Thursday 21 June 2012

Thursday 21st. June 2012

Spent the morning processing the rest of the recently taken shots , in grey windy conditions . After lunch , a glimmer of brightness , and I was off to follow up the first of two recently received pieces of  'information recieved' . The first was regarding a pair of Little Owls that were rearing a youngster at their nest site , a dead tree , thank you for the info Ted . That brightness did not last very long , and
soon the wind was getting up again and the sky threatened again , but in the woodland in which I was secreted , I got brief views of one of the adults , or should that be , it got a sighting of me . It went
nowhere near the nesthole , so with the weather deteriorating by the minute , I left the area , making it back to the car just as the heavens opened . I hope to get back in better conditions and hopefully get some shots , without branches in the way . I was not the only one running from the rain , as a moth
flew past and landed on a nearby trunk . I've had a trawl through UK Moths , but haven't managed an ID yet . It was dark where it landed , but didn't want to use flash and put it to flight again in the conditions . Many thanks to Dean/DDD and anon. for identifying the moth as a Mottled Beauty . In my defence , it looks nothing like the specimen on UK Moths , but realaise that the species is very variable . I was glad to reach the car as on the way home it threw it down . Later , Carol was about to start dinner when the skies opened again , so with Carol holding dinner , I went out again , this time looking for a Fritillary butterfly , that should be by the seaside . I had been told that Glanville Fritillaries , usually found on the Isle of Wight and on the Hampshire coast , had been found , just South of London . Conditions were fine as I drove to the site , but on my arrival , they deteriorated , quickly . I went to the area that I had been told , but a cool wind was blowing , and very little sun . I patrolled the area , seeing lots of Swifts and a few House Martins , but not a single butterfly . The
conditions didn't seem to worry the snails , this one was very active . Then , in a very short spell of sunshine , a flutter of orange wings landed on a Hawkweed to nectar . I grabbed the camera and
managed just 3 shots , before a gust of wind blew it off the flower , and that was the last I saw of it .
Can only think it was a 'country boy' up in the 'big smoke' on holiday . Thanks again for the info .
With the skies grey again , I headed home for dinner .

11 comments:

Marc Heath said...

Wow, How I would love to see one of them in Kent. Wild or released I wonder. Was there just one in the area?

Anonymous said...

Greenie, try looking at uk moths again for Mottled Beauty.

Anonymous said...

I have had a quick look through Bernard Skinners book, the nearest to the moth i can see is a form of Mottled Beauty, which vary from almost white, through to totally Black.

The Glavilles have been seen on the site for 2 years now, but only in small numbers, hence why it is only known to a few people, the site could be damaged by people looking for them. Their appearence last year was kept quiet until December 2011[Surrey & LNHS Butterfly Transect Data Published], but with more sightings this year there seems to be a small surviving colony. Their habitat is managed as south facing undercliff so they have exactly they require.

kirstallcreatures said...

Lovely to see the Glanville Fritillary,youmust have been delighted with that sighting.

Marianne said...

How amazing to see Glanvilles on the mainland. Little Owl pics are lovely too.

Greenie said...

Dean & anon ,
Thanks very much for your Mottled Beauty IDs , much appreciated .

Marc ,
I only saw the one , but from anon's comment , there could well be many more in future years , that is assuming we get Summers .

Rob said...

A Glanville? Wonderful! Keep us informed of any more sightings, Greenie.

Wonderful weather for editing pics, and for snails!

ShySongbird said...

You got the very best out of a bad weather day Greenie! Well done with the Little Owl and the beautiful Glanville Fritillary, it really is a stunner. Well done, great photo!

Anonymous said...

I had a total of 5 Glanvilles today, 3 at once settled in the middle of the path, in the sunshine. A visit in sunshine at this time will find a few. One even turned up on a guided walk today. Hopefully there will be some sun on Saturday. Marc, a little stronger wind and there will be a Kent one! if the colony spreads it will get into Kent in a few years.

Have to use anon, as many of you would guess the location.

Ken. said...

Greenie.
Well done with the Flittilary.
I like the good I.D markings of the 5 black dots in the rear upper hind wing.

Anonymous said...

Todays Glanville count at 2 males and a female, that was showing signs of searching for egglaying sites. I was on-site most of the day, and the Glanvilles were also active for most of it. I got a lovely photo of a male on Greater Yellow Rattle, one of Britian's rare flowers.

A "lucky" photographer also found a male, while visiting the site for other butterflies. I was asked to confirm what he had just seen as he was still in shock.