Sunday 19th. August 2012

Following the good number of reptiles earlier in the week up on the Downs , I did the survey up on the Greensand Ridge , hoping for similar results . Well , it turned into a case of 'after the Lord Mayor's Show' , as after a very hot and humid visit , just one male Adder , still in his breeding

colours , laying out on a fallen tree , was the only one recorded . Once again , Slow Worms were found in good numbers , with 32 being recorded . Five Grass Snakes , including one very large , probable female , that didn't hang around for a photograph , and in one of the heathland areas , a

single Common Lizard that had climbed to the top of the Heather to get a good tan , made up the list . In the same area , I disturbed a male Brown Hawker , who was probably also getting some rays , which took off and chased around the area like something possessed . Eventually though , he did

settle again , and I was able to get a few shots . A look around up on the Common on Friday was also

draining , with not a lot to show for the effort . A Syrphus sp. hoverfly , there are several that look

very similar , and a male Migrant Hawker were the best of the bunch , but on the butterfly front , Brimstone , Peacock , Small Heath and Holly Blue were amongst species recorded .
A pre-planned visit with fellow enthusiast Keith , hoping to find the probable last two species of butterflies to emerge for the season , saw an early start , arriving at Denbies Hillside about 0830 , but the temperature was already in the low to middle 20sC Our target here was the Silver-spotted Skipper , which I saw but failed to photograph on my recent visit . Whether it was because of the heat , but Chalkhill Blue numbers were noticeably down on the previous visit , but still plentiful , and

it wasn't too long before we both found our target species . I liked this shot , as it looks like the spider has a crab's claw , the way it's legs were positioned . To get the best of the 'Silver-spots' , a shot of the

underwing shows how the species gets it's name . Keith was looking on the lower path , whilst I seached the upper one , and a call from him had me making my way down to him , hoping he had found a mating pair . It wasn't to be , but it was the first Wasp Spider that I have seen since finding

one here last year , about the same time , and this female was doing exactly the same as the previous

one , feasting on the plentiful supply of Chalkhill Blues . I have still to find a male of the species , probably as they go the same way as the Chalkhill Blues , after mating of course . Following Spock's comment after my previous visit , a Surrey Butterfly Conservation field trip only found two second brood Adonis Blues , I was hoping to find many more , given the good weather recently for emergence . But , despite spending the whole morning on the hillside , 2 , possibly 3 pristine males ,

like the one here , were all that we could find , and like the SSSs , were very mobile in the conditions . We had heard calls several times through the morning , and as we headed back to the

car , a very tatty looking Common Buzzard flew over , looking like it was well into it's moult . By now the temperature was around 30C , but at least our search for our other target species , Brown Hairstreak , would be on flatter ground . We arrived at the first of three sites around Gatwick Airport full of hope , but , although we searched every Blackthorn bush , or so it seemed at the time , we failed to get even a glimpse of a single specimen . As we were leaving the site , a friendly dog walker stopped and kindly told us of another site , only 5 minutes away , but that visit finished the same as the original site . Arriving at the third site , a few Gatekeepers raised , then dashed hopes , and even scanning the known 'master trees' failed to find the target . A mating pair of Common Blues was little

compensation , but as they are having a bad year too , at least they give hope for next season . Drained , hot and sweaty , we decided that it wasn't going to happen , and headed back to the car

along the small river , where at least the Banded Demoiselles , like this male , put on a good show , as usual , squabbling over the best bankside positions , from which to grab a passing female . The floodplain of the river was covered in Himalayan Balsam , Purple Loosestrife , Water Mint , and

several small areas of Gypsywort / Lycopus europaeus , with it's white spotted purple flowers in tight whorls around a square stem , indicating it is in the large Labiate family . The Water Mint also provided the last species photographed , a rather special Comma . The underwing of the species is normally dark , sometimes getting on for almost black , similar to that of the Peacock , but early

Spring caterpillars produce the form 'hutchinsoni' , with their golden brown underwings . Another enjoyable outing , which could have been brilliant had we managed to find our second target , but there is always next time .

Tuesday 14th. August 2012

I spent most of last Friday , Saturday and Sunday continuing the search for White-letter Hairstreaks around  High Elms . I got to the bottom glade on Friday morning just as the sun started to flood the area , and found a good number of butterfly species nectaring on the Canadian Golden Rod and the

Hemp Agrimony which is now well open . My first shots were of a worn White Admiral , but like many other species this year , have been few in number , this being the only one that I have managed to photograph on site , and my only underwing shots on any site this year . Like the WA , the Silver-washed Fritillaries are getting very worn , but they have been on the wing for almost a month now . Unlike both of the species , it was good to find at least 3 very fresh Peacocks in the glade and another

two in other glades . I managed to catch a Peacock nectaring on the same flower head as a SWF . The recent warmer spell seems to have encouraged the second brood of Holly Blues , or should this brood

be called Ivy Blues , a very fresh female flew in to nectar on the CGR . Also in the glade were a male Brown Hawker , two male Migrant Hawkers and several Common Darters , but they and the butterflies seemed to be at peace with each other , whilst overhead , the constant mewing of Common Buzzards , soaring high on the thermals . A final check of the CGR proved fruitful , when I spotted the female Ichneumon sp. that I photographed from above in the back garden a while back .

Although constantly on the move , I managed to get a few side-on shots of this incredible looking insect . A search of the other glades increased the SWF number to 11 , and also added a couple of female Brimstones . On the end of the Orchid Bank , on the WLH's favourite patch of HA , I found a

Crab Spider , tucking into a moth , that was about the size of a WLH . Over the weekend , in the back garden , we had several species of butterfly visiting , and whilst photographing one of them , noticed another Crab Spider on one of the Buddleias , this one have managed to catch a Honey Bee . Also interested in the bee , were several small flies , possibly wanting to lay their eggs on it , but the spider was having none of it , constantly chasing them off . Mind you , if the small flies got too close , they

became the entree to the main meal . Another trip to High Elms found a total of 4 WLHs , three of which were worn males , but I was pleased to find a fresh female , identified by her larger size and

longer tails , down in the bottom glade , so at least some breeding should take place this year , and with a half decent Winter and Spring , hopefully their numbers will increase again . On the visit , 10 Peacocks were recorded , which was good news . I did not record the WLH that I found on the HA at the end of the Orchid Glade . I don't know if it was the same Crab Spider that was responsible , but I

found this one hauling up a dead , worn , male WLH , on it's silk thread , no doubt to consume in the cover of the flower head above . Had the butterfly shown signs of life , I would have separated the pair , but it didn't , so I left nature take it's course . Yesterday , with the other surveyor on holiday again , I headed up onto the Downs to do the reptile survey . He has been getting better results than me , so I was quite pleased with the numbers recorded . Adders totalled 23 , including two very

pregnant looking , very large females , and this male with attitude , who was determined to hold his position and do his best to stare me out . The most exciting pair of refugia had a large male stretched out on top of the tin as I approached , but he scented me and disappeared before I got in camera range . When I lifted the tin that it was lying on , I found another male , a female , two sub adults and

two juveniles . One juvenile had already gone before I managed a shot , and one of the sub adults was just leaving , top left of shot , leaving the female bottom right , male bottom left second sub adult middle of shot and the other juvenile top of shot . Also recorded were 56 Slow Worms , 1 adult Grass Snake and 2 Common Lizards . Around the two sites , Chalkhill Blues seemed a bit down on the previous visit and many were looking very worn . On the other side of the coin , I found 3 second brood Common Blue males , and an exquisite newly emerged female Brown Argos , identified by the

orange spots on the forewings reaching the leading edge , whereas they fade out towards the leading edge on the male . In a shady corner , an looking like it didn't want to be found on the underside of a

leaf , I found what could be the male of the Ichneumon sp. that I found at High Elms a couple of days previous , and close by just a couple of specimens of Nettle-leaved Bellflower / Campanula

trachelium , related to the Harebell and Clustered Bellflower posted recently . Almost at home , I was flagged down by a fellow enthusiast , who had just called round to tell me about a Jersey Tiger moth that he had seen twice up on the Common . A sharp about turn , found the area , but no sign of the moth , but it had clouded over since he had seen it , but it was worth the chance . Today , I spent the morning wandering over the heathland part of the Common , amongst the Heather and Bell Heather , both in flower and filling the air with their scent . Just a few points of interest found , the first being a

moth that I think is Scarce Silver-lines , but with my record , don't put any money on it . Also amongst the Heathers , three caterpillars of the Beautiful Yellow Underwing were found , this one

showing just how well camouflaged they are on the Heather . When I saw this hoverfly I was sure

that it was something different , being larger and more colourful than most , but it just turned out to be a fresh specimen of  Helophilus pendulus , a bit of a let down , but do I really want a hoverfly named after me ? I haven't seen many Hornets this year , but one flew past and seemed to catch something a short distance away , I got there just before it flew off with it's meal and grabbed a couple of shots . Only trouble , the camera was set on aperture priority , and all I got was two very blurry shots that could almost have been anything .

Friday 10th. August 2012

A round up of the week so far . Monday the car was back in the garage again , but hopefully they think they have solved the problem , once they get hold of a spare part . So I spent the day helping Carol in the garden , which didn't work out bad at all , as 9 species of butterfly were recorded , in

between gardening of course , which included a pristine female Red Admiral that was happy to pose ,

along with a fresh Peacock , the first seen for quite a while , but the 1 or 2 Holly Blues that were chasing around the garden , were not so obliging . Having received a call from a fellow enthusiast , I spent the best part of Tuesday , making another concerted effort to find a White-letter Hairstreak , up

at High Elms . The effort did pay off with a rather worn specimen , the other side had significant damage , looking like it had been out for some time , being found in the lower glade , but at least the

species was present . In the same glade , I must admit that I was distracted by this incredible looking fly , that was feeding near the WLH . Apart from those incredible wings and eyes , the front of the thorax was covered in orange hairs , as can be seen on this shot . I'm still trying to identify the species . Well , if there was an Olympic Gold Medal for 'Identifying the difficult species' , it should be presented to ShySongbird / ShySongbird's Nature News , for identifying the above fly as being Phasia hemiptera .Thank you very much , once again ( you'll just have to imagine God save the Queen being played in the background , and the applause of the crowd ) . I checked the other usual glades for WLH , but found none . On the end of the Orchid Bank ,

with the cloud really filling in , I managed to get a better shot of the Ectemnius sp. / Square-headed Wasp , this time nectaring on Wild Parsnip , not carrying it's prey . Only other interest found was this small moth , which to me looked like an ermine species , but it was too small , no thicker than a

match stick , another work in progress for the identity . Wednesday was a return to High Elms , but to do the full butterfly transect . Once again cloud rolled in half way through , which didn't help . 12 species were recorded , but I failed again with the WLH , and only recorded 3 SWFs , but did record a female Brimstone , the first for a couple of weeks . With better weather forecasted , I made an early start yesterday , in search of Silver-spotted Skipper , 2nd. brood Adonis Blue and Autumn Ladies Tresses , up on Denbies Hillside , above Dorking in Surrey . A very hot , tiring visit on the steep slope , with just a glimpse of two SSSs that were jet-propelled in the heat , and definitely not in posing mode . Not the same problem with Adonis Blue , as I , nore anyone else that I spoke to on site , saw a single specimen . Knowing that the first brood was very poor because of the weather at the time , this does not bode well , but I suppose they still have time . Other species recorded included Small Heath 4 , Brimstone 3 , Peacock 2 , Small Skipper 2 , Brown Argus 1 , Marbled White 3 , Gatekeeper 25+ , Meadow Brown 25+ and Chalkhill Blue , thousands , literally thousands . I have seen lots up on the Downs locally , but the numbers on this site were incredible . The males at times were like snow falling , lots of single females trying to hide from the males , and so many mating pairs , I couldn't keep count , but would estimate 75/100 at least . Even when a male found a partner ,

there was always someone trying to muscle in on the pair , sometimes three or four other males got involved . Several times I watched up to ten males chasing after a single female that one of them had flushed from her hiding place amongst the grass . Even when a Meadow Brown took to the wing , every male CHB in the vicinity chased after it , until they realised their mistake . I met another chap who said that the numbers reminded him of his youth in the 50s , and another of being in the Pyrenees . I've been reading that large numbers are on the wing in Sussex as well , so at least this species has managed to buck the trend . Mind you , with so many around , any droppings look like

McDonalds had opened a new take-away , with standing room only . Interestingly , it was only males that were found at McDonalds . Other interest found whilst on site were Clustered Bellflower /

Campanula glomerata , and a parasitic , climbing species , that seems to be not doing very well on site , Common Dodder / Cuscuta epithymum , a member of the Bindweed family , as I found only a

few specimens this visit , in previous years , it has been found in good numbers . With the humidity , there were quite a few biting flies around . A small multi coloured one plagued me for ages , but even

so , did not allow a shot , but a larger one , Tabanus bovinus / Pale Giant Horse Fly , did pose , but with the light not right , it did not show off it's multi coloured eyes . I had intended to roll in today's visit , but it proved fruitful , and will post again soon .

Saturday 4th. August 2012

The end of July marked the end of my fourth year of blogging , with a total of 909 postings during that time . I have always tried to cover a wide variety of wildlife interest , but even so , over the last few months , have found myself thinking 'I've mentioned this before' , and in some cases 'I've mentioned that more than once before' . And , if I am thinking that , the reader must be doing the same . Coupled to that , I seem to be once again living most of my home time in front of this computer , either writing a new blog or trying to catch up with processing the pictures taken whilst out , which seem to be mounting up at an alarming rate .So after last Sunday's post , I have used this week as an experiment , still going out doing my butterfly and reptile surveys and taking photographs , but then looking at how much new interest had been captured , and to be totally honest , the answer has been , not a lot . Don't get me wrong , I've taken hundreds of photographs this week , many of which will replace older , not so good ones in my folders , but most were of subjects that I have covered before , some , as I have said , more than once .
So , what conclusions have I come to after my week of experiment ? I feel sure that to carry on as before , posting on a regular basis , covering the same subjects is not for me , or for the reader . I think the way forward is to continue posting , but on an 'as and when' basis , when , over a period of days , hopefully some fresh interest , or something of new interest on a covered subject is found . It will probably be a bit disjointed , but I hope interest will be maintained ., so here goes with the 'first post of the rest of this blog' .
A visit to Salt Box Hill , below Biggin Hill Airport , the home last year of the Dartmoor ponies , proved very disappointing , as a herd of goats have now taken their place , and although the conditions were not good , very few butterflies were recorded .
Another visit to High Elms in search of White-letter Hairstreak failed to find any , again . The Silver-washed Fritillary numbers seem to be static now , so it's fingers crossed that enough of eggs will be

layed , like this one on the craggy bark of a Scots Pine , to ensure that the species will fly again next

 year . Also found on the visit was a froghopper which I think is Philaenus spumarius , I wonder if it is related to , no couldn't be . The strangest sighting was a sluggish flying black and yellow insect , seen whilst watching the SWFs egg laying . It wasn't until I got home that I realised that it was not

one but two insects , neither of which have I managed to identify . Many thanks to Rob / The Living Isle , for identifying the top insect as Ectemnius sp. / Square-headed Wasp . When I Googled the species there were several shots of the Wasps in flight , carrying what looked like similar hoverflies .
The location was good too as it was hovering around a rotten log , ideal nest site for the species . Cheers Rob . From what I can make out , the lower insect is a hoverfly type going by the eyes and abdomen colours . My search for the upper species has centred on Conopidae sp. and Chryosotoxum sp. , but can't find a match , yet .
Better weather the following day , so I did the High Elms butterfly transect , the highlight of which

was recording a Chalkhill Blue , this male being the only record for the site that I know of . The downside is that the site doesn't support Horseshoe Vetch , the foodplant of the species , so there is no chance of a colony being set up . Only other interest was a large black beetle , motionless on some

Yarrow flower . It's shape and colour said ground beetle , usually found under logs and the like , and after going through the book that is what I think it is , Amara aulica , all black with brown antennae appears to fit the bill .
A trip to Sevenoaks Reserve was also disappointing , apart from two flyby Kingfisher sightings .

A windy day up on the Downs was more productive , with 13 Adders , many like the darker male above , showing from the bluing of the eye that it was coming up to slough , shed it's skin ,  1 Grass Snake and 32 Slow Worms being recorded . The Autumn Gentian / Gentianella amarella , which was

in tight bud on the last visit , is now in flower , as the the well named Dwarf Thistle / Cirsium

dissectum . The butterfly survey was very difficult in the very windy conditions , as the majority were tucked down amongst the ground vegetation , but the Chalkhill Blues were very well represented again , and the brief sighting of a fresh looking Dark Green Fritillary being blown past me on that

wind , was a good sighting . A pair of Robber Flies / Asilidae sp. took no notice of me or the camera , too intent on their own agenda , with quite a size difference between male and female . And finally , under a piece of wood , I found a couple of very well named Burying or Sexton Beetles / Nicrophorus

sp. . They were in the process of burying a dead Slow Worm . Mainly nocturnal and locating their body by smell , it was intriguing watching them digging away underneath the Slow Worm , and it slowly getting lower and lower into the ground .