Black Hairstreaks & Marbled Whites

I had a day off work on Wednesday 19/06. Inbetween doing a few things at home, I managed to pop out in the morning for a quick look at nearby Croughton Quarry, in search of my first Marbled Whites of 2019.

My luck was in, soon coming across two sedate, freshly-emerged beauties. It always puts a big smile on my face seeing my first Marbled White of the year - a real sign of the summer, that gives a special sense of happiness that once again, my favourite butterfly is on the wing. Good times!







I decided to pop out again during the afternoon, however the weather was a bit indifferent with a bit of rain around - not ideal to look for butterflies. Still, it was mild, so I decided to go and suss out some Black Hairstreaks knowing their numbers were peaking at most sites, in good numbers too.

I would usually head up to North Northants to see them, however it was high time I found somewhere a little closer. A bit of mooching around online, suggested Hewin's Wood near Calvert (Bucks), was a good bet, and was just half an hour away.

I wasn't to be disappointed and within 30 seconds of getting out of the car there, I was seeing several flitting around the blackthorn, just a few metres into the site. The place was littered with them, mostly moving around the tops of the blackthorn and still very much active, despite a flurry of drizzle and cloud.

Then the big highlight - as a freshly emerged Black Hairstreak slowly fluttered into me, before continuing down (showing it's rarely seen cluster of orangey marks on the inside of the wings) onto a low branch close by. WOWEE, how lucky was that! It then just sat there for some 10 minutes, allowing me to fully appreciate it and get my best photos of one yet. A truly magic moment!







That couldn't be bettered really, but it was cool to explore the site a little more, seeing many more Black Hairstreaks, my first White Admiral of the year, a lovely showing of Common Spotted Orchids and a couple of Small Heaths.





I eventually tore myself away and headed back to the car. However there was one more distraction in store, as another pristine Black Hairstreak settled right next to my car, by the side of the road - amazing! I then sat on the bonnet of my car and took a few more lovely pics to finish off a brilliant little trip out. Well worth it and so close to home!

Summer seabird

As is predictable at this time of year, the Grimsbury Res patch has been quiet, as we enter the period between spring and autumn migration.

So it was a  surprise, during a breezy and unsettled period of weather on Tuesday 11/06 - as part of Storm Miguel - that a pristine adult Kittiwake appeared, flying around the res with a Lesser Black Backed Gull. Unfortunately it didn't hang around long enough for anyone else and vanished as I looked down to send a text on my phone!







Amazingly the 5th year in a row and 6th Kittiwake I've recorded during my time patching Grimbo! 

Soggy Somerset

On Sunday 09/06, myself and Gareth once again drove down to Somerset for a catch up with our good old mate Dan Watson, for a day around the Somerset levels.

Having met up with Dan in Axebridge, we all hopped in his car and headed for the marshes. 

We began at a random bit of marsh habitat on the way to Catcott Lows. The site immediately produced a Great White Egret and vocal Cuckoo and Cetti's Warbler, among other things.



Then onto Catcott. A look from the hide produced a few Cattle Egrets, some 50+ Black-Tailed Godwits, as well as a couple of Hobby zooming about after insects.





On the drive out, 3 Cattle Egrets showed particularly well with several cattle quite close to the road.





On then to Shapwick Heath & Ham Wall for the rest of the day to have a mooch about for rare Herons and anything else of interest.

Before we'd even left the car park, one of the highlights of the day appeared with a Hummingbird Hawkmoth buzzing around the flowers by the little visitor hut and toilet block. Brilliant to watch and a fun challenge to photograph too!






We strolled on to the Shapwick Heath side - however just approaching Meare Heath, the heavens truly opened - in fact I don't think I've seen rain like it for years! It was proper mad! We broke into a light jog and made it to the nearby hide before we got too drenched.





A gap in the rain, allowed us to sneak on to the hide over looking Noah Lake. Here we had a good scan seeing a couple of Great White Egret, a flyover Hobby and a Cetti's Warbler going backwards and forwards between it's nearby nest.



The rain was getting a bit relentless and annoying by this point. It lightened a bit and so we decided to hot-foot back to the car and sit it out there for a bit, before having a look at Ham Wall. Thankfully it eventually abated and we headed off up the path for a look around the reserve.

A major surprise soon loomed into view as an unringed Crane appeared relatively low, slowly circling over the reedbeds, before slowly drifting off west. Some great views and soon the rain was forgotten!






A walk down towards the 2nd viewing platform and back produced brief views of a Bittern low over the reeds, as well as at least 4 booming regularly. One or two Bearded Tits could be heard and Dan and Gareth got brief views too. Other regular Ham Wall birds included Marsh Harrier, squealing Water Rail, Great White Egret, lots of Gadwall and a few Pochard.



Time had flashed by and before we knew it, it was time that we had better hit the road back home. So we dropped Dan back in Axebridge and hit the M5! A top catch-up despite the weather.

A day across the Solent

Last weekend, I'd penciled in a potential day trip to the Isle of Wight with my wife Em, both for a nice day out, but of course also with an ulterior motive, to see my first UK Glanville Fritillaries too - a species predominantly restricted to the sunnier climes of the IOW. 

The weather forecast though, suggested that plan wouldn't work. This weekend however, particularly Saturday (01/06) looked to be ideal, with calm and sunny weather predicted. So mid-week, ferry tickets were booked for 08:40am on Saturday, sailing from Lymington.

It was an early one to say the least, with a 2 hour drive ahead of us pre-ferry, but was well worth it, enabling us to be on the Isle of Wight by 09:30am!

As predicted, it was a glorious, mild and sunny day as the ferry set off on time - the 40 minute journey was over in a flash and also produced a couple of decent birds. This included a couple of fly-by Little Terns, Sandwich Terns, a few Eiders, Great Crested Grebes and vast colonies of Black-Headed Gulls - surprisingly though, I failed to clap eyes on a single Med Gull!



After arriving at Yarmouth on the other side, I negotiated a look for the Glanville's first - by 09:30am it was already plenty warm enough for butterflies to be moving and as time went on, they were going to be a nightmare to see stationary! Having read up on sites and asked about abit on Twitter, the Compton Bay area seemed the best bet and was only some 15 minutes away from Yarmouth. Ideal!

A nice rural drive was soon completed and we arrived at Afton Down Car Park, with great views along the SW coast of the island, with big white cliffs and large stretches of pristine chalk grassland habitat.





We took a stroll up the slopes above the car park. They were surprisingly lacking in numbers of butterflies - though I did find a very fresh male Adonis Blue posing nicely!





Just above the car park something interesting wizzed past me. I shot off after it and eventually it landed - my first Glanville Fritillary! What a pristine one it was too! In no time though, it was off and away and out of sight. Now to find one a little less energetic - if that was possible, seeing how hot it already was by mid-morning.



I walked back down to the car park, spying another brief Glanville, another Adonis Blue and my first Common Blue of the year too. Back in the car park, Em immediately pointed down to the vegetation close to my car and there, in all it's glory was a sunbathing Glanville Frit with wings wide open...wow. Thankfully I was able to carefully approach and get some photos I was really happy with, before just standing and admiring it for a while.









This south-facing, relatively sheltered area of vegetation was actually the place to be, with 3-4 Glanville Fritillaries holding territory here. There was a decent supporting cast too, including the odd Adonis Blue popping down from the slopes, several Small Blue (past their best), Dingy Skippers, Brown Argus, Small Heath, Common Blue and my first Meadow Brown & Large Skippers of the year too.









It was time for a change of scenery and so we drove a couple of miles along the coast road to Compton Beach, to soak up some rays and have a cheeky swim. While we were there, amazingly a Glanville Fritillary dropped down onto the beach and joined us for a bit of sunbathing, just a couple of feet away. Brilliant! Photo below taken with my iphone.





After grabbing some lunch, visiting Ventnor and the Garlic Farm during the afternoon, we popped in again to Afton Down for one more quick look, before getting the 18:05 ferry. It was a bit more breezy than earlier and so the majority of butterflies had gone to ground. It didn't take me long though, to find a Glanville Fritillary just above the car Park, which I enjoyed one last time for about 15 minutes, as it went from flower to flower.





The perfect way to end a brilliant day out in the sun! I think Glanvilles are quickly becoming my favourite Fritillary - beautiful little creatures!