180/365 Butterflying in Somerset, part II

29 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, wildflowers

Tags

British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, butterflying, Collard Hill, Large blue, Large blue butterfly, Marbled white, Wild thyme

Scenario: Three friends go seeking rare butterflies across the border in England.

190629 Collard Hill view

Second location: Collard Hill, in Somerset. A hot walk up the steep hill for more incredible views across picturesque Somerset. And we weren’t far from the legendary Glastonbury Tor.

190629 Glastonbury Tor

Support act: Marbled white. My first sightings of these little beauties for the year, and we saw several flitting back and forth above the long grass.

190629 marbled white

Star attraction: Large blue. Incredibly, this butterfly was declared extinct in Britain in the 1970s but was reintroduced from Sweden to Green Down, a Somerset Wildlife Trust site, in 1992. Since then the butterflies have mostly thrived (though they are affected by weather, habitat and ant conditions – for more on that, check out the National Trust Large blue blog) and they’ve been reintroduced to several other areas, including this site at Collard Hill.

190629 large blue (2)

During our visit, it was very windy at the top and very hot in the lee of the hill, not ideal conditions for seeing the butterflies but, after following the animal tracks back and forth across the hillside, we finally had good sightings of three Large blues on their favourite food plant, Wild thyme. One female was even ovipositing, which bodes well for the coming years.

190629 large blue (3)

It was amazing to see both these Large blues and, earlier in the day, the Heath fritillaries, both lifers for me, and I want to say a huge thank you to Gareth and Alan for letting me join their butterflying expedition. It was a truly magical day!

190629 large blue (4)

179/365 Butterflying in Somerset, part I

28 Friday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, butterflying, Exmoor ponies, Green hairstreak, Haddon Hill, Heath fritillary

Scenario: Three friends go seeking rare butterflies across the border in England.

190628 Haddon Hill views

First location: Haddon Hill, in Somerset, offering superb views across the surrounding countryside and grazed by Exmoor ponies.

190628 exmoor ponies

Support act: A Green hairstreak. This was a superb spot by Alan almost as soon as we crossed the stile into the reserve, as this gorgeous little butterfly was incredibly well camouflaged sitting on the grass.

190628 green hairstreak

Star attraction: Heath fritillary. What a cracking little butterfly this is, with its elaborate orange and dark brown upperwing markings, and its equally lovely and intricate underwings. Sadly, this is a rare butterfly in Britain these days but it is being helped along by the sterling efforts of Butterfly Conservation and others. Luckily, at this site, Heath fritillaries are very numerous – we must’ve seen at least 25, and they were literally fluttering in the bushes and brambles all around us. One even landed briefly on my hand – an incredibly special moment.

190628 heath fritillary (1) 190628 heath fritillary (2) 190628 heath fritillary (3) 190628 heath fritillary (4) 190628 heath fritillary (5)

177/365 Skimmers

26 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, Black-tailed skimmer, British dragonflies, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, dragonflies, dragonfly

I was just saying to someone the other day that I haven’t been seeing many dragonflies this year and what happens? The very next time I go walking at Cosmeston, I see several.

190626 black-tailed skimmers (2)

These two Black-tailed skimmers were the most obliging, as they tend to station themselves along the pathways through the wildflower fields, rising up as you get near them and then re-settling a little further along the path. If you watch where they land and you’re slow and quiet as you approach, you can get quite near them.

190626 black-tailed skimmers (1)

172/365 Flitillaries

21 Friday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, fritillaries, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Summer solstice

My mis-spelling of the word fritillaries is deliberate – the darn things never keep still. They’re either constantly flitting from place to place at a great rate of knots or, when they do settle, they either disappear into the long grass so you can’t find them or they perch on a flower to refuel but never stop flapping their wings for a moment.

190621 small pearl-bordered fritillary (1)

Those are my excuses for the Small pearl-bordered fritillaries in today’s photos being out of focus and/or obscured by blades of grass!

190621 small pearl-bordered fritillary (2)

Still, I spent a glorious few hours with them, and their cousins the Marsh fritillaries, at Aberbargoed Grasslands National Nature Reserve. A little patience was required, as huge menacing clouds kept rolling over but, in the gaps between, when the sun came out, so did the butterflies.

190621 small pearl-bordered fritillary (3)

It was a magical way to spend the summer solstice!

190621 small pearl-bordered fritillary (4)

169/365 Emergence

18 Tuesday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, wildflowers

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#365DaysWild, Bird’s-foot trefoil, British moths, Common spotted orchid, moths, Pyramidal orchid, red clover, Six-spot burnet, wildflowers

Remember I said on Friday that they’d be ‘coming soon‘, well here they are. The Six-spot burnet moths have begun to emerge, buzzing around the wildflowers like little red-and-black bumblebees. Delightful!

190618 six-spot burnet (1) 190618 six-spot burnet (2) 190618 six-spot burnet (3) 190618 six-spot burnet (4) 190618 six-spot burnet (5) 190618 six-spot burnet (6)

168/365 From pristine to tatty

17 Monday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Common blue, Common blue butterfly, Small copper

Butterflies have a hard life. Having to weave their way through a maze of wildflowers and long grasses, squabbling with other butterflies, taking evasive manoeuvres to avoid being eaten, these all take their toll on creatures that are not very robust to begin with.

190617 small copper

During today’s stroll around Cosmeston, I discovered a stunning, pristine Small copper, presumably newly emerged, one of their second brood for the year, but I also saw a very tatty looking Common blue, its wings frayed around the edges, its colour very faded, its life almost over. Yet it was battling on into a strong headwind, not giving up. There’s a lesson there, I think.

190617 common blue

167/365 Shelter

16 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

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#365DaysWild, bumblebee, bumblebee in rose, bumblebee sheltering from rain, wild rose

When the rain continues to fall and the wind to blow, what’s a bumblebee to do but find itself a nice, cosy shelter with food underfoot.

190616 sheltering bumblebee

165/365 Coming soon …

14 Friday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, British moths, Burnet moth, caterpillar to moth, Five-spot burnet, metamorphosis, Six-spot burnet, Zygaena filipendulae, Zygaena lonicerae

First, the caterpillar. Now I know this is a bit like the chicken and egg debate – which came first? – but my sequence is chronological for 2019. This is the caterpillar / larva of a Burnet moth, most likely a Six-spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae), as they’re the species I’ve seen at this site in previous years. I only found out this week that they over-winter as caterpillars, and they’re now enjoying a final munch before beginning their transformation.

Second, the pupa. Some of the munchers have already begun their metamorphosis into moths. This week I’ve spotted quite a number of the papery cocoons they spin to house their pupae while they go through this process.

190614 Burnet moth cocoon

Third, the moth. In previous years, the Six-spots have begun to appear around the beginning of July but the weather conditions can have an effect on their emergence. So, eyes peeled for the appearance of these gorgeous creatures in a meadow near you very soon!

190614 Six-spot Burnet moth

p.s. And if, by some chance, it’s actually a Five spot Burnet (Zygaena lonicerae), then it will look like this – you just have to count the dots!

190614 Five-spot Burnet moth

160/365 Spoilt for choice

09 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, Black-tailed skimmer, British butterflies, British dragonflies, butterfly, Clouded yellow, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, dragonfly

I may have got rather wet during my walk around the east and west paddocks at Cosmeston this morning but it was worth it, as I wandered through an abundance of gorgeous orchids and other colourful wildflowers, spied numerous small insects munching on leaves, was charmed by the fluttering butterflies and meandering moths, and entertained by the myriad fledglings flitting through trees and bushes, harassing their parents for food.

190609 Cosmeston wildflowers

I was wondering which of these delights might be today’s blog subject, when I spotted a bright yellow ‘something’ flying across the field in front of me. I quickly followed and, luckily, it settled on the ground so I was able to get photos. It was a Clouded yellow, a butterfly I’ve only seen half a dozen times before, a migrant to Britain which may well have been blown in by yesterday’s wild weather. Blog sorted: ‘On the wings of the storm II’, I thought, and continued my walk.

190609 Clouded yellow

Then, just as I was nearing the top of the east paddock and about to head homewards, I made another chance discovery, a cracking dragonfly, a Black-tailed skimmer, another creature that I don’t see all that often. So, being spoilt for choice today, I thought I would share that with you as well.

190609 Black-tailed skimmer

159/365 On the wings of the storm

08 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly migration, Cathays Cemetery, Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui

There are two good things about the drenching and battering we’ve just suffered at the hands of the Spanish Storm Miguel: the first is that we really did need the rain, as the ground is already dry and cracked in places, and the second is that the strong winds may well be responsible for this glorious little lady I discovered at Cathays Cemetery today.

190608 painted lady (1)

She (or, in fact, it may be a he) is a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), a butterfly which, according to the Butterfly Conservation website, ‘Each year … spreads northwards from the desert fringes of North Africa, the Middle East, and central Asia, recolonising mainland Europe and reaching Britain and Ireland.’ And s/he’s still looking quite pristine, despite that long journey.

190608 painted lady (2)