A morning in the forest

I haven't been out looking at any nature much recently - not really had the time. When I have been out it's been very local and hasn't really produced very much. One constant theme though has been the impressive number of fresh Painted Ladies about; seeing them in numerous places. This is part of a mass emergence on the back of a large wave of them earlier in the summer.





Also on the butterfly theme, I did go for a walk around Bucknell Wood on the morning of Sunday 04/08.

The main highlights were the valesina Silver-Washed Fritillaries - probably 6 in total. One of these in particular was pretty bloody unusual - an aberration ab.ocellata. (directly below). It was a bit tatty but still very cool to see. Would've been awesome to so have seen it when it was fresh!







It was nice and warm and so there were plenty of butterflies on the wing - an impressive 21 species in total:

1 Purple Hairstreak
2 White Admiral
28 Silver-washed Fritillary
8 Painted Lady
1 Small Copper
2 Essex Skipper
7 Large Skipper
5 Small Skipper
13 Peacock
1 Red Admiral
1 Comma
3 Brown Argus
4 Common Blue
2 Brimstones
2 Large Whites
12 Green-Veined Whites
2 Small White
11 Speckled Wood
46 Gatekeepers
15 Meadow Brown
9 Ringlet

Frampton waders

Frampton was once again calling on Sunday 21/07, with plenty of waders on show, a couple of rares about and the potential for more if my luck was in!

With such good offerings on show, it was always going to be busy, so I wasn't surprised to find an almost full car park when I arrived. Luckily for me though, I managed to grab pretty much the last space left - bonus!

I started off having a scan by the visitor centre and quickly found both parent Black-Necked Grebes feeding a single youngster each. This year is the first time Black-Necked Grebes have bred here and will be yet another feather in Frampton's cap if they can establish themselves here. I watched them for a bit, with both the adults and the juveniles diving for food, before the adults would approach the youngster and feed them anyways!





By way of a change, I decided to walk the large loop around the southern edge of the reserve, mainly to look for Turtle Doves. Unfortunately, I wasn't in luck, however I did add a few additions to the day including a Pintail, Greenshank, Marsh Harrier and Common Sandpiper, among the more commoner residents.

I made it round to the area near the top car park, where most of the wader interest was, with both White-Rumped Sandpiper and Long-Billed Dowitcher reported as still present earlier on.

Scanning from the sea-bank produced stacks of Dunlin, as well as a lone Garganey, a Grey Plover and the first of 2-3 Spotted Redshank. A good scan, at quite a distance failed to locate either yanks, so I moved down to the top car park for a closer look.



Still, neither myself or it appeared, anyone else could locate either rare waders, so I went and grabbed some lunch from my car before returning. I then had a look the opposite side, north of the top car park and there amongst a group of Black-Tailed Godwits on the grass, was the Long-Billed Dowitcher. I got a couple of people onto it before it was spooked by something and scuttled off into the vegetation. Almost simultaneously, a load of people had suddenly appeared behind me, as apparently the White-Rumped Sandpiper had just flown in on the opposite side of the path. How lucky was that! It showed really well for quite sometime at fairly close quarters, affording fantastic scope views, albeit into the sun a bit. A treat to see both species in breeding plumage, within a matter of minutes.





I turned my attention back to the area the Dowitcher was some 20 mins previously. After a short while, someone rediscovered it skulking around in the vegetation. It's reappearance caused a massive scrum of people, not the most enjoyable of experiences to be honest. However, just when I thought it was time to wriggle out of the crowd, the bird promptly flew right towards us and plonked itself down right in front, in full view! Stunning views were had for 5 minutes or so, before it really was time to extract myself from the dude swarm!







The rest of my time was spent walking a circuit around the northern part of the reserve, with 4 Spoonbills and lots more Black-Tailed Godwits. I had one more look at the area by the top car park again, hoping to come across a Little Stint or Curlew Sand, however not today! I did though get to have one more look at both the Dowitcher & WRS before I left.







There was one last treat in store. As I reached my car, I was greeted by the sound of a purring Turtle Dove. Setting the scope back up, I soon found two sat in dead branches with Woodpigeons a little way off. The ideal end to another worthwhile visit to Frampton!

The elusive Emperor

This year, unlike the last few, I've found it quite difficult to get any decent views of Purple Emperors in our local South Northants woods. It's certainly not been a massively bumper year for them, however I've also been really unlucky with the weather. Whenever I've been free, it's been super cloudy or raining and whenever I've been busy, it's felt like the suns popped straight out - typical!

Having said that, I have had a few fleeting sightings in Bucknell Wood and eventually persistence paid off - albeit from an unlikely source!

On what was a really mild, but cloudy day, I decided to take a walk around Whistley Wood, near Brackley on Saturday 13/07, by way of a change - plus a far easier place to get to than Bucknell, while the Silverstone Grand Prix was on.

Whistley is still very much worth a visit and holds most of what Bucknell can offer, just in much smaller numbers, as well as the odd surprise. On this occasion, I was surprised to accidentally flush a male Purple Emperor up from the path in the middle of the wood! It sat up on a nearby branch for a good 20 minutes, having a bit of a bask before zipping off.






Another, presumed female (based on it's size) flew around some nearby oaks before the male returned briefly to the path about 15 minutes later. It didn't however stick around  long before returning to the treetops. Another pair were seen chasing each other a little while later - perhaps two more? These were my first Emperors in here - an encouraging sign!

In addition to the Emperors, an impressive supporting cast consisted of a nectaring Scarlet Tiger moth, basking Common Lizard and Grass Snake, as well as lots of Purple Hairstreaks and several calling Spotted Flycatchers. An epic visit!





When the sun has been out, the local sites, as usual have delivered their great array of butterflies. A few from July below...