Black Hairstreak at Glapthorn Cow Pastures, Northants

The Black Hairstreak is a very localised little butterfly with a distribution which is restricted to about 45 colonies in the South and East Midlands and with having a flight period of just a few weeks makes it an elusive little creature. There are a couple of sites near me where this butterfly can be found, but until yesterday I had failed in my attempts to see one. Glapthorn Cow Pastures is a Wildlife Trust site near Oundle and is nationally known for having a colony of the Black Hairstreak, indeed people have travelled from the other end of the country to see one. The flight period is coming to the end now and so we were extremely lucky in seeing at least 5 individual butterflies still looking in pretty good nick, apart from one that was very tatty.

Silver-washed Fritillary at Bedford Purlieus

A couple of Hairstreaks

Purple Hairstreak

Purple Hairstreak

White Letter Hairstreak

White Letter Hairstreak

White Letter Hairstreak

Clouded Yellow

I have never seen a Clouded Yellow butterfly in this country before and so I was quite shocked and a little excited to see one of these lovely flutters at Maxey GP the other day whilst having a stroll after work.

A butterfly that is a regular migrant to our shores, with numbers each year varying form just a few to several hundred. Not sure if this is a 'Clouded Yellow Year' or not, but there have been a few sightings around the east of the U.K.

Spot the butterfly!

Wood Sandpiper

Talk of my demise seems to have been premature.

With reports of a couple of Wood Sandpipers being present at my local patch of Maxey gravel pits, I managed to grab a couple of hours on Sunday to go and see if I could get a view of a wader that I have not seen locally for at least a year.

This site is looking rather good at the moment and with my first scan of the area I managed to see the first Wood Sandpiper, huddled down in the company of a Common Sandpiper. Continuing my perusal of the site I picked up the second Woody, fairly close by and also 3 Dunlin, 8 Green Sandpipers, 3 Ringed Plovers, 1 Little-ringed Plover and another 2 Common Sandpipers.

On walking back to the van, it was good to note that there were fairly large numbers of Common Blue butterflies present.

Hopefully, I will be back again soon.

White-letter day

It has been a poor year for White-letter Hairstreaks at Bedford Purlieus, I think only a handful have been reported and up until today I had not seen one, despite my numerous visits. That was to change with the sighting of two rather tatty individuals, with one of these quite literally falling out of an oak tree and landing on some wild thyme right in front of me.

The poor creatures look decidedly worse for wear and I don't think they will last much longer, in fact, after the thunder storm that was experienced this evening I fear that they are no longer with us.

The three photos above show the individual that fell out of the oak tree

This is obviously a different butterfly as seen by the hindwing being in a slightly better state.

A small butterfly with a wingspan of 35mm and a fairly short flight period, with individuals normally appearing from July until mid-August. It normally feeds high in the tree canopy on honey dew, although it sometimes feeds on flowers and thistles. It is the darkest and 'plainest' of the Hairstreaks, although the uppersides of the wings are never seen as it always feeds and rests with its wings closed. This butterfly is identified by the conspicuous white 'W' on the hindwing underside.

Silver-washed Fritillaries

Got a bit carried away taking photos of these lovely flutters at Bedford Purlieus last week-end. There were at least 10 individuals, some a bit tatty, but others looked very pristine indeed. The photos below show the colour differences in the same species.

Marbled White

I have seen one Marbled White butterfly this 'summer' and that was at Bedford Purlieus the other day. A very obliging individual who must have been getting fed up with being photographed as there were 4 of us standing around poking lenses at it! It stayed perfectly still for about half an hour and then it obviously had enough and was off.

Getting a bit more used to the camera now, but still a way to go.

Butterflies

There was a strange yellow thing in the sky on Sunday and so, armed with my new camera I set out for a local wood called Bedford Purlieus to see if I could photograph some butterflies.

This wood is known for a few species, the White-letter Hairstreak, the Purple Hairstreak, the Silver-washed Fritillary and the White Admiral. Only two of these species were seen, the Silver-washed Fritillary and the Purple Hairstreak, the other two were absent, either not yet emerged or missed during the visit. There were good numbers of Silver-washed Fritillaries present, I counted at least 12 of these lovely butterflies, the largest of our fritillaries, but there were just 2 Purple Hairstreaks present, with myself seeing the one and that was thanks to a lady who kindly showed me where she had seen it cowering in the long grass. There were good numbers of Ringlets and Meadow Browns present and I saw at least 4 Commas, but the White-letters and the White Admirals were notable by their absence.

 Thi Purple Hairstreak was very tolerant, crawling on to my finger and just sitting there while I took this shot!

My new camera is a Canon Powershot SX40 HS, what is known as a `bridge` camera, halfway between a `point and shoot` and a DSLR. I have bought it really to use in photographing insects as I was sick of the creature flying away when approached with my little A640. I have yet to master the settings etc as I have only had it a week, but will hopefully mange a few more half-decent images in the future ( any pointers form those more experienced photographers out there would be gratefully received! ).

Up Close

All photos taken using hand-held Canon Powershot A640

Ivy is an important plant for late flying insects. The nectar its flowers supply are a vital supply of food to these insects, especially butterflies, with the Red Admiral often being seen on this plant at, as is the Comma.

Some people consider ivy to be an invasive plant, clinging to walls and drying out mortar, thus damaging brickwork and if left unchecked can quickly swamp a flower border and even a lawn. This is true, but if managed properly, it is an extremely important plant for nature. Birds nest in it and eat the berries in winter and insects of all sorts adore it as a food source and also a home.

A vital plant for any garden worth its salt as a nature garden.