Clouded Yellow

Bit of a disappointing day today. The weather didn't look promising but we thought we would try a few of the local sites looking for Dragonflies and Butterflies. First stop was Black Pool at Pulborough Brooks. Not a good place to start as it had all but dried out and there were no signs of life around it. All the water levels across the Pulborough site seemed low and we only saw two dragonflies all morning, a Brown Hawker and a Southern Hawker. Neither stayed around to have their pictures taken.

Pulborough also seemed to be almost devoid of birds. I did have a look from Netley's and could see a couple of very distant Sandpipers. I would like to have got a confirmed sighting of the Wood Sandpiper but to me they looked like two Commons and one Green.

Picture taking was confined to one brief spell of sunshine in the meadow area above Netley's. We were hoping for a Brown Hairstreak but could not see any movement in the trees or bushes.

The first Clouded Yellow of the year got us off to a good start, even if it was a little on the tatty side.

After that it was really just the everyday butterflies. But at least it was something flying and the chance to take a few shots.

Gatekeepers were probably the most common butterfly.

Gatekeeper

and there were still a few fresh looking Small Heaths about

Small Heath

Ringlets and Meadow Browns had mostly gone over but there was a nice Small Copper, a few Green-veined Whites and a couple of Common Blues around.

Small Copper

Small Copper

Green-veined White

Common Blue

There were hundreds of the Common Grass Moth around so I thought I would take a shot of one for the record.

Common Grass Moth Agriphila straminella

and the always fascinating Scorpion Fly

Scorpion Fly

We had about an hour of sunshine before the clouds came over, then time to walk back to the car before the rain started. Despite what the forecasts had promised there seemed little chance of it clearing as we went into the afternoon so in the end we packed up and headed for home.

Silver-washed Fritillary

Late afternoon and Sue suggested going for a walk to make the most of the sunshine. I managed to talk her out of walking to the shops and instead we headed off to Houghton Forest to have a look for the butterflies. Dave had already tipped me off to the Marbled Whites and I was hoping to see Silver-washed Fritillaries and White Admirals as well.

The Marbled Whites were easy to find and photograph although none were really posing for a closed wing shot which I always think shows them at there best.

Marbled Whites

Marbled White

The only closed wing shot I managed

Sue is always a lot happier chasing after butterflies in the summer than being out in the middle of winter birding. She uses the little Canon SX50 and gets some good pictures which I always find a bit annoying given how difficult I find that camera to use.

The real find of the day was the Silver-washed Fritillary. I had seen one the day before but it was on a high speed fly through in the lower canopy and could not really be claimed as a first sighting. This one was nectaring on brambles but unfortunately was staying at the back of the thicket making it difficult to get a decent shot. These pictures are taken on a 400mm lens.

Silver-washed Fritillary

There were a range of other butterflies around as well, Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small Heath, Brimstone, Speckled Wood, and one White Admiral although I did not get to see it.

Ringlet

Small Heath 

and a really tatty Grizzled Skipper still hanging on

Grizzled Skipper 

Small Pearl-bordered and Marsh Fritillaries

Butterflies are like birds, its nice if you can find them in your own patch. The trouble is that we had set ourselves a target of forty different species for the year and getting them all in Sussex was always going to be difficult. When one of our bankers, the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, failed to appear at Park Heath Corner we started to worry. Finally with reports coming in from Hampshire and Wiltshire of them starting to look past their best our nerve broke, we would have to go out of county.

We decided on a trip to Bentley Wood out near Salisbury and while we were there we thought we might as well carry on to Cotley Hill on the other side of Salisbury to pick up the Marsh Fritillary. My wife is pretty good about the birding but I was not looking forward to explaining why I needed to do a round trip of 230 miles to see a butterfly, particularly as my windscreen had not yet been replaced and I needed to borrow her car.

It was a good trip for the nerd in me, we got both butterflies and the year ticks. It was not so good for the photographer in me, the butterflies were past their best and the picture opportunities were limited, and it was even worse for the eco-friendly part of me but we we'll not go there today.

We parked up at Bentley Wood and within two minutes of leaving the car Dave had spotted our first Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

There were plenty of them about although most of them were starting to look a little worn. They were nectering on various plants mostly yellow but also on Brambles, the best option seemed to be to find some bramble flowers in a sheltered spot and wait for the butterflies to come to you.

We got some good pictures but somehow I have managed to come away without a closed wing shot.

There was a possibility of Marsh Fritillaries at Bentley Wood but we could not find them. However, whilst we were searching we came across this Dragonfly. It a Black-tailed Skimmer, either a female or a juvenile.

Black-tailed Skimmer

Flushed with our success we headed off to Cotley Hill to find the Marsh Fritillaries and our luck held when we spotted one as we walked onto the site. In fact there were dozens flying and they are a lazy butterfly, much easier to photograph than the Small Pearl-bordered. The only problem was that these had really gone over and most had faded or damaged wings. A bit disappointing but at least we came away with record shots.

Marsh Fritillary

Bramble seemed to be the favourite nectaring plant

Both sites we visited had a lot of butterflies flying and we had a good supporting cast, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Spotted Wood, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Small White, Brown Argus, Small Blue, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Green Hairstreak, and a good assortment of day flying moths.

Brimstone

Brown Argus

Common Blue

Grizzled Skipper

Large Skipper

Meadow Brown

Six Spot Burnett

Small Heath

Small Tortoiseshell

Its a pity that the two main butterflies that we were after were a bit faded but we have solved the problem for next year, we will be going early when the two species start to emerge. It will turn what was a good day into a great day.

Glanville Fritillary

The Glanville Fritillary is named after Eleanor Glanville, an ecentric 17th and 18th century English butterfly enthuisiast - a very unusual occupation for a woman at that time. She was the first to capture British specimens in Lincolnshire during the 1690s. A contemporary wrote:-

This fly is named for Eleanor Glanvil, whose memory had like to have suffered for her curiosity. Some relations that was disappointed by her Will, attempted to let it aside by Acts of Lunacy, for they suggested that none but those who were deprived of their senses, would go in pursuit of butterflies.           Moses Harris 1776

Wikipedia        

The population has shrunk a little since those days. Now the only reliable place to see them is on the south coast of the Isle of Wight. There have been small colonies reported on the mainland at Hurst Castle, Wrecclesham in Surrey, and in the Avon Gorge but I have not seen any reports of these so far this year. That leaves Hutchinson's Bank near Croydon as the only reported sightings on the mainland. These are probably the result of a relocated population by a member of the public from the Wrecclesham site.

Hutchinson's Bank is certainly a promising butterflying location with 29 reported species. I searched it for a couple of hours today but only managed to come up with one Glanville and I only had that for about 30 seconds. I was momentarily distracted by a Jay flying through and when I turned back it was gone never to be found again. The second I took my eyes off it I knew I had made a mistake but it was too late. Fortunately the 30 seconds was long enough to get a couple of record shots.

Glanville Fritillary (Female)

Glanville Fritillary

Strange to think that if I could only find this one butterfly it may well have been the only one of its kind flying in mainland UK today.

Hutchinson's bank also yielded a number of Common Blue and Speckled Wood, two Small Heath, two Dingy Skippers, one Small Blue, one Peacock, and dozens of Brimstones. There seems to be large numbers of Brimstones at every site I visit.

Brimstone

Common Blue

Common Blue

Speckled Wood

I also stopped off at Mill Hill NR to look for the Adonis Blue. The photographs never seem to reproduce the vivid colours you see on the Adonis in the field.

Adonis Blue

Adonis Blue female

Green Hairstreak

Small Heath

Still no sign of the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary in Sussex

Arlington and the Cuckmere

The birding has been a bit disappointing this week. I was out Monday at Pagham Harbour still hoping to catch up with a Pied Flycatcher before they all disappear and also to get a photograph of the Little Stints on the Ferry Pool. I did get to see the Stints through a telescope, but there was no chance of a picture as they were on the far side of the pool.

There are often good birds on the pool but they usually stay well away from the road and the hide. Top of my wish list, now that the RSPB has taken over at Pagham, is for them to somehow get permission to build a hide on the south side of the Ferry Pool giving views out over the more promising western end.

There were a few Spotted Flycatchers around the churchyard but no sign of a Pied so my only photographs for the day were of Wheatears on the North Wall.

Today has not been much better. We set off with targets of pictures of the Little Stint at Arlington Reservoir and Curlew Sandpiper at Cuckmere Haven. A walk round Arlington gave plenty of ducks and geese but only distant views of a Greenshank and no sign of the Little Stint. Fortunately the Pied Wagtails on the dam wall were as obliging as always.

Juvenile Pied Wagtail

Initially the Cuckmere looked promising. Plenty of birds on the mud looking to be about the right size for the Curlew Sandpiper. Closer inspection though, showed them all to be Dunlin. Nice birds and easy to photograph but not what we came for.

There were also a good number of Ringed Plover along the river banks, along with a Bar-tailed Godwit, a Redshank and a couple of Sandwich Terns. The birds were regularly flushed by dogs but still gave some good views.

Ringed Plover

Juvenile Ringed Plover

Bar-tailed Godwit

Juvenile Redshank

On the way home we called in at Seaford and had a look around Hope Gap. The best we saw was four Jackdaws flying over. Nothing else was moving. This was my third visit in the past couple of months and my best sightings list so far. It must be a timing issue. I will have to make an early morning visit to see if I can connect with the sort of birding list that is regularly reported from there.

I suppose we had a good days birding but it would have been so much better if we had hit one of our targets. Fortunately there are still a few butterflies around to compensate for the missed birds.

Common Blue

Small Heath