For previous years' lists and commentaries, often incomplete, click 2020,
2019,
2018,
2017,
2016,
2015,
2014,
2013,
2012, 2011, 2010, 2009; 2008;
2007; 2006; 2005; 2004; 2003; 2002; 2001. I seem to have
lost the file for 2000.
Some of my friends also keep, or have kept, online
year-lists. Tim
Cowles,
living in the Monts du Lyonnais, publishes his list HERE
and Matthew Rowlings, who lives not far from me in Vevey, Switzerland,
has his HERE.
Another
friend, Robin Fox, in Italy, keeps a regularly updated sightings diary HERE.
SCROLL DOWN for the 2020 CHECKLIST or use the menu below to jump to the
COMMENTARY for each month.
NOTE TO MY REGULAR
READERS:
Following the death of my mother on 15th March 2018 I have moved to
England to keep my father company. My 2021, 2020 and 2019 diaries are
therefore very
different from all my previous ones. No longer do I have alpine
species on my doorstep and purple emperor caterpillars in my local
woods. No more midwinter visits to Queen of Spain fritillaries in the
Rhône Valley or spring trips to nettle tree habitat in Italy! Thank you
to everyone who has followed the Swiss butterfly years with me. I will
try to keep some interest in these pages and hope to get some holidays
abroad, but in the short term my diary will record mostly the creatures
in and around Woodbridge, Suffolk. I will try to include at least one
photo, of nature or scenery, every day.
CHECKLIST
FOR THE YEAR 2021
Brimstone (Gonepteryx
rhamni) - 20th February - Suffolk, UK
Comma (Polygonia
c-album) - 28th February - Suffolk, UK
Peacock (Aglais
io) - 9th March - Suffolk, UK
Small white (Pieris
rapae) - 29th March - Suffolk, UK
Orange tip (Anthocharis
cardamines) - 10th April - Suffolk, UK
Speckled wood (Pararge
aegeria) - 19th April - Suffolk, UK
Red Admiral (Vanessa
atalanta) - 20th April - Suffolk, UK
Green-veined white (Pieris
napi) - 22nd April - Suffolk, UK
Small tortoiseshell (Agalis
urticae) - 23rd April - Suffolk, UK
Holly blue (Celastrina
argiolus) - 24th April - Suffolk, UK
Small copper (Lycaena
phlaeas) - 7th May - Suffolk, UK
Painted lady (Vanessa
cardui) - 11th May - Suffolk, UK
Green hairstreak (Callophrys
rubi) - 16th May - Suffolk, UK
Small heath (Coenonympha
pamphilus) - 16th May - Suffolk, UK
Little blue (Cupido
minimus) - 29th May - Suffolk, UK
Common blue (Polyommatus
icarus) - 29th May - Suffolk, UK
Large white (Pieris
brassicae) - 7th June - Suffolk, UK
Brown argus (Aricia
agestis) - 9th June - Suffolk, UK
Meadow brown (Maniola
jurtina) - 25th June - Suffolk, UK
Silver-studded blue (Plebejus
argus) - 2nd July - Suffolk, UK
Grayling (Hipparchia
semele) - 2nd July - Suffolk, UK
Small skipper (Thymelicus
sylvestris) - 2nd July - Suffolk, UK
Large skipper (Ochlodes
faunus) - 2nd July - Suffolk, UK
Ringlet (Aphantopus
hyperantus) - 4th July - Suffolk, UK
White-letter hairstreak (Satyrium w-album) -
9th July - Suffolk, UK
White-admiral (Limenitis
camilla) - 11th July - Suffolk, UK
Essex skipper (Thymelicus
lineola) - 11th July - Suffolk, UK
Purple hairstreak (Favonius
quercus) - 14th July - Suffolk, UK
Gatekeeper (Pyronia
tithonus) - 15th July - Suffolk, UK
Lang's short-tailed blue (Leptotes pirithous)
- 17th July - Málaga, Spain
Desert orange tip (Colotis
evagore) - 17th July - Málaga, Spain
Monarch (Danaus
plexippus) - 17th July - Málaga, Spain
Clouded yellow (Colias
crocea) - 17th July - Málaga, Spain
Geranium bronze (Cacyreus
marshalli) - 17th July - Málaga, Spain
Queen of Spain fritillary (Issoria lathonia) -
17th October - Martigny, Switzerland
Chalkhill blue (Polyommatus
coridon) - 17th October - Martigny, Switzerland
Cardinal (Argynnis
pandora) - 17th October - Martigny, Switzerland
Southern small white (Pieris
mannii) - 17th October - Martigny, Switzerland
Northern brown argus (Aricia
artaxerxes) - 18th October - Leuk, Switzerland
Turquoise blue (Polyommatus
dorylas) - 18th October - Visp, Switzerland
Niobe fritillary (Argynnis
niobe) - 18th October - Visp, Switzerland
Commentary (Links in the
commentary are to pictures of the particular butterflies referred to)
January
1st: HAPPY NEW YEAR nature-lovers everywhere! 2021 began
cold but warmed up to about 3°C by the afternoon. The world
and his dog
were out walking but everyone was very good about passing at more than
2m distant. The few runners out in the afternoon had their faces
covered. Here is part of our resident winter flock of Brent
geese and here a female
wigeon
perched on the mud. The tide was quite high and most of the godwits
were roosting on islands of vegetation in the river, their legs
concealed beneath them (so I couldn't see any rings).
2nd: By the afternoon, a much nicer day than yesterday (and
here).
This male
teal looked splendid in the sunlight. The Brent geese were all in the grass
on the far side of the river, with godwits, lapwings and shelduck. The
local ruff
was feeding in the water meadows among godwits.
3rd: After a beautiful start, the day turned grey
and miserable (and here), turning to rain by evening.
4th: Afternoon walk on a muddy track between showers.
5th: Another grey day!
6th: Heavy and grey over the river. Turnstones
were gathering on jetties and boats. Here's a turnstone
in close-up.
7th: Finally, a brighter day. Waders and ducks
gathered on the mud. Here are an avocet
and a dunlin and here a grey
plover. It was beautifully clear in the evening so I took
some 360° shots in the garden and the local meadow. Here
is a link to a photo taken in the meadow (best viewed at full screen.
The orange thing in the meadow is Minnie, in her glowy collar) and here
a 'little
planet' perspective from the garden.
8th: Very cold. There was still frost on the ground in late morning,
when I took this photo.
9th: Another cold morning. Here is a robin
along the muddy track by the river and here some avocets
on the far bank.
10th: Cloudy
all day.
11th: For the first time this year, I took Minnie on a bike trip out to
the woods.
12th: A lovely day. Here is a proud grey
plover strutting along through the mud, and here its cousin,
a ringed plover. To complete the
trio of plovers, here's a lapwing.
In the evening, I took a spherical picture of the stars from Fen
Meadow, and then made a copy annotated with the constellations. The
Andromeda Galaxy and Uranus are faint objects that show up clearly.
Both pictures can be seen and explored here.
13th: Back to rain and cloud!
16th: First real snow of the year!
17th: A highish
tide when we went to the river this afternoon. A ruff
was feeding with the godwits in the water meadows (and here).
This curlew was running out of mud.
Here is a reed bunting in a tree on the edge
of the water meadows.
19th: Cold and cloudy. A trip to the heath in the afternoon.
21st: Another cloudy day. Here's a grey
plover in the mud (with a redshank) and here some dunlin.
22nd: The day was beautifully clear and we took a trip to Martlesham
Heath in the afternoon, to look for purple hairstreak eggs - without
finding any. In the evening it clouded over. This Little
Planet shot was taken after dark in the meadow, with the moon
passing behind the clouds. The exposure was 60 seconds.
28th: An avocet on a grey day by the river.
29th: This afternoon, in the woods, I found myself surrounded by
goldcrests and siskins. I caught a quick shot of a siskin
but the goldcrests were moving too fast - and then people arrived! Here
is Minnie on nearby heath.
February
5th: For the first time in what seems like forever it was a really lovely
day today. Here is a VR shot
of the wooded heathland where we walked. We briefly saw what I first
took to be a barn owl (looking directly into the sun) but might have
been a short-eared owl. The wings looked long when I saw it for a
moment a second time. I'll go back to see if I can get photos another
day. Here's a shot along the Deben from Wilford Bridge,
taken on the way back.
7th: Snow fell all day. Here is the garden in the afternoon, and here Fen Meadow.
8th: Fen Meadow under snow (and here).
9th: Skiing in the garden. No
butterflies ...
11th: Skiing on Fen Meadow (and here). You can just see Minnie
catching up in that second video!
13th: Snow
in the water meadows. A godwit
feeds in icy water while a dunlin paddles around in the mud
(and here).
14th: A fully
functional igloo built by children on Kingston Field.
16th: Snow
and mist on the melting meadow.
17th: The elm flower buds are beginning to open. Here
and here
are two white-letter hairstreak eggs, laid against the terminal, leaf
buds. They will probably hatch soon if the weather continues to warm up.
20th: The white-letter hairstreak eggs are still unhatched. Flower
buds
are opening all around them and I am sure the caterpillars will soon
emerge. In the morning, my first butterfly of the year - a male
brimstone - flew through the garden. He checked out all the ivy and
flew up and down the garden a few times but never settled. I caught
this fleeting shot of him in flight. In
the afternoon I visited woods where small tortoiseshells and peacocks
fly early in the year. This track between the woods and the field
is one of their favourite spots, but nothing was on the wing today. It
won't be long now ... Minnie enjoyed getting out to the
smells of the woods again.
21st: After a grey start, the morning brightened up and at least two
male brimstones were roding the garden by lunchtime - I saw them
sparring together. Again, neither stopped, even a moment, but I got
another quick flight shot of one as a record.
Here is a bee in the garden and here a 7-spot
ladybird in town. The harlequins and 7-spots have begun
flying. The white-letter hairstreak eggs (and here)
have not hatched yet. There are crocuses
on the lawn. This is a jackdaw on a chimney stack.
22nd: A grey, butterfly-free day.
23rd: Sunny most of the day, but windy. I briefly saw what I am 95%
sure was a small tortoiseshell in the garden, flipping over the hedge,
but with the wind and the view into the sun I can't be sure it wasn't a
peacock, so no formal record. Here is one of the Pierid
pupae I followed from eggs last year. I have seven of them
and all look healthy. A few of the black-headed
gulls on the river are now sporting summer plumage. Others
are getting there, but most are still
in winter livery.
24th: This white-letter hairstreak egg is
better placed for photographs than the last two I showed. No more
butterflies today, despite continuing mild weather.
25th: The first white-letter hairstreak egg has hatched.
I couldn't find the caterpillar in the nearest elm
flower - doubtless it had buried in deep. Here is a little
egret fishing (very successfully, it appeared) on the edge of
the Deben. It was very mild but overcast all day today.
26th: Another brilliantly sunny day, but cold,
and no butterflies, either in the garden or on our woodland walk.
27th: No adult butterflies today, but on our evening walk I found
another of the white-letter hairstreaks appeared to have hatched.
I couldn't find the caterpillar, and I wasn't even sure if the
caterpillar had emerged, as the hole seemed too small. But despite the full
moon it was night time and close examination was difficult.
28th: Shortly before lunch, looking through the window, I spotted the
first comma of the year in the garden. I ran to get my camera but it
had gone by the time I got out. In the afternoon I photographed the
white-letter hairstreak egg I had photographed last night. The hole
looked bigger in the light of day - but I didn't notice at the time
that this was because the caterpillar had just hatched! Only when I
processed the pictures did I see it, clear as day, near
the egg (and here).
Those are my first and only photos of a first instar white-letter
hairstreak caterpillar, and I only have them by accident! On a
different elm, I photographed this moth egg, with an early instar
caterpillar of something (a moth) nearby.
March
1st: Return of cloud, and today quite bitter temperatures. No
butterflies. The third white-letter hairstreak egg remains unhatched.
2nd: A
beautiful day but quite cold, with no butterflies flying.
3rd: A third white-letter hairstreak egg is showing a slight perforation
in the top, as if the caterpillar is beginning to make its
way out (and here). It had made no further
progress by my evening walk. It was sunny but cold today.
4th: Return of cloud all day, with some rain. The white-letter
hairstreak egg has still not hatched.
5th: Cold, and mostly cloudy, though occasional sun. The third
white-letter hairstreak egg has still not hatched, though the
caterpillar has enlarged the opening. This is a
blown-up part of that same picture, showing (very badly!) the caterpillar
visible inside.
The elm flowers on that twig are not yet upon. I wonder if the hold
enables the caterpillar to smell the air and tell when the flowers
open. Here is a redwing in the water meadows and
here the usual ruff on the Deben.
8th: The egg had still not hatched by my evening walk.
9th: Sunny most of the day, and up to about 11°C
by the afternoon. In the garden, a couple of male brimstones were
roding much of the morning, and a single comma
(and here)
was out by lunchtime. In the afternoon, this peacock
was flying in local woods. I got just that one, quick shot before it
flew off.
11th: A beautiful evening. Here is a spherical image of the sky tonight, and here the same
image with the constellation lines added.
I added the lines in a flattened version of the picture, so it gets
very warped near the zenith (and I couldn't locate all the stars of
Ursa Major in that projection, though they are easy to pick out in
spherical projection)!
13th: An even clearer evening than 11th. Here are the stars again. Minnie appears as the
dotted orange line, as I didn't make her sit still for the 60 sec.
exposure.
19th: No butterflies recently, and mostly grim weather, so Minnie and I
haven't been out much. But the sun shone today and we did get out to
the woods. Still no butterflies, though it felt warm enough, but the buzzards
were courting in the sky. In the evening the waxing
moon was brilliant in the sky, the craters
clearly visible along the shadow.
22nd: Sunny but windy and cool today. A brimstone or two was roding in
the garden without stopping and at least two peacocks
put in an occasional appearance. These few butterflies seemed restless
and ill at ease.
24th: A sunny but windy day. In the morning at least two brimstones
were roding incessantly in the garden and I saw at least one peacock
and one comma
too. Commas have been thin on the ground this spring. This is only the
third I have seen and it already looks a little the worse for wear.
25th: Mostly sunny again today, though cold and sometimes windy. A
couple of brimstones were circulating in the garden this morning, and
at least three peacocks (a different individual here).
I also saw a single comma zooming through.
26th: Windy and mostly overcast, but a peacock came flapping at my
window in the morning.
27th: Again quite windy and cool. A couple of peacocks seen in the
garden in the morning.
29th::
For the first time this year, a really warm, sunjny day. In the
morning, brimstones (I still haven't seen a female), peacocks and commas
were disporting in the garden. In the afternoon, Minnie and I set off
in search of small tortoiseshells. Although we didn't find any in what
we thought were guaranteed sites, we did see our first small
white of the year, nectaring feverishly on rape near
the edge of a field. There were peacocks everywhere. They
were flying near and across the road as I cycled to the site, resting
on the ground and on the trees there, and still about in good
numbers in
the garden when I got back. This one was sunning itself on a netted
footway in Bromeswell - until Minnie
went across ... In the evening I found this four spotted
ladybird, Nephus
quadrimaculatus,
on the garden bench, near one of our big ivy bushes. This is a tiny
ladybird - less than two millimetres long - and generally very local.
Suffolk is one of its traditional strongholds. When I took Minnie on
her late-night walk, the first bats of the year were flying in the
meadow, near the street light: pipistrelles, soprano pipistrelles,
serotines and probably a noctule (all identified by the bat detector -
I didn't see any at all). Here is the moon.
30th:
An even hotter and sunnier day. Again, peacocks were seemingly
everywhere, in town and in the garden. I didn't have the opportunity to
go on a long walk. A brimstone flew through the garden early, but there
were no more, strangely. This comma
was defending the usual patch at about lunchtime. It is extremely
similar in markings to the one I photographed in the same place
yesterday, but I think not the same individual. April
1st: During a sunny spell I saw a single small white flying in the
garden. So I moved the Pierid cage, containing the 7 pupae, out of the
shade into a warmer spot. It is OK for them to know it is spring now.
4th: After a cool, cloudy spell, it was cool and sunny today. Peacocks
were flying in the garden and a single comma
was defending a territory in the usual place. I wonder if they know the
big cold is coming. While I was filling the pond and clearing out some
of the duck weed, I found this strange
creature (and here,
and here). I don't know what it is. It
is 4-5 cm long.
5th: Very cold and windy, with blustery snow at times and
occasional sun. On the river in the afternoon, the godwits
were in full summer plumage.
8th: Still very cold, with snow overnight, still
melting in the morning sun.
10th:
Bitterly cold, with rain and cloud all day. In the briefest of sunny
intervals at the end of the afternoon, I was amazed to see a female
orange tip come to roost in the ivy near our porch! The
temperature was then about 6°C.
11th: When I got up this morning, the female orange tip was still roosting
in the ivy (and here).
As the sun came round and the day warmed up (a little - it never got
warm) she dropped to the flower bed, where she settled
on a leaf and at about 11h15 began tentatively opening
her wings.
At 11h30 she flew off and enjoyed investigating the garden flowers. The
sun didn't last, and in the afternoon it snowed briefly. But she will
have been able to find somewhere safe to roost, I'm sure.
15th: Bright
but cold (and here).
16th:
I saw my first male orange tip of the year today,
roding through the
garden and very occasionally stopping a moment. A few male brimstones
flew too, and several peacocks, but no
commas in the garden. In the afternoon Minnie (and here) and I went to
an area of wooded heath, where there were more peacocks,
and this comma
in a woody part. It is getting warmer but there is still very little on
the wing.
17th: Warmer still today. In the garden were peacocks,
brimstones and several male orange tips, though I didn't have a chance
for any photography. We went to Martlesham Heath in the afternoon,
seeing very little, though there were several peacocks around and two
commas.
Cycling home, I saw a single small white near the old A12.
18th:
Every day, I check the 7 pupae in my whites cage. These are from the
eggs I collected on wild rocket last summer and kept as they grew up.
At the time, I believed they were all green-veined whites, because I
had seen a female green-veined white laying on the rocket. But the
later caterpillars and pupae looked like small whites. Anyway, today,
as usual, there were no signs of colouring up. One of the pupae looks
translucent to the light and I believe it is dead. However, also in the
cage was a freshly emerged small white - evidently from a pupa I didn't
even know was there! All 7 are intact! This was late in the day and I
didn't know how long she had been there - perhaps days, I thought, as I
had only checked the pupae, not the corners of the cage for
butterflies. So I didn't photograph her in the cage but took her to a dandelion
in case she needed to feed. She basked a moment then
folded her wings, obviously intending to roost. So at that
stage I put her on the mahonia, where she
would be safer. She was still there this evening, though she had moved
to a better position.
19th: My small white was still on the mahonia
this morning and stayed put while the mist cleared and the day warmed
up. I left the house at about 11h30, when she was still there, but she
was gone on my return home at 12h15. The temperature had risen from
about 11° to 13° in that time. The rest of the day was warm and sunny. Male
small whites were flying in the garden, as well as orange
tips, brimstones and peacocks, and by the afternoon, a comma.
I had a short walk in the countryside (and here)
in the afternoon, near Martlesham, in the hope of seeing small
tortoiseshells. I saw none but did see my first speckled
wood of the year as well as more peacocks, orange
tips and small whites. A nightingale was revving up in the
bushes and the first swallows of spring were flying around the barns.
20th: I visited the same site as yesterday in the afternoon,
seeing rather less despite nice weather (but a little cloudy)
- and no small tortoiseshells. Small whites, orange tips, peacocks and
commas were all on the wing. The nightingale heard yesterday was in
full throttle today. Here is a kestrel
on the ground. In the morning, my first red admiral of the year zoomed
through the garden without stopping.
22nd:
I had another go for small tortoiseshells today, this time at a site
where I saw them aplenty last year. Still none. There were plenty of peacocks
(some motoring on broken wings, looking small and rather like small
tortoiseshells), commas, orange tips and small
whites, as well as a fair few green-veined
whites, my first of the year. Here is Minnie strolling
through the rape fields.
23rd: Sunny all day but still chilly. In the afternoon I heard at least
3 nightingales singing, one of them from these
bushes
and the others from similar stands of sloe. Cycling to the site, I
disturbed a single small tortoiseshell, which flew across the field
never to be seen again. This is my first and only small tortoiseshell
of the year so far. Other species flying included small white, orange
tip, peacock,
speckled
wood
(two or three flying in a woody part of the walk) and comma. There was
a brimstone in the garden. Here is a swallow
from the walk. I have still seen no holly blues this year.
24th: Another sunny but chilly day.
In late morning, a single holly blue appeared in the garden, flying
around the ivy but not settling. In the afternoon we took a walk near
Gt Bealings, seeing the usual spring complement of orange tip, peacock,
a single comma and small whites. There might have been some
green-veined whites among them. Plenty of nightingales were singing.
One of my seven pupae now has whitish
wing panels, though they don't show the patterns of an
adult's wings yet.
25th:
Quite cool and cloudy most of the day. In the afternoon I checked on
the pupae and found a beautiful male small white flying about in the
cage. It was a rare sunny moment so rather than try to get photos I
just let him fly off. On first sight it seemed none of the pupae had
opened but then I spotted some meconium
and saw the whitened pupa from yesterday was indeed neatly
unzipped at the top (with more meconium on the plastic beside
it). Another pupa is whitened up and I expect it will
hatch tomorrow.
26th: Full
moon.
27th:
Today was warmer than recently and a number of peacocks, orange tips
and small whites were on the wing. There are still really very few
butterflies around, though. Here is a mating
pair of orange tips, beautifully camouflaged as a flowerhead
of cow parsley (as shown even better in this
view). Buzzards were soaring and tumbling
in the sky: here
(I think) is a food pass, or some similar romantic gesture.
Nightingales were in full voice, competing with the songs of thrushes
and warblers. This is a lesser whitethroat.
May
5th: A third small white (and here)
hatched today, over two weeks after the first. When I found her it was
cold and overcast but a little later the sun came out so I let her fly
into the garden. She settled on some comfrey and was gone the next time
I came out. Counting the remaining pupae, I saw one was missing. It
must have become detached in the recent storms, even though I
transferred the cage to a more sheltered spot for the worst of them. I
searched carefully and found the missing chrysalis safe
in one of the plant pots! It appeared quite undamaged, so I
left it there, lying on the soil. In the meadow
at lunchtime I found a 3rd instar white-letter hairstreak
caterpillar.
By this time last year, all the catepillars had graduated into 4th
instar and disappeared. Everything is behind this year. In the evening,
I found another 3rd instar white-letter hairstreak caterpillar, by UV. This
photo was taken with flash.
6th:
Following advice from UK Butterflies members, I attached yesterday's
fallen small white pupa to a stick so it could emerge more naturally. I
also detached one that was dangling by a thread from the roof of the
cage and stuck it to a stick. Otherwise, it might have dropped to the
ground on emergence without being able to get a grip on anything. Here
and here are the first pupa, and here
and here the second. In the evening I
found yesterday's two white-letter hairstreak caterpillars (this
is one of them) and located a third
(and here), on a different tree.
7th:
No more butterflies hatched from their pupae today. It was mixed cloud
and sunshine and in the morning, in the garden, I saw what is only my
second holly blue of the year. Other
species flying were small white (I like to think the female in this
photo
is the female that hatched on 5th May: I saw that couple meet; they
remained in cop for about an hour), peacock and orange tip, all in very
small numbers. In the afternoon I went to look for green hairstreaks at
my best local site. There, I found the broom
still not in flower, weeks after it flowered last year. The hawthorn,
where the hairstreaks spend most of their time, was also not out. So no
green hairstreaks. I did see my first (and so far only) small copper of
the year and snatched a shot before it buzzed off. Here is
Minnie.
In the evening I went looking for white-letter hairstreak caterpillars.
I relocated the three 3rd instar caterpillars I had
already found and added this tiny 2nd
instar caterpillar too, hidden in the unfurling leaves at the
end of a branch. It is half pink and half green -
its camouflage for hiding in elm flowers. It should be fully green when
it moults into its 3rd instar, though some retain some pink
initially.
9th: Three of my small white pupae hatched today. First was one of the
two I fixed to sticks on 6th May. I found him fully
emerged when I went out in the morning, though his wings were
still soft and I left him another hour before taking
him out to see the garden and finally placing him on comfrey
flowers. A second small white was by his pupa at the top of
the cage, and when his wings had dried I took him out too. The second pupa
attached to a stick looked ready to open and did so in
mid-morning. Here, here,
here, here,
here, here
and here
are successive pictures of the emergence. Other species seen during the
day were a few peacocks, a few orange tips and a female brimstone in
the Tesco car park. In the evening I photographed this white-letter
hairstreak caterpilllar
in the local meadow. It is the same one I called 2nd instar the other
day. I'm now not sure if it is 2nd or 3rd instar - but it is very small
- probably about 5mm long.
10th:
In the morning, I found the last of my small white pupae (yes - all
small white - no green-veined whites, as I had thought at first) had hatched
(and here).
This is a different small
white,
also in the garden - perhaps one of the earlier hatchings. In the
afternoon I took Minnie for a walk round the river and through the
woods, where we saw this female speckled
wood
(as well as a territorial male). Finally, in the evening, I went
hunting white-letter hairstreak caterpillars, finding at least 10. Here
are two together, high up a tree, and
here a 3rd
instar with just a hint of colouring left, lower down.
11th:
A beautiful day. In the morning, I photographed this holly blue taking
minerals in the local meadow. I hoped to find green hairstreaks in the
afternoon on local heathland but failed. Instead, 4 painted ladies
zoomed through, this one pausing briefly to
nectar. I saw a single small copper
at the site. Another white-letter hairstreak hunt in the evening
produced at least 10 caterpillars, distributed on 3 different trees. This
is the same one photographed as 2nd instar on 7th May and as 3rd on
9th. Many of the caterpillars, like this
one, were high up in the trees, but some were low down. This
one was very easy to photograph.
12th: Another sunny day, though a little windy. The highlight was not a
butterfly but a bird: this nightingale,
singing out in the open on Martlesham Heath. I have posted a video of
it on YouTube. Very few butterflies were
around - and no green hairstreaks. In the evening I photographed white-letter
hairstreak caterpillars (and here,
and here, and here).
13th: Here is a white-letter hairstreak caterpillar
photographed in the daytime (unlike most of my photos of them).
14th: The rare sound of a turtle
dove purring (some distance away, so quiet).
15th:
I found fewer white-letter hairstreak larvae than usual on my evening
walk. I think they are distributing up the tree as they mature. Here is
a fully grown 4th instar caterpillar and here a 3rd
instar.
16th:
Alternate rain and sun throughout the day. In the garden, in the
morning, a few orange tips flew, but nothing else. In the afternoon I
took Minnie to one of our green hairstreak spots and saw three, all at
a great distance, flitting up momently from hawthorn bushes and landing
out of sight. None came closer, to settle on the gorse. I also saw my
first small heath of the year - just one
- as well as several peaocks, a single painted lady and good numbers of
speckled
woods.
18th: The orange tips eggs have begun hatching. Here
and here
are two of the caterpillars. In the evening I looked for white-letter
hairstreak caterpillars, finding plenty this time, after a couple of
nights of less good pickings. Here,
here,
here,
here
and here are five different
individuals, all feeding up healthily on the undersides of Siberian elm
leaves. This one
is being attended by an ant. The 7th abdominal segment of the
caterpillar contains a nectar organ that attracts ants. In turn, they
offer some protection to their source of drugs!
19th: Some of our curly kale has gone to see and an orange tip has laid an egg on it. Here is a caterpillar
feeding on its more usual foodplant, garlic mustard.
20th: A fully grown, 4th instar white-letter
hairstreak caterpillar in the evening.
22nd: The same caterpillar as on 20th, seemingly
bursting at the seams now! I easily found half a dozen more in a short
search.
23rd: In the afternoon, I searched for the fully grown caterpillar to
see what he did in the day. Here
he is (and here),
beautifully camouflaged in a small leaf. It seems they feed at night
and rest up in the day. I located him again in the evening, feeding. It
was raining and very windy so I didn't spend long out, but I was very
pleased to see an ant milking a caterpillar again - the same
caterpillar as on 18th May. Here,
here and here
are some photos. It may well be the same ant, who has become obsessed
with this caterpillar!
24th: A male orange tip
in the morning, with Minnie in the background. Apart from a very few
holly blues and the odd small white, orange tips have been the only
butterflies in the garden. In the evening I relocated the white-letter
hairstreak caterpillar with the attendant ant, as well as finding
plenty more caterpillars (here,
here,
here
and here).
25th: More caterpillar fun in the evening. This
one was very small still - 7-8 mm - and might be freshly
moulted 4th instar. The ant
was still milking its caterpillar. I attempted to film it,
using the light from my iPhone and have posted the rather poor results here.
26th:
In the evening I cycled Minnie further away to look for hairstreak
caterpillars at another site in Woodbridge, by the river, where there
are different species of elm. On one species with small leaves, I
quickly found this caterpillar
and one more The leaves are only just now unfurling and many twigs
still have none. On another, not far away - I think a wych elm - I
found several more. On this tree, the flowers were still out - and
huge. This shot shows a tiny caterpillar high up the tree, hiding
in a bract and almost invisible. I could just see the faint
outline of his jagged back under UV. This is a detail
from that shot, though as it was so high (and it was night) there is
not actually much detail there. Here
and here are two more caterpillars on
the same tree, both also high up. Many leaves had other species of
caterpillar. Here are two mystery moth or sawfly caterpillars.
I also found a rather fine millipede
(and here). There's something else
hiding in that last picture but I don't know what it is.
27th: Back in the local meadow, the hairstreak caterpillar that had
been attended by an ant was all
alone, sitting on the upperside of an entire leaf. I hope now
he can go back to feeding. An ant was fussing around another
caterpillar (and here)
without really milking it. I found plenty of other caterpillars,
including this one and this
one.
28th:
A mostly sunny day. In the afternoon I went to the forest to look for
green hairstreaks. Finally, the hawthorn is in flower and the
hairstreaks are flying, though I only saw one
come down, and that only briefly. Most were flitting
over chestnut leaves, often in the company of large numbers
of Adela
reaumurella. Here is another
shot of the moths,
this time without a green hairstreak in the picture. Amazingly, I saw
no small coppers - just a single peacock, a single red admiral and a
few orange tips.
29th: A gloriously sunny day. In late morning I
cycled to Ipswich to see if the little blues were flying at the site
where they were introduced. Only about a quarter of the kidney vetch
was in flower - perhaps less - but nevertheless I saw about half a
dozen little blues, probably mostly males, all very active. This
one (I think a male, but I'm not sure) stopped briefly and this
one
landed for a moment near my feet some time later - no chances for good
photos of either. I saw two common blues flying at speed over the park,
as well as a couple of small coppers, plenty of orange tips, a peacock,
a few small whites and a single small
tortoiseshell,
just after I had got on the bike to leave. In the afternoon I spotted a
green hairstreak near Tesco when I went for provisions. In the garden
were orange tips, small whites and several holly blues - but really not
very many. Here is an orange
tip caterpillar on curly kale, and here another
on garlic mustard.
30th:
Another summer day. In the afternoon I went to the forest to see how
things were looking for white admirals and silver-washed fritillaries
in a month or two. Things were still quite backward, and forestry work
had ploughed up a lot of ride edges, but equally, it looked as if the
summer growth was beginning. Plants can really spring up quickly at
this time of year. I saw two green hairstreaks along one ride - a place
I've never seen them before - and later found a single female oviposturing
on gorse (and here). I also saw my first
dragonfly of the year - a hairy
dragonfly, Brachytron
pratense. In the evening I checked on the white-letter
hairstreak caterpillars. They are still easy to find, though
I did sadly find a dead one - perhaps killed by a
spider or a forest bug.
31st:
May ended on another hot, sunny day. Amazingly, there were almost no
butterfly flying in the forest. I saw a little cluster of three green
hairstreaks spiralling and sparring above an oak, and then flying up
and away, and a single green-veined white, but nothing else. In the
garden, holly blues are now reasonably common, though nothing at all
like last year. Here is my first broad-bodied
chaser of the year (Libellula
depressa), in the forest.
June 1st:
Another trip to the forest on a hot, sunny afternoon, and incredibly,
almost no butterflies at alll. For the entire walk, until I got back to
the bike, I saw just one green-veined white. Back at the bike, I saw an
orange tip and a peacock. That was it. It was incomprehensible. I also
saw my first southern hawker of the year in the forest itself.
2nd:
I took Minnie on a day-trip to Cambridge, to revisit old haunts from
nearly 40 years ago ... First, we went to my old college, but as dogs
weren't allowed in I could only show Minnie the view
from the Porters' Lodge. Then we walked out along
the Cam (and here)
to Granchester, hoping for a beer. It was a lovely walk but the one pub
that was open was fully booked until 10.00pm, so no beer (except the
emergency supplies I had brought with me). We stopped in the shade
by the river on the way back so Minnie could take a break and
I could look for dragonflies. I didn't see a lot, but there were plenty
of banded demoiselles (female here)
and azure
damselflies,
as well as a couple of large red damselflies. The only butterflies I
saw on the entire walk, amazingly, was a single red admiral at
Granchester and a female orange tip in the little nature reserver near
Granchester Meadows. Back in Cambridge, we did manage to get a pint
at the Granta, though it was very busy, before walking
through town (here's some punting) and out to Midsummer
Common and my old boathouse (and here).
By the time we got back to the station, Minnie was exhausted, but it
was probably less than she used to do in the mountains ...
3rd: The southern marsh orchids are now
flowering in the meadow. The dotty white-letter
hairstreak caterpillar that had been attended by ant has
started feeding again.
4th: The largest orange tip caterpillar in the garden is now well
advanced, though not quite full size yet. The caterpillar
on curly kale is still doing fine but his plant isn't - it
has been almost completely demolished by this snail.
So I moved the caterpillar to some garlic mustard,
in the hope he would take to the new food. In the evening, I found very
few white-letter hairstreak caterpillars, and all small. There were
lots of newly laid batches of sawfly
eggs, glowing very brightly under
UV.
5th: The orange tip caterpillar I moved from curly kale to garlic
mustard is eating like mad! He has had no
problem adjusting to a new foodplant.
6th: A mostly sultry day. Here is the same orange
tip cat as on 5th, still guzzling on his new foodplant. And
here is a squirrel, watching prodeedings.
8th:
A trip to the forest in the afternoon. Very, very little flying - and
not even a single green hairstreak. I did see my first large
white of the year, as well as a couple of speckled woods,
a single painted lady
and a small heath. Amazingly, there were no small coppers, at a site
where these are usually very common. I have never known such a
disastrous spring for butterflies.
9th: On heathland in the
afternoon, I initially thought there were no green hairstreaks. Then I
spotted one zooming down from an oak, and later saw about half a dozen
in total, all spinning and sparring above oaks and coming to rest right
at the tops of the trees.
I saw a possible silver-studded blue in flight - very early, but from
its appearance and flight good for silver-stud - as well as a small
heath, my first brown argus of the year (a female)
and a couple of small coppers. This is the
transferred orange tip caterpillar. Nearby,
this one is now fully grown.
10th: A partial solar eclipse in the morning. Although it clouded over
just before the maximum, this picture shows almost the
maximum. This picture
shows a 'mini-eclipse' near the bottom, where the sun got through a
tiny gap in my cardboard shield and cast a pin-hole image of itself on
the paper. This is the set-up I used, with a pair of
binoculars fastened to the tripod with garden twine. Minnie was not
interested in it all. In the afternoon I spotted a painted
lady
on the flowers on the other side of the road and saw two red admirals
in the meadow. In the evening I tried, rather unsuccessfully, to get
photos of a serotine bat (and here).
13th:
Again, very few butterflies in the forest rides (where silver-washed
fritillaries and white admirals will fly in July). Instead, I made do
with dragonflies - my first four-spotted
chasers (and here)
and broad-bodied chasers of the year.
In the evening, a few rather tatty holly blues were flying around our
holly, including at least one female.
14th: On local heathland a single green hairstreak, two common
blues, a couple of small
heaths and this broad-bodied
bee hawk moth, nectaring in a woody part of the walk where
honeysuckle grows. Here is a whitethroat.
TO
END OF JUNE: For various reasons, I had very little time between 15th
June and the end of the month, either to go looking for butterflies or
to write up this diary. In general, butterflies have been very few and
far between, with the first meadow browns of the year on 25th being the
only notable event. A fair few red admirals have been flying and a
smaller number of painted ladies but very, very little else.
July
1st: The southern marsh orchids in the
local meadow are just past their peak but still abundant in places.
2nd:
A sunny day. I visited local heathland to see if silver-studded blues
were flying yet. I did see a single male, at some distance in an
inaccessible, fenced-off area, so they are clearly on the wing. But
that was the only one. I also saw a single holly blue. Amazingly, I saw
just two small heaths and two small
coppers, as well as a single meadow brown and my first small
and large
skippers of the year. A few red
admirals
were flying in the woody part of the site and a couple of painted
ladies cruised by. I also saw my first grayling of the year, which
disappeared over a bramble bush after settling briefly in dense
vegetation, where it couldn't be photographed. The only other species
was a single small white (probably), seen at distance. I have never
known such an appalling year for butterflies. I think I have seen just
three common blues all year, and a single brown argus.
4th: The first ringlets flying in the garden.
Meadow browns are now becoming common. This female
was in the local meadow. I didn't see any white-letter hairstreaks at
the top of their elm tree but the weather was quite iffy. Here is a
pair of common blue damselflies by the
river.
7th: I saw the first hutchinsoni comma in the garden a few days ago but
it was gone when I came back out with my camera. Here
is one in a meadow by the river today. This speckled
wood was in the meadow, There are usually a few flying around
the trees there.
8th: I went back to the local heath to look for silver-studded blues. I
saw three in total, all males. Here
and here
are two of them. The weather was off and on - mostly off - and little
else was flying apart from a few meadow browns, a couple of small
coppers,
a red admiral or two, a small white and a very tatty holly blue. I
didn't see any purple hairstreaks though I regularly checked the tops
of the oaks.
9th:
The day began warm and partially sunny but descended into torrential
rain by the afternoon. When I took Minnie for her morning walk, a few
white-letter hairstreaks were just occasionally visible at the very top
of their master elm tree. I would see one or two spiral up, sometimes
sparring, then they would settle down again, almost always out of
sight. I took about a dozen shots into the canopy on x65 zoom, hoping a
hairstreak would appear in one or two of them and struck sort of lucky
in two. This is an uncropped piccie
with a hairstreak just visible as a dark mark on the left. On blowing
up and lightening the photo, it is clearly discernible as a white-letter
hairstreak. This one
was right in the centre of the shot but head-on, so no wing details
were visible. I am happy that they are there, having watched the eggs
and caterpillars all year. There will be another brood! Other than
this, just meadow browns, ringlets
and the odd white were on the wing.
11th:
On a half-cloudy, half-sunny afternoon I visited local woods hoping for
silver-washed fritillary and white admiral. Almost as soon as I
arrived, I saw the latter - a single individual bouncing off into a
glade and away. But I saw no more. Nor did I see any silver-washed
fritillaries (this is the site where I saw them for the first time in
Suffolk last year). In a meadow adjoining the woods I saw lots of small
heaths and small skippers, and meadow browns
were common everywhere, in the rides and the meadow. As I rejoined my
bike to cycle home, I found some Essex
skippers. Other species flying were green-veined
white, large white, small white, red admiral, painted lady,
speckled wood and some hutchinsoni commas.
At lunchtime I walked three dogs so found photography difficult, but
spotted several white-letter hairstreaks at the
top of their tree in the local meadow.
12: Again today, white-letter hairstreaks were flying at the top of
their tree - none came down. This
was the most convincing shot I got. Here,
here,
here
and here
are others. All were taken by pointing the camera, at 65 x zoom, at a
place where I saw a butterfly settle. When we got back from our evening
walk, this lovely elephant
hawk moth was in the porch. I photographed it and then
released it into the garden.
13th:
Despite it being mostly a lovely, sunny afternoon, rather few
butterflies were flying on our woodland walk this afternoon. Meadow
browns were definitely the commonest, with a few ringlets thrown in.
Large, small and green-veined whites were all flying too, and several
red admirals. In the usual places, hutchinsoni commas
were defending their territories and there were small
heaths and small skippers in the meadow. Near where I left my
bike, as on 11th, I found several Essex
skippers
(that one photographed through grass florets - wood millet, I think).
But no white admirals or silver-washed fritillaries, nor, surprisingly,
any purple hairstreaks, which fly commonly here as a rule. Here is Minnie
during one of the cloudier patches. In the morning, several
white-letter hairstreaks were flying at the top of the elm and I
photographed this small white in the meadow.
14th:
Mostly overcast. On our afternoon walk along the river, I spotted
several hairstreaks flying around the top of a tall ash where in the
past I have seen both purple and white-letter. I pointed the camera on
65 x zoom and clicked every time I saw one land, and there was a purple
hairstreak in almost every picture (and here).
A little further on, I saw what must have been a
female white-letter hairstreak fly into a wych elm (where I
found
caterpillars earlier in the year) and disappear among the leaves. There
is no logic in a purple hairstreak doing that.
15th: First gatekeepers seen around Woodbridge.
17th:
My plane landed in Málaga at 11h09. I dropped my big backpack at the
hostal then headed off to some local favourite spots before checking in
properly and setting off again. Top of my target list was desert orange
tip and I was not disappointed. I first saw a male and got a lousy
shot. It flew off but I waited in case it came back. About ten minutes
later a female (and here,
on the foodplant) appeared, then another - I saw a maximum of three at
once, including a female rejecting a male, but
probably more in total, over a period of maybe 40 minutes. This
is a male. The females spent most of their time drifting around the
foodplant laying eggs. Each egg was laid very quickly - it was more of
a brief lingering on the leaf than a stop. This
is one of the laid eggs. Lang's short-tailed blues and small whites
were also around but it was a hot afternoon and little was flying. Even
along the river I saw little but I paused under a bridge to watch
monarchs (mostly resting in the shade, but flying
around between rests - this is the site, with the arrow
showing where that one was resting), as well as clouded yellows, a
holly blue, a geranium bronze and another,
single Lang’s short-tailed blue. Down by the water, often resting in
the shade too, were lots of white
featherlegs,Platycnemis latipes (and here).
I then climbed a very little into the hills by what I call the back
route, seeing plenty of false
mallow skippers (and here),
a few sage skippers and several Austaut's
blues. Up here, away from the water, I also saw a few violet
dropwings, Trithemis
annulata. Walking back, found southern
brown argus and African grass blue, the latter in
its usual place by the river. Other species seen today were wall and
meadow brown.
18th:
Out early and caught the train along the coast a little, past the
airport towards Fuengirola. At my first, grassy stop little was flying
- mostly southern brown argus, Austaut's
blue (and here, and here
for a female) and false mallow skippers but also a
single Lang's short-tailed blue. I was
looking for southern marbled skippers but there were in fact very few Carcharodus
flying at all at that hour. On the way, I paused at a flowery bush
where I often see interesting things and quickly spotted a very tatty,
male blue-spot
hairstreak. I then headed towards a nearby site for
Mediterranean skipper and was amazed to see a huge Morpho
peleidesflying around near a foot-tunnel
entrance. It never settled but I caught this
photo
of it as it flew close. That was not something I expected to see! It
must be an escape from the butterfly house at Benalmádena, not far
away. No Mediterranean skippers were flying at their site. Next, I
climbed the hill, taking a different route from last year, leading me
to a hilltopping site I haven't visited before. On the way I saw my
first speckled wood of the trip as well as lots of striped graylings (this
one, deep in the shade, offered occasional views of its
upperside), dusky heaths,
walls and southern gatekeepers. At the top, just swallowtails and
Iberian scarce swallowtails were hilltopping. Returning to
the Carcharodus site,
I was very happy to get my first confirmed southern marbled skippers.
Here is the upperside of a very tatty
individual - I suspect I am between broods - and here
and here the underside of a different
(but equally tatty) individual. This
female
looks like false mallow skipper from above and is oviposturing on what
seems to be some species of mallow, but it is interesting that her
underside, from this view, looks veined in white. I have her down as
false mallow. This individual (underside of same
butterfly here)
I have yet to confirm. I think it is a female southern marbled skipper
but the forewing upperside markings are much less broad than those of
males. There were also several Cleopatras
and some meadow browns. Finally, I walked back to the station via the
Mediterranean skipper site, where now, in the heat of the afternoon,
there were plenty of southern brown argus, Austaut's blue, geranium
bronze and an African grass blue.
19th:
Climbed up to the hills overlooking Málaga, arriving at the crest at
about 11h00. As usual, I saw very little on the way up, but as soon as
I reached the crest immediately encountered southern
gatekeepers, striped graylings, dusky heaths and a two-tailed
pasha. Moving along the ridge to my favourite hilltopping site I found
less hilltopping than usual, but a very amenable two-tailed
pasha (and here) and a few swallowtails
and Iberian scarce swallowtails (and here).
Several large spiders
had spread webs across the site and as I arrived I saw a southern
gatekeeper fly into one, when it was immediately pounced on and wrapped
up by the spider. I continued to more of my favourite sites, including
a ruin where oranges, figs, almonds
and olives all grow. These are oranges
- they are ripe in March/April when I visit for spring butterflies.
Butterflies seen on the walk to the ruins included clouded
yellow, one helice
female clouded yellow, Bath
white, southern brown argus, a single
painted lady, lots and lots of striped graylings, plenty of southern
gatekeepers, plenty of walls, a few Austaut's
blues, sage skippers (and here),
locally a few false mallow skippers
and at least one Lang's short-tailed blue. At the ruins themselves,
false mallow skippers, southern brown arguses and striped graylings
were flying but very little else. The stream running through the site
was completely dried up but there was (stagnant) water
in the troughs and I was able to refill
my purifying bottles. Hoopoes,
serins, flycatchers and other birds were constantly flitting around the
trees. I tried a fig but it was completely dry, unlike last year, when
they were delicious. Next I headed to a lyllus (the
southern Spanish form of small heath) site, where I duly saw a few lyllus,
but it was the heat of the afternoon and they were all sheltering in
the shade. A couple of long-tailed blues were hilltopping on the crest
just before I came down. I returned to Málaga by a slightly different
route but came out at the same place, seeing monarchs
in their usual spots (and here).
Back in Málaga, I went to the bus station to get the timetable for
Antequera for later in the week.
20th:
I intended to spend the day locally, focusing on things like desert
orange tip, African grass blue and monarch. I got to the desert orange
tip site quite early, before butterflies were really up, and saw no
adults - but I did find another egg.
I also saw all stages of the shieldbug Eurydema ventralis.
These are the eggs and these the nymphs.
I then went to buy provisions before heading back for a lunchtime
session, when I noticed my iPhone was missing. I had been
pick-pocketed. Just in case I had dropped it by mistake, I ran back to
the hostal and
used 'Find my
iPhone' on the iPad to locate it. It was offline - so clearly stolen
and turned off. Fortunately, I was travelling with a spare phone and a
Swiss sim card, so I activated those and then did all the necessary
cancelling of accounts, erasing the iPhone &c. It was a real
pain
but not fatal to the trip. Finally, after much delay and quite late in
the day, I did head back to the desert orange tips and found them
flying. Here is a male and
here the underside of that or a different
male. This is the underside
of a different individual. Increasingly, as the day drew on, they spent
more time seeking shade
and either roosting or resting temporarily.
21st:
Caught the early bus (07h45) to Antequera, walking from there to El
Torcal. I went by the quickest, road route, rather than across the wild
area, so I could start climbing early. That meant I saw little on the
way. But as soon as I got off the road I started seeing first Satyrids
then other butterflies. Meadow browns and southern gatekeepers were
soon followed by my first Adonis
blue of the holiday. I saw a few more of these - not many -
then picked up a Pyrgus
skipper I quickly identified as rosy
grizzled skipper (as confirmed by this underside).
Locally, plenty of these were flying (here is another
individual) but they stopped quickly as I climbed higher up
the hill. As I continued, both Austaut's
blues
and southern brown argus were very common - these two have been almost
ubiquitous this holiday. Austaut's blues in particular were everywhere.
At one point on the climb there were tree
graylings, while dusky heaths, meadow browns and
southern gatekeepers were with me all the way up. A few walls. When I
reached the flowery meadows, I suddenly came
across Spanish chalkhill blue (and here,
and here, and here).
These turned out to be very common, though in the heat they were rarely
showing any upperside. In flight, they appeared entirely white and when
settled even the underside seemed pure, chalky white. This is a very
different subspecies from the arragonensis
I see in North Spain. Other species seen
here were sage skipper, false mallow
skipper, small white (common) and Bath white. As ever, Carcharodus were
difficult. Many individuals were worn and it was difficult to see
upperside and underside of the same individual. This
one, for example, is clearly not tripolinus, with
the large, hyaline areas on the wings. But this glimpse
of the underside appears to rule out baeticus too, so I
am inclined to think it is lavatherae.
Here are the upperside and underside
of another individual. That also looks more like lavatherae than baeticus. Here is a
360° view over the flat of El
Torcal. Walking back down the hill I saw more of the same species, in
reverse order, as well as a single long-tailed
blue. I returned to Antequera by the wilder
route, seeing Iberian scarce swallowtails on the way. Birds
seen today included hoopoe (and here),
woodchat
shrike (and here), great
grey shrike (from a great, grey distance!), black-eared wheatear (and here?),
stonechat,
thekla
lark and black redstart.
22nd:
Decided to try going up into the hills just north-east of Málaga,
rather than just north-west as usual. I intended to climb until I
reached a suitable hilltopping site. The walk up was by forest rides,
shady, broad and not steep, so not nearly so strenuous. Equally,
though, there were very few butterflies. I photographed this African
grass blue in the river bed before the climb, then saw just a
few of the usual Satyrids (this is a meadow
brown),
as well as sage skipper, Austaut's blue and southern brown argus, in
the odd sunny spot on the way up. It was a long climb, and higher than
my usual one, and so I was glad to see a bar
when I reached the road near the top! After a few beers, I continued
along a narrow
track to the real top - the local high
point (and here). I placed the 360° camera on
that trig point and took this photo. From here it was
possible to see across and slightly down to my usual
hilltopping crest. As expected, butterflies were indeed
hilltopping here. Two-tailed pashas were zooming around and
occasionally stopping in the trees to survey
the area (and here, from much closer). Iberian
scarce swallowtails (and here)
were also avid hilltoppers here, as were swallowtails
(and here). A very few long-tailed
blues were up there too. This
one
was so small I wondered if it was something else at first. Other things
at the top included dusky heath and the odd cleopatra. After an
enjoyable time with the hilltoppers I headed down again, photographing
this female Cleopatra and a flowery
spot and this sage skipper. This southern
gatekeeper
suddenly closed its wings when I was about to get that perfect shot! As
I neared the bottom of the forest path I noticed what I thought was an
insect crawling around the rim of my cap, just in my field of vision. I
took
my hat off and discovered it was the largest tick
I've ever seen! I believe it is a tropical tick of the genus Hyalomma.
23rd:
I went back to my skipper spots today, hoping for more southern
marbled. As usual, I arrived too early, and little was flying. The
early sun did give me a chance to photograph this striped
grayling warming up, though. This is a southern
brown argus opening its wings in the shade. While the day
warmed up, I climbed a little higher, following a path I walked last
year. In damp,
shady places, speckled woods clustered - largely
absent elsewhere. This dusky heath
was tatty but flying without any problems. Other species on the climb
were wall, sage skipper, Lang's short-tailed blue, Austaut's blue and
southern brown argus. I didn't climb high but returned to the
skipper
site, where little was flying still (though this sage
skipper posed nicely). On the way down I came across this
single grayling. Hoping more would be on
the wing later, I went back to wait at another favourite spot closer to
town, where I found geranium bronzes, African
grass blues, southern brown arguses and Austaut's blues, as
well as spending time watching this little family of spotted flycatchers
(here's the adult and here the youngster). Another youngster was
ranging more widely in the tree, keeping mostly hidden. This is a keeled
skimmer from the same site. Finally, I went back to the
skipper site, where I found at least two southern
marbled skippers (and here,
for the underside of the same individual) and a few Mediterranean
skippers. That male posed for plenty of photos. Here is another
shot of him.
24th: For my final day in Spain I climbed back into the local hills to
revisit my favourite spots. These two-tailed
pashas were at my first hilltopping site. I also extended the
walk to an area I haven't been before, where I found a new hilltopping site. There, the
usual species were doing their thing, including several two-tailed
pashas, a few swallowtails
(note the bee-eater above the swallowtail) and Iberian
scarce swallowtails and the odd long-tailed blue. This
two-tailed pasha appears to be a gravid
female,
I hope implying there are strawberry trees not far away (though I
didn't see them). I saw nothing new for the trip on the walk, though
all my old friends came to see me and it was a very good day. Bee-eaters
were almost constant in the sky. This, I think, is a short-toed
eagle and this is a woodchat.
I returned home via the desert orange tips (and here),
where one or two were still flying though it was late in the day.
Tomorrow I have to pack and head of back to the UK ...
[17th
- 25th July - I'm in Spain for a week. I will write the trip up here on
my return, a day at a time, but please seeHEREfor
a preview, including new shots of desert orange tips and a new species
for me, southern marbled skipper. It's much easier typing into a
website on my iPad than coding in html!]
27th: Lots of white-letter hairstreaks sparring
at the top of the usual elm in the meadow. This comma
was setting up his territory in the back garden.
29th:
Very quick afternoon trip to the woods where I saw silver-washed
fritillary last year. The weather was windy and mostly overcast, with a
little sun. A female silver-washed fritillary came batting down the
ride, then turned and flew into the deep forest, where I lost her. On
my return, some 2 minutes later, I saw her or another female again, not
far away, doing the same thing. Other species flying were ringlet,
meadow brown, gatekeeper, red admiral, peacock, comma, small white,
green-veined white, small copper and a Lycaenid I took to be purple
hairstreak but which didn't stop.
31st:
Large whites have exploded in our garden. I can't remember a year when
I have seen so many. Females are conspicuous almost all day long,
looking for places to lay, feeding
on the buddleia (that picture taken on 26th) or resting
in the sun.
Recently, I have noticed the females taking a great interest in what I
think are garlic mustard leaves - very large leaves without flowering
stems, growing on recently dug soil. This female was obviously looking
for a place to lay and eventually disappeared
beneath a leaf.
I moved away and round to find a vantage point where I could photograph
her without disturbing her. For some ten minutes I then watched her
laying. She would rest beneath the leaf with her
abdomen straight, presumably pushing eggs to the bomb-bay, then quickly
and rather suddenly push the abdomen up to the leaf
and lay an egg. Later, while I was preparing supper, I went out to look
at the results of her labours. There were several patches of eggs under that
leaf, including one in which most
were hatched. The yellow on my thumb in the first photo is
turmeric from cooking, not crushed eggs!
August
1st: Visited the white-letter hairstreak site near the river to see if
any would be nectaring on the bramble. The weather wasn't good and no
hairstreaks flew - not even purple. The only Lycaenid seen was a single
holly blue drifting around the high trees and the bramble. Commas and
red admirals were on the bramble and meadow browns and gatekeepers in
the grass. Here is a green-veined white on nearby
thistles and another on the bramble. This red
admiral was posing on a wall in town.
2nd: Revisited the silver-washed fritillary woods but without seeing
any. The weather had been cloudy and though it was intermittently
sunny it was not really a good butterfly day. Ringlets, gatekeepers,
meadow browns, whites, red admirals, a single purple hairstreak, small
coppers and this single painted
lady managed to fly all the same.
3rd: A beautiful, sunny day, most of which I had to spend at home. I
got out for a short walk in the woods in later afternoon. Gatekeepers
were the most obvious butterfly, clustering
in numbers on ragwort in particular. Other butterflies were
large white, small white, green-veined white, ringlet, grayling, small
copper and painted lady. As well as migrant
hawkers and common darters there were a few brown hawkers zooming
around and several black-tailed skimmers.
In the morning I saw a single hairstreak fly out of the top of the elm
towards other trees - perhaps a female. There was a lot of bird
activity in the woods, with Phylloscopus
warblers flitting around in good numbers and this much larger
bird (and here - note that it is ringed),
which was making an unmelodious, loud churr. I can only think it is a
garden warbler. Here is a yellowhammer,
singing from near the top of his tree.
4th:
A warm, sunny day, with surprising numbers of butterflies around. In
the garden, a comma kept guard over his territory pretty well all day,
and other species seen here were peacock, red admiral, brimstone (a
single male), holly blue (a single male), large white, green-veined
white and small white. In the woods in the afternoon, gatekeepers were
again abundant, with ringlets, meadow browns and the odd grayling
keeping them company. I tried a track round the wood
I hadn't taken before, because it was towards this area I saw the
female silver-washed fritillary fly a few days ago. The track began in
an area of thistle, ragwort and bramble, where I would expect that
species to nectar, and continued with lots of brambles in the sun - covered
with red admirals today (and here)
as well as peacocks and painted
ladies.
Also seen on the walk were a couple of purple hairstreaks, a few holly
blues, a single white admiral and several small coppers. I saw one
golden skipper in flight on the walk and this female
small skipper when I got back to the bike. I didn't see
any silver-washed fritillaries today but will make a point of searching
those nectar sites
earlier in the year next year.
5th:
White-letter hairstreak seen in the morning, flying from the top of an
elm into other trees - possibly a female setting off to look for
somewhere to lay. Visited the forest again in the afternoon. Here is a grayling
from the bramble track and a comma
from a ride in the forest. There were quite a few speckled
woods about in the shadier parts, as well as all the usual
gatekeepers, meadow browns and ringlets. This is an Essex
skipper. I was unlucky with the weather - cloudy most of the
time I was there, but sunny as I arrived and left.
6th:
White-letter hairstreak seen at top of one of the smaller elms - not
the master tree - and diving into the leaves. The day alternated
between sunshine and very heavy rain, with little flying.
9th: There has been intermittent rain and sunshine over the last few
days, with sometimes very heavy rain. This was the view
across the water meadows this afternoon and this the view
towards Woodbridge!
In the sunny periods, all three whites were on the wing, as well as
gatekeepers, meadow browns, ringlets, red admirals, commas and speckled
woods. Holly blues have emerged in numbers over the last few days. Here
is a fresh male inside the water
meadows.
10th: Afternoon trip to the forest. Along the sandy,
heathy tracks, graylings,
peacocks, red admirals, gatekeepers, meadow browns, ringlets, whites
and the odd small copper were flying. Then I reached a ride with abundant
buddleia on either side and literally clouds of butterflies
on them - peacocks, red admirals, graylings,
commas and painted ladies in particular. I knew that if there were any
silver-washed fritillaries still flying, this is where they would be:
and I was not wrong. Before long I had spotted one, zooming around,
interacting with all the other butterflies. He rarely landed, and when
he did it was always in the shade (by this time it was mostly
overcast
anyway), where he moved restlessly before zooming off again. Then
another one joined him and in total I saw at least three individuals,
all very worn. Here, here
and here
are shots of two of them. The pictures are very poor because of the
lack of sun and the fact they were constantly moving.
11th:
A warm and sunny day. I couldn't get out in the morning but in the
afternoon visited Martlesham Heath. There, purple hairstreaks were in
the oaks - I think mostly females, as they dived deep into the leaves
high up, presumably to lay. Red admirals and the odd painted lady were
about, as well as the usual meadow browns, gatekeepers and ringlets. I
saw no small heaths and just a couple of small coppers. At several
different points along the walk brown
arguses were in evidence, but singly, and there were a few
graylings too. All in all, rather few butterflies.
12th: The day began well, with sunshine and warmth. This small
copper posed nicely for me in the meadow. By the afternoon it
was overcast
but it remained warm and speckled woods, meadow
browns, ringlets and gatekeepers
were all up and about in the gloom. I looked for white-letter
hairstreaks at a site along the river and saw none nectaring or in the
trees. But as I passed an elm on the river bank itself I saw what I
took to be a female fly into the canopy and settle, presumably to lay
eggs (I found caterpillars on that tree in late spring). I took several
pot-shots on varying zooms and by chance caught a glimpse of her (or
another one) in this one.
She wasn't in any of the higher zoom shots. But at least this confirms
that the species is still on the wing there. It flies later on the
river than in my local meadow.
13th:
Friday 13th proved neither lucky nor unlucky (except perhaps
in
that cloudy skies prevented any meteor sightings). It was warm,
sometimes sunny in the morning and mostly overcast in the afternoon.
Here is a young goldfinch sitting near the top of
a tree (and here) and here a peacock
pretending the sun is shining.
14th: A sunny morning. I photographed this brown
argus with my iPhone in the garden as I was going out to mow
the lawn. In the afternoon I revisited the silver-washed
fritillary track
I found on 10th. As that picture indicates, there were silver-washed
fritillaries there again today - at least half a dozen, among dozens of
red
admirals (that one a female on the foodplant, though there
were dozens on the buddleia), painted
ladies, commas, graylings
(and here,
on a dead head), browns and whites. One male brimstone was nectaring on
the buddleia too. Many of the silver-washed fritillaries were very
tatty (and here, with a red admiral) but
others were fresher. This
one,
photographed using flash against the grey sky, was typical. I also saw
a single male flying along the roadside some distance before I reached
the site. The species is clearly well established here now.
15th:
Half-sunny again today, so I went back to the fritillary site in the
afternoon, to enjoy again (while stocks last!) these butterflies that
never flew here in my childhood. I arrived a little earlier - about
14h45 - and found just two on the wing then. Both of these were showing
their age. As usual, they were incessantly moving and this
was the only properly focused shot I got of either of them. The
other had significantly more torn wings. By 15h15 a considerably fresher
male
had joined the game and was parading up and down the length of the
buddleia ride. All followed the same pattern, flying vigorously and
diving at anything that moved, then briefly and frenetically feeding,
constantly moving from one flowerhead to the next (often
in the shade),
before getting up and flying again. The difference was that the
freshest individual flew greater distances to do this. I think I saw 4
different individuals in total. Also on and around the buddleia were
hordes of red admirals and peacocks, lots of
painted
ladies, dozens of graylings
(here is one with very little white in the hindwing pd band,
resting in bracken), a few gatekeepers
(and here),
a single brimstone and the odd speckled wood, though these showed no
interest in nectaring and spent most of the time on tree leaves. When I
returned from my evening walk with Minnie, I found this straw
underwing moth in the porch.
17th: A busy couple of days, and quite poor weather too. Here is a whitethroat
- female or juvenile - from our walk around the river today.
18th: A female azure damselfly
by the river this afternoon. Until she settled and I got the photo I
thought she was a scarce blue-tailed damselfly but she is very
beautiful anyway. Equally beautiful to me, but not to everyone, are
these large white caterpillars that have
decimated our curly kale! Some are fully
grown and ready to wander off (and here)
while others are still small - and there are fresh eggs too. These are
the skins
of an earlier instar. There are still some fresh leaves I can cut for
supper (perhaps moving a caterpillar or two off ...) and the plants
will survive and produce more anyway. I am very happy to share.
19th:
Mixed weather again, but generally warm if not always sunny. In the
afternoon, on a walk inside the water meadows, small and green-veined whites,
speckled
woods, holly blues, meadow browns and gatekeepers were all
flying, as well as lots of southern hawkers and a few common
darters. These young swallows (and here)
were waiting for Mum to come back with insects for them. Before very
long, Mum will have left for Africa and not so long after that they
will set off on their own. What an incredible journey awaits them. On
the way back, in the meadow, this purple
hairstreak came very briefly to ground before picking up
again and flying into the trees.
20th: A very busy day, with time only for short walks to the meadow. On
my first, in the morning, I was shown this chrysalis
on the bark of an oak tree (and here).
It was obviously a moth but I didn't know which one, so posted the
pictures on UK Butterflies and learnt it was a
black arches moth.
22nd: Cloud, sun and rain today. This is the meadow
in the morning and this the river
in the afternoon. The large
white caterpillars on the garlic mustard are mostly fully
grown (and here) and evidently some have gone
off to pupate. This one, still very much
twitching, was on the wall of the house, near the garlic mustard. The tail
is twisted to the right
in these pictures but it was flicking it right to left - it is not
deformed in any way. Here is a small copper in the meadow. Even in the
cloudy periods, red admirals were flying, but there were few Satyrids
on the wing today.
24th: Sunny with some clouds most of the day. This southern
hawker
posed nicely in the meadow in the morning. In the afternoon I visited
my silver-washed fritillary track to see if they were still flying.
They were - though the rare shots I managed to get all turned out to be
of the same individual (and here,
and here),
so I'm not sure how many there were. Graylings were very common, and in
amorous
mood (and here). This is a different
couple, who had actually got together. The biggest surprise
was the dozens of small tortoiseshells flying - one
or two on every buddleia. Before today I had only seen about two of
this species all year. Red admirals were abundant and peacocks
common, though not in such numbers. I saw a couple of purple
hairstreaks, and another flying around oak as I cycled to the site.
Other species along the track were speckled wood, small white,
green-veined white, comma and gatekeeper.
25th:
I set off relatively early for Ipswich, to look for brown hairstreaks.
The weather forecast was not too promising, but while I was at my first
site, in a park in Ipswich, the sun made a reasonable showing and I saw
at least two, perhaps three brown hairstreaks. The first was dashing
into the trees and I wouldn't have counted the sighting if I hadn't
seen a female settle shortly afterwards
(and here),
a little further along my walk. She was near, but never on, blackthorn,
dividing her time between rowan and sycamore. I think she was taking
sugars - honeydew from the sycamore leaves and sap from the rowan. In
this poor picture she is clearly licking
sap from a stem of rowan.
I then moved on to the second site, about a kilometre further south,
where I had 4 sightings of brown hairstreak in total, without any
pictures. There was masses of blackthorn
and all the sightings were in flight, over the blackthorn. Sadly, the
sun was now rarer. All the sightings were a minute or two into sunny
spells, when the butterflies seemed to get up and move. At least one
dived down into the blackthorn, presumably to lay. Other species flying
at the sites were small heath, small copper, common
blue (a female here), meadow brown, gatekeeper,
speckled wood, ringlet, red admiral and small and green-veined
whites.
27th: A mixture of sun and cloud. This large red underwing
was on the front wall of the house when I came back from Minnie's early
morning walk but it disappeared later. In the garden, holly blues and
small whites were around during the day and this comma
(and here) was sunning on the porch in
the late afternoon.
31st: The month closed with a grey day - all day. A few whites flew in
the morning and I found this orange
swift moth in the porch at lunch time.
September
2nd: A hoverfly, Volucella
zonaria (video) polishing the brass in the ivy!
3rd:
Warm, though often cloudy. In the morning, a few meadow browns, red
admirals and holly blues were evident in the garden. In the afternoon I
cycled to the silver-washed fritillary lane to see if any were still on
the wing. As always, the buddleia were covered in red admirals
(and here and here
and here), and with them were plenty
of peacocks
and graylings, a few commas,
small
tortoiseshells and small and large
whites and a single silver-washed
fritillary.
I have seen silver-washed here every time I have visited since I first
discovered the track on 10th August. Other species still around, though
not on the buddleia, were gatekeeper, meadow brown (both species very
worn by now) and speckled wood. This grayling
was staunchly policing a dog sled area, and though he kept
zooming off after intruders he always returned to his patch, either on
the white or the wooden post.
Back at home, I noticed the large white pupa had whitened over the wing
panels, so to the naked eye these looked a distinctly different colour.
This is him on 29th August and this
him today.
4th: Warm and increasingly sunny during the day. Here is a red
admiral and here a speckled
wood on our short afternoon walk. The large white pupa
coloured up noticeably during the day. In
the morning, the dark, apical marks were just visible as pale
grey. By late afternoon, they were black
and it looked as if there were a miniature but perfectly formed large
white forewing just beneath the surface.
5th: This morning (c. 09h30) the large white pupa was starkly
black and white (and here,
from the other side, and here,
in context).
I knew he was going to emerge but I had to leave, to sing in church in
Great Bealings. By the time I returned, at about 12h20, he was out and sitting
beside his pupal case. Here is the empty
pupa. I waited a little, then moved him to a safe
place among sedums
in the garden, where he remained until I left for my afternoon walk
with Minnie. When I returned from that, he was gone. Here is a greenshank
watching on in admiration as a little egret catches and washes a fish.
7th: There are now small white eggs (and here)
on the wild rocket in the garden, just like last year.
8th:
A hot day, and my 'day off', so I went back to the brown hairstreak
sites in Ipswich, arriving at the first by about 11h00. Despite the
weather, and thorough searching, I saw just one hairstreak, in flight,
in over two hours at the first site. In fact, there was very little
flying at all - a few small coppers,
red admirals, whites, speckled woods and painted ladies, with a small
tortoiseshell seen too. Moving to the second site, I had a glimpse of
two Lycaenids sparring over blackthorn, but I was looking directly into
the sun and cannot swear they were not holly blues. Again, little was
flying at this site, with speckled woods being the commonest species
and red admirals a close second. Here is Minnie
taking a break under the blackthorn, and here a migrant
hawker.
12th: A comma
in the garden. Interestingly, the present non-breeding commas are still
all hanging around the usual territorial spots as if they were breeding.
13th: A comma in the garden. In the
afternoon I took a short walk to local wooded heathland. A few small
coppers were about (and here)
- in better numbers now than during the first brood, when they were
very scarce. There are still plenty of graylings
flying too, and the odd small heath. On our evening walk, I spotted
this brimstone moth lurking in a hedge.
15th: Cloud and sun in equal measure today. In the afternoon I took
Minnie to the river. There are still a few red admirals and commas
around, but generally little on the wing. This turnstone
(and here)
trusted so much to its camouflage it was wandering around just metres
in front of Minnie - and yes, she saw it! In one of the mini-creeks on
the mud, a ruff was feeding. Here
(and here) is a black-tailed godwit,
not in its full winter plumage, without a hint of the summer gold.
16th: A female red admiral
in the meadow, pausing between egg-lays. I learnt today that the great
grey shrikes of Spain are a different species (the Iberian grey shrike,
Lanius merdionalis)
from the ones we occasionally see in Suffolk, so this photo
I took in July near Málaga actually represented a life tick!
17th:
Sometimes cloudy, sometimes sunny, mostly warm. In the
early afternoon an absolutely huge small copper appeared in
the
garden, first in the front, then in the back - or possibly there two
huge small coppers. I couldn't get a photo, but even if I had, its size
wouldn't have been apparent. It was as big as a largish gatekeeper. For
our afternoon walk, I took Minnie to our silver-washed fritillary site
- not expecting to see any fritillaries but just to see what it was
like now. It turned out nearly all the buddleia was now over
- just a few flowers left - and the earlier swarms of butterflies had
all dispersed or died. A few red
admirals and commas persisted, with some speckled
woods
among them, but there was really very little there. There were lots of
dragonflies, though. Mostly, these were common darters (here's a male
and here a female) but I also found this
female willow emerald damselfly (and here).
Not far away, on the heath, I found a solitary grayling,
a small heath and a small
copper.
18th:
A lovely, warm day. In the afternoon, Minnie and I took a trip to the
sandlings to see what was still flying. Although the buddleias are
mostly over in their main ride, there are still some in flower along
the heathland tracks and plenty of butterflies were to be found there.
These included at least a dozen graylings
(here are a couple playing love games),
several painted ladies, lots of small
coppers and a few speckled woods. Large, small and green-veined
whites were all flying, and in the woodier parts there were
commas and red admirals too. This fresh, female comma had a distended
abdomen and what looked like meconium
coming out of it (and here).
I had initially thought she was gravid but on examining the photos
wonder if she was simply still full of meconium, even though on the
wing. If she had really been a gravid, breeding individual, she would
have to be hutchinsoni,
and indeed, she was very bright above. But she was dark
beneath, so I think not.
20th: A female small copper in the garden.
21st: The same small copper was in the
garden this morning, too, nectaring on Sedum. In the
afternoon we went to the heath again, where graylings
were still very much in evidence (and here).
Small
coppers were also common. Here
(and here)
are two getting intimate - though a gust of wind separated them before
copulation. I expect he found her before very long. This female
meadow brown was a bit of a surprise as I thought they were
over. Other species flying were comma,
red admiral and large, small and green-veined whites. Here is a male
common darter.
22nd:
I visited two sites in South Ipswich today, to see if brown hairstreaks
were still flying. I saw a single one in flight at the first site, then
waited for two hours at the second before finally spotting this lovely
female (and here) crawling around in the
blackthorn. While I watched her she explored
quite a bit but never laid an egg, frequently stopping
to sun herself
some more. Then she flew off. I spotted another fly into an elm tree
(near a tall ash) when I got back to the bike, but I had already put my
camera away by then and couldn't get it out in time. Also flying were
red admirals, all the whites (this is a very
fresh small white), commas,
small coppers and the odd meadow brown.
23rd: Another hot, sunny day. Small copper, comma, whites and red
admirals in the garden. Here is a brown
hawker by the river (though it was actually cloudy when I
took that picture), and here
and here common darters.
24th:
There are still graylings flying on the heath (and
here),
and small
coppers too. This male
was hot in pursuit of a female but she gave him
the buzz in the end. Here is a freshly emerged small
white. Apart from
the odd red admiral and comma, nothing else was on the wing.
25th: Took a walk by the Deben in the afternoon, inside the water
meadows. Speckled woods, whites and red
admirals were flying. This willow
emerald damselfly (and here)
is the first I've seen along these meadows. Here
and here are a female and male common
darter, and here is a cheeky squirrel.
26th: Light mist under cloudy skies on the meadow
in the morning.
27th: A speckled wood and a red
admiral in the meadow in the morning.
28th:
I visited heath again in the afternoon but it began raining shortly
after I arrived so I cut the visit short (to cycle Minnie home before
it became torrential). In the end, it was just a passing shower, but I
wouldn't like to have cycled during the torrents that fell later in the
evening. On the heath, a few small coppers were braving the weather, as
well as one or two red admirals. There is very little buddleia still in
flower. In the garden, I have a few small
white caterpillars rescued and in the cage. This
one is a male, with the testes already showing, though he is
still far from full grown.
29th: A beautiful
morning,
after a very wet, stormy night. It was cold, though, and by the
afternoon was alternating cloud, rain and sun. I took Minnie along the
river instead of risking a cycle ride to the heath. Here is a little
egret (and here), and here a group of godwits,
teal and egrets. A grey plover has snuck into this
picture. Here and here
are pictures of the now-familiar ruff that has been a regular winter
guest in this part of the Deben since I returned from Switzerland.
October 3rd: A little milder, after some very cold and
wet days. Here is a speckled wood in the meadow and
here a common darter
taking a ride on Minnie. I saw a holly blue flying around the trees on
my lunchtime walk but it never settled. This small white caterpillar
should pupate very soon.
4th: I was thrilled to find this female
clouded yellow (and here, and here)
in the garden at coffee time - only the second clouded yellow I've ever
seen in the garden. Here is a red
admiral in the meadow in the morning, and another
at Rendlesham in the afternoon - red admirals are still quite common.
There were no graylings left on the heath but still a few small
coppers. The small white caterpillar did indeed pupate - here
is the first pupa of the autumn. There are at least 12 more
caterpillars in the cage - I have to keep potting more wall rocket
plants for them!
5th: Red admirals flying around in the garden, and this small
copper
was enjoying the ivy too. In the small white caterpillar cage, more and
more caterpillars are now wandering around looking to pupate. Normally,
I zip the cage right up to the top right corner, but as a precaution I
had zipped
it to the middle
yesterday. This was so that if a caterpillar pupated across the zip, I
would still be able to open the cage and manage the plants, by
unzipping either up or down. As it happened, one caterpillar has indeed
decided to pupate across the zip - near to
the top right corner! I hope they don't make a habit of this.
16th:
Flew to Switzerland, arriving in Villars at 15h00 on a beautiful day.
Immediately, I set off to what were my local woods to search for white
admiral and purple emperor caterpillars. I didn't hold out much hope
for the latter, as they are very difficult to find at this time of year
- nor did I find any - but I found white
admiral caterpillars and plenty of other evidence
of where they had been. This is an abandoned, failed or predated hibernaculum.
Here are some shaggy inkcaps growing in the
woods. These used to be regular breakfasts for me in October, back when
I lived in Switzerland ...
17th:
A beautiful day, though just 1°C when I got up, and my first day
butterfly-hunting in the Rhône Valley since 2019! I headed straight for
the vineyards, with Queen of Spain in my mind. Within a minute of
arriving, the first wall presented itself, then a Queen.
This was a good start! The temperature was still only about 6°C but the
slopes were warming up fast in the sun. Here is my favourite trompe l'œil,
that I have shown so many times in this diary over the years. I made my
way to my winter wall - the place I see
Queens even in the coldest months - and found chalkhill
and Adonis blues there as well as the
Queens and walls. Not all were that fresh. Here
and here are more worn individuals.
There were common blues too and a few southern
small whites. Also common were tree
graylings and clouded yellows.
I did see Berger's clouded yellows, but none stopped for a photo. Next,
I continued to one of my cardinal sites. I wasn't expecting to see
cardinals - my previous latest sightings were on 30th September - but
it's an interesting site anyway. To my amazement, a cardinal did fly
past as I arrived. I followed where it flew, into
a region thick with buddleias,
and was then even more amazed to see they were numerous. At least three
(I saw three in the air at the same time) and possibly 6 in total. Here,
here
and here
are some pictures. At the same site, a few blues were flying -
chalkhill and Adonis - but I spent most of my time enjoying the
cardinals. Finally, I made my way back to Villars, where I was playing
the piano for the evening church service. A very good day.
18th: I
headed further east along the valley today, hoping to see more blues
and the third generation of rosy grizzled skippers. Again, plenty of tree
graylings and walls accompanied me, now with a few normal graylings
thrown in. At my first site, Berger's
clouded yellows were common. Here is a female
(and here). As expected there were
plenty of rosy grizzled skippers. Here are a
male
and female in the same shot, and here a closer picture of the
female.
As well as Adonis and chalkhill blues there were now a few Chapman's
blues (and a female
here). I expected northern brown argus at this site but saw none [EDIT:
Vincent Baudraz has kindly pointed out that the female Chapman's blue,
above, is in fact a northern brown argus! I don't know how I missed
it!]. I
left the site quite early, hoping to find more things further still
along the valley, in a tributary of the Rhône where the shadow falls at
about 16h00. As I returned to the train, this adder
crossed my path. Reaching the second site, it seemed at first I would
see little, as it was cool and as predicted, the shadows were beginning
to lengthen over the site. I contented myself with watching dippers
(and here, and here,
and here,
and here).
My first new species for the trip - but not the year - was brown
argus
(no northern brown argus here either [EDIT: Vincent has also pointed
out that at this site only northern brown argus flies, therefore
despite the orange on the wings that is what this butterfly must be!]).
Then suddenly I spotted a turquoise blue
- not perfectly fresh but still brilliant to see. Because the ambient
temperature was low it never closed its wings for an underside shot but
just twisted about, gleaming in the sun. Next came a Niobe
fritillary - this a genuine surprise. Again, it kept its
wings open flat but I did manage a sneak
at the underside. A very successful end to a lovely day.
19th:
Today I had planned to visit Bretaye in the morning, then go down and
up the other side to Leysin in the afternoon. Bretaye was to spend time
with my mother, whose ashes are scattered there, and Leysin to see the
school where I have been working remotely. The day began very cloudy.
This spherical shot is taken from the
table where my mother and father used to sit and have their packed
lunch. I took an upside-down shot
from the same place as the water was so clear that the reflected world
looked just like the real world. Then I climbed up to the Grand Chamossaire, where my mother
rests with the choughs. Here
and here are two more shots of alpine
choughs. In the afternoon I took shots of the Grand Chamossaire from
the other
side of the valley (and here).
This is Leysin American School. I met one
of the teachers, then wound my way back to Villars for my final evening
in Switzerland (for now).
20th: Up early, to pack and catch the train
along the lake to Geneva, then the plane back to Heathrow.
21st: Minnie and a friend greeting me at
the kennels!
LOTS OF GAPS IN THE RECORD HERE.
TIME HAS BEEN SHORT. I HOPE TO UPLOAD PICTURES LITTLE BY LITTLE ...
November
1st: A single red admiral seen in the garden.
3rd. A single red admiral seen.
14th: A single red admiral in the garden.
22nd: A gravid, female red admiral
was in the flower bed this morning, near nettle. I kept my distance but
she flew out and over the fence before I saw any eggs laid. In the
afternoon I took Minnie for a walk along the Deben. It was a cold,
wintry day. Here is a long-tailed
tit and here a little egret in a tree.
23rd: Yesterday's female red admiral did indeed lay eggs
(and here), clustered in the freshest,
youngest leaves of the nettles.
24th: Cold and cloudy but not wet. In the late morning I cycled Minnie
to Shingle Street, on the coast, where dozens of golden
plovers were to be seen in the fields. On the ponds near
Bawdsey, this single, male goldeneye
was swiming and diving. Here is a stonechat,
and here
and here
egrets in the brackish water by the sea. This female
kestrel was at the Shingle Street end of the walk and this
one at the Bawdsey end - or was I being followed?
29th: Despite a very heavy frost and ambient temperatures of just 3°C
by midday, this red admiral (and here,
and here)
was taking advantage of the sun in our garden this morning. This is the
same female I saw on 23rd November, but now with a much less full load
of eggs in her abdomen!
30th: By the river, the usual ruff
was feeding on his own. This sparrowhawk
(and here, through the trees) was
hunting over the railway line.
December 4th: A black-headed
gull keeping his legs clean and a redshank
with equally spotless shanks.
8th:
I collected some curly kale for supper and was amazed (after I had
brought the kale in) to find several large white caterpillars still
active and feeding on the leaves. There are two in this
picture - individually here
and here. This
one,
making a bid for freedom across the chopping board, was only about 5 mm
long. I returned them all carefully to fresh kale in the garden.
12th: The large white caterpillars are still
thriving on the kale (and here),
though they don't seem to be eating much. The red
admiral eggs laid in late November are still looking fresh.
Some have disappeared but there are no obvious signs of hatching.
