Frosty Morning

Frosty morning at Weston Turville, Buckinghamshire (04/01/2010)

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak Thecla betulae - Whitecross Woods (30/07/2011)

The Brown Hairstreak is an elusive butterfly that I have struggled to photograph for years, that is until this July when at last I struck gold at Whitecross Woods in Oxfordshire. On two previous visits a couple of males had stayed resolutely at the top of a large Ash 'master tree' feeding on aphid honeydew and waiting for females, so I was not feeling very confident. Wandering slowly down one of the flowery rides enjoying the sun, I was surprised to bump into a couple of birding friends whom I had not seen for some time. After catching up on news they told me about a spot where a Brown Hairstreak had apparently been seen earlier that morning. They had spent a fruitless hour searching the area and had just given up. After parting company I hurried down the ride to the place they had described and instantly found a beautiful fresh male nectaring on a Knapweed flower. I couldn't believe my luck! The butterfly was incredibly obliging and at one point I encouraged it to walk on to my finger and so that I could reposition it on a better flower head. After a while it flew into a nearby Salix to rest and I realised guiltily that I should try to tell my friends, and not having their phone numbers hurried off to catch them up, only to find that they had already left. After mating females descend to lay eggs but male Brown Hairstreaks rarely descend to feed so I felt especially privileged to spent so much time with such an obliging and pretty little butterfly. Without doubt one of my wildlife 'moments' of the year!

Brown Hairstreak Thecla betulae - Whitecross Woods (30/07/2011)

The First Frost

We woke up on Monday morning to the first frost of the Winter. It didn't turn out to be a hard frost and as the temperature rapidly rose it soon faded away. It seems hard to believe that this time last year there was snow on the ground and the country was in the grip of the big freeze that would last until the end of the year. In complete contrast, with Westerlies dominating, the weather this Autumn has been mild, wet and windy.

Frozen reeds (Western Turville Reservoir)

There'll be Bluebirds over...

A few days ago I found a copy of Local Life, a free magazine of 'news and views', nestling on top of the day's consignment of junkmail that had been violently forced through my letterbox. Packed with gardening tips, church news and adverts for mobile hairdressers, school fetes (a fete worse than death) and Dog-walking services, the arrival of this exciting magazine is always highly anticipated in our household! As I trod the well worn path to the recycling bin I glanced at the front cover and it stopped me in my tracks. An attractive seasonal scene featured couple of Bluebirds at a bird table feasting on Mealworms, a photograph obviously taken in America. A quick glance at Sibley's Birds of North America confirmed, as I had suspected, that they were female Eastern Bluebirds. Obviously the twit who had chosen the photo had seen the reddish breasts and had thought that they were Robins! Unless of course there are a couple of Bluebirds lurking in a garden in the Tring area! Now that really would be something.....

Late Butterflies and Dragonflies

The butterfly and dragonfly season just seems to go and on. On Sunday morning with the weather unseasonably warm, and we decided to take a long walk in the Chilterns, the plan being to end up at one of our favourite pubs. It felt more like a spring day and I was not surprised to see a few Red Admirals, a couple of Peacocks and a Brimstone out enjoying the mellow sun. Red Admirals are immigrants from Southern Europe and North Africa but there is now evidence that they are successfully overwintering in Britain. I recently saw a photograph of a Red Admiral resting on a snowdrop, taken in January! I was much more surprised to see a male Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum out and about. The flight period for this familiar little dragonfly is from late June to late October, making this a very late individual. Only a few days ago I came across a Migrant Hawker patrolling a pond in a garden I was working in - another late dragonfly. 

A Red Admiral was out in the late afternoon sun today, probably my latest ever butterfly record and possibly not my last sighting of the year as there are few more mild days to come. It certainly makes the Winter seem shorter!

Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - male

Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - female

Murderous Mute Swans

On Saturday morning with a cold North-westerly wind blowing in my face, I whiled away an hour or so on the jetty at Wilstone Reservoir, swapping news with Steve, a birding friend from Tring. We were watching a Water Pipit threading a path through a gaggle of sleeping Shovellers, as it worked it's way busily along the water's edge, when something rather strange caught my eye. For a few seconds I couldn't work out what was happening. A Mute Swan had clambered onto the back off another Swan and was pecking violently at it's neck and head as the half submerged victim swam slowly towards the spit in a desperate bid to escape. This proved to be a bad move as the stricken bird soon became beached in the shallow water and unable to break free, lay prostrate, neck outstretched as it's assailant rained down blows and attempted to hold it's head under water. Several other curious Swans soon gathered at the scene of the crime and I feared that they were going to join in the attempted murder, but instead they became very territorial and set about squabbling with each other. Steve told me that he had witnessed Mute Swans trying to drown each other before and had once seen a man in a rowing boat repeatedly beating a Swan with an oar in a bid to persuade it to release it's victim. We had begun to talk about the possibility of making a strategic rescue bid when the aggressor suddenly seemed to lose interest and stepped off it's bedraggled victim, who waddled unsteadily onto the spit, only to be chased away by another Swan. Many people believe that nature should be allowed to take it's course but I am a confirmed intervener, so I was relieved when the situation resolved itself without our help.

Eurasian Coot

I took these photos of an oddly marked Coot at Wilstone Reservoir way back in October 2009, so was quite surprised to see the same bird again a few days ago. Coot numbers are building up at the reservoirs, probably encouraged by the low water levels, with at least 1500 at Wilstone recently.

Eurasian Coot Fulica atra - Wilstone Reservoir (18/10/09)

Eurasian Coot Fulica atra - Wilstone Reservoir (18/10/09)

Red Admiral

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (5/7/2008)

This morning I found a beautiful Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta, basking lazily on a clump of flowering ivy in the mellow late Autumn sun. It has been a good year for these elegant butterflies and there are still plenty on the wing in Gardens and Orchards taking advantage of the mild October weather. Sadly, it looks as if the butterfly year is about to end with the weather forecast to turn cold, windy and wet next week. It will be a long wait until Spring when the first Brimstones are on the wing again!

 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (5/7/2008)

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (19/7/2006)

In The Pines

''In the Pines, In the Pines,

Where the sun never shines''

The Triffids - In the Pines, 1986

Pine plantations can be dull and depressing places, devoid of life and sound. The sun struggles to penetrate the dense evergreen canopy and little grows on a forest floor that is often cloaked in a thick blanket of dead needles. This photograph was taken in Baldwin's Wood, near Wendover in early March this year. The winter sun lighting up the bright green moss at the base of the trees brings some welcome colour to the otherwise gloomy scene.

Baldwin's Wood, near Wendover (05/03/2011)

Adonis Blue

I've come to the conclusion that the Blues are some of my favourite Butterflies. Maybe it's because they are such a familiar and welcome sight dancing over the grassy slopes of the Tring area or perhaps it's because they provide a real identification challenge, as anyone who has been butterflying in Southern Europe will know only too well. Maybe it is that these tiny glittering jewels are so redolent of high Summer in England. Whatever the reason there is no doubt that of all the Blues, the most beautiful must be the sky blue Adonis. I have spent many hours this summer photographing these glorious little butterflies at Radnage, near Princes Risborough. The small population on the grassy south facing slope above the village has been in decline recently but this year made a spectacular recovery, with a particularly strong second brood in August and early September. Sadly, the late summer weather was not kind, with constant cool nagging wind and low light levels, which suppressed butterfly activity and made photography a bit of a challenge. The Butterflies were often buried deep in the grass or clinging on for dear life to wildly shaking grasses and flowers. It took several trips to Radnage and a huge amount of patience before I had some pictures I was happy with. The Adonis Blue is our rarest blue, having suffered a long term decline due to agricultural intensification, so it is great to know that it's numbers are now rising thanks to careful land management and grazing. Losing such a beautiful butterfly would be unthinkable.

Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus  (Radnage, 21/08/2011)

Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus  (Radnage, 21/08/2011)

Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus  (Radnage, 21/08/2011)

Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus  (Radnage, 21/08/2011)

Incombe Hole

September has flown by and summer is slipping into Autumn. A music festival in Dorset and then a holiday in Norfolk has left me little time to get out and about locally and of course the penalty for taking time off when you are self-employed is that there is always a mountain of work to catch up with. Things have calmed down now and on Saturday morning I decided to head for the hills and spend a couple of hours at Incombe Hole, a narrow, steep-sided valley just south of Ivinghoe Beacon. The trees and scrub at the bottom of the Hole are excellent for migrant passerines and I was spurred on by the news that a friend had found a Firecrest in the area earlier that morning. It was a windy morning but in the relative calm of the valley it was obvious that there was a lot of activity. Blackcaps gorged themselves on Elderberries and several Chiffchaffs flitted restlessly through the bushes, a large flock of Mistle Thrushes burst angriliy from the trees and a Raven kronked lazily overhead, but there was no sign of the Firecrest. Birding was curtailed for a while, when a noisy group of people climbed down the slope and milled about at the bottom for a while, before realising that they couldn't think of anything to do and then climbed noisily back up again. I occupied myself for a while with the late Summer butterflies that had been encouraged out by the warm weather. Speckled Woods danced in the morning sun, a very faded and ragged Common Blue basked on a patch of bare earth, a few Small Heaths flitted about and this beautiful fresh Brimstone Gonepteryx ramni perched for a while on a Clustered Bellflower Campanula glomerata.

Brimstone Gonepteryx ramni (24/09/2011)

Despite the warm weather the seasons are changing and the signs of Autumn are everywhere. The dry chalky slopes are still studded with Clustered Bellflower, Autumn Gentian and Devilsbit Scabious, but the flowers are slowly fading away. The Whitebeam Trees are laden with bright red berries, the Hawthorn bushes are turning brown and a multitude of Mushrooms are exploding through the soil. This pristine Dung-heaped Ink Cap Coprinelluss cinereus, growing from some Sheep droppings, caught my eye. This common mushroom, also known as Grey Shag has a conical white cap, covered in flaky white scales, that gradually turns a smoky grey as it expands.

Dung-heap Ink Cap Coprinelluss cinereus (24/09/2011)

Late Summer Butterflies

Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus  (Radnage, 21/08/2011)

Silver-spotted Skipper  Hesperia comma (Aston Rowant, 14/08/2011)

Brown Hairstreak Thecla betulae (30/07/2011)

Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (Radnage, 15/08/2011)

Cornfield Flowers

Common Poppies Papaver rhoeas and Cornflowers Centaurea cyanus (14/06/2008)

These plants were all photographed at the College Lake Cornfield project, which is an attempt to conserve several rare and plants, such as Corncockle and Pheasants Eye, both sadly extinct in the wild in Britain. The small cornfield, which is cultivated traditionally using vintage farm equipment, is at it's most colourful in June and July, and it is a sobering thought that not so long ago our arable fields were full of these beautiful plants. Tragically, intensive agriculture and the relentless drive for cheaper food means that sights like this have been lost forever from our countryside.

Common Corncockle Agrostemma githago (26/06/2008)

Pheasant's Eye Adonis annua (06/06/2010)

Cornflower Centaurea cyanus (20/06/2008)

Crested Cow-wheat Melampyrum cristatum (06/06/2010)

Yellow Bird's-nest

Yellow Bird's-nest Monotropa hypopitys, also known as Dutchman's Pipe or Pinesap, is a strange herbaceous plant completely devoid of functional leaves and unlike most plants, containing no chlorophyll. It is a saprophyte, obtaining it's food from decaying organic material in the soil by forming a mycorrhiza (symbiotic relationship) with fungi that have formed a mycorrhiza with nearby trees. In this way the Yellow Bird's-nest is able to feed without the need for photosynthesis. The tiny fleshy plants are between 10cm to 35cm, flowering in woodland from early summer to mid autumn, the small bell-like flowers drooping before becoming erect as the plant begins to fruit. Plants that flower in summer are tinged yellow, whereas those that flower in autumn are coloured pink. I found this lone plant whilst attempting to photograph Narrow-lipped Helleborines on a steep, slippery roadside bank near Princes Risborough. The tiny plant was just peeping through the leaf litter and could have been easily overlooked - in fact I nearly trod on it. I revisited the site a week later and the plant had grown to about 3 cms and I was able to confirm it's I.D and take a few photographs.

Yellow Bird's-nest Monotropa hypopitys (August 2011)

Great Green Bush-cricket

I came across this beast a couple of weeks ago, whilst hunting fruitlessly for Adonis Blues on the grassy slopes above Radnage village. I was surprised to bump into a friend whom I had not seen for some time, also searching for butterflies. Confidently claiming that he could hear a Great Green Bush-cricket Tettigonia viridissima singing above the hum of Meadow and Field Grasshoppers he set about tracking one down and soon found one clinging to a tangle of grass stems. Grudgingly, I had to admit to being rather impressed! It was a good lesson in the importance of learning the songs of Grasshoppers and Crickets if you want to find and identify them. Frustratingly, it took me ages to tune in to the loud, high pitched song, especially as high above us two Red Kites were screaming furiously as they harried and chased a Common Buzzard. At about 5 centimetres long the Great Green Bush-cricket is Britain's largest insect and is found sporadically throughout the south on rough grassland, overgrown scrub and hedgerows. The stridulation (song) of the this vivid green cricket sounds like a sewing machine or maybe a bicycle free-wheeling downhill and can be heard up to 50 metres away, but is ventriloquial, making the insect frustratingly difficult to track down. The Great Green Bush-cricket is a poor flier and relies on excellent camouflage and an impressive jump of up to a metre to escape danger. It also has a fierce bite and is quite capable of drawing blood!

Great Green Bush-cricket Tettigonia viridissima - Radnage ( 01/08/2011)

Great Green Bush-cricket Tettigonia viridissima - Radnage ( 01/08/2011)

Great Green Bush-cricket Tettigonia viridissima - Radnage ( 01/08/2011)

Great Green Bush-cricket Tettigonia viridissima - Radnage ( 01/08/2011)

Common Toad

One of the real characters of the British countryside, how could anyone not love a Toad?

Common Toad Bufo bufo (26/09/2009)

Chalkhill Blue

I have been spending quite a bit of time recently chasing Adonis Blues over the dry chalky slopes above the tiny village of Radnage, near Princes Risborough. Unfortunately the recent dull and windy weather has made butterfly photography incredibly difficult. and at times virtually impossible. Trying to take a picture of an Adonis Blue, in low light, as it clings on for dear life to a wind tossed flower can be a bit of a challenge and the poor weather is especially frustrating as I have a new 105mm macro lens to play with! Luckily there were hundreds of Chalkhill Blues to keep me occupied in between sporadic Adonis sightings. As I tramped across the slope they rose in their dozens from the short grass, glittering and spinning away from me before disappearing, just as suddenly, back into the vegetation. Every so often the sun would break through the low clouds and the nagging wind would briefly drop, encouraging a few butterflies to climb the stems of plants and grasses to bask in the transitory warmth.

It seems only moments ago that I was anticipating the first Brimstone of the year and now the butterfly season is drawing inexorably to a close. The second brood of Brimstones are flying and Red Admirals are haunting gardens and orchards waiting for Autumn's rotting fruit. I always get a bit melancholic at this time of year as the butterflies slowly fade away, like lights being switched off one by one. It seems sad that all that colour and beauty should brighten our lives for such a short time. The party is coming to an end for another year.

Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon, mating pair - Radnage (15/08/2011)

Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon, female - Radnage (15/08/2011)

Common Rock-rose

The bright yellow flowers of Common Rock-rose Helianthemum nummularium brighten the hot south-facing hills of the Chilterns throughout the Summer. This beautiful little trailing plant is the larval food plant for several species of butterfly, including Green Hairstreak, Brown Argus and Silver-studded Blue. It also provides an excellent source of nectar for bees and food for several species of small beetles. I have yet to come across one, but pink and white colour variants are occasionally found. Common Rock-rose is a member of the Cistaceae family and as the genus name Helianthemum suggests is sometimes known as the Sun-rose. There are eight sub-species found throughout much of Europe.

Common Rock-rose Helianthemum nummularium, Ivinghoe Beacon, 19/07/2011

Late Summer Butterflies

A gallery of some the Pieridae and Nymphalidae commonly seen flitting across the dry flowery slopes in the Tring area at this time of year.

Green-veined White Pieris napi - female

Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus - male

Large White Pieris brassicae - female

Marbled White Melanargia galathea

Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni - female

Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina - male

Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria - male

Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus - female

Comma Polygonia c-album - female, possibly of the form hutchinsoni

Small White Pieris rapae - male