Ragged royalty

Barra for an American Redstart would have been a bridge too far this weekend: Brighton was a more practical destination to see a new species for me in Britain: a Queen of Spain Fritillary butterfly. It's difficult to believe that almost eleven years have passed since I saw my last new British butterfly. That was a Monarch, one of which was just around the corner from a Long-tailed Blue I found earlier in the day on the Isles of Scilly back in October 2006. A few days after that, a Queen of Spain Fritillary was also seen on the islands near the Trenoweth flower farm but despite much searching I was unable to find it.

Male Queen of Spain Fritillary - it looks like it survived a bird attack judging by the state of hind-wing on the right hand side

A slightly more flattering photograph of the fritillary showing the most intact hind-wing

Details of a sighting of three of these rare migrants at Halcombe Farm near Piddinghoe first emerged two weekends ago and was immediately of interest. Unfortunately, the news broke the day before the gloriously sunny Bank Holiday Monday - not the sort of day you want to be driving along the south coast, and I couldn't get away in any case. Last weekend was equally compromised, as being on call for emergencies meant that I was unable to leave Dorset.

The species is known for spending much of the time basking on the ground: this one was no exception

A brief bout of nectaring provided one of the few opportunities to get a shot of the bold silver spots on the underwing

Discussing the survival chances of the fritillaries with Phil Sterling during the week, he was pretty convinced that unless the weather turned really foul, they would still be present this weekend. So with one eye on the forecast, and the other on Butterfly Conservation's excellent Sussex branch website, I resolved to go on Saturday as full sunshine was promised throughout the morning. Internet updates suggested that two individuals were still present on Thursday, both looking more than a little worn, and that was enough to persuade me to make the effort of an early start to beat the traffic yesterday morning.

This Clouded Yellow was one of 15 butterfly species on view at Halcome Farm

Comma

I arrived at Halcombe Farm around 0900 and began combing the area around a bonfire which was being used as a lek site by the fritillaries - all three having been identified as males. As the morning warmed up, a Clouded Yellow landed nearby but there was no sign of the fritillaries. Other butterflies, and then another butterfly watcher, arrived. We split up and shortly before 1000 he gave me a shout to indicate he had found one.

A female Adonis Blue was lying low in the grass

A male Common Blue was easier to see

Queen of Spain Fritillary is reasonably common on the near continent but still very rare in the UK with just a few hundred records and a small number of unsuccessful attempts at colonising documented. So despite the slightly ragged appearance of the visiting royalty, I was very glad I got to see one of the trio before their inevitable demise, particularly as the famous bonfire is apparently scheduled to go up in smoke within a matter of days.

Small Copper

Small Heath

Well done and thanks to the diligent transect walker, Dave Harris, who first discovered them, to Neil Hulme for getting the news and directions out to the wider world, and to the landowner Colin Appleton for allowing access to the site which has provided a lot of pleasure to many visitors over the last fortnight.

Brown Argus

Painted Lady - another migrant at Halcombe Farm

The bonfire adopted by the Queen of Spain Fritillaries

Bewitched on the Downs

Blue butterflies weren't the only things on the wing at Ballard Down on Sunday - a few day-flying moths were also in evidence, the most numerous of which was the Mother Shipton, named after a 16th century Yorkshire prophetess whose visage is replicated in the wing pattern of the moth. She is said to have foretold, among other things, the Great Fire of London, the invention of iron ships and the defeat of the Armada, insights which saw her reputation deteriorate rapidly from 'soothsayer' to 'witch'. Seems a bit harsh. Good job she didn't claim to know about climate change, or the latter day equivalent of Donald Trump would have had her fried. Fortunately, Tudor overlords were more tolerant than modern day Presidential candidates, and, despite predicting the end of the world, she was left to die of natural causes in her 70s. Such is her legend that Mother Shipton is the only British moth to share its name with a cave-based visitor attraction in Yorkshire. Fact.

Mother Shipton - the hooked nose and protruding chin of the witch's face can be seen in the wing pattern  

Also on the wing was a smart Wood Tiger

I was surprised to find this Angle Shades roosting out in the open

And representing the micros, Pyrausta ostrinalis - related to, but a different species from, the Pyrausta purpuralis I saw on Melbury Down a few weeks ago

Had to phone a friend to identify this one: Cydia ulicetana, a common and widespread species in Britain, but not one I had photographed before

As well as blues doing the wild thing, these Dingy Skippers were also at it

Always a pleasure to see a male Orange Tip nectaring

Ditto a roosting Small Heath

It started to rain at Ballard so I retired to Wareham, picked up the family and we headed to Morden Bog for a late afternoon walk - a Green Hairstreak near Morden Park Lake was a pleasant surprise

It was perched up on Rhododendron...

...along with another of my favourite species - the Beautiful Demoiselle

This is the female of the species - perhaps not lovelier than the male, but still a stunner

 

Something green, and a giant

Sunshine, warmth and opportunity combined on Saturday, encouraging me to make the trip to Cerne Abbas, one of the finest sites in Dorset for butterflies where a range of species flourish in the shadow of the celebrated giant. After a surprisingly chilly morning with patchy cloud, the afternoon warmed up enough to bring out a range of species, including a stunning Green Hairstreak.

Green Hairstreak - more often 'stumbled upon' than 'found', in my experience

This individual was rubbing its wings together in a rotating motion, revealing a glimpse of the brown upperwing

Perhaps the most sought after butterfly at Cerne Abbas is the Duke of Burgundy - a rare species for which conservation efforts are helping to halt a precipitous decline

This male perched up during an overcast period - the forelegs of the male are stunted giving it a four-legged look (compared to six visible legs on the female)

The Marsh Fritillary has been in long-term decline in its wetland habitats, but is bucking the trend on Dorset downland sites. A single individual was spotted during my visit - hopefully more will be emerging soon

Small Heath - another species which has seen a steep decline, although it remains widespread

Grizzled Skipper - a very dapper individual

Dingy Skipper outnumbered Grizzled by about 5 to 1 - the opposite ratio compared to a visit to Fontmell Down a few weeks ago

This Green-veined White served as the warm-up act on the way to the flower-rich downland at Cerne Abbas

And representing the day-flying moths, this attractive Green Carpet was disturbed from vegetation

A fine show of Orchids and Cowslips on Cerne Giant Hill

Green Hairstreak - our only green butterfly

 

Welsh rare bits and bobs

Not really a birding trip, our family holiday in Snowdonia this week, but the garden list - including Peregrine, Raven and Redstart - offered quality over quantity, and I did manage a couple of excursions to see local specialities, and even a couple of photo year-ticks.

Black Grouse in the Denbighshire hills - a stronghold of this species. Not in its finest plumage, but good to see a male nonetheless (#204)

The brown and white blob on top of the nest is an Osprey, seen from the Glaslyn watchpoint. Good enough for a photo year tick? Well, yes, it's getting desperate (#205)

We took the Welsh Highland railway from Pont Croesor to Beddgelert, which goes much closer to the Osprey nest. Unfortunately, the female which was on the nest just before we left and just after was not there when we passed either way on the train! As is traditional for British nesting Osprey, breeding birds take care to erect high-res nest cameras to keep a video record of their offspring as they grow.

A very distant Goshawk over Beddgelert was a bonus

Nuthatches at the Glaslyn watchpoint feeders were a bit closer

George tries birding at Great Orme's Head. It's behind you, George.

Chough, Great Orme's Head

Painted Lady, Great Orme's Head

Small Heath, Great Orme's Head

Male Stonechat, Great Orme's Head

And finally, Redstart in the garden of our holiday home

Coats of many colours

Claire went to London to see Dolly Parton this weekend, while the boys and I visited their Grandad in Devon to mark his turning 70 - just a couple of years older than Dolly. Coats of many colours were therefore being admired not only at the O2 but also on the Fritillaries of north Devon's coastal slopes - Dark Green, High Brown, Silver-washed specifically. Saturday morning saw us at Heddon's Mouth, a well known site for the rare High Brown Fritillary. Not a particularly long or leisurely visit due to commitments back in Dorset on Saturday evening, but long enough to locate just one fairly fresh specimen, along with a few of its commoner cousins.

Male High Brown Fritillary: I suspected High Brown on this initial view but needed to see the underside to be sure...

...which shows the diagnostic row of rust red spots with silver centres on the hind-wing.

Dark Green Fritillary: note the similarities in the upper-wing pattern to High Brown...

...but also the differences in the under-wing.

The High Brown, as it is now, has been through a veritable rainbow of names over the years - initially know as the Greater Silver-spotted, then the Dark Green, then the Violet Silver-spotted (a reference to the foodplant). Common across much of England until the 1950s, its decline was one of the more sudden and dramatic of all the British species, and it is now the subject of intensive conservation efforts in its remaining strongholds.

Male Silver-washed Fritillary

The stunning underwing pattern of Silver-washed Fritillary

This one was outside the toilets at the Hunter's Inn. Not a great place to hang about with a camera.

The long black lines on the forewing show this is a male.

The Dark Green Fritillary can be found in a wider range of habitats, particularly coastal areas, and while it too has declined, this has been nothing like as steep as that faced by the High Brown. I've struggled to get good undwerwing photos of either species, so when the one above sat with an almost closed wing in full sunlight on a thistle that was a bonus.

Fritillaries were note the only butterflies at Heddon's Mouth - this a Large Skipper

A smart Ringlet resting on a fern.

Small Heath.

Dark Green Fritillary.

The Silver-washed Fritillary, named for the silver streaks on the underwing, is one of our most graceful and spectacular. The footpath to Heddon's mouth descends through a steep valley so sometimes the canopy below is at eye level and we could see territorial males perched up and seeing off passing rivals. Another species having experienced long-term decline, it's range has at least expanded in recent decades, possibly due to climate change to which it appears particularly sensitive. 

Heddon's Mouth and the Bristol Channel beyond