| Butterfly Conservation |
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| saving butterflies, moths and their habitats |
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Monday 31 May 2010 The first known sighting of the Small Heath in this area at location Ditchling Common, Ref TQ332184, found today by Barbara Allen whilst out walking. (David Pyle) On Beeding Hill this morning alongside 2 Wall Brown we saw migrant Silver Y and our first two Rush Veneer of the year. In the garden we are catching one or two Orange Footman every night we run the trap suggesting they are breeding somewhere close by! A bit of a surprise this afternoon when a Green Hairstreak settled in our garden in North Seaford. First time I have seen 1 here. (Bob Eade)
Mill Hill on a cloudy day was alive with Adonis Blues and my first Wall of the year (Colin Knight)
Visited Heyshott Down and despite the overcast weather managed to rustle up my first ever Duke! It looked a bit faded but I wasn't complaining! Also saw 3 or 4 Common Blues, Dingy Skippers, and Small Heaths (photos above). (John Williams) News for Sunday 30 May 2010: We had our first Meadow Brown of the year on the Downs near Chilgrove on Sunday. (Barry and Margaret Collins) Sunday 30 May 2010 Historic Day for this very day I saw Pearl Bordered Fritillary at Abbot's Wood (about 20) and a single Small Pearl Bordered at Park Corner Heath... never seen both species on the same day before!! (Danny McEvoy)
Took my three year old son, Elliot, for walk in Verdley Wood, Henley, Fernhurst. We stopped for a picnic in a small coppiced area and when finished I set off and told Elliot to let me know if he saw a Butterfly. 'There's one Daddy', he cried immediately. I turned to see two Pearl-bordered Fritillaries fluttering by him!!! They both disappeared into the coppiced area. I was determined to get a photo of at least one as these are a first for me. I sat him down on the path verge with food and drink and began scouring the coppiced area, (Elliot was only a few feet away and always in sight just in case your about to call Social Services) I could find nothing untill my son called again, 'Here's one Daddy'. I walked back toward him and noticed something orange and small moving about a foot from his seated position. I couldnt believe my eyes. Another Pearl-bordered Fritillary. And so the afternoon went on. Lots of great photos of these lovely butterfly's, thanks to my wonderful little boy. He is an up and coming Neil Hulme. Get ready to move over Neil!!!!! Happy Days (photos above). (Steve Morgan)
Seen today at TQ365165: 1 Green-veined White, 1 male Orange Tip, 1 Red Admiral that looked very fresh. Also at TQ358163: 1 Common Blue at TQ355162: 2 Common Blues, 1 Small White. (Jonathan Wood)
Two more notable firsts of the year were three Silver Y Moths, Burnet Companion Moths and a Purple Bar (a carpet moth) on Mill Hill. On the transect 1.2 acres of the lower slopes the count in a timed 11 minutes was 122 male Adonis Blues and nine females, including a mating pair. This count extrapolates to about 350 Adonis Blues on Mill Hill. ID could be tricky as at least 20 of the Adonis Blues lacked the definitive black markings on the white fringes of the upper wing (above). And this was not because they were worn. Eleven species of butterfly and three macro moths were seen in about an hour. (Andy Horton) On downland between Offham & Mount Harry I counted over a hundred Adonis Blue with a ratio of 4 males to 1 female. In the same area 5 Common Blue & in the scrub a single Green Hairstreak. I then went on to Waitrose for supplies & put my token in the BC slot, for the umpteenth time, adding to what is obviously the most popular cause by a country mile. (Tim Duffield)
Went for a speedy walk around the Frog Firle area late this afternoon to calm my nerves after the England Japan game! Still managed to see 5 Red Admiral, 2 Common Blue and a Wall (Brown) as well as several Corn Buntings and two unidentified insects. Can anyone assist with naming these please? Thanks (above). (Nick Linazasoro)
On Sunday Harting Down had Common Blues, Small Heaths, Brimstone, Orange Tips, Small Whites, Grizzled and Dingy Skippers but the Green Hairstreaks had gone. I found one Pearl Bordered Fritillary at Rewell Wood and plenty of Speckled Yellow moths nectaring on bluebells (above). (Colin Knight)
Recent News: I ventured across from Dover on the off chance of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary emerging, which they duly did. I didn't download my photos until yesterday evening and found this (above). (Alan Cooper)
News for Wednesday 26 May 2010: Last Wednesday I spent a very enjoyable day out with Simon Barnes, David Bebber, BC Chief Executive Dr Martin Warren and Michael Blencowe. Simon is the award-winning sportswriter and wildlife columnist for The Times, as well as being an accomplished author. David is one of the UK's top media photographers, and I was left in awe at his proficiency with the camera - I couldn't even work out what he was up to most of the time, as he wielded his Canon with such consummate ease! Unsurprisingly, we were out doing an article on butterflies and conservation. We started off at the BC Park Corner Heath Reserve, before Michael gave us a tour of the newly acquired and adjacent Rowland Wood. Cool and overcast conditions precluded any sightings of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, or any other butterflies, with only the occasional Speckled Yellow moth on the wing. After lunch we travelled to Mill Hill at Shoreham, where I was confident we would find some nice butterflies shivering in the grass. Sure enough, Adonis and Common Blues, plus the odd Small Heath, Dingy and Grizzled Skipper were there to smile for the cameras. Simon's article will hopefully appear in The Sunday Times Magazine in a few weeks from now. It was a real pleasure to spend a day with such 'greats' - and by that I mean all of them. (Neil Hulme) By the way... Richard Roebucks picture is a Scarce Chaser. This species is increasing in numbers through Sussex and have just started to emerge this year. Penny Green would be interested in the map reference of the spot where they were found. (Bob Eade)
Saturday 29 May 2010
Despite the weather have set trap going in MIll Pond Marsh on (28th/29th June) although low numbers of species trapped most notable was 4 Flame Wainscots (above). (Ivan Lang)
As the forecast today was for rain I went for a walk about 7.30am to try and find a Small Copper and a wide bodied chaser which I had seen recently. This was not to be, however I found 10 large dragonflies roosting by a hedge a spp I haven't seen before anyone know what they are? In addition by Betley bridge on the downs link I found a colony of about 20 roosting Banded Demoiselles in reeds. I got a beautiful pic of a female, due to the green light cast from the reeds. I didn't find any butterflies except some Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars. (Richard Roebuck) Friday 28 May: The only three Common Blues (below, left) sighted today in John Holloway's garden (Kingston) roosting together on salad burnet. (Louise Holloway)
Both Adonis Blue (above, right) and Small Blue are few and far between on Frog Firle so was pleased to find 1 of each today. This is my first Adonis on this site for many years although I did find 2 last year further along on Greenway Bank. There was 1 other seen by Nigel Kemp last week at the other end of Frog Firle. Today's was very fresh so I think it is a seperate specimen. (Bob Eade) Had a look at Room Bottom, near Edburton today and although it was far too windy for the hoped for Small Blues, I did clock up a Painted Lady, 3 Walls, 12 Dingy Skippers, 10 Brown Argus, 8 Common Blues and a Small Heath. Also a Drinker caterpillar crossed the path. In the garden 2 Walls, 2 Common Blues and a Holly Blue. On 25th there were 15 Silver Ys in the garden. (Tony Wilson)
Common Blues and damselflies (above) at Warnham Reserve provided subjects for a new macro lens today. In addition an Orange Tip and Small Whites were seen (Colin Knight) On a sunny but windy Friday afternoon at Bevendean I saw 2 Dingy Skippers, 1 Orange Tip, 1 Small Copper, 1 Brown Argus, 19 Common Blues, 10 Adonis Blues, 2 Speckled Woods, 13 Small Heaths. It is good to see the numbers of Small Heath increasing after many years of scarcity on this site. Also the Adonis numbers crashed a few years ago but are now increasing again on parts of the site. (Geoff Stevens) News for Thursday 27 May: I was working at Eridge station on Thursday when I noticed lots of moths in the ticket hall and walkways probably attracted to the lights the night before White Ermine (2), Barred Umber, Pale Tussock (4) male and female, Swallow Prominent, Scalloped Hazel and others high up I couldn't quite see clearly. (Richard Roebuck)
The photos (above) were taken yesterday (Thursday) on Lordings Road, Nr Adversane. If someone can identify them for me I would be very interested to know. (Abi Bulloch) Thursday 27 May 2010 Over the last few days we have caught Silver Y at both Mill Hill and Woods Mill, the first time we have seen this migrant species this year. The best moths in the trap at Woods Mill this morning were a couple of Chocolate-tip, one Buff-tip and a Common Swift. At Mill Hill we have seen 2 male and 1 female Poplar Hawks this week and one of my colleagues found a male in our industrial unit in the north of Burgess Hill, attracted to the fluorescent lights after dark. His first thought was to call pest control, although luckily he spoke to me first! (Dave and Pen Green)
After a 3 hour drive from Essex, we were dismayed to find dull, cold conditions at Cocking quarry. But things improved! As the sky brightened,the butterflies appeared. About 40 Small Blues were present, plus plenty of Common Blues and Dingy Skippers. Then onto Heyshott Down, where 10 Duke of Burgundy, some in mint condition still, were seen quite easily. Plus more Dingy's, Small Heaths and a fresh Grizzled Skipper. Time was pressing after the slow start, so on to Mill-hill near Shoreham, where plenty Adonis Blues showing nicely, plus Common Blues, Small Heaths, a Brimstone, a Peacock and a Wall male. By evening, we found Dingy Skipper roosting in their peculiar moth-like fashion, plus a Grizzled Skipper. Buzzard, Kestrel and Peregrine cap a great afternoon (photos above). (Mark Bunch and Esther Hitchcock) Recent News: Firstly, I would like to say a belated 'congratulations' to Crispin and John Holloway for picking up this year's Silver Trophy Award - well deserved! The cup and cheque are generously donated by Colin Pratt each year. Congratulations also to Dr Dan Danahar on encouraging both good numbers of Small Blue, and now Green Hairstreak, to the school playing fields of Brighton!
Although quite 'old' news now (this is a very busy time of year for me and it's sometimes hard to keep up!), I must report an exciting find on Mill Hill, back on 19th May. I noticed that one of the many Adonis Blue males flitting across the lower slopes looked a little different, and I immediately sensed that this was something special. As I clambered up to it, in a state of excitement, I strongly suspected (later confirmed by expert opinion) that this was Polyommatus coridon ab. polonus (Zeller, 1845), which in fact is not an aberration of the Chalkhill Blue at all! 'Pollonus' is the rare hybrid between the Adonis Blue and Chalkhill Blue, and more aptly attributed the label Polyommatus bellargus x coridon - for me, a bit of a 'mythical beast' (photo above). It clearly has characteristics of the males of both species. Although I didn't get a shot of the underside, this was very pale and more akin to the underside of a male Chalkhill Blue. Happy Days! (Neil Hulme) Wednesday 26 May 2010 News for Thursday 21 May: My first Cinnabar of 2010 and a Common Blue on the University of Sussex campus at about 8.15am. News for Friday 22 May: 2010 looks set to be a superb year for butterflies, transect sightings at Malling Down, Lewes indicate all species recorded so far are doing really well - especially Peacock, Small Copper, Brown Argus and Adonis Blue. Malling Down Transect results for 22.05.10: 189 sightings & 14 species. Dingy Skipper 3, Grizzled Skipper 1, Small White 6, Orange Tip 2, Green Hairstreak 2, Small Copper 9, Brown Argus 21, Common Blue 31 male & 1 female, Adonis Blue 87 male & 12 female, Holly Blue 1, Peacock 1, 3 Wall Brown, 8 Small Heath. News for Tuesday 25 May: A walk across Malling Down at about 5pm just as the warm sun was disappearing in to the hazy cloud, I counted over 128 Adonis on the south facing Combe all catching the last of the evening sun. There were also Brown Argus, Common Blue, Small Heath, Dingy Skippers, Speckled Wood, Small White and Small Copper. (Crispin Holloway)
Tuesday 25 May 2010 Slopes above Butchers Hole CP: LOTS of blue butterflies (well over 100, almost all male) - they were very busy so hard to identify for sure but I think they were mostly Common Blue, but some certainly were Adonis. Also, about the same number of Small Heath and at least 15 Dingy Skippers and 2 Grizzled Skippers - all arguing over territory above the horseshoe vetch and birdsfoot trefoil! (BTW the Forestry Commission recently put up some rather unfriendly and ugly signs restricting access to the gallops and slopes area. Some of these sign have been removed by?, and I have been told the matter has been taken up with E Sussex CC and the SDJC/National Park people.) (Susan Suleski) I saw my first Wall Brown of the year at 7.30am today on the Comp (Seaford) close to the NT Frog Firle boundary marker. (Chris Brewer)
I have been persevering with my moth trap and things are picking up, although not catching anything particularly out of the ordinary I am still amazed at these fascinating creatures especially when they are enlarged under macro. So here are three that caught my eye Buff-tip, Chocolate-tip and Pale Prominent (above). I think the Pale Prominent is amazing as it truly looks like a piece of wood, shame about the hairdo though. Seen today 25/5 between 11-12 on northern slopes of black cap TQ373126: 1 Green Hairstreak, 2 Small Heaths, 4 Small Blues, 2 Common Blues, 1 Speckled Wood, 2 Orange Tips. (Jonathan Wood)
News from Monday 24 May: Yesterday afternoon, my wife and I went to Kithurst, or is it Springhead Hill? About 1615hrs Neil had left and Barbara had just gone when we saw a female Green Hairstreak fluttering slowly close to the ground on the sunny bank at the side of the lane. It must have been about 28C. She was seeking out marjoram plants and when she found one to her liking she would crawl in and out and under it searching for a fresh succulent growing tip to lay an egg on. She would thrust her arched abdomen deep into the chosen spot, when we could see her, and while all her movement suggested egg-laying we couldn't actually find any ova, but only because they wee laid so deep. I only managed one poor photo (above). She wasn't an easy subject and I am no photographer. You can see she had no markings on her wings whatsoever. Has anybody else seen a Green Hairstreak appearing to lay on marjoram. My latest butterfly book by Thomas & Lewington stated they lay on a wide range of plants, but I have never seen marjoram mentioned. (Roger Martin)
News from Sunday 23 May: In the afternoon I undertook my transect at the butterfly haven (TQ 309072) and I'm delighted to say that the warm conditions revealed 11 sightings of the Small Blue (above, right). The butterfly was everywhere and joint most abundant species with the Common Blue. In addition to Small Coppers I also observed a new species for the site, a female Green Hairstreak (above, left) ovipositing on Lotus corniculatus. Of course I jumped up in the air and shouted Yippee! (Dan Danahar) Recent and not so recent news: Bognor Regis: Our first garden sighting of Orange-tip was 17th April, also seen on the 28th, 29th & 30th. Had a female Muslin Moth in the garden on May 21st. (Trevor Gibson-Poole) Monday 24 May 2010
In the warm weather this morning once again plenty of Wall Browns (above) flying around High and Over with 8 seen in the area. (Bob Eade)
I had a peaceful walk this afternoon in and around Worms Wood (SU969010). I saw Orange-tip 3 male, 2 female, Small White 2, Large White 1, Common Blue 5, Holly Blue 3, Brown Argus 1, Small Copper 2, Red Admiral 1, Peacock 1, Mother Shipton 4, Brown-tail Moth caterpillar 1. I came across a Puss Moth & 3 small trees covered with webs containing caterpillars. I'd be very grateful if someone could identify the moth and the caterpillars for me. (photos above) (Paul Ingate)
A visit to Harting Down with Steve Morgan produced Duke of Burgundy (2), Green Hairstreaks, Orange Tips, Large and Small Whites, Dingy and Grizzled Skippers, Brimstones, a Small Copper, a Small Tortoiseshell, Common Blues and a Speckled Yellow moth. (Colin Knight) Just North of the Selmeston level crossing, a Clouded Yellow flying up & down the wide road verge. (Tim Duffield) Common Blue and Dingy Skipper at Hope Gap, Seaford Head. (Mike Kerry) Over the weekend we ran a moth trap in a woodland near Ashburnham at the invitation of the owner, who is looking to re-establish active management of the wood for the benefit of wildlife. The woodland is coppice that has been left largely unmanaged for many decades, resulting in virtually 100% canopy cover and very little ground flora. On the southern side of Buckingham Cutting, north Shoreham, two first of the year Small Blue Butterflies appeared after a few minutes waiting. Twelve species of butterfly were seen on the day on the Adur Levels and a visit to Anchor Bottom where over thirty Adonis Blues were in flight and the Green-winged Orchids were flowering. Others: Orange-tip, Green-veined White, Wall Brown, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Peacock, Small Heath, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood. (Andy Horton) Sunday 23: while walking my tetrad I spotted a Common Heath moth at TQ366168 nectaring on a large patch of ground ivy.
News for Sunday 23 May: This is the third year of my transect at Wildpark LNR (TQ 327080) in Brighton. There have been records for Grizzled Skipper (above) at the site but over the previous two years I haven't seen any. However, today I saw my first singleton at this site. This is fabulous news because Brighton & Hove City Council have undertaken extensive management of the site this winter and so the species has a chance for recovery in this former stronghold. (Dan Danahar) North Chailey Tetrad TQ3620 TQ379218 1 Peacock: I popped round to Mill Hill after work on Friday 21st May and was delighted to find 24 to 30 Adonis Blues and 12 to 16 Dingy Skippers. I also saw Red Admiral (1), Common Blue (1), Pyraustra Nigrata (3) and Treble-bar moth (5) plus a very small moth yet to be identified. The following day I attended the Caterpillar Masterclass at Brede High Woods organised by Jim Barrett and led by Dr. Patrick Roper. Dr. Roper showed us some great techniques to find caterpillars and we followed this up with a beautiful walk through some very lovely woodland trying to locate caterpillars for ourselves. We found quite a few species but I'm afraid I haven't had time to ID them yet. There were a few different Umber species (Mottled Umber and Scarce Umber I think) as well as Drinker Moths. We also saw adult butterflies and moths flitting around. These included numerous Speckled Yellow as well as Green-veined White (2), Orange Tip (2 or 3), Peacock (2), and (for me - I stayed on a bit after the walk) Brimstone (1) and Grizzled Skipper (1). I wasn't writing species down as I saw them I'm afraid so this is as well as I can remember. We also saw several Green Tiger Beetles (including two mating), an almost fully grown Glow Worm larvae and a strange beetle trying to look like a Ladybird together (apparently) with larvae of the same species. BTW, having seen Speckled Yellow today I can confirm that the moth I saw at Mill Hill recently was not Speckled Yellow but Latticed Heath. News for Friday 21 May: Peacock, Red Admiral, Common Blue, Small Copper at Blatchington golf course, Seaford. (Mike Kerry) Recent news: 21.05.10 At least 10 Pearl-bordered Fritillary at Verdley, nr Fernhurst. Sunday 23 May 2010
It was the first big weekend of the summer! On saturday a group of keen new recruits for the Sussex Butterfly Atlas army joined me for a classroom session in lepidopterology at Woods Mill. After the lecture on butterfly i.d we headed up onto the Downs to see some of the butterfly highlights that Sussex has to offer. There we met Neil Hulme who introduced the group to the Duke of Burgundy - who posed well and gave us all the chance to look at his fine features. We were also able to present some other species to the students including Small Blue, Brown Argus, Grizzled Skipper and Green Hairstreak. Thanks to everyone who attended the course and graduated as professional Sussex Butterfly Recorders (MIchael Blencowe)
News for Saturday 22 May and today: Wolstonbury - on bridleway Speckled Wood 3, Orange Tip 2, Holly Blue 2, Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars TQ2813.
A BC walk at Wolstonbury Hill today with Neil Hulme and the Friends of Wolstonbury Hill (www.wolstonbury.com) was very productive on this hottest day of the year. We saw Green Hairstreak, Adonis Blue, Small Heath, Green-veined White, Small White, Orange Tip, Speckled Wood, Common Blue, Dingy Skipper and Small Tortoiseshell. A Silver-ground Carpet moth also appeared. (Colin Knight)
Went for a leisurely long walk up and around Seaford Golf Course to Frog Firle and down into the valley and up past High and Over and back to Blatchington Seaford. During my 4 hours I saw quite a lot of butterflies including: several Dingy Skippers, several Grizzled Skippers, one Brimstone, numerous Large Whites and Small Whites, one patrolling male Orange Tip (alas too quick to photograph), one Green Hairstreak, several blues but I'm not very good at identifying them (photos above), two Peacocks, several Speckled Wood, two Wall Brown both trying to hide amongst the mud but when approached both flew off and two Small Heath. 12 different butterflies. Plus one unidentified moth, two Green Woodpeckers, two Broad Bodied Chaser dragonflies, other dragonflies and damsel flies. All in all a good afternoon out! (Nick Linazasoro) With the sun coming out, so were the butterflies. From the southern steps leading down to the lower slopes of Mill Hill, the Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa, was visible but a few days away from its peak. Venturing down to the lower slopes, there were sufficient butterflies around that I immediately knew there would be a problem counting them unless I kept notes. Most of these were male Adonis Blues and I kept my count to the 1.2 transect area completed in 25 minutes. The transect tally recorded was exactly 100 males plus two females, including a mating pair. Later (after I had stopped counting) four mating pairs were seen. Fourteen species in a couple of hours was the most variety seen in a day this year. Saturday 22 May 2010 I ran a trap last night in the grounds of Oathall School in Haywards Heath in preparation for their Farm Open Day, which is running today, Sunday, from 11:00 to 15:00 - I'll be there running a stand for Sussex BC. It wasn't a great night, but we did get a pretty good variety of species to be able to show to visitors to the stand. Lime Hawk (2), Oak Hook-tip (1), Pale Prominent (2) Spectacle (1), Knot Grass (1), Grey/Dark Dagger (1), Heart & Dart (1), Shuttle-shaped Dart (1), Flame Shoulder (2), Waved Umber (1), Brown Silver-lines (1), Oak-tree Pug (1), Common Pug (1), Brindled Pug (1), Brimstone (2), Light Brown Apple Moth (2) Cnephasia Sp. (1) Small Magpie (1), Garden Pebble (1) and a couple of micros I have still to identify. (Bob Foreman) Visited Mill Hill today and saw countless Adonis Blues, quite a few Dingy Skippers and Brimstones, also Small and Large Whites, a Wall Brown, Speckled Wood, and Peacock. The highlight was two Green Hairstreaks, which unfortunately wouldn't photograph properly because the sun was right behind the butterflies. (John Williams)
I attended an excellent Sussex Butterflies ID class presented by Michael Blencowe with his usual great humour at Woods Mill today. This ws followed by a visit to Springhead where we saw about 15 species: Duke of Burgundy (2), Small Blue, Common Blue, Green Hairstreak, Orange Tip, Small White, Green-veined White, Peacock, Red Admiral, Dingy Skipper, Comma, Brimstone, Speckled Wood, Brown Argus, Small Heath. (Colin Knight)
The day started well here in Edburton today when I opened the door and came face to face with an amazing Eyed Hawk Moth + Pale Pinion, 3 White Ermines and a Silver Ground Carpet - all attracted to the outside light. I then did my Tetrad count (TQ2210) for the Atlas and was not disappointed. The highlight was a total of 36 Green Hairstreaks, far more than I have ever seen here before, 13 Dingy Skippers, 3 Wall Browns, Brown Argus, 3 Common Blues, Holly Blue, Small Heath, 3 Peacocks, Red Admiral, 4 Orange Tips, 3 Speckled Woods and a few Large and Small Whites. I rounded the day off with a Red Kite over the garden. (Tony Wilson) Tetrad TQ6606. Pevensey Levels TQ6683207430 2 Orange Tip, 1 Wall. (Roy Wells) We walked our local quadrant in the morning and saw Holly Blues everywhere, but were very pleased to find reasonable numbers of Common Blues in the south side of Hove Cemetery (Old Shoreham Road) and even a few on the north side. Later on we walked on the north side of Devils Dyke Road, quite near the Dyke end, and saw lots of moths, a Dingy Skipper a few Common Blues and, the very last sighting, one Small Blue. (John A Heys) On a walk round the field opposit our house this morning, I saw a Common Blue, a pristine Small Copper, Peacock, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, and a Mother Shipton, the first I have seen this year. Not bad for an ordinary arable field. (Graham Parris) News for Friday 21 May: Visited Rewell Wood on Friday 21st May and saw at least 5 Pearl Bordered Fritillaries (below). The last time I saw this species was 40 years ago in Kent! Also saw numerous Orange Tips, Common Blues, a Small White, Large White and a Peacock. (John Williams)
News for Monday 17 May: We saw this beautiful female Duke of Burgundy ab.gracilens on the Downs last Monday (below). (David & Molly Dancy)
Friday 21 May 2010 Tetrad TV5494 Beachy Head TV557956 1 Small Heath, TV558956 1 Small Copper. Whilst doing my weekly butterfly count at Beacon Hill LNR, Rottingdean this morning, I noted 1 female Orange Tip, my first Cinnabar moth of the year and a Burnet Companion. (P. Whitcomb)
Wall Browns (above) now out in good numbers at High and Over. Around 10 seen including at one time 6 in view with 4 spiralling together. (Bob Eade)
Steyning Rifle Range today yielded a Green Hairstreak, Brimstones, a Peacock, Orange Tip, Grizzled Skippers, Dingy Skippers, Small Whites, Small Heaths and a Wall Brown. Also a Cinnabar (above, left) and a Burnet Companion (above, right). (Colin Knight)
A very quick look around the garden and nearby Edburton Hill late afternoon produced 3 Green Hairstreaks, 2 Dingy Skippers, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Holly Blue and 5 Orange Tips + Pyruasta Nigrata. A selection of moths at my outside light included Streamer, Bloodvein, White Ermine, Green Carpet, Pretty Chalk Carpet and Common Quaker. However, the highlight was an impressive male Stag Beetle (above) as I was watering the plants this evening for which I couldn't resist sending you photo. (Tony Wilson) Thursday 20 May 2010 Tetrad TQ6220. Forest Lane, Punnett's Town TQ637208 3 Brimstone, 1 Speckled Yellow Moth:
A survey at Heyshott Down today with Roger Martin yielded 27 Duke of Burgundy, Dingy Skippers, Brimstones, Orange Tips, Speckled Woods. A Green Hairstreak and many fresh Common Blues including a mating pair. (above) (Colin Knight).
At 0830 this morning I set off in hot sunshine, armed with a large piece of the wife's homemade fruit cake and flask of coffee, to once again visit this very special site at Heyshott Down. It started off very promising with, Speckled Wood, Common Blue, Small White, Dingy Skipper, Small Heath. By 09.30 the sunshine had been replaced by dull grey skies. Not to be put off I scoured the tiered flats and bowls for any sign of a Duke, all to no avail untill I reached the top level where the stone shaped heart is. There in its usual small bowl was my first and always reliable 'Duke'. The day was not lost after all I thought to myself. I continued on this top level and found a further three. The adrenalin had taken over. With a renewed spring in my tail I set off to search an area I had not previously had any Duke sightings. A further five Dukes were added to my list. Time was pressing on and so I slowly worked my way down covering the previous ground that had proved Dukeless. By the time I reached the bottom tier my total was a staggering; 23 Dukes, 2 Speckled Wood, 2 Small White, 3 Common Blue, 13 Dingy Skipper, 2 Grizzled Skipper, 6 Small Heath, 2 Brimstone and a Burnet Companion Moth.
My colleague Charlie Sutton took this picture (above) Seen at Filsham Valley alongside the river rather than the reedbeds on Saturday 15th May 11.00.am (Dan Danahar) Wednesday 19 May 2010 I saw my first male Common Blue and first Speckled Wood today flying on Seaford (Blatchington) golf course. (Chris Brewer)
Another lovely morning produced, on the Rifle Range, one Brimstone, several Small Heath, both Grizzled & Dingy Skippers & a pristine Wall Brown (above, right). Further up, on the newly-fenced Steyning Coombe, many more Grizzled & Dingy Skippers, several Small Heaths, male & female Brimstone, 2x Wall Browns &, a first for me here, 5x Green Hairstreaks (above, left). Also a Green Carpet Moth & a Treble Bar. (Pete Varkala) Jeremy Tatum. Thank you for the identification of the caterpillar of the Lesser Yellow Underwing you so kindly posted on the Sussex Branch Web Site. (Brenda Elphick)
As I was passing the village of Cocking I had a quick look at the old quarry site SU878171. I found one Small Blue (above) only because it attacked an Adonis Blue flying by otherwise I would probably have not discovered it, my first ever sighting of this tiny pretty butterfly. It was located on a very small a patch of grass surrounded by trees. Also saw, Speckled Wood 3, Green-veined White, Orange Tip 3 males, Brimstones 2. (Richard Roebuck)
Once again the weather turned cool over Frog Firle but not before 8 Green Hairstreaks had shown themselves including yet another mating pair. I've now seen 7 mating pairs this spring. 25 Dingy Skippers and 1 Wall Brown also seen as were 3 Brown Argus. 2 on Frog Firle and 1 roosting on Greenway Bank (above). (Bob Eade)
Perhaps a common and maligned moth however, tonight I was setting up my moth trap when i noticed a strange moth waddling across the lawn with floppy short wings, A Few minute later I realised it was a newly emerged Large Yellow Underwing. Despite cooking a roast pheasant dinner and Holby city starting I kept my eye on it. It took about 45 minutes for the wings to inflate (photos above). Initially the wings were held like a typical butterfly until eventually assuming the natural position never to return. Fascinating, pheasant was excellent and Holby city was good. Wonder what I'll catch tonight. (Richard Roebuck) Tuesday 18 May 2010
Went to Mill late afternoon for a quick walk around today I saw 5 Green Hairstreaks (above, left) my fist ever in Sussex, also Wall Brown (1) Small Copper (1) Brimstone (3) Dingy Skipper, some egg laying (>20) (above, centre), Small White (1), Burnet Companion 3, Adonis Blue > 15 one mating pair (above, right) with deformed wings of female. Perhaps this was due to very early mating on emergence the male was quite literally carrying her around. Quite frankly Mill Hill was alive with butterflies. (Richard Roebuck) On Steyning Rifle Range this morning, 2x Small Heaths, one Grizzled Skipper & one Dingy Skipper.
With a warm day in prospect I revisited Kingley Vale Nature Reserve (SU824098) where temperatures reached 17°C. Many Orange Tips and Brimstones were flying although not settling. Grizzled Skippers seemed to be chasing anything that approached. My count during my hour and a half visit was: Brimstone (9F 11M), Green Veined White (7), Orange Tip (2F 10M), Peacock (3), Red Admiral (1 very worn), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Small Heath (3), Common Blue (14M), Small Copper (3), Grizzled Skipper (7), Dingy Skipper (2), Burnet Companion (1), Speckled Yellow (1), Crambus lathoniellus (1), Pyruasta aurata (5) and Pyruasta nigrata (6). (photos above) (Richard Symonds)
A trip to Heyshott Down today provided an excellent Orange Tip encounter on the path from the road when a Male Orange Tip approached a female at rest. I managed a number of shots with the male in the air around the female and the final approach. Although overcast, the Down provided a joint count of 8 Duke of Burgundy when Bob Eade joined me. Brimstones and Dingy Skippers (photos abave)were around plus 2 buzzards wheeling overhead (Colin Knight) Tetrad TQ5012: TQ518138 6 Brimstone: TQ518136 1 Brimstone, 1 Speckled Wood, 4 Speckled Yellow Moth: TQ519133 1 Peacock. (Roy Wells) News from Monday 17 May: A pleasant warm sunny morning saw the wife and I make our way up to Heyshott Down armed with Binos, cameras and the all important picnic.
News from NMN 2010: On National Moth Night we ran an MV trap on the outskirts of Horsham, hoping that the slight increase in temperatures would lead to a few more moths. To kill the time in between moths we decided to hold a fancy dress Italian murder mystery dinner; Pepi Roni had been killed and we had to find out whether Tara Misu (his promiscuous lover), Marco Roni (his footballer son), Clair Voyant (a clairvoyant), Bo Jolais (the vinyard manager) or one of an assortment of other suspicious looking characters had committed the sin. Monday 17 May 2010 Had a walk around part of Pagham Harbour this morning and saw four Orange Tips and in the area SZ861965 two Peacocks. (Pete Ashley)
This morning I spent nearly two hours walking around Kingley Vale nature reserve (SU824098). The sun soon became obscured by heavy cloud but with some spells of sun activity soon commenced. Several male Orange Tips were flying in an area close to the site entrance and I soon discovered a female Orange Tip waiting to mate with passing males although unsuccessfully. Nearby I found a female Broad Bodied Chaser dragonfly which was happy to remain sitting on a bramble branch for a considerable time. With little on the wing with heavy cloud I also noted a Glow-worm and a Slow-worm crossing a chalk path. My count was: Brimstone (2F 11M), Green Veined White (3), Orange Tip (1F 8M) (above, centre and right), Peacock (1), Common Blue (2M), Grizzled Skipper (1) (above, left), Pyrausta aurata (2), Pyrausta nigrata (1) and Crambus lathoniellus (1) (Richard Symonds) With warm weather promised today I set off along The Comp, Greenway Bank and Frog Firle expecting to set a new record for Green Hairstreaks seen. Unfortunately, just as I was getting to the main hot spot for these little gems the warm weather went to be replaced with overcast coldish conditions yet again. However I did still manage to get a count of 12 including several in areas that I havent seen them before this year including 1 along The Comp. I also saw again 2 mating pairs. Dingy Skippers were very numerous with 35 seen before the weather turned. It probably would have got to 50 if the sun had stayed out!! Other species seen included 3 new species for 2010 for me, the best of which was a superb Wall Brown along The Comp, Brown Argus, 2 on Greenway and another on Frog Firle and 2 Common Blue. Only 10 Speckled Wood were seen, 1 Comma, 4 Small Copper, 2 Holly Blue, 1 Orange Tip, 2 Red Admiral and 1 Grizzled Skipper. 17 species in total were seen. (Bob Eade)
Abbott's Wood: 1 Holly Blue (above, right), 3 Speckled Wood, 2 male and 4 female Orange tip, 1 Red Admiral, 21 Pearl-bordered Fritillary (above, left), 2 Peacock. (Janet Richardson) Sunday 16 May 2010
May 2010 has been a complete 'write-off' for moth trappers. The cold evenings haven't given us much to shout about - and last Tuesday was the coldest May night for 17 years! So it was with some anxienty that I set up Rowland Wood as the venue for our National Moth Night 2010 event. However, it wasn't such a bad night after all. The temperatures did not plummet as I feared and around 30 attendees had an enjoyable nocturnal stroll around the wood which was illuminated by 10 moth traps. The theme of this year's event was 'Moths and Bats' and members of the Sussex Bat Group were at hand to loan out bat detectors and help identify what was flying by above us (and no doubt eating the rarest moths!). Here's the full species list for the evening; Brimstone Moth, Knot Grass, Brown Silver-line, Early Tooth-striped, Scalloped Hazel, Adela reaumurella, Pine Beauty, Nut-tree Tussock, Ochreous Pug, Common White Wave, Small White Wave, Pale Tussock, Silver-Y, Barred Umber, Birch Mocha. Chocolate-tip, Peacock, Lime Hawk-moth, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Green Carpet, Hebrew Character, Small Quaker, Peppered Moth, Scalloped Hook-tip, Tawny-barred Angle, Clouded Border, Brindled Pug, Square-spot, Waved Umber, Flame Carpet, Nematopogon swammerdamella, Least Black Arches and the 'Prominents'; Great, Lesser Swallow, Pebble, Coxcomb, Pale and Scarce. Thanks to everyone who attended and supported this event especially the trappers; Graeme Lyons, Steve Wheatley, David Burrows, Mike Feeny-Brown and Wendy and Keith Alexander. Thnaks also to Dave Mitchell and Jonathan Wood and to Helen and Kim of the Sussex Bat Group. (below) (Michael Blencowe) Display table for National Moth Night 2010 event and Scarce Prominent and Scalloped Hazel, Rowland Wood. (below) (Michael Blencowe)
Twenty five brave souls joined me and the Lewes District Council Rangers Dan Ross and Thyone Outram for our National Moth Night event at the Newhaven undercliff (TQ44800003). The weather was disappointing in what was an exposed location, but the breeze dropped for a few hours after dark and the temperature held up better than expected. No bats were recorded on our bat detector, which had an advantage in that none of my moths were being eaten by bats! Eleven people attended the BC walk on Mill Hill at Shoreham this afternoon. Despite overcast skies and a strong, cold wind, the butterflies performed well! Many stayed on after the official end to the walk, enjoying spells of quite warm, late afternoon sunshine - and some fabulous butterflies. Approximately 25 pristine Adonis Blues provided the 'star turn', including a mating pair. Several other chocolate-brown females were seen. Other species included Dingy Skipper (15), Grizzled Skipper (3), Common Blue (2), Green Hairstreak (1), Small Copper (1), Brown Argus (1), Small Heath (2) and Holly Blue (1). Thanks to all that showed a lot of faith in turning up on such a dreary Sunday afternoon, making it a very enjoyable event. (Neil Hulme)
For the second time this month the people of Lewes are being asked to make their choices and cast their votes. BC member Dave Bradford suggested that Waitrose include Sussex BC in their monthly 'battle of the charities'. Waitrose will make a donation to Sussex BC depending on how many green tokens we receive in the box at Waitrose in Lewes throughout May. We're halfway through the month and as you can see from the photo the people of Lewes have been going to the Waitrose poll and have firmly voted for the charity with the best policy; to save butterflies, moths and our environment.
Whilst out birding yesterday around Rye Harbour, I came across a Clouded Yellow in a field between Camber Castle and Castle Farm, flying in a northerly direction. (Phil Dunk) I had a garden Green Hairstreak on April 24th and thought that would be it for another few years but low and behold another turned up yesterday. It was a male and it held territory for approximately two hours (perhaps more). News for today and Saturday 15 May: Yesterday (15th May) I managed a couple of hours at Mill Hill where I saw the following: Peacock, Small White, Common Blue (9), Adonis Blue (3), Brimstone, Small Copper, Dingy Skipper (4), Burnet Companion and Pyrustra Nigrata (3). There was also a moth which may have been Speckled Yellow or possibly Latticed Heath. Unfortunately I did not manage to get a photo so could not check for a positive ID once I got home. Today I went walking the local tretrad for a couple of hours before the weather clouded over and saw the following: Red Admiral, Small Heath, Green-veined White and Small Tortoishell. I did not see any adult Orange Tips so resorted to egg hunting. This worked out quite well. I managed to locate three distinct locations where Orange Tips had laid eggs (below). (Sherie New)
News for today and Friday 14 May: Rowland Wood on Friday morning. 2 Speckled Wood TQ515148, 1 Peacock TQ512149, 1 male Orange Tip TQ515147. It was a Common Blue I saw at Heyshott Down on 4.05.10 SU8916. Thanks Neil for I.d. First Large White on hawthorn flowers and a Holly Blue interested in dog faeces on the downs link TQ2016 14.05.10
News for Friday 14 May 2010: With winds finally swinging around to the SW, and much improved temperatures, the meadow, road banks and plateau area on the Downs above Amberley at last 'came to life' on Friday. I spent a very enjoyable morning here (returning later in the afternoon) with Dr Martin Kalaher. Our tally comprised Duke of Burgundy (1), Small Blue (2), Brown Argus (4), Common Blue (2), Small Heath (2), Dingy Skipper (16), Grizzled Skipper (1), Holly Blue (1), Orange-tip (2), Large White (1), Brimstone (2), Small White (1), Green-veined White (2), Peacock (1), Comma (1) and Speckled Wood (2). Moths included Burnet Companion (2), Mother Shipton (1), and Cinnabar (2). (Neil Hulme)
Saturday 15 May 2010 We had a woodland working day at Dorothy Stringer High School today and did some work in the butterfly haven (TQ 308072). Whilst we worked a couple of people asked "what are these small blue butterflies?" Well I'm embarrassed to say that I hadn't even noticed them and as I turned around there was four Small Blues flying around us in a dogfight that would have made the pilots of the battle of Britain ashamed. Of course regular readers of this sightings page will know that the small blue only established itself on this site last year, the first year that we had a good crop of kidney vetch. This year I had been concerned by that reduction in kidney vetch abundance. Interestingly, the Small Blues were found as far from the kidney vetch as was possible. They were flying/basking in the rank - Dactylis glomerata dominated grassland, created by default because we had moved some top soil to a new location, to expose nutrient poor soil, essential for the creation of the herb rich community we hoped would attract species like the Small Blue. How wrong can you be? Actually, the rank grassland is the warmest part of the reserve and its these warm conditions that I think attracted the insects to this part of the reserve. (Dan Danahar)
A quick visit today to Cocking Quarry produced only 3 Small Blue, emerging late this year, and at least 33 Dingy Skipper. No other butterfly species were seen at all. (Paul and Pam Callaway) Went in search of Wood White over the border this morning and failed miserably. Saw cockchafers on the wing and then had a great view of a Holly Blue Holly Blue (below) that spent time collecting water or minerals from a spring in a bank before flying onto a leaf. Then I went to Heyshott Down, 3 male Orange Tips, two Speckled Woods on the track leading up SU898173. On the slopes I saw 4 Duke of Burgundy my first ever, fabulous butterflies, about 10 Dingy Skippers, 5 Brimstones some in courting flight, two Grizzled Skippers, 4 Small Heaths, my first downland Blue of the year (to be i.d.). One Burnet moth caterpillar, and two Orange Underwing moths SU8916. Fantastic. (Richard Roebuck)
Many thanks to all involved in a fascinating evening spent at Rowland Wood for National Moth Night, Sussex certainly has Talent. One of the many highlights was seeing a Lime Hawk Moth (below) absolutely stunning. Many thanks. (Richard Roebuck)
Cissbury Ring today gave me my first Small Copper (below, left)of the season. I also saw Small Heaths and the saddest Peacock (below, right) I ever saw. A Brimstone, Small White and Orange Tip fluttered around Findon below the hill. (Colin Knight)
Tetrad TQ6606 TQ667067 Pevensey Levels 1 female Orange Tip (Roy Wells Mark Senior reports from Ouse Estuary Project: Peacock (3), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Red Admiral (1), Large White (3), Small White (5), Speckled Wood (1), Common Blue (2), Small Heath (2), Small Copper (1), Brimstone (2) and Dingy Skipper (1), the latter being a 'first' for the site. A visit to Barcombe Mills looking for the first Scarce Chaser emergence produced a female Orange-tip (below) which perched in the reeds alongside the river (John Luck and Dave Mitchell)
During a visit to Highdown Hill - TQ098042 area I saw five Male Orange Tips, Small White, Green-veined White, and a Holly Blue all in this area. (Pete Ashley) Barbara Woods sent us this photo (below) of Neil on the Heyshott field outing, adopting the yoga 'butterfly pose' (Duke of Burgundy on finger!)
Friday 14 May 2010 Continuing to pioneer our technique of drive-by mothing, (stopping the car and running out with a net whenever a moth is spotted in the headlights), we caught one Great Prominent along Spithandle Lane last night. This was the first time we had encountered this species. Earlier in the evening, the low number of moths on the wing on the Downs was notable with not a single specimen seen in more than an hour of driving off road, through promising looking habitat. Our garden trap back at Mill Hill continued to disappoint with only one Brimstone Moth and 3 Early Grey present. (Dave and Pen Green) Having arrived home from work just before 3 this morning I should have had a long lay in, however, with at last a slightly warmer breeze I was tempted to have a stroll around High and Over and Frog Firle where the Green Hairstreaks (below) and Dingy Skippers have come out in force. On Frog Firle 15 Hairstreaks were seen including 2 mating pairs only 5 feet apart!! At least 14 Dingy Skippers were also seen along with several Grizzled Skippers. In total 12 species were seen.
Also at Frog Firle amongst the stinging nettles were large numbers of Small Tortoiseshell larvae(above). (Bob Eade) Thanks to Neil's pinpoint directions I saw my first Pearl-bordered Fritillary today in Rewell Woods. Pictures don't do them justice; such a beautiful butterfly. Then on to Kingley Vale SU822107 - Brown Argus (2), Common Blue (2), Dingy Skipper (3), Grizzled Skipper (2), Small Heath (3), Brimstone (3), Red Admiral (1), Orange tip (2). Finally Worms Wood SU969010 - Red Admiral (1), Large White (1), Small White (1), Orange tip (2), Peacock (1). (Paul Ingate) At this time of year the St. Mark's Flies, Bibio, make a bit of a nuisance of themselves and they were common on and around the Buckingham Cutting (at the top of The Drive, Shoreham) although not so common on Mill Hill. Twelve species of butterfly were seen in a couple of hours of weak sunshine including my first Wall Brown Butterfly of the year, my first chocolate-brown female Adonis Blue Butterfly, my first Brown Argus, and my first male Common Blue Butterflies of the year, all on Mill Hill. The other species seen were a Small White, frequent Large Whites, a Green-veined White, a male Orange-tip, a Grizzled Skipper, half a dozen Dingy Skippers, occasional Holly Blues, and frequent Speckled Woods. (Andy Horton) Short trip to Mill Hill,lower slope,sun was shining but the wind was still chilly, spotted 1x Red Admiral,2X Small Heath,2x Grizzled Skippers,10+ Dingy Skippers and 25+ Common Blues. (Alec Trusler) Tetrad TQ8822 TQ884228 Peasmarsh. 1 Holly Blue
I sepnt an enjoyable time Heyshott Down today doing a Duke of Burgundy survey finding 10 Dukes over the middle to western part of the site, including a few fighting pairs. There were Dingy Skippers everywhere and Grizzled Skippers on the lower slopes, including a mating pair. Brimstones and Small Heaths were seen plus this unusual small beetle(photos above). (Colin Knight) Abbots wood - 8 Pearl-bordered Fritillariess, Peacock, Comma, Large White. (Danny McEvoy)
After a cold few days finally ventured to Wolstonbury Hill. Pycombe street end late afternoon. On the bridleway 4 Speckled Woods. One male Orange Tip Over the style onto the hill, 4 Dingy Skippers and several Common Heath Moths(photos above). (Richard Roebuck)
Glorious afternoon spent in Rewell wood in warm sunshine Friday afternoon. The only downside is that the butterflies were jet propelled. I did manage to get some photos of some Pearl-bordered Fritillaries after some patient stalking. Others seen were Brimstone, Comma, Large White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Peacock and Speckled Wood(photos above). (John Baker) News for Wednesday 12 May: After missing out on the Heyshott Down Field Trip, Wednesday the 12th; dont ask!! ( The sad lonely lepidopterist on 'Graffham Down' looking for Dukes was me!!) I decided to put the record straight and go it alone today. I followed the instructions given by Neil Hulme, went to Heyshott Down not Graffham, and was soon on to Dingy Skipper, Large White, & Orange tip, hunting around a sheltered bowl I got a nice video shot of Adonis Blue. As I climbed down a steep bank I glanced back up to spot a second adonis this one was in the guise of Colin Knight! After a brief introduction we decided two pairs of eyes were better than one and we set off in search of the dukes. The steep but worthwhile climb to the top was accompanied by the sound of whitethroats and blackcaps warbling their spring song, accompanied by me on the steriod inhaler. Oh the joys of asthma! After nearly two hours of searching high and low and adding Yellow Brimstone, several more Dingies, Small White, Colin gave the shout I had waited for. Turning into a spring Gazelle I covered the mountainous distance to colin in a style to make Steve Ovett blush. There it was my first ever Duke of Burgundy. What a beauty. The next hour revealed two more Dukes, Peacock, Speckled Wood, three Grizzled Skippers. Sadly, 'she who must be obeyed', gave a call to remind me softly, dinner was on the table. I floated down the steep track to my waiting chariot thinking all my Christmass's had come at once. My thanks to Neil and Colin for helping to make one of those perfect, not to be forgotten days. (Steve Morgan) Thursday 13 May 2010 Trapping in our Mill Hill garden this year has been disappointing, the trap on Wednesday producing only single Muslin Moth and Early Grey. Over the last few years our catches suggest the majority of moths we record here are either immigrants into Sussex or breeding species dispersing from the surrounding countryside. This is as opposed to species emerging from our garden or the gardens immediately surrounding our house, from where some of our moths undoubtedly originate, though perhaps less than 40% of them. A walk around the outskirts of Storrington provided my first local Red Admiral for the year, also Orange Tip (5), Green veined White (3), Peacock (3), Speckled Wood (1). Tetrad TQ6216. TQ633169. Iwood Place Farm. 1 Orange Tip (Roy Wells) News for Wednesday 12 May: Heyshott Down: a very good day with very good company thanks to great periods of sun we had a wonderful show of butterflies and of course Neil. Thanks. (Peter And Pat Gardner) (photos below)
News from other lands: (I apologise for posting a report from somewhere foreign but I'm sure you'll understand - ed.)
Wednesday 12 May 2010 (Below, left to right) The Field Party, Duke of Burgundy and Dingy Skipper, Heyshott Down (Neil Hulme)
Thirty people attended the walk at Heyshott Down this morning, comprising a mix of RSPB and BC members. We were blessed with beautiful, sunny weather which held out for just long enough for a very enjoyable tour of this stunning downland reserve, managed by the Murray Downland Trust. Our target species, the Duke of Burgundy, had emerged only that morning, so they lay around drying off their wings and giving us wonderful close-up views. This was the first sighting of the species for many of the RSPB contingent, who were suitably impressed with this little gem of a butterfly! We saw 7 Dukes without having to look too hard. Bearing in mind that the Heyshott Dukes are only just appearing, this count is very encouraging. Roger Martin and Colin Knight have kindly (and wisely!) responded to the request I made at the BC Sussex Recorder's Seminar, and will now have the great satisfaction of monitoring the increasing population here. The Murray Downland Trust have done a superb job in improving the habitat at Heyshott. Also seen were Grizzled Skipper (4), Dingy Skipper (7), Green Hairstreak (1), Small Heath (2), Red Admiral (2), Speckled Wood (2), Orange-tip (3), Brimstone (3), Green-veined White (2) and Small White (1). Thanks to all that attended and made this such an enjoyable outing. (Neil Hulme)
A stroll in Oaken Wood at midday just across the magic border gave us male and female Orange tips, Speckled wood, Peacock and a festival of Wood Whites dancing on the border of the 'crossroads' at SU98543357. This was our first Wood White sighting and we were amazed at the beauty of this delicate creature fluttering around the plants, landing a lot on Greater Stitchwort (photos above) (Colin Knight) - see blog for more photos. () Holly Blue bobbing along the pavement in Rutland Gardens, Hove (TQ 279 049) - a first of the year for me. (Caroline Clarke) My second identification from Victoria, British Columbia, of a Sussex caterpillar! I really think there can be no doubt that your May 9 caterpillar is the Lesser Yellow Underwing, Noctua comes. Like the Large Yellow Underwing, Noctua pronuba, which I identified earlier, this is a very common European invader out here, and we are very familiar with both of them. I posted a photo of one on our invertebrate site (shamelessly copied from your butterfly site!) http://vicnhs.bc.ca/invertalert.html on April 23 (St George's Day), and I also have photos of them from Victoria on the moth site adminstered by the University of South Carolina (isn't it a small world these days!), http://facweb.furman.edu/~snyderjohn/tatum/496-500.htm. I log on to the Sussex site most days - it's a great site! (Jeremy Tatum) News for Monday 10 May: Cold blustery day on Monday with a bit of sunshine in the late afternoon, however saw several male Orange tips on the wing and a female perching on top of Umbellliferae (possibly wild carrot although not certain). Also one worn Small Tortoiseshell, TQ2312. Also, most surprisingly, a Small Heath flying along a bridleway, never seen one in this location before TQ236132 and a couple of Speckled Woods. (Richard Roebuck) Monday 10 May 2010
Back on May 2nd I put out a request for folk to send in their Orange-tip records to help us to start filling in the Orange-tip distribution map for the Atlas project. Since that request was posted you could measure the amount of warm/sunny weather we have had in minutes rather than days - it's been dreadful. Despute this I have been inundated with Orange-tip records from roving reporters out in the countryside, from 'drive-by' recorders in cars and on trains and from obsessive Orange-tip egg-hunters. A big thankyou to everyone who has sent in records. As you can see from the updated distribution map we now have 261 tetrad squares covered! That's over quarter of the county. No doubt there's more records to come from tetrad sheets and other surveys - but it's already an impressive start to the atlas. The Orange-tips should be with us for just a few more weeks - so keep a look out for the adults or their eggs. Thanks again to everyone for their efforts! (Michael Blencowe) Wood Whites now flying in wood near Plaistow (even more just over the border in Surrey part of Chiddingfold Forest!) (Margaret Hibbard) Rowland Wood. 2 Brimstone; 1 Green Veined White; 3 Speckled Wood; 1 Speckled Yellow Moth. Brown Argus on Levin Down Transect Walk 10 05 2010 [transect walk section 2 (6 in number) and section 3 (3 in number) - Compartment 3] (A Griff)
Woods by Dover Lane car park (TQ061063) near Angmering Estate produced Peacocks (above) 2, Small Whites 3 and Orange Tips 3 (Colin Knight) and glorious carpets of Bluebells mixed with Lesser stitchwort (Colin Knight) News for Sunday 09 May: This weekend was National Mills Weekend and so we celebrated by visiting the historic 'Jack' & 'Jill' Windmills in Clayton. As we are members of these windmills, we were granted special permission to go inside the black 'Jack' windmill. We were told that the doors had not been opened for 9 months! However, much to our suprise we found one lonely Peacock butterly (below) hiding inside. (Nick Linazasoro)
On a cold and dull day on Sunday found a male range Tip resting (above), which gave me a chance to take some close ups of its head. Quite a hairy beast really. (Richard Roebuck) Sunday 09 May 2010 Can anybody please help to I.D. this Caterpillar. I found three this morning after all the rain yesterday on my varigated shrub, (photo, below left). (Brenda Elphick )
Orange-tip larvae are much harder to spot than the eggs but more interesting when you do. Another 13 tetrads covered today. (Tom Ottley) Saturday 08 May 2010 Apologies to all concerned for the slight delay with the posting of yesterday's sightings reports - slight technical malfunction - all sorted now though! ed. I spent an enjoyable afternoon with Paul Johnson in the rain driving round the country lanes in East Sussex (Etchingam area) looking for Orange-tip eggs. It reminded me a bit of car-rallying, one person navigating with a map with the tetrads outlined on it, the other driving and looking out for foodplants and places to stop. As you get to a new tetrad it's a race to see who spots the garlic mustard first, then one or both of you leap out of the car (observing all health and safety issues identified in the risk assessment of course), quickly find an egg or a larva, back in the car, note it down and you're off again. We got it down to one tetrad every 12 minutes. We must have seen dozens of eggs, about half of which were white (as when freshly laid), the other half orange. We also found one tiny larva and one nearly fully grown one. Absolutely no adult butterflies of any species. Much better than sitting at home watching the rain though. (Tom Ottley)
Caught a Pebble Prominent Notodonta ziczac (above) in my moth trap last night, quite an attractive sp. (Richard Roebuck) Friday 07 May 2010 Getting out of the car at High and Over carpark and it being so cold that you could see your breath it seemed that there was no chance of seeing any butterflies. In fact I didn't think that anybody else would turn up!! However, 16 hardy souls did turn up and with thick cloud cover and an icy wind we set off towards The Comp, some wearing gloves, scarf and woolly hats. Fortunately the sun did pop out a few times and it was along The Comp where we saw the first butterfly of the day. No surprise that it was a Speckled Wood. Before we got to the end of The Comp path we had seen about 4 more and also a Red Admiral. We then went down Greenway Bank where a Dingy Skipper sat on the bank and allowed most to view it. We also saw a Burnet Companion settled in the undergrowth. Near the bottom of the path we searched for the Green Hairstreak that I saw yesterday when Peter Atkinson spotted a Grizzled Skipper actually on the path amongst us. It was amazing we didn't tread on it and it sat there once again allowing all of us to admire it. The Hairstreak was also then spotted. Small, Green Veined and Large Whites were then seen along with a Small Copper along Frog Firle along with several more Dingy Skippers and 1 more Green Hairstreak. During the walk we also enjoyed seeing Early Purple Orchids, many Whitethroats, a Peregrine and the Broad Bodied Chaser. Many thanks to all that came and supported the walk and thanks for the donations that are going to help towards Butterfly Conservation work at Rowland Wood. (Bob Eade) A quick look at the hidden away downland on the east side of Swanbourne Lake (TQ016081) revealed a lovely Red Admiral (below left), around five Grizzled Skippers and a single Dingy Skipper, the latter I had not recorded here before. (Alexander Henderson)
News for Thursday 06 May: A Great Afternoon... in the garden! Thurs. afternoon was surprisingly pleasant - sunny and warm - and I popped into the garden to feed the goldfish. Our pond is alive with frog and toad tadpoles and I glimpsed 3 smooth newts, several water boatmen and briefly a large red damselfly. The robin was flying to and fro with beakfuls of food, goldfinch were twittering about and I peeped in the nestbox to see the blue tit on her nest.The bees were buzzing, id'ed 4 from the Bee Aware chart plus some bee-flies. Then, the butterflies started... so I settled down with my bins and camera and saw 3 Small Tortoiseshells, 1 Peacock, 1 Brimstone, 1 male Orange-Tip, possible female O-T, 1 Large White, 1 Small Copper (above right) which loved the many daises/dandelions in the lawn! and finally a Holly Blue flitting in the bay laurel foliage overhanging from next door. Just shows how much nature goes on in the garden!! (Anna Grist) More news for Thursday 06 May: The afternoon was spent at Abbots Wood. 25 - 30 fresh-looking Pearl Bordered Fritillary, including at least 3 females (one egglaying). They were all very frisky due to the sunshine, so I waited until the late afternoon, hoping to see some go to roost. However by 5pm, despite the continuing sunshine, they had all disappeared. Other species seen were 1 Red Admiral, 3 Peacock, 3 Brimstone, 1 Green Veined White, 4 Orange Tip plus 3 other Whites. Also 1 Speckled Wood, 1 Holly Blue and 3 Grizzled Skipper. (Vince Massimo) News for Friday 05 May: Last of the overwintering Red Admiral caterpillars under observation hatched and flew. 9 in total this year - better than the 2008/9 winter, so perhaps a more reasonable year ahead for the species? (Dave Harris) Belated report from Saturday 1st May trapped in my Portslade garden: First migrant of the year in the form of a Diamond-back Moth. Also Streamer, Common Quaker, Hebrew Character, Early Grey, Double-striped Pug & Knot Grass. (Darryl Perry) Thursday 06 May 2010 Tetrad TQ3230, TQ336315, Wakehurst Place, 1F,4M, Orange Tip; 1 Green-veined White; 1 Holly Blue. (Roy Wells) Red Admiral - pristine specimen - seen on dam of Douster Pond, Buchan Country Park TQ24433442 (Michael Funnell)
At Springhead today I found a Small White, a Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood (Colin Knight) A walk on the Steyning Downland Scheme site in the afternoon sunshine produced several Orange Tips, a Speckled Wood, a couple of Peacock and two Small Heath. (Pete Varkala)
Not a bad day here in Shoreham,in the garden we spotted 3 Small Whites,1 Holly Blue, 1 Speckled Wood, and 1 Peacock. Then off across the bridge to Mill Hill Nature reserve on the lower slope spent 2 hours, 2.30 to 4.30 pm. saw my first Adonis Blue of the year,then I found 3 Green Hairstreaks, 3 Small Coppers (photos above),1 Grizzled Skipper,2 Orange Tips,1 Speckled Wood, 2 Small Heaths, lots of Dingy Skippers, male and female Brimstones, and Small Whites. (Alec Trusler)
The best day so far this year on my normal patch. Despite a cool breeze blowing I wanted to check how things are before tomorrows BC walk. 75 butterflies were seen in total with 13 different species. On Greenway Bank there were 3 fresh Small Coppers (above, left), my first for the year anywhere!! Dingy Skippers are also building up with 6 seen on the bank and a further 2 on Frog Firle. 8 Green Hairstreak (above, centre) were seen with 2 on the bank and the other 6 once again on Frog Firle. 3 Grizzled Skippers were also on Frog Firle. Holly Blues were also more numerous with at least 4 seen at High and Over. Small Heath (above, right) was the other new one for me for the year with 2 at High and Over. Nigel Kemp, whilst doing his transect reported the first Wall Brown, I searched around the area at High and Over but could not trace it. All in all a good day and I just hope there is some sunshine tomorrow!! (Bob Eade) Blackcap nr. Offham: another Orange Tip Tetrad for Michael: TQ3712 - one male, possibly one female. Checking Exmoor ponies again and interested to note no cuckoo flowers or garlic mustard - seems the very hungry ponies eat just about everything but the cowslips. Bright sun but bitterly cold wind so few butterflies: 2 Large Whites; one Peacock and one Comma. Also, possibly a Grizzled skipper but did not get a good view. (Susan Suleski) The season's moving on, week 6 of the transects started today and the horseshoe vetch is coming into flower. On my walk round Bevendean down this afternoon I saw 1 Dingy Skipper, 2 Grizzled Skippers, 3 Orange Tips, 1 Common Blue, 1 Holly Blue, 1 Small Copper, 4 Peacocks, and 7 Speckled Woods. (Geoff Stevens) Yes, that definitely looks like Lysichiton americanus to me! We have lots of it here. (Jeremy Tatum) Wednesday 05 May 2010 Can't resist answering Micheal Blencowe's question about the giant leaved plant he and Clare Jeffers saw on Tues 4th May. From the photo I think they were Lysichiton americanus, Yellow skunk cabbage, native of you can guess where. (Tessa-the-gardener-Pawsey) Sightings in TQ410228 Iron Gates Field, Sheffield Park during botanical survey. 1 Peacock, 1 Comma on nettles on bank of the Ouse. 1 Small Tortoiseshell on Dandelion. (Jonathan Wood)
A fabulous visit to Abbotts Wood this morning found much activity from the Pearl Bordered Fritillaries. Nigel and Carol Kemp turned up as well to witness it all. With the temperature going up and down the butterflies were quite approachable. We found 2 newly emerged butterflies, 1 male and 1 female. Nigel also found the pupa case that the male had emerged from. The female was perched nicely at the top of a thin stick and after observing it for 30 minutes a male flew upto it and paired up with it. The mating went on for 75 minutes. After they split up they sat opposite each other posing superbly!! As a guess we probably saw around 20 individuals. We also saw a Grizzled Skipper. (Bob Eade)
Pulborough Brooks: thank goodness for alittle bit of sun now and again between the showers. (Peter Gardner) (left to right, above) Female Oranget-tip, Orange-tip egg and Green-veined White
News for Friday 30 April: On Friday April 30th we went shopping at Asda in Eastbourne, and some parts are planted with very low growing cotoneaster. Driving in to park you could see a great number of white webs, on closer inspection there were hundreds of caterpillars in various sizes of the Brown-Tail moth (a lesson learned allways carry a camera). While my wife finished her shopping I tryed counting the webs, and counted at least two hundred. We returned again on Saturday armed with cameras only to find most ofthe caterpillars had gone. Then I found one bush about fifty yards on which on one side was completly covered in caterpillars as can be seen by the photos (above). (Ron & Brenda Elphick) Tuesday 04 May 2010
After yesterday's meeting we decided to stay another day in Northwest Sussex. However the weather had not improved as I had hoped; the sky stayed grey and it was really cold - and I mean wooly hat cold! - and there weren't even any comedy pigs to cheer me up. Undaunted we decided to head out to the Petworth area for a walk in some random tetrads and resort to recording Orange-tip eggs for the Atlas. Now I've mastered the Orange-tip eggs I decided to progress to searching for White Admiral larvae. I've always wanted to see one of these crazy little caterpillars and was thrilled that the first honeysuckle drape I checked had the distinctive leaf damage I had read about. And there - only 5mm long- was a White Admiral caterpillar (above, left) - still a good few weeks away from a final instar but pretty spiny nevertheless. And then, shortly after, Clare found another insect that I had always dreamed of seeing - the cranefly equivalent of the Purple Emperor - the Yellow-ringed comb-horn cranefly (Ctenophora flaveolata) (above, centre). Many insect orders have wasp-mimics and this is what happens when a cranefly tries to get in on the act - about as convincing as an elephant pretending to be a tiger. Nevertheless a spectacular and extremely rare Red Data Book species. On the way back home the weather improved and at 6:30pm we decided to look around another random East Sussex tetrad. And, like yesterday (see Sophies report below) I was overwhelmed with oversized plants. The area was full of what looked like giant Wild Arum and I felt like I was on the set of a sci-fi b-movie - any botanists know what they are? (above, right). After surviving the triffids we made it to the tetrad and were rewarded by the sight of a drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. I would have had a better view but, ironically, the sun was in my eyes. This random tetrad surveying is great! - even if you don't see any butterflies. (Michael Blencowe & Clare Jeffers) Abbot's Wood: Cold, cloudy and windy so very disappointing yesterday. I saw only 2 butterflies but both were Pearl-bordered Fritillary. The first looked freshly emerged; the second posed on a bluebell for some time and looked older as it had a small part of one wing missing. (Chris Brewer)
I joined Neil Hulme and Roger Martin at Heyshott Down today where we saw Dingy Skippers and a Grizzled Skipper. (above) (Colin Knight)
News for Monday 03 May: I returned to Rewell Wood today and in spite of the showers was rewarded with Pearl-bordered fritillaries (above), 2 males and a female, all flying and landing together at one point. The female was having none of it though. I was joined later on by BC member Paul who also saw a PBF. (Colin Knight)
Belated News for Thursday 29 April: A brief visit to Abbots Wood this morning resulted in 6-8 Pearl-bordered Fritillaries as well as 4 Orange Tips. There was also 2 Nightingales singing their hearts out and a distant Cuckoo. On the way back I stopped off at High and Over where a pair of Holly Blues were seen as well as a fresh Red Admiral. Also 2 Green Hairstreaks were seen on Frog Firle. (Bob Eade) Monday 03 May 2010 We enjoyed a mix of weather today on the Sussex BC walk at Loxwood. There was blue sky, there was grey sky but most notably that north wind was very cold and because of this there wasn't much flying. Nevertheless 18 BC members joined me for a walk in an area that I had never explored before - around the Wey and Arun canal at Loxwood. Despite a lack of butterflies it was a very enjoyable walk in an area which will have a lot of potential later in the year for Purple Hairstreak, Brown Hairstreak and Purple Emperor. I took the opportunity to train the attendees in the ancient art of Orange-tip egg spotting and we managed to turn two more Sussex tetrads 'orange'. Two adult Orange-tips gave a brief fly-by when the sun emerged and a Speckled Wood put in an appearance but the highlight of the walk for many was the sighting of three of the funniest looking pigs I have ever seen which has us all laughing and reaching for our cameras. The return route was through a beautiful Sussex bluebell wood which looked - and smelled - fantastic. Thankyou to all of those who attended today, I for one will return to tetrad TQ0430 in the Summer. (Michael Blencowe) Photos by Ellen Shaw - Official 'Big Nature' Photographer (below)
Today we joined the walk in a new area for us, Loxwood, North West Sussex. We set off like intrepid explores into previously unchartered territory, lead by the ever enthusiatic Michael Blencowe, who soon had us peering at Garlic Mustard flowers looking for single orange eggs laid by the Orange-Tip butterfly. we later saw two Orange-tips, both male, and two Speckled Woods during short sunny breaks in the otherwise overcast day. We were all entertained by three rather fat and hairy pigs, particually Mr Blencowe, which further to the groups discussion I can now announce were in fact 'Kunekune' pigs, a New Zealand breed belived to have originated from Asia! Another highlight of the walk was the magnificent carpets of Bluebells on the floor of the woodlands through which we past and the Nightingale singing by the bridge. Michael was also fascinated by the Giant Hogweed which was growing in profusion along the river banks. On the way back to the carpark he decided an 8 foot tall dead hogweed would make a brilliant hat stand; I think Clare however was not so impressed...!
We saw 3-4 Pearl-bordered Fritillaries at Rewell Wood SU 979 080. We also saw 1 Peacock and a Green-Veined White. (Ellie Corrigan) Sunday 02 May 2010
Thank you to everyone who has been keeping an eye out for Orange-tips in their local area or on their travels around the county. As the weather was so awful today I entered the records into our Atlas database - we've covered 99 tetrads since the first sighting on April 8th. The weather looks set to improve this week and the Orange-tips will still be around for a few more weeks - so keep those records coming in and we'll be able to turn the map even more orangey. Can we fill another 99 squares in the next month? Every Orange-tip counts! Send records to the website or to me at sussexgrayling@aol.com (Michael Blencowe) Pearl-bordered Fritillary, 27 April, Abbot's Wood. (John Luck) (below, centre)
An hour's stroll around Sheepcote Valley mid-morning in a chilly wind produced just 2 butterflies - Small White and Speckled Wood (above, left) which alighted on bramble for a couple of minutes before moving on to a bare patch on the ground (John Luck) News for Saturday 01 May: Despite the gathering, ominous black clouds, twenty-six brave individuals (including myself) set forth into Barnes Wood on Saturday morning (1st May) to search for dingy and Grizzled Skippers. Recent News: During a recent visit to Rewell wood I also found a Dor beetle Geotrupes stercorarius (above, right) this was probably newly emerged and was probably looking for some dung on the bridleway. Its one of our largest dung beetles and quite common. The interesting bit is the superb colouration on the underside and the copper coloured mites. (Richard Roebuck) Not so recent news: Upper Beeding Levels produced Peacock x 15, Comma x 3, Small Tortoishell x 7, Small White x 1 and Brimstone x 2 on the 18th April. (Sherie New) Saturday 01 May 2010 It has been pointed out, by a certain Mr M. Blencowe of Friston, that the Painted Lady sighting, recorded on 30 April by John Kirby wasn't the first record for 2010. The first was actually recorded by Crispin Holloway on 17 April - apologies to all concerned, ed. Red Admiral, Burnt House Brooks, 30 April. (John Luck)
Despite the forecast we headed to the north of the county today to undertake some Sussex Butterfly Atlas surveys in the Rotherfield area. Under grey clouds and showers we walked for five and a half hours and didn't see one butterfly! However I resorted to crawling around amongst the Cuckooflower and managed to record Orange-tip eggs in seven 2km tetrads! If you're at a loose end over this wet bank holiday and want to do some butterfly recording simply find a nearby bank of Cuckooflower or Garlic Mustard then look just below the flowers for a tiny bright orange, oval egg and send your records into the website - scroll down for Richard Roebuck's picture of an OT egg from April 24th. Orange-tip only lay one egg on each plant as the caterpillars are cannibals! (Michael Blencowe & Clare Jeffers) Warm but mainly overcast at Rewell wood this morning I did however see one Red Admiral and my first Painted Lady of the year which was in very good condition. Has this emerged recently or just arrived, curious? SU983078 (Richard Roebuck) News for Thursday 29 April: Transect Details, Bedelands Farm, walked Thursday 29th April. Species recorded: 
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"Colin Pratt’s Silver Trophy Cup for Sussex Lepidopterists"
