19th June - Abbotts Wood, Alice Holt Forest, Hampshire

The forecast was for hot sunny weather today, so I decided to head back to Abbotts Wood, arriving this time a little earlier.  Too hot and the butterflies either dry up or just zip past and never stop, so hopefully I had got it right.

But before I got to Abbotts Wood there was a surprise for me as I started the car, on the wall in front of me a Small Tortoiseshell, a butterfly that is becoming quite scarce now

From the wall to one of our bushes.

The morning started well, but hit a snag as I came through Bentley.  An articulated truck with a container suddenly realised that it would not get under the railway bridge, so it had to reverse, which held the traffic up as it tried to do so.

Eventually made it to Abbotts Wood and headed off down the path, that is a bit of a struggle when coming back.

The Oak trees were looking wonderful in the morning sunshine.

At the bottom of the hill is a crossroads of footpaths with a Stone Roman urn close by.  Above are Oaks and below bramble that is a big attraction.

There were Meadow Browns and both Large and Small skippers on the bramble, but the stars were the larger butterflies, the Silver-washed Fritillary:

And a superb Red Admiral.

Walking on there was activity in the grass on either side of the path.  A Large Skipper delicately settled on a blade of grass.

Ad a Speckled Wood on a bracken frond.

As well as the grass alongside the path there were tall spindly thistles that were an attraction for the Silver-washed Fritillaries.

I reached the 'T' junction which has tall Oaks and a very tall Scots Pine.

The Broad-leaved Helleborine is on the edge of the path in the shaded area.

The area from which I took the photo above has quite a bit of bramble and consequently a few butterflies.  The pick of which were a couple of Painted Ladies

Love this one with the black background.

The Marbled White is not a butterfly you would expect to see in the forest, but this area is very open and there were at least three present, this one nectaring on a thistle head.

Several Small Skippers in the grass.

I walked to the next open area and the meeting of several footpaths.  This area is also well known for the Purple Emperors that can usually be seen oak edging around the tall trees and sometimes if you are lucky they will ground and show off that beautiful purple sheen.

A Large Skipper on the grasses was new, there were several Silver-washed Fritillaries and White Admiral about, but no sign of any Purple Emperors.

I tried the area further on down the path and came across a Firecrest singing in the lower branches.

Walking back to the open area I came across a female Beautiful Demoiselle, the sun light catching the metallic colour on the wings while there being a lovely black background.

Not just one but two, this time on a bracken frond.

Back at the open area there was a fallen Sallow tree.  A dragonfly settled on it and again there was a nice black background.  I wasn't sure what it was so tried the app and it announced a 97% probability that it was a Vagrant Darter a new dragonfly for me.

The Vagrant Darter is very similar to the Common Darter, but both sexes have a 'moustache' which gives it its European name of Moustached Darter.  There is a black line that extends down the sides of the fronds which gives the impression of a mexican moustache.

A rare migrant presumably from Eastern Europe.  This one being a female.

I walked back to the 'T' junction and on the way back had a very confiding White Admiral.

I went back to the open area where I always believe is the best place to see Purple Emperor.  As I turned up I was told there had been two males about, and it wasn't long before I saw both flying around at the top of the Oaks.  This was the are and if you look closely you will see one of the males on an oak leaf.

This is a better view.

I was reliably told that it was unusual at this time of year to see males establishing and protecting territory with a figure of eight flight around the oak and then battles with the other male.  This would mean that maybe these two emerged at least seven to ten days earlier.

There was a breeze so it was probably cooler at he top of the tree.

Some flight shots of the two males, mostly a record shot.

Flying back to the oak after yet another battle.

As we went past noon the Purple Emperor activity dried up, and my time in the car park was coming to an end, so I decided to walk back, happy with the Purple Emperor show, but would have always liked one to ground.

One butterfly has eluded me this week, the Ringlet.  I have seen them floating through the grasses, but never settling.  This one did though.

At the 'T' junction there were two Silver-washed Fritillaries mating, not something I have witnessed before.

So some a worthwhile visit, the Purple Emperors showing good enough to get a photograph.  There is though plenty of time over the next week to try and see if they will come down.

27th June - Alver Valley and Whiteley Woods, Hampshire

I met Ian at the garden centre car park adjacent to the Alver Valley park.  Warm weather was forecast once again, but overnight there had been some rain and this morning it was a little bit overcast, but still warm enough for butterflies.  We were here to go and look at a little copse of Wych Elms, in the hope we could find some White-letter Hairstreaks.

As we arrived at the spot there was a hairstreak showing, but the wrong species, a Purple Hairstreak, there were one or two about and they made their way over to the surrounding Oak trees.

The sun was breaking through the clouds and this would wake up the butterflies.  We picked up the White-letter Hairstreaks, but they remained at the top of the trees and were not settling on the leaves, let alone coming down as we hoped for.

Finally I was able to follow one and it settled on theleaves and I was able to get some record photographs of this notoriously difficult butterfly to photograph.

We stuck it out and were able to watch several more buzzing around the top of the trees.  They are known for this behaviour and will come down, usually first thing in the morning to nectar, but we either missed them or they just weren't coming down.

While we watched and waited there were some other butterflies to keep us interested.  A smart Comma, a butterfly that appears to be doing very well this year.

Then in the tall grasses an Essex Skipper.

Identified from the black clubs on the end of the antennae.

Nectaring on the Ragwort.

After a couple of hours we decided to move on and headed to Whiteley Woods, the target a Purple Emperor for Ian.

Walking down the main ride it didn't take long to see one, a lone male was flying around the first Sallow and Oak we came to.  A little further along we saw another two and then three chasing each other around the oak tree, but at no time did they look like they were going to come down, or even rest on the leaves.

We stuck around waiting, and in doing so managed to see several Purple Hairstreak.  These did settle on the leaves and I was able to get some photographs.

We decided to move on to see if we could get a grounded Emperor.  We passed another two which took the total to five, but like the others they stayed high.  It was very windy now, the clouds blown away and it was getting warm, this may have been one of the reasons for them staying high.

As we watched the oaks I picked up a falcon high above the wood.  It turned out to be a Peregrine, an adult that looked a little worn, probably after an arduous breeding season.

There were plenty of butterflies as we walked the main path, Silver-washed Fritillaries were about but as usual not stopping.  In the rides there were Common Spotted Orchids and the bramble flowers were out.  In the grasses a Small Skipper.

But only one White Admiral.

The most numerous butterfly was the Ringlet with numbers above fifty.

Plenty of Comma.

We saw another three Purple Emperor taking the count to eight, but not one wanted to come to ground, or settle somewhere that would allow a photograph.

The third common skipper was a Large Skipper.

A nice head on view.

A pair of coupling Ringlet on the path was unusual.

Another early emergence for the Gatekeeper, normally seen in early July, there were at least three about, setting on the bramble.

So, no grounded Purple Emperor, but good views and a nice count.  The White-letter Hairstreaks frustrated as usual, but at least I was able to get some views.  The Purple Hairstreaks were much better.  An enjoyable morning and early afternoon on another sunny day with plenty of butterflies.