Pyrausta purpuralis - shame it hasn't got an English name.
Edit: it doesn't have an English name in my books, but Maggie has found it is called the Mint Moth on the internet.
3 consecutive days at the Butterfly venue were basically similar, but each day had a particular character. Monday was warm, but extremely windy. The butterflies were still good, but maybe not as plentiful as the previous week. Tuesday was even warmer, but the butterflies were even less abundant apart from in the Butterfly Garden, which was the busiest I've ever seen it with insects. Wednesday at first was still in the process of recovering from heavy overnight rain and thunderstorms, but by the end seemed warmer than any of the subsequent mornings.
6-Spot Burnet-Moth
Gatekeeper - Monday
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Peacock
Gatekeeper - Wednesday
Each day began with a visit to the Butterfly Garden before embarking on the walk through the woodland. This was usually the best place to photograph Gatekeepers. There were some Burnet-Moths here too.
Male Silver-Washed Fritillary - slightly damaged wing
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Silver-Washed Fritillary (c) 2019 Paul Green
2 Silver-Washed Fritillaries
Underside of Female Silver-washed Fritillary
Female Silver-washed Fritillary
One of the major rides usually yielded fast flying Silver-Washed Fritillaries or gracefully gliding White Admirals over the bramble flowers. On Wednesday the Fritillaries were noticeably late emerging after the rain, but they were seen eventually. On Wednesday we hadn't been walking for long when Ben spotted a spiralling Hairstreak, as we watched we caught the bright orange colour of a Brown Hairstreak. Unfortunately, we didn't see it land. On Tuesday a former member photographed a White-Letter Hairstreak in the car park. However, when she showed me her photograph it also proved to be a Brown Hairstreak. That is the first one recorded this year at this location, as far as I'm aware. On Tuesday one of the only photographs of note was the underside of a White Admiral, which stayed on the underside of a leaf for at least a quarter of an hour.
White Admiral
Underside of White Admiral
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Upperside of White Admiral (c) 2019 Paul Green
Female Silver-washed Fritillary & White Admiral
White Admiral & Silver-Washed Fritillary (c) 2019 Margaret Richardson
Silver-Washed Fritillaries (c) 2019 Margaret Richardson
Silver-Washed Fritillary (c) 2019 Margaret Richardson
Underside of White Admiral (c) 2019 Margaret Richardson
White Admiral (c) 2019 Margaret Richardson
Wednesday was the quietest day from the human point of view, as most people assumed there wouldn't be that many butterflies which survived the heavy rain, so they kept away. The advantage was that we had the large triangular crossroads to ourselves. Ben spotted a Purple Emperor apparently taking off from the ground. We stayed and waited. It was seen flying high around an Oak and a conifer several times before quickly disappearing. I fired off several shots, but it was quite high, so the results weren't anything special.
Purple Emperor
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Mole
We carried on at the major crossroads, but last year's hairstreaks didn't reappear! A dead mole on Wednesday was a surprise. Every day a walk to the Elm twigs was a feature, but we attained a big fat zero of White-Letter Hairstreak sightings. Monday resulted in mating Silver-washed Fritillaries along the blackthorn hedge, and one eagle-eyed spouse of a class member identified a White Admiral from a long-distance away. The far glade was very good on Monday with several sightings of Purple Hairstreaks leaving an Oak tree for an Ash sapling, and even a pair were seen mating in a hawthorn bush.
Record shot of Purple Hairstreak
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Out-of-Focus Female Purple Hairstreak in flight
Two Purple Hairstreaks
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Underside of Purple Hairstreak
Last week we saw a Purple Emperor on the ground near the exit, and last year we had a smart Brown Hairstreak here, so we were full of anticipation this week. On Wednesday we had 3 things in this area. One was a Purple Emperor flying around the tree tops, a second was a Southern Hawker dragonfly feeding on a Speckled Wood. The third, and best may have been a slightly injured Purple Hairstreak which was in the same area. We photographed it on the ground and on a leaf before Maggie placed it in a safe place.
Last year's Brown Hairstreak (2 Aug)
Southern Hawker eating a Speckled Wood
The wings of a Speckled Wood fluttered to the ground
Male Purple Hairstreak
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The return to the car park can often result in a last minute highlight. On Monday it was an exquisite tiny purple moth - see blog header. Tuesday resulted in a fast moving hairstreak, which failed to land anywhere, so its species could not be identified. On Wednesday Maggie discovered a very late Broad Bordered Bee Hawk Moth on the buddleia right next to her car.
Broad Bordered Bee Hawk Moth (c) 2019 Maggie Bruce
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Overall the special Wednesday visit was a very successful morning despite the intense heat and the obnoxious Clegg flies!
