Spiders and Fungi.

 Just before a superb trip to Scotland, I had a few local outings mainly searching for Fungi. However, my favourite trip was to Ashdown Forest with Pete and David, where we were pleasantly surprised to find good numbers of Raft Spider, a species I have seen many times before in the area, but not in such good numbers. I was also trying out a new lens that I was hoping would work well for close up photography, despite it being a 100-400 zoom lens. As it happened, the spiders were perfect for trying out the lens.

Raft Spider with prey.

Raft Spider finishing off its meal.

Raft Spider in hunting mode.

Another Raft Spider hunting.

In all we saw well over double figures of Raft Spider, and with many photographed with the new lens we headed to another location to look for the fungi. 

Several species were seen, but the best was found by David, a beautiful Upright Coral Fungus.

Upright Coral Fungus.

We also saw several Fly Agaric, although my best Fly Agaric specimen was found a few days later in a private woodland.

Fly Agaric.

The following week, Lisa and I went back to Ashdown Forest to search out the Raft Spiders again. Strangely, we found many more than I had seen the previous week, over 30 seen, although these were mostly juvenile, whereas with Pete and David, most were fully grown adults.

Lisa however, did spot a lovely example of the Pixy cup lichen.

Cladonia pyxidata.

On the 9th of October on a lovely day, I was walking on a circuit of my local patch, when I was very surprised to spot a fresh Adonis Blue.  This species always has a 2nd brood in August which can go into early September, but an individual in October is extremely unusual, and would point towards a 3rd brood individual. Of course, it is very unlikely to find a partner to mate with, so I expect it ended up dying without helping next years generation.

Probable 3rd brood Adonis Blue.

On the same walk I also saw a couple of Clouded Yellows. These were almost certainly British born individuals from eggs laid earlier in the summer. On a walk today, November 2nd, I spotted another Clouded Yellow flying in sunshine.

Male Clouded Yellow.

In the week leading up to the Scotland trip , I also had several vists in the garden from a lovely Green Woodpecker. It was really good at digging small holes in the lawn as it hunted for food. I expect that my lawn is productive for the bird as I let it go pretty wild each year!!

Green Woodpecker at home.

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.