Hampshire and Isle of Wight Butterfly and Moth Society
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Butterfly and Moth Society
Micheldever Wood. We made the short trip to Micheldever Wood today in the hope of catching the last days of the Emperor. Results were inconclusive as we witnessed three treetop flyovers but were unable to convince ourselves that they might not be high-flying White Admirals. More experienced Emperor observers would have nailed it one way or the other! That apart, butterflies there were in profusion, including Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Green-veined White, Brimstone, Purple Hairstreak, Holly Blue, Brown Argus, Comma, Peacock, Red Admiral, White Admiral (two only), Silver-washed Fritillary (including a single Valezina), Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Ringlet and Speckled Wood. [Posted by Rupert & Sharron Broadway]
Hawkhill Inclosure & Magdalen Hill Down. A morning at Hawkhill Inclosure looking for Grayling and the afternoon at Magdalen Hill Down looking for Chalk Hill Blue. Huge success at both sites, we saw Grayling within minutes of arriving on the heathland and Chalk Hill Blue within minutes of arriving on the hillside at Magdalen. We usually have to search for the early Grayling but the heathland was full of them and we lost count after 20 plus. We also saw Large White, Small White, Gatekeeper, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Large Skipper, Silver-studded Blue and a Fritillary but it was going so fast we could not ID it. At MHD we saw 15+ super fresh Chalk Hill Blue - had forgotten how lovely they are when they have newly emerged. There were also Large White, Small Skipper, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Brimstone. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Good day for garden butterflies. Good day for garden butterflies in Itchen Abbas today with 12 species recorded, including our first Large Skipper competing for basking space in the evening sunlight with two Comma and a Red Admiral. Other species recorded during the afternoon were Small Skipper, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Peacock, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Ringlet. [Posted by Rupert & Sharron Broadway]
Alice’s Emperors. Over the past week I have made several visits to Alice Holt forest to observe Purple Emperors. It seems they are having a very good season with numerous encounters and nice low down views of males taking ‘salts’ and more dubious substances! One count of twenty three males and a single female in Straits Inclosure is my best count for over ten years, and Ashley and I watched almost continuous activity at Abbots Wood for a period of thirty minutes, including four in a vista and a ‘follow me’ chase of a female leading a male off to make more Emperors. Sadly I lost ‘Flossie the Emperor dog’ back in March but have acquired a new pup ‘Beau’ who is in training and he encountered a nice male on his very first excursion into the woods. I have also noted two Valezina form of the Silver-washed Fritillary which have proved difficult to photograph, but I did manage a snap of one low down in vegetation before she disappeared back into the shadows. It would seem the ‘butterfly emergency’ does not apply to all species? [Posted by Mark Tutton]
Micheldever Wood. A massive 18 species seen; Brimstone, Comma, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Large Skipper, Large White, Small Skipper, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Painted Lady, Peacock, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Silver-washed Fritillary, Small White, Speckled Wood, White Admiral and at last a Purple Emperor. I have seen a good number of PE in every wood I have visited this month including: Abbots Wood, West Wood, Whiteley Walk and Bentley Wood but they were all flying high so was pleased this one came down to the ground. Also seen at MW lots of Peacock caterpillars munching away in a little clearing, thank you to Nic Burns for pointing them out. [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
The arrival of Nemophora metallica in my Alton garden. Each year just when the Field Scabious has begun flowering I look for the arrival of the Nemophora metallica. It has been present in my garden since I planted and spread Field Scabious - seemingly contrary to some field guides. Great fun to watch when the numbers build. [Posted by Chris Piper]
Marble Whites - Bentley Wood. Went looking for woodland butterflies but saw plenty of meadow ones too ..... [Posted by Sheila Anne Williams]
Me and HIM in West Wood. I was royally treated in ‘Ashley’s Ride’ this morning. There were no dog walkers, no joggers and no cyclists. It was a peaceful but sizzling solstice morning. From 10.15 to 10.35am, two, possibly three, male purple emperors were gliding up and down the ride at between waist and knee high, dropping to the track frequently and for extended periods to imbibe minerals. It was clearly a morning for doing just that – perhaps the higher temperatures made it necessary – as there were eight commas and two red admirals exhibiting this behaviour too. [Posted by Kevin Freeborn]
Silver-studded Blue Fiesta at Hatchet Pond. Wonderful numbers of Silver-studded Blue at Hatchet Pond near Beaulieu. I counted more than 200 of them on iRecord. Mainly males but also a good number of females; mating and egg-laying both witnessed [Posted by Neil Goodall]
Marbled Mania. Wildflowers and the Marbled White put on a stunning display at MHD today. It was a real treat to walk across the down with Marbled White and Meadow Brown rising with every footstep. There must have been multiple hundreds of both species, and hats off to anyone with the patience to count them all or an abacus big enough to do so. There were beautifully fresh ringlets, too – such a gorgeous velvety dark chocolate with caramel ‘ringlets’. [Posted by Kevin Freeborn]
Kintbury site. At the Kintbury site, previously arable farmland has been converted to wildflower meadows, which attracts a plethora of species. It was pleasing to find quite a few Peacock larval webs on the Stinging Nettle that is allowed to grow around the chalk pits that have been created, that were colonised by Small Blue several years ago (using the Kidney Vetch) and which, for the first time this year, also gave us sightings of Adonis Blue (that has presumably used the Horseshoe Vetch). [Posted by Pete Eeles]
Thatcham sightings. With the news that approval has been given to build 2,500 houses on the so-called green belt near to where I live, I decided to pay the area a visit before it's concreted over. What a disaster for wildlife. The meadow nearest my home on the east side of Thatcham is choc-a-bloc full of interesting flora, and butterflies. Finding a mating pair of Marbled White was exhilarating and depressing in equal measure, as it felt like I was saying 'goodbye'. On the walk home, I found several Large White larvae feeding on Garlic Mustard, which is documented, but rather unusual! I also went to grab some photos of two Orange-tip larvae feeding on Honesty seed pods in my garden but I was distracted for 10 minutes and, during that time, a wasp had visited the plant and taken both larvae - that's nature, I suppose! [Posted by Pete Eeles]
Hummingbird Hawk-moth. At 75 and living in the heart of the countryside all my life I thought I had seen all there was to see. Wrong. I had the pleasure of watching my first hummingbird hawk-moth. I had never seen one before and spent a few hours to find out what it was. I live just over the border from Hampshire in West Lavington in Wilts. [Posted by Norman Merritt]
A Trio of Skippers at Whiteley Pastures. Large, Small and Essex Skippers were all enjoying the bramble flowers along the main rides at Whiteley Pastures today. It is lovely to be reminded how beautiful the colouring of the Large Skipper can be. [Posted by Kevin Freeborn]
Admirable Admirals at Whiteley Pastures. I saw twelve butterfly species this morning at Whiteley Pastures, including my first Clouded Yellow of the season and my first White Admirals and Silver-washed Fritillaries. Specimens of both the latter species were all rather flighty and not very obliging in sitting for a photo. All the admirals were very interested in the sallow – sallow searching you could say – and the one pictured was photographed 4 metres or so up in the canopy. [Posted by Kevin Freeborn]
Kintbury Woodland. I spend a lot of time at a 400-acre site in Kintbury that will become home to Kintbury Eco Centre in the next year or so. It's being managed for biodiversity, and butterflies in particular. With both chalk grassland and deciduous woodland, there is a lot to see! Recent finds in the woodland include Silver-washed Fritillary (including a female), a few White-letter Hairstreak and a Grass Snake that decided to sit completely still on one of the paths near the ponds! [Posted by Pete Eeles]
Chalk grassland species. I spent today undertaking surveys of a patch of chalk grassland in Kintbury. There is so much going on, that it's difficult to know what to mention, but Large Skippers seems to be doing really well, and I followed a female Cinnabar moth that was examining various Ragwort plants and clearly had the intention of laying - something I've not really followed through on before! So it was a delight to see the start of this species' journey. Marbled White are just starting to emerge here and Small Blues were busy ovipositing on the abundant Kidney Vetch in the chalk scrapes. [Posted by Pete Eeles]
White Admirals in good numbers at Whiteley Pastures. I saw at least 15 White Admirals in Whiteley Pastures today. Hopefully Purple Emperors will emerge soon. Also a fresh Painted Lady as well as several other species. [Posted by Claire Hartt-Palmer]
More night manoeuvres at Alice Holt. A second successful night time trip to Alice holt turned up six new Purple Emporer pupa and a pre-pupation L5 caterpillar - my first. The fifth instar caterpillar is the only instar that glows in UV, albeit fairly faintly, and was a first for me so very pleasing indeed. A return was made in daylight and we managed to relocate the caterpillar as well as three of the pupa. The camouflage is extreme indeed and on two occasions the subjects were only six inches or so from my face yet I couldn’t, for the life of me see them! A real test for patience. Some photos showing the cryptic arts - and a more obvious one. [Posted by Mark Tutton]
Night searches at Alice Holt. As is my want at this time of the year myself and my friend Dan spent the witching hours deep in Alice Holt forest looking for Purple Emperor pupae with UV torches - very successful it was too. We located at least seven, most of which were very high in mature sallows and I will return to see if I can find them in daylight. Very surprisingly we also found four Brown Hairstreak larvae which I have never seen in Alice Holt forest - possibly a new site for this one uncommon Hampshire butterfly? A couple of the images show the pupa shining brightly when illuminated with a UV torch. [Posted by Mark Tutton]
