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)

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)

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

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)

154/365 Frits again

03 Monday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Marsh fritillary, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

The weather wasn’t ideal for my visit to Aberbargoed grasslands today, with little sun and a fresh breeze, but I thought I’d give it a try as the rest of the week is looking little better – in fact, it’s looking downright miserable, with rain forecast most days. To see butterflies, you really need sunshine and warmth.

Moaning aside, as you can tell from my photos, I did manage to find some Marsh fritillaries – I counted at least 25, some of which were already looking a little worn from their flying about, bumping into plants, and their interactions with others of their kind.

190603 marsh fritillary (2)

What I was really hoping to find were Small pearl-bordered fritillaries, as they’ve been seen at this site in the past week and they would have been a new sighting for me for the year. And I did see some – two, perhaps three – but they were either distant or flying rapidly past. They did, however, look much more orange in flight than the Marsh frits and their flight pattern was different. Luckily, I managed to grab one photo, with both a Small pearl-bordered fritillary and a Marsh fritillary on the same flower. It’s a heavy crop but I still like it.

190603 apb and marsh fritillaries

151/365 Leptastic

31 Friday May 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, British butterflies, British moths, Brown argus, butterflies, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Grangemoor Park, Large skipper, Latticed heath, Mother Shipton, moths

I’ve had a lucky week with my Lepidoptera sightings – that’s moths and butterflies, for those who didn’t know – and the week’s not over yet. As well as the Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth on Monday and the Burnet Companions on Tuesday, yesterday I found my first (three) Large Skipper butterflies for the year at Cosmeston.

190531 large skipper (1) 190531 large skipper (2)

And, today, my wander around Grangemoor Park was something of a Lep-fest, with the first (five) Mother Shipton moths I’ve seen in 2019.

190531 mother shipton (1) 190531 mother shipton (2)

And I spotted a nice Latticed Heath moth trying to hide in the grass.

190531 latticed heath

And, then, just as I was about to head for home, I noticed something small flitting about along a side path, went to investigate and found two Brown Argus butterflies, which I have seen already this year but not in Wales. You can see why I named this blog ‘leptastic’!

190531 brown argus (1) 190531 brown argus (2)

141/365 Marsh madness

21 Tuesday May 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Euphydryas aurinia, Marsh fritillary

If it is possible to have a favourite butterfly (are they not all gorgeous in their own way?), then my new favourite butterfly is the Marsh fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia). I spotted my first just nine days ago, at Martin Down National Nature Reserve in Hampshire, and then saw nine more last Tuesday at the Aberbargoed Grasslands Nature Reserve here in south Wales. And today I returned to Aberbargoed and spent three wonderful hours wandering the grasslands, feasting my eyes on these magnificent creatures. Pure bliss!

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133/365 Birding on Salisbury Plain

13 Monday May 2019

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

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#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, British butterflies, Brown argus, butterflies, Corn bunting, Great bustard, Marsh fritillary, Salisbury Plain, Small blue butterfly, White Horse

Yesterday’s Glamorgan Bird Club trip to Salisbury Plain, RSPB Winterbourne Downs and Martin Down National Nature Reserve was amazing. The weather was stunning, the bird sightings were brilliant, as were the butterflies, and, as always, the company was wonderful.

190513 Salisbury (1)

The views from high on Salisbury Plain were lovely – we even had a distant view of the White Horse, though it was a little disconcerting being so close to the military impact area and to have the serenading of the plentiful skylarks occasionally shattered by the booms of exploding shells. The joy-riding trailbikers and off-roaders weren’t exactly peaceful either.

190513 great bustard

Still, we saw some amazing birds – I managed to spot the only Great bustard of the day (you’ll just have to believe me when I say that the head in the centre of the dip in the vegetation in the photo above is definitely a Great bustard!) and we had splendid ’scope sightings of Stone curlews and chicks at Winterbourne – both bird sightings were lifers for me. My best bird photo of the day was the Corn bunting shown below – captured out of the car window as we drove by.

190513 corn bunting

We also enjoyed some superb butterfly sightings – my first Small blues and Brown Argus for the year, and, finishing on a high, my first ever (two) Marsh fritillaries at Martin Down.

190513 marsh fritillary

120/365 Butterflies like buses

30 Tuesday Apr 2019

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

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#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Dingy Skipper, Erynnis tages

I love it when a plan comes together. I’ve been thinking for a couple of days that it must be getting close to the time that the Dingy skipper butterflies (Erynnis tages) start to appear so, as it was quite warm this morning, I specifically went to Cosmeston, to a sheltered spot where I’ve seen them in the past, to look for my first Dingy of the year. It took a bit of searching, standing and watching for movement, and I was starting to think I wouldn’t find any but then, just like the proverbial buses, two came along at once.

190430 dingy skipper 1

A tip if you’re looking for these – if you see one, don’t take your eyes off it. They are so well camouflaged that they just disappear into the foliage and you can be a foot away and not see them.

190430 dingy skipper 2

105/365 Number 10

15 Monday Apr 2019

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

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#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Holly blue, Holly blue butterfly, Lavernock Nature Reserve

I walked almost every path, track and trail at Lavernock Nature Reserve today hoping that, in spite of the strong cold southerly wind blowing in off the sea, I might find some butterflies in the more sheltered spots … and I did – four Speckled woods, a fine male Orange-tip, and the one butterfly I had hoped most to see, my first Holly blue and my tenth butterfly species for 2019. And what a beauty it was!

190415 holly blue