Grayling and others

Just catching up on a few of the butterfly photographs I have taken over the past few weeks. Best find was probably this Grayling, a butterfly that gets harder to see in Sussex as each year goes by. This one was on Windover Hill and despite an hours searching it was the only one I could find.

Grayling

They are always a bit difficult to spot against the Chalk flints but this one did at least put down amongst some greenery making it a little more visible. Although they always settle with wings closed they will, if threatened, "pop up" the forewing flashing a patch of orange and an eye. I managed to get a half hearted response on my initial approach but it then seemed to tire of that game and just fell asleep and ignored my presence.

Grayling

Lots of lovely Brimstones along with other butterflies at Houghton Forest but perhaps not in the numbers we have seen in previous years. The high winds and stormy weather at the begining of the month may have had an impact.

Brimstone

Brown Argus

Brown Argus

Small Heath

Chalkhill Blue

Red Admiral

Lots of Silver-washed Fritillaries at Houghton as well but when you did manage to catch up with them they were in a really tatty state.



Newtimber Hill is one of the most reliable sites for Silver-spotted Skippers. They were there but again not in big numbers but then we were probably four weeks later than usual in looking for them.

Silver-spotted Skipper

Wall Brown

Chalkhill Blues still looking good though.

Chalkhill Blue

Chalkhill Blue

Dark Green Fritillary

Last but not least a Large White, we tend to ignore them but they really are quite a beautiful butterfly.

Large White

No sign of a Clouded Yellow yet or perhaps even one of the rarer migrants from the continent but there is still time.

Silver-spotted Skipper

The summer quiet patch has ended and the second half of the Butterfly year seems to going really well. My impression is that there are more butterflies around than last year although it may just be that in the hot weather they are more active than usual.

I should be able to see 46 butterflies in the year and that is without travelling outside of Sussex. As I was falling well short of that number I have spent the last few days trying to fill some of the gaps. Most are now annual pilgrimages, Newtimber Hill for the Silver-spotted Skippers, Windover Hill for the Chalkhill Blue and Grayling, and the more recent addition of Knepp for the Purple Hairstreaks.

Sometimes it seems a bit pointless going round seeing the same butterflies and taking the same pictures but then there are never two years the same. Numbers vary, habitats change, some locations fade away and others open up. Just seeing the changes taking place is part of the enjoyment - most of the time! There is also that exceptional picture that is still out there waiting to be taken.

Silver-spotted Skipper

Silver-spotted Skipper, a feisty little butterfly with a good turn of speed. It always reminds me of the Pearl Bordered and Small Pearl Bordered. You think you are following its movement and then a sudden change of direction or speed and its gone.

Silver-spotted Skipper

Silver-spotted Skipper

White Admiral

Large Skipper

But I am still missing the Essex Skipper and there doesn't seem to be that many Small Skippers about.

Peacock  - the dark side!

Purple Hairstreak

Purple Hairstreak, my bogey butterfly. I see lots of them but I just don't seem to be able to get a good open wing shot.

Chalkhill Blue

Chalkhill Blue  Female

Chalkhill Blue Male

Common Blue

Grayling

Grayling, a good two hours of searching and I was only able to find one butterfly at my usual location. Recent reports have shown better returns lower down the slope in Deep Dean.

Brown Argus

Brown Argus

Still  missing a few, Dark Green Fritillary, White Hairstreak, Essex Skipper, Brown Hairstreak and Clouded Yellow. Also a Small Tortoiseshell which I must have seen but have not recorded. Might even get a Long-tailed Blue or perhaps a Camberwell Beauty. Dream on!

Silver-spotted Skipper

The weather forecast for the rest of the week was not looking good, so the chance of a few hours out this morning, before the rain was due to set in, was too good to miss. Butterflies have been the main theme over the past few weeks and today was no different. The target was the Silver-spotted Skipper and the best place to find them, for us, is on Newtimber Hill, just to the east of Devils Dyke.

It was a cool morning but there was just enough warmth to get a few butterflies moving. Unfortunately most of those were Meadow Browns. The Silver-spots are a butterfly of the hot summer months and today obviously did not suit them, they were mostly staying hidden in the long grass. 

Silver-spotted Skipper

We did eventually get a few picture opportunities where they had crawled out onto flower heads to warm up their wings or to nectar but it took a lot of searching.

There were also a few Chalkhill Blues flying. These were much more obliging and were happy to sit out on flower stems to have their pictures taken.

Chalkhill Blue

I assume that the two females shown below are Chalkhill Blues but it is very difficult to tell them from female Adonis Blue. You really need to see the upper side of their wings.

The following are a few pictures from last Friday. I had stopped off at Pulborough Brooks RSPB to stock up on birdfood and with an hour to spare I had time for a quick trip around the hides.

Small Copper

There was very little showing. One Small Copper, just a hint of Hairstreaks high in a couple of the Oak and Ash trees, one distant Common Sandpiper, and best of all a Green Sandpiper close to Winpenny Hide.

Green Sandpiper

It is really nice to get a picture of a bird on the blog again. They have been in short supply of late. It is a good reminder that the summer doldrums are coming to an end and that the birds will soon be on the move.

Small Copper

The blog is called "Small Copper" as this is probably my favourite butterfly and this is the first one that I have seen this year. It is always a joy to see but it seems to be getting rarer each year.

Actually the day was really about another butterfly. I have been commenting a lot recently about the shortage of blue butterflies this year. Today that all changed. We went up onto Windover Hill and there were Chalkhill Blues everywhere. The numbers probably ran into the thousands and that was just in the areas we walked through.

The classic shot is of a Chalkhill nectaring on Knapweed but there was little chance of that today. The wind was blowing strong across the hill and the butterflies were staying low.

The Chalkhills are very variable in appearance, with lots of identified aberrations and they were a great favourite of the Victorian collectors.

Ninety percent or more of the Chalkhills flying were male, although the more secretive females were starting to put in more of an appearance as the day wore on. With that number of males flying, I can understand why the females were staying hidden.

We also found a good number of Grayling although perhaps not to the levels we had seen in previous years.

This is a butterfly that is reluctant to fly, relying on its cryptic camouflage to keep it hidden. It can be difficult to spot unless it takes to the air and even when you know where it landed it is difficult to find.

After much searching and chasing up and down a forty five degree slope I did manage to get a few shots where more detail could be seen. Although some of it is not very pleasant.

In the shot above the eye on the upper wing is just starting to emerge. Th butterfly will often flick this up to frighten off potential predators.

These two shots show examples of infestation by the larvae of the mite Trombidium breei. These live on the blood of the butterfly and can often be found on a large proportion of the colony. It is not quite as bad as it looks. The larvae only stay attached for two or three days, although of course some butterflies only live a few days. Investigation has shown no evidence of the mite affecting the lifespan or within habitat movement rates of the butterflies. 

If you want more information click on the link below.

Conradt, L., Corbet, S.A., Roper, T.J., and Bedworth, E.J. (2002), Parasitism by the mite Trombidium breei on four U.K. butterfly species. Ecological Entomology, 27:651-659. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2311.2002.00461.x

See also my blog of July 2014 showing a female Chalkhill Blue carrying at least fifteen of these mite larve.

There were a good number of other butterfly around today. Dark Green Fritillary, Small Skipper, Large Skippers, Whites, Peacock, Red Admiral, Brimstone, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Ringlets, Gatekeeper, Marbled White, Common Blue, Tortoiseshell, and a possible but very elusive Silver Spotted Skipper. 

We also had a Migrant Hawker, shown below.

A good day with more butterflies in both quantity and variety than I have seen so far this year. 

Silver-spotted Skipper

The search for the Silver-spotted Skipper has been on for nearly a week now. I saw one on Newtimber Hill last Tuesday but could not get a picture of it. Sunday I went back and had a possible sighting of one but again no picture. Monday Dave went for a look and reported around fifty seen and today, Tuesday, we went back and found two hundred plus.

Newtimber has an amazing range of wild flowers and grasses and there were thousands of butterflies on the wing. Admittedly most of them were well worn Meadow Browns but we also saw Chalkhill Blues, probably in the hundreds, Commas, Peacock, Small Copper, Tortoiseshell, Ringlets, Marbled White, Small Heath, and a large variety of Moths.

I also caught a brief flash of yellow as a butterfly disappeared behind a bush. I only need a Clouded Yellow to catch Dave up on the number of species seen this year. Its not a race but it still had me sprinting up a forty five degree slope to get a better view, much to Dave's amusement, when I had to tell him that it was only a Brimstone.

Mint Moth  Pyrausta aurata

Small Tortoiseshell

Mating pair Chalkhill Blues

Female Chalkhill blue with at least fifteen larvae of the Trombidium breei  parasitic mites

We have seen infestations by the Trombidium breei  larvae on a range of different butterfly species although it is probably most evident on the Marbled Whites. The mites live on the blood of the butterfly but they do not appear to cause the butterfly any significant problems. This makes sense, after all there is no point in killing off your host and food supply. However, most of the infested butterflies carry two or three of the mites, fifteen looks a bit excessive and I wonder how this female will cope. If you want more information click on the link below.

Conradt, L., Corbet, S.A., Roper, T.J., and Bedworth, E.J. (2002), Parasitism by the mite Trombidium breei on four U.K. butterfly species. Ecological Entomology, 27:651-659. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2311.2002.00461.x

Small Copper

Moth - but I have not had time to identify it yet.
Now identified as Pyrausta nigrata. See message from Tom below.

I just have to keep my fingers crossed on the arrival of the Clouded Yellows from across the channel.