Chalkhill Blue

It was an wonderful summer for Chalkhill Blues Lysandra coridon and back in late August I was still hoping to take some decent shots of the secretive females, but poor weather meant that by the end of the month the few remaining butterflies were looking decidedly tatty and past their best. So to cheer myself up as Autumn spirals into Winter I have dug out a few photos from August 2008, taken on a warm, cloudy late afternoon on the northern slopes of Ivinghoe Beacon. Female Chalkhill Blues can be quite elusive spending much of their time crawling around in the short grass but on this day, perhaps because it was overcast and humid, they were very showy, often settling for long periods on the purple blue heads of Devilsbit Scabious Succisa pratensis.

Surely there can be few more entrancing sights than dozens of silvery Chalkhill Blues dancing across the flowery slopes of the Chilterns in the late summer sunshine!

Female Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)

The two images above illustrate the marked difference between the darker undersides of the brownish females and those of the paler silvery blue males.

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008) on Devilsbit Scabious

Female Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)

Dark Green Fritillary

The last gasp of Summer is over, Autumn is suddenly upon us and apart from the occasional Red Admiral still lingering around the last fallen fruit the Butterflies have gone, their brief, brilliant lives over for another year. So with fast shortening days and colder nights and Winter creeping ever closer it seems like a good time to look back at some of the highlights of what has been a wonderful year for Butterflies.

Dark Green Fritillaries Argynnis aglaja were out in spectacular numbers in late June and July racing across the sunny south-western slopes of Ivinghoe Beacon where the knapweeds and thistles they love so much grow in abundance. These powerful, fast flying butterflies, flighty and easily disturbed, rarely settle for long before speeding off to the next flower head and can be quite a challenge to get close to, let alone photograph successfully.

I spent a hot and frustrating morning at the end of June on Ivinghoe Beacon but came away without a single worthwhile photograph as the fritillaries, buzzing with sunshine rarely settled for more than a few seconds. I decided to make a return trip a few days later. It was late afternoon and much cooler and the butterflies, in a calmer mood were far more approachable, often settling on the Greater Knapweeds for long periods. Even so, obtaining some reasonable shots still involved an exhausting couple of hours running up and down the steep slopes in an effort to keep up with these active, fast moving butterflies!

Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja - Female (01/07/2010)

Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja - Female (left) and Male (right) - (01/07/2010)

The photos below show an unusual female Dark Green Fritillary found on Ivinghoe Beacon that looks very similar to the Scottish subspecies aglaja. This is the first time I have come across this beautiful boldly marked variation, much deeper and richer in colour with the fore-wings thickly veined and shot through with black.

Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja - heavily marked dark Female - (01/07/2010)

Honey Fungus

Whilst I was out and about in Hockeridge Woods last weekend I came across this impressive clump of Honey Fungus Armillaria growing, as is typical, near an old infected tree stump. It is the fruiting body of the most destructive fungal disease found in British gardens, spreading underground, attacking and killing the roots of trees and woody perennial plants. Unlike most parasites, Honey Fungus does not have to control its growth to avoid killing its host, as it can feed and thrive off the dead plant material. Honey Fungus is the bane of gardeners as there is no way of killing it or controlling its rapid spread. In some of the gardens I have worked in over the years I have seen fruit trees, beautiful hedges and mature shrubs destroyed, and sadly there is nothing that can be done except to dig up the infected plant and burn it. No plants are immune to attack from Honey Fungus and only a few, such as Taxus (Yew) have any resistance at all.

Honey Fungus is actually a common name given to several species of Armillaria fungi of which seven are found in Britain. I was amazed to find that Armillaria are very long lived and form some of the largest living organisms on the planet. The largest single organism, of the species Armillaria ostoyae, which is found occasionally in Britain, is a thousand years old and covers an area of over three square miles in size. Quite mind boggling!

Honey Fungus Armillaria (03/10/10)

Amethyst Deceiver

It's been a bumper year for Mushrooms and Toadstools and so I decided to take advantage of a pleasant sunny Saturday morning to go Fungus hunting in Hockeridge Wood near Berkhamsted, a mix of Coniferous plantation, Oak, Birch and Beech and an ideal habitat for Fungus. I was amazed at the sheer number of species on display, although many had been spoilt by the previous weeks heavy rain and were looking a bit faded and washed out. One of the first species that I came across was a large stand of Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria, a species I was hoping to photograph, but sadly they were well past their best and looking at rather tatty. There were many large and spectacular species on show but the one that captured my attention was the tiny and beautiful Amethyst Deceiver Laccaria amethystea, pushing up through the damp leaf litter. These tiny violet mushrooms are very easy to overlook, but are quite magical as they catch an occasional pool of dappled sunlight in the dark woodland shadows. Amethyst Deceivers can be seen all over the UK between August and November in a variety of moist woodland habitats, but are most often found near Beech trees. When wet the Amethyst Deceiver is a lovely deep violet and can be quite hard to spot in the dark leaf litter, but then becomes more visible as it dries and fades to a pale powdery lilac or white colour. Although edible they are apparently difficult to cook as tending to fall apart. I haven't eaten them myself as I am a completely paranoid about eating wild mushrooms!

Amythyst Deceiver Laccaria amethystea

Yellow Flag

Yellow Flag Iris pseudacorus, which is also known as Flag or more prosaically as Yellow Iris, decorates the borders of ponds, rivers and lakes from May to August throughout the UK, and is only absent from the Scottish Highlands. The name Flag may have originally come about when the iris was used as a symbol on the battle flag of Clovis, a 5th century King of the Franks, although this may be apocryphal. Yellow Flag seems to have had an amazing number uses to man over the centuries. Dye can be obtained from the the flowers and leaves and the roots produce a black dye used in ink called rather ominously Sabbath Black and roasted seeds can be used as a coffee substitute. The rhizomes were used to treat a variety of ailments including coughs, bruising, toothaches and ulcers and the powdered roots were used to be clear head colds. Irises were also hung over doors to ward of evil spirits in the Middle Ages.

The leaves of Yellow Flag provide food for some moth caterpillars including Water Ermine and Belted Beauty, as well as dragonfly larvae and large stands in Western Scotland form an important habitat for Corncrakes.

This photo taken in June last year at College Lake looks slightly like a studio shot, but the dark background which sets off the flower so well is actually shadowy water and vegetation.

Yellow Flag Iris pseudacorus

Migrant Hawker

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta is now a familiar sight at ponds, gravel pits and reservoirs in the southern half of England but up until the 1940's was only seen as a scarce migrant, hence the name. A small population established in the south east and spread rapidly north and west and now the large resident population is regularly boosted by big influxes from the Continent. This attractive medium sized Hawker is on the wing from late August until well into October and can often be seen in large numbers flying at tree top height in woodlands and parks and often visits garden ponds along with the larger Southern Hawker. Migrant Hawkers are slightly smaller than the other Hawkers and to me appear neater, flying with the abdomen conspicuously tilted upwards. They seem very inquisitive often flying quite close to investigate, hovering motionless for a few seconds before darting away.

I spent over two hours in the hot late afternoon sunshine at College Lake Nature Reserve last Friday photographing these colourful dragonflies with some success as they were frequently perching up on reeds, the leaves of Yellow Flag Iris pseudscorus and Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria which grow profusely at the waters edge. The picture below shows the diagnostic 'golf tee' marking on abdominal segment two, and the blue band at it's base.

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (03/09/2010)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (03/09/2010)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (03/09/2010)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta on Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria (03/09/2010)

Its always a challenge photographing Dragonflies, but because Migrant Hawkers frequently hover, one of my aims was to try and take some flight shots, but frustratingly all my efforts came to nothing with the results either slightly out of focus or much too distant. So I have had a rummage in the archives for some slightly more successful pictures, taken at the same small pool at College Lake back in September 2008.

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (20/09/2008)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (20/09/2008)

Dragons Teeth

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus is a perennial native to central and southern Europe found as far east as the Ukraine and north to Sweden, but is only found as an alien in Britain where it is naturalised in only a few locations in Kent, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Gloucestershire. Dragons Teeth is a member of the Pea (fabaceae) family which creates a dense mat which can carpet large areas of dry calcareous ground. The large yellow pea-flowers are marked by delicate brown veins and the little pods can be eaten when young. These photos were taken at College Lake Nature Reserve near Tring where Dragon's Teeth makes a spectacular sight growing profusely on the dry chalky banks.

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus (04/09/2010)

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus (04/09/2010)

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus (04/09/2010)

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus (04/09/2010)