Friday 27 May 2016

Friday Flutters.



My butterfly transect walk earlier this week through the woodland glades on Ashtead Common only produced two species; Brimstone and Speckled Wood (see image left) plus views of several Speckled Yellow, a day flying moth patrolling the open tracks; so on Thursday I decided to wander the southern chalk downland slope at Denbies Hillside.









Before tackling the downward slope I wandered across the upper meadow; the track-way lined with buttercups; and spotted numerous Five-spot Burnet moths amongst the grasses.

Five-spot Burnet.

A mating pair.




Descending the slope towards the gate provided my first view this year of a Common Blue perched low down in the grassy sword keeping out of the north-easterly breeze.

A few Brimstone and a solitary Orange-tip were also seen patrolling the field edge.










I was also delighted to see decent numbers of our commonest grassland species, the tiny Small Heath, which from past experience rarely perch for very long but I found one individual that sat just long enough for the lens to focus on it.


Small Heath.

My peripheral vision locked onto another inconspicuous and well camouflaged species, a Green Hairstreak, also hiding deep in the hillside vegetation. 

Green Hairstreak.

Deciding to take a rest and eat my packed lunch close to a bare patch of chalk was a good choice as I was shortly able to enjoy decent views of a fresh male Adonis Blue.

Adonis Blue (male).


On reaching the bottom of the slope I eventually came across a female Adonis Blue (see below).

Adonis Blue (female).

Finally a shot of the hillside resident that is a very important grazing species on the downs, necessary for creating very fine, short turf that is required by the rare Adonis Blue and other downland species.


Linking to:
Saturday's Critters

8 comments:

  1. This is a gorgeous area you have to walk and explore adn all these photographsare wonderful Frank. Have a lovely weekend.

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  2. I had no idea small heaths were so common! They are hard to keep track of, but I'd have thought there are far more meadow browns.

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  3. How many different beautiful butterflies you have seen and "caught"!!
    Adonis Blue is my favourite =)

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  4. Frank, are those not Narrow-bordered Five Spot Burnet moths? We only discovered them up here recently. I think everyone had been assuming they were Six Spots!

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  5. It's like a psychedelic moth. Totally cool Frank. Love the butters too. I haven't seen a light blue one here in the States. Carol

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  6. The 5 SB is a real blast from the past - we used to see some many of those where I was a kid. Black and yellow caterpillars if I recall correctly.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne (airport)

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  7. Hello, beautiful collection of butterflies. I think my favorite are the male and female Adonis Blue, they are lovely. The Five spot Burnet is colorful. Great series of photos and a nice walk. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!

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I hope you enjoyed your visit and I always appreciate your comments and feedback.

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