Abs, Argus and Whites.

A very busy week with many delights with a couple of days spent on the patch. Red Admirals are still in good numbers and one showed off its under-wing very nicely. It was just after this that I found a very fresh Small Copper, my first on the patch this year. Not only was this a very fresh individual it was also an ab. radiata. This is the first time I have seen one of these abs, it was obvious straight away it was different with the hind-wings missing the orange/copper stripe.

Red Admiral.

Small Copper ab. radiata.

Two days later I saw the same Small Copper, still defending his territory. I was also pleased to photograph a very smart Brown Argus that due to the cool breeze opened his wings whenever the sun came back out.

Male Brown Argus.

Male Brown Argus.

Male Speckled Wood.

Yesterday it rained all morning and with the promise of a better afternoon I decided to check out the local Burnt Orchids. On getting out the car I had only walked 5 paces when I spotted a roosting Green-veined White. This gave me the chance I have waited for for many years. This species, although very common, can be quite a challenge to approach for photography, but as the weather was still cool I managed to get a few shots of it before it flew away. Following this I checked out a dew pond for any Dragonflies that may have emerged. All I found was a larva that had walked onto the concrete surround. I decided that as it was unlikely to emerge as a Dragonfly until at least overnight I left it in peace. It was then onto the Burnt Orchids which were much harder to find than normal. I only saw around 10 which was very poor.

Green-veined White.

Green-veined White.

Burnt Orchid.

Down By The River.

Any excuse to have a Neil Young song title!!

One of my favourite yearly photo sessions is when the Demoiselles start to appear along the rivers and streams. The Beautiful Demoiselles are first with the Banded a week or so later. I wasn't too sure if the Demoiselles would be out yet so it was very rewarding when I had only been on site for a few minutes when I saw the first, a female Beautiful. I then saw several more with around 6 seen in total. A few Mayflies were also seen and 2 were approachable for photography. There were also good quantities of Red Admirals. Some of these are probably migrants, although some no doubt have been bred in this Country.

Male Beautiful Demoiselle.

Female Beautiful Demoiselle.

Male Beautiful Demoiselle.

Mayfly.

Mayfly.

Large Red Damselfly.

Small Tortoiseshell larvae busy munching Nettles. Soon to be lots of butterflies!!

Red Admiral nectaring on Willow.

A great morning spent along the river.

Spending The Night Together.

On Tuesday the weather was pretty miserable and after doing the chores around the house I decided to just go out and see if I could find any roosting butterflies. I was hoping for both Grizzled and Dingy Skippers. After walking down the hill I started looking at the dead heads and almost immediately I spotted a roosting Common Blue. What was more surprising was that it was roosting with a Dingy Skipper next to it and I probably wouldn't have seen the Skipper if it wasn't for the Blue as the Skipper was so well camouflaged. 

Roosting Common Blue.

Roosting Dingy Skipper.

 After some time the weather improved and the butterflies woke up and flew. I moved further along the valley where I came across another Common Blue and then one of my favourite moths on this site, the Small Purple-barred. Although this moth is smaller than some micro moths it is classed as a macro moth. 

Common Blue.

Small Purple-barred.

Sir Duke.

Every year I try to get to see the Duke of Burgundy. A rare butterfly that was actually my last Sussex species I needed until about 6 years ago. I was wondering if I would make it this year and also would it be a Sussex site or a Kent site. With the weather looking poor this week it was very much a last minute decision when Nigel suggested Kent for Wednesday. The weather all the way there was very poor with heavy rain or drizzle. On arrival though the rain had stopped and after an hour of walking around the site a hint of brighter weather started to show. Soon we even had a little bit of sun and almost immediately I spotted the first Duke of the day. 

Male Duke of Burgundy.

This was followed straight away by several more and as the weather improved yet further Nigel even found a mating pair. Whilst he was photographing these I saw a female looking as if she was going to lay eggs on the Primrose leaves. I then saw a pair of butterflies courting and these too soon mated. Unfortunately they fell to ground and I saw they were amongst some Ants. I managed to get them to crawl onto a twig where I could move them out of danger, getting a picture before I moved them onto a leaf. With these pictures the difference between the male and female was clear to see. This species is unique with the male having 4 useful legs whilst the female has use of all her 6 legs.

Mating Duke of Burgundy. (Female showing 6 legs and a broken antannae).

There were many other delights in the wood including many Lady Orchids and many types of moths but the star was without doubt the small but beautiful Duke of Burgundy. For more images including eggs on Primrose see East Sussex Wanderer blog by Nigel.

Lady Orchid.

Green Carpet.

Male Duke of Burgundy.

Male Duke of Burgundy.

A Hairy Day.

A wander around the local area yesterday was very rewarding as I was showing Gideon, a young enthusiast, some of the more unusual micro moths that live there. His eyes being much better than mine did spot several of the moths as well as a couple that I haven't seen there before. However, it was the sheer numbers of Damselflies as we arrived on site that was the biggest surprise. The majority I think were Azure Damselflies. It was quite windy around the patch but was still warm. Dingy Skippers are getting more numerous and we also saw a few Green Hairstreaks and Grizzled Skippers. A Wall Brown was hanging around the same area and I wondered if he could detect a female in the vicinity. My first Common Blue butterfly of the year was also seen which now brings my years tally to 19 species. We also saw several Hairy Dragonflies of which one female was quite docile and allowed us both to get a few images.

Azure Damselfly.

Female Hairy Dragonfly.

Hairy Dragonfly showing where it gets its name from!!

The Argus Delivers.

With another really hot day I was determined to get a first for the year to celebrate getting another year older!! I thought the most likely candidate was either a Small Copper or the Brown Argus. I have normally seen both of these before the end of April, but with things emerging late this year it was never a certainty. On arriving at my chosen local site I was soon seeing reasonable quantities of Dingy Skipper, this included a couple that looked as though they were very fresh.

A very fresh Dingy Skipper.

Just after seeing this very fresh individual I bumped into James and as we were wandering around the grassland a different small butterfly took flight. It was clear straight away that it was our first Brown Argus of the season. Although we lost it early on we did re-find it a little later. It did land several times but the only real chance of a picture was when it landed on a Cowslip. It was very evident that this butterfly too was very fresh with stunning markings. Despite the heat there still wasn't as many butterflies as one should expect. Certainly the local Grizzled Skippers are doing very poorly as are the Green Hairstreaks. We hope they are still going to appear in numbers yet!!

Male Brown Argus on Cowslip.

Grizzled Skipper ab.taras.

It was the start of my surveying for Butterfly Conservation today in a private woodland. With very high temperatures it was always going to be hard work, but somebody has to do it!! It was a really good day although butterfly numbers were not brilliant although good numbers of very fresh Grizzled Skippers were good to see. As were several Hairy Dragonflies. This woodland occasionally throws up the uncommon aberrant form of Grizzled Skipper called taras and I am always on the look out for them in this wood. It is a very attractive form with much larger white markings and a darker background colouring. After 5 hours of walking around the wood I was just about to pack up when I spotted a Grizzled Skipper flying past. It settled nearby and looking through the binoculars at it I was delighted to see it was a pristine aberrant taras. I lost it a couple of times but did manage a few pictures. Unfortunately it kept landing on messy backgrounds that made it impossible to do this beauty justice.

Grizzled Skipper aberrant taras.