Butterflies At Last

After weeks of relentlessly grim weather Saturday dawned bright and sunny, and I decided that it would be a good day to look for butterflies. I started out at College Lake but a cold breeze was whipping across the lake and there was not a butterfly to be seen. My initial excitement started to wane, but a couple of Cuckoos calling in the distance and a hunting Hobby cheered me up, so I headed for Pitstone, where a little cutting at the base of a sunny chalk bank, once part of a quarry, always proves good for butterflies in Spring. The site was warm and sheltered and as I had hoped, full of activity. Dingy Skippers were all over the place, chasing each other over the short grass, and with a little searching I found a beautiful pristine Grizzly Skipper nectaring on a Buttercup. I stumbled across a Green Hairstreak, quietly resting on a leaf and watched fascinated as a small but ambitious spider lassoed one of its legs with silk and made a hopeless attempt to drag it away. This little scene kept me amused for a while until the Hairstreak grew weary of being pestered and flew away.

Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi, being lassoed by a spider, Pitstone (12/05/12)

I was leaving I bumped into some friends and decided to spend some time at Pitstone Fen, helping them with a butterfly survey. Wandering slowly round the fen we found a Small Blue, more Dingy Skippers and a few Green Hairstreaks. After this pleasant little interlude I headed to Ivinghoe Beacon to hunt for Duke of Burgundies and soon found a few of these beautiful little jewels in their usual sheltered gully. After so many days of terrible weather it was really heartening to feel the heat of the sun on the back of my neck and be surrounded by butterflies again.

Duke of Burgundy Hamearis lucina, Ivinghoe Beacon (13/05/12)

Female Orange-tip Anthocharis cardamines, Ivinghoe Beacon (12/05/12)

Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi, Pitstone (12/05/12)

Dingy Skipper Erynnis tages, Pitstone (12/05/12)

Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvae, Pitstone (12/05/12)

Spring....At Last!

Small Tortiseshell Aglais urticae

The Butterfly season is well under way thanks to the spell of warm, dry weather that we have been enjoying for the last week.
Whilst working today, I spotted several Brimstones making the most of the sunshine, along with a Small Tortoiseshell, a Peacock and my first Holly Blue of the year. Orange-tips and Commas were also been reported locally at the weekend. Today Wilstone Reservoir hosted a flock of 20 beautiful Little Gulls and with small numbers of Sand Martin, Wheatear and Chiffchaff all arriving in the last few days it feels as if Spring really is here at last.

Early Butterfies

Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae

I'm getting fed up with winter now and eagerly looking forward to Spring. The air smells different, the woods are full of birdsong, daffodils, crocuses and aconites are in bloom and surely it's only a matter of time before I see the first Brimstone.

To look forward you sometimes need to look back, so here are a few Butterfly photos taken over the last few years, although obviously not all in Spring. It is possible to see all these beauties in March if the weather is warm enough.

Brimstone Gonepterx rhamni

Orange-tip Anthocharis cardamines

Comma Polygonia c-album

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Spring Orchids

Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio

Common Spotted Orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Common Twayblade Listera ovata

White Helleborine Cephalanthera damasonium

Common Fragrant Orchid Gymnadenia conopsea

Man Orchid Orchis anthropophorum

Greater Butterfly Orchids Platanthera chlorantha

Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera

Birdsnest Orchid Neottia nidus-avis

Spring Butterflies

It's looking like another great butterfly year! The hot dry spring has seen several species on the wing remarkably early, including Duke Of Burgundy, Grizzled Skipper and Dingy Skipper. I rarely see any of these species before the end of April, but on Saturday morning, with the weather feeling more like mid-summer, I caught up with all three at Ivinghoe Beacon and Church End, near Pitstone Village. I found several Dukes pottering about in their usual sheltered gully near the Beacon and they posed nicely for me on Hawthorn leaves and grasses. If only all Butterflies were as easy to photograph! At Church End I counted 10 Dingy skippers but came away with taking a single shot. The newly emerged males, buzzing with sunshine were so concerned with chasing each other and battling for territory that they rarely had time to settle for more than a second. Orange Tips, Green Hairstreaks and Holly Blues are also out in good numbers and the first Red Admirals have emerged, although strangely I have yet to see a Comma, a species I would have expected to catch up with weeks ago.

Duke Of Burgundy Hamearis lucina (23/04/2011)

Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvea (18/05/2008)

Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi (23/04/2011)

Dingy Skipper Eynnis tages (14/05/2008)

This afternoon I set myself the task of taking some pictures of Orange Tip, a tricky butterfly to photograph well. Orange Tips are always on the move and when they do settle, often keep their wings half closed. I have just spent an energetic hour in the late afternoon sun running up and down the Cow Parsley clad banks of Wilstone, chasing after these delicate, flighty butterflies. I managed to grab a few shots before the temperature dropped as the bank went into shade and all the butterflies suddenly disappeared for the day.

Orange Tip Anthocharis cardamines (24/04/2011)

A Cuban Interlude

I have just returned from a wonderful trip to Cuba, and it feels as if I have come back to a different country than the one I left a few weeks ago. When I left in March the first hesitant signs of spring were showing, but winter was still clinging on grimly and the nights were cold and the weather unpredictable. I stumbled out on Friday morning, eyes blurry and head fuzzy with jet lag and was astonished at how much things have changed in just three short weeks. As I stepped out of the car at Wilstone Reservoir I was greeted by a racket of Blackcaps in the hedgerows. Chiffchaffs were singing all around and Swallows and House Martins were chattering happily above me. I spent a few minutes searching through a large group of Common Terns feeding noisily over the water, hoping to find an Arctic Tern, but with no success. The sounds of spring echoed all around me, the morning sun felt warm on the back of my neck and I instantly felt the post holiday blues melt away. Over at Marsworth, Sedge Warblers were making short noisy display flights over the reed beds and a Cetti's Warbler was shouting exultantly from the bushes on the far side of the reservoir. On Saturday morning I watched at least 20 Northern Wheatear chasing each other across the rabbit scarred slopes of Ivinghoe Beacon, the air filled with their angry tacking calls. Further along the slope I was lucky to have great views of a male Ring Ouzel, feeding boldly in the open until, suddenly spooked, it disappeared into a tiny Hawthorn bush. Ring Ouzels are one of my favourite birds and each spring I look forward excitedly to seeing one of these enigmatic and shy Thrushes. This morning, wandering idly round Wilstone on another glorious sunny day accompanied by the raucous cries of the Common Terns, I heard my first Cuckoo, singing and occasionally displaying over the reed beds - a sound that sums up the joy and thrill of Spring like nothing else. If you have to come home from holiday, what better time than Spring!

But it's my blog and I'll post what I want to! This is Cuba's national bird, the vivid and beautiful Cuban Trogon Priotelus temnurus, whose repetitive deep 'toctorok' call was a constant soundtrack to my time birding in the forests of one of the most colourful and friendly countries I have ever visited.

Cuban Trogon Priotelus temnurus (11/04/2011)

Spring

The first Swallow may not make a summer but the first Sand Martin means spring is here as far as I am concerned. I always wait with mounting excitement for the first spring migrants and today turned out to be a red letter day with the welcome sight of 6 Sand Martins busily feeding over the water at Wilstone Reservoir and a handsome male Wheatear along with a pair of Stonechats on the southern slope of Ivinghoe Beacon.

All this, and I saw my first Brimstone of the year, racing along a hedgerow in the warm morning sunshine. The fields are full of tiny tottering Lambs, Sweet Violet and Celandine are brightening the budding woods and everywhere Daffodils are exploding into flower. There's no doubt about it - spring is here!

Lamb on Ivinghoe Beacon (13/03/2011)