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 .