the party this year for the Large Tortoiseshell. I had searched several times in the local wood where I have seen them before, but with no luck at all, although I had heard that 2 people had struck lucky there this year.

As the weather had been so warm in the early spring, I had possibly been looking at the wrong time, as the mornings were not warm enough for them to be active that early in the season, and I had probably returned home by the time they had started flying.

I then heard from James, that there was a woodland in Kent where several had been sighted. To be honest, I wasn't really that keen to go all the way over to Kent to see a species that I had seen 4 times before, and all of the 4 I had found myself. It sort of felt that my record of finding all my sightings would have gone if I went to see someone else's findings. However, when I mentioned the Large Tortoiseshell to David, he was keen to go, so I felt I may as well join him. We knew that by now they would be very tatty, but any Large Tortoiseshell is a good sighting!!

We went over in David's car, and it was just as we were arriving at the wood that I realised I had not put any walking shoes or boots in the car. All I had on were soft slip on things that were far from ideal for walking through a possibly muddy woodland. Fortunately, due to the lack of rain, it wasn't such a problem after all!!

After much searching, we worked out where the best spot would be to see the butterflies. We did however, need to wait until the day warmed up a bit more. In the meantime we were entertained by many Orange Underwing and Light Orange Underwing that kept landing on the track in front of us. These are both species I know very well, as each year I try to get a decent image of them, and normally fail. However, it had only been the previous week, that I managed to get my best ever shot of the Light Orange Underwing, perched unusually off the ground, while I was on a Large Tortoiseshell search in the local wood.

Light Orange Underwing.

After searching other parts of the woodland, and after lunch, we returned to the area that looked promising, and straight away I spotted a Large Tortoiseshell flying past us. I saw roughly where it had landed, and after re-finding it we had several minutes with this rare butterfly. Hardly a beauty anymore, but when fresh, this would have been a wonderful sight.

Large Tortoiseshell looking a tad tired.

It was really good to see, and was after all, a brand new species for David. After spending some time with it we started to head back to the car. On the way we saw another Large Tortoiseshell, this one was possibly even more tatty.

Another tatty Large Tortoiseshell.

2 days later, Lisa and I visited Rye Harbour to look for birds. We had a great time there despite not finding the Spotted Redshank, but we did see several Avocets, including 3 mating pairs.

We had been watching one pair feeding together, when I realised that the female had lowered her bill and was standing still, inviting the male to mate with her. He carried on preening, each side of her, when he suddenly jumped onto her back and proceeded to mate with her.

Female Avocet on the right, inviting the male to mate.

Male Avocet looking interested.

Mating Avocets.

As they separate they touch bills.

Avocet fly-by.

Sandwich Tern fly-by.

When we finished at Rye Harbour, we still had plenty of time, so with the Large Tortoiseshell site being only 20 minutes, or so away, we decided to go there so Lisa could see them. By now it was mid afternoon, and when we arrived at the site there was one seen almost straight away.

This one was the same butterfly as one of those seen 2 days earlier. This time though it was often landing on a tree trunk. This made me wish even more that it was a lot fresher. After spending some time with the butterfly, we moved on and saw a 2nd butterfly. This one was a different butterfly to the other one I had seen 2 days earlier, so over the 2 visits I saw 3 different individuals.

Large Tortoiseshell on a tree trunk.