Over the last few years I have been meeting Ian on a cul de sac just outside Gosport and then crossing a road to spend a good few hours in a disused car park that is slowly being taken back by nature. 2020 for all its problems hasn't changed that, here we were again. The only difference this year was that the weather was overcast and for the first thirty minutes raining quite hard. When the rain finally stopped we crossed the road and walked into the car park. We didn't expect to find any butterflies, not least the one we were there for and so it turned out. In fact the only bit of interest was a Song Thrush in full voice on the top of a dead tree.
The area of Wych Elms were looking very sorry for themselves and this along with the weather didn't bode well for our hopes of seeing White Letter Hairstreak today. We had arrived early because they would normally come down to the bramble early in the morning before ascending back up into the trees to sit amongst the leaves. There were still a few fully leafed elms about but at least two looked completely dead.
You can only started at bramble for so long so we wandered around the disused car park. Only a bit of the tarmac is now visible, with grass and bramble having taken the ground back. The grass was long and wet from the early morning rain. We started to discuss what happens to butterflies in the wet and remarked on photographs of them taken when they are in tupor. As I walked through the grass I came across exactly that, a Marbled White settled under the flower head of a small Cow Parsley.
It wasn't going anywhere and you could get in close and pickout the water droplets on the wings and the antennae
It was then a case of what angles you could take that would show the butterfly in a different way and how close you could get to it. Here a close up of the head and rain drops.
From the top.
There was little else going on so it was possible to take the time and advantage to photograph this beautiful summer butterfly.
And with some after taking them to experiment with a black and white image.
A few weeks ago somebody commented while trying to photograph butterflies that you can't beat a Macro lens, well I don't think my 100-400 mm zoom does too badly.
As I stepped aside to give Ian his turn I noticed a dark brown butterfly close by on a leaf with wings spread in an effort to catch what little radiation there was about. At first I thought Meadow Brown but on a closer look I could see the white fringe to the wings and the two spots on both upper wings that signify a Ringlet.
A first for the year, it then kindly snapped the wings shut to show the roundalls on the under wing.
Then another Marbled White appeared on the bramble flowers.
This one though then flew off but settled quickly in the grass with wings open, this one was another opportunity to try black and white.
While I enjoy photographing the butterfly itself, it is nice to try and create a scene, something that distinguishes it from just a picture of a butterfly. This is something I try to do with all my photographs, an attempt to make them more like art. This was the case with experimenting with black and white, but also wit h the background and items on which they perch.
Several Marbled Whites were in a patch of long grass at the back of the car park, they too were quite still as the sun was yet to really come out.
Once again I was able to get in close to pick out the water droplets on the wings.
With more sun showing butterflies were moving about, this Marbled white sunbathing on the bramble.
And the Meadow Browns on the wing and settling on the bramble.
Back at the Wych Elms little was happening, but a flurry of movement high up resulted in Ian finding a Hairstreak, but the wrong one a Purple Hairstreak. It was sitting on a leaf with wings open, another first of the year for me.
And so it was back to the Marbled Whites that were really putting on a show. Here one on a grass stem.
Then a pair, male and female flirting with each other but never actually getting it on!
Two others that lended themselves to black and white again.
More of the Ringlet that came back.
And a Marbled White once again that posed very nicely on the flower head of a Dog Rose.
Every so often the sun would come out and we could see Hairstreaks dueling above the elms, but never being able to pinpoint where they would land. When the sun went behind the clouds once again it would go quiet and off we would wander around the car park. On one of these sortees Ian saw a Fox, I didn't!
My attention though was taken by interesting spiders webs on the nettles. They looked like cling film pulled tight, and underneath looked like an egg sac. Every time I looked the spider would disappear, but eventually she showed sitting above the web. This is a Nursery Web Spider.
The Nursery web spider is a relatively large, slender-bodied
spider. It is pale grey-brown with a pattern of dark brown and black stripes
running the length of its body. They resemble wolf spiders except for several key
differences. Wolf spiders have two very prominent eyes in addition to the other
six, while a nursery web spider's eyes are all about the same size.
Here you can see the eyes and fangs of the
spider, also the spines on the leg of which I could not find any information on what there purpose is
The Nursery web spider is a common spider of grassland and
scrub and is often seen sunbathing among Brambles and Stinging Nettles as was
the case here. The adults are active hunters and do not spin a web to catch
food, instead using a quick sprint to capture flies and other insects. The
female carries her large, round egg-sac in her fangs. When the young are about
to hatch, she builds a silk sheet among the vegetation to act as a tent,
sheltering them until they are old enough to leave on their own. Here the web is effective at keeping the rain
out.
Skippers were appearing now, Small Skippers although we checked very carefully for any Essex Skippers but with out any luck.
A small White also graced us with a stop.
A Blackcap was singing close by and Starling alarm calls alerted me to a Sparrowhawk flying through with prey in its talons. At the back of the bramble both Great and Blue Tit fledglings could be seen and in one of the healthy Wych Elms a Chiffchaff sang.
I finally managed to get on a White letter Hairstreak at the top of one of the elms, I could see it settled on the leaf the orange colour clearly visible, but just as Ian got to try and see where it was it was gone, springing off and out of sight. A brief and tantalising view, it clearly wasn't coming down.
We decided to move on, but before leaving we checked the area around Monks Walk. In the grass were more Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns, while on the bramble we found a Comma.
Then a Red Admiral appeared.
All around us the Cow Parsley flower heads were at eye level, an opportunity for more black and white photography.
We were about to leave when a pair of conjoined Marbled Whites flw past and settled in the grass. It was the male butterfly that was doing the flying.
With the weather now a awful lot better we decided to make the short trip to Browndown South. We had seen Purple Hairstreak earlier but here there always is the opportunity to get close to them on the stunted Oak trees that are all over the beach.
We made our way to the main entrance by walking through the waste ground, Knapweed and Thistles held many Thick-thighed Beetles, their iridescent bodies shining in the sunshine.
We walked through more long grass and there were more Marbled Whites and a few skippers of which this Essex Skipper was one.
The Essex Skipper is very similar to the Small Skipper but
the latter lacks black tips to the antenna which are best-viewed head-on and
has longer scent brand, angled to the edge of the forewing. Because of this
similarity, it was not recognised as a separate species until 1889. The
Essex Skipper forms discrete colonies that vary from a small number of
individuals to many. Where it occurs it can therefore be very common.
We purposely walked through the heather in the hope of maybe disturbing a stray Silver-studded Blue. This wasn't successful but we did manage to find good numbers of Small Copper.
And this one amongst the scattered plastic amongst the pebbles.
But we were here for the Purple Hairstreak, so we were walking around the oak trees shaking the branches to see if we could disturb one or two. It took some time but eventually we found one.
In the sunshine slowly opening the wings to show the patches of purple that give the butterfly its name.
We found more with this individual sitting behind a vertical oak leaf like a large throne.
The conditions now were almost overcast, there were signs the sun would be coming out, but it was going to take a while and we stood and watched our own butterfly. Mine slowly moved from under the leaf to come a little more into the open.
The Purple Hairstreak is our commonest hairstreak and may be
found in oak woodland throughout southern Britain, and more locally elsewhere.
It is often difficult to locate, due to its habit of flying in the tree canopy,
where it feeds on honeydew. Here the oak trees are mostly at head height
which gives the unique opportunity to observe these butterflies at eye level.
All hairstreaks have a habit of rubbing their hindwings back a forth when settled at rest, they all have an eye like dot as can be seen in these photographs and a spike from the hind wing. This movement is thought to be a way of imitating the head and antennae to ensure any predator attacks the wing and not the head. As the wing moves you can see the dark purple of the upper wing.
Finally the sun came out and my butterfly moved to a higher spot and eventually opened its wings with the sunshine.
This spot is also a good place to find Grayling and even though it was early for them we decided to check just in case like everything else this year they were already out.
The area is also where last year we disturbed a Nightjar, we walked through the bracken and heather checking all the dead wood and scrapes. We had split up when I found this Small Copper.
As I photographed the Small Copper my phone signalled a text, I didn't look and continued.
I called out to Ian and he called back he had found a Nightjar, this was what the text was about! He had seen where it had gone down and I walked slowly towards the spot. As I stopped to look into a scrape it flew up, a male with clear white spots on the long narrow wings. I watched as it flew over the gorse and then out of sight. We tried to find it again without any luck, never mind it was probably the best view I have ever had of a nightjar!
We made our way back across the heather disturbing more Small Coppers but little else. We stopped at the entrance to scan the Solent. This proved to be a good idea as Ian picked up a very distant Gannet fishing, it was then joined by another, maybe two more.
Walking back to the car a Whitethroat sang from a bush close by. There had been many across the heath but this one was the closest so far and gave the opportunity for a photograph.
After having something to eat we decided on a visit to Portsdown Hill. Ian had been there in the week, I hadn't never visited. We parked and had to take a lot at the impressive view out across Portsmouth Harbour.
From the car park we walked through the grassy slopes that were covered in wild flowers such as daisies, knapweed, harebells and orchids, at first Common Spotted Orchids.
But then a field full of Pyramidal Orchids
Despite the lack of nectar they provide a suitable perch for some insects.
Another dominant flower was the Knapweed, some in flower while buds a plenty.
There were plenty of butterflies, specifically, as you would expect with knapweed about, Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns, but also a few Large Skippers.
And a few Small Skippers.
We had seen a few Common Blues fly past us but never properly settle. As we were about to leave a pair flew past joined together and settled on a bud. We moved some surrounding grass that was in the way without them being disturbed and then enjoyed some excellent views that allowed us to get in close on the couple.
Living up to its name, this butterfly is the commonest blue
found in the British Isles. It is found
in a variety of habitats, including heathland, woodland rides, grassy meadows,
parks, large gardens and waste ground. Caterpillars feed on clovers,
restharrow, common bird's-foot trefoil and related plants.
The brightly coloured males are conspicuous but females are
more secretive. The male common blue has bright blue wings with a brown border
and white fringe. The female is brown with a blue 'dusting' near the body. It
has orange spots on the underside of its hindwings, whereas the similar holly
blue has black spots. It is larger than the small and silver-studded blues,
smaller than the rare large blue, brighter than the chalkhill blue, and lacks
the black- and white-chequered pattern along the edge of the wings of the
adonis blue.
Males are the more active of the two sexes and set up
territories which they patrol in search of females. The female is less
conspicuous, spending most of her time nectaring, resting and egg-laying. When
the sexes meet, copulation occurs immediately, usually without any courtship
ritual.
This butterfly has two broods in the southern counties of
England, and only one brood further north. In favourable years there may be a third
brood. Time of emergence is highly variable. In good years, adults may be seen
as early as the start of May on more southerly sites. These peak at the end of
May, giving rise to a second generation that emerges in the second half of
July, peaking in the middle of August. Colonies in northern England and
Scotland typically have a single brood that emerges in June, reaching a peak in
July.
And that was it for the day, one that started with a lot of doubt, early morning drizzle and cloud putting a damper on things, but quickly delivering some gems, not least the Marbled Whites and then the Purple Hairstreaks. In the end I managed three butterfly year ticks and two bird year ticks, not a bad day then.
To finish here is a black and white view of the copulating Common Blues taken from beneath them
