Walls

As I have no doubt said before, the hunt for Brown Hairstreaks symbolises, for me,  the end of the butterfly season. Last year, here in Sussex, we had an extension with Long-tailed Blues emerging at the end of October and even into November. The season is slowly winding down and soon it will be time to start looking for some elusive birds.

Over the last week I have visited some of my local sites and found that butterfly numbers have, at long last, increased. Good numbers of Red Admirals and Silver-Washed Fritillaries in particular, the odd Painted Lady and an emergence of some fresh Brimstones. Generally the condition of some of the specimens can be described as "well worn". It never ceases to amaze me that SwF males continue to make advances to females when most of their wings have disappeared and they can barely fly - driven solely by the urge to procreate. Later, I sat for an hour exactly between two territories of Walls, anything that flew through was vigorously intercepted and engaged, even the Dandelion seed heads that drifted past were attacked. Occasionally the two Walls would meet at the junction of their properties and mayhem ensued, no wonder I struggled to find one suitable for recording as they are constantly engaged in combat.

Last Thursday found me at Houghton, I live in hope of finding the SwF forma valesina on my patch, plenty of SwF about and I searched in vain. A single, very worn, White Admiral was nectaring on the Hemp Agrimony, a once stunning butterfly now full of holes. Back at Whiteways I was entertained by some freshly emerged Common Blues which I recorded.



Only a few scratches on this one

 

Monday I ventured to Anchor Bottom, again in search of some 2nd brood butterflies, this time - Adonis Blues - alas very little to be seen in the extensive wild flowers that cover the south facing slope. I also failed to find any sign of the Silver-spotted Skipper colony that used to be below the rabbit warren. It was all a bit depressing until a fly by of a Small Tortoiseshell had me puffing up the slope. I finally caught up with it as it came to rest on a sun baked cow pat - amazing how such beautiful creatures are attracted to so much poo! Not long before these slopes are covered in countless Autumn Lady's Tresses, another sign of the end of the butterflying year.

 

Tuesday, Martin picked me up and we set off for Tillets Lane Fields near Warnham, ostensibly for some late season Purple Hairstreaks and a slim chance of a Brown Hairstreak. With clear skies we were scouring the tops of some magnificent oaks, wondering if we were too late, when down fluttered a silver object that crash landed right in front of us - another worn specimen of what we had come for. And to top it all, on the way back to the car I found a male Brown Hairstreak, unfortunately I managed only two out of focus shots before it disappeared for good.

Proof - but no prize for the photo.

Next up was Madgelands Wood, again a search for possible late Purple Emperor and perhaps a White Admiral - no such luck. A fleeting glance of a large butterfly in the top of an oak was probably a purply, but there again no positive ID. So none of our targets were achieved but we were rewarded by some obliging Southern Hawkers, posing in the sunshine that penetrates the rides.

We finished the day touring the rides of Houghton Forest, lots of SwFs, Red Admirals and Brimstones but for me the blue female Common Blue was the best of the bunch.

More Fuerteventura Birds and Butterflies

 

Late one afternoon we staked out the fig trees on Tindaya Plain, hopeful that a Houbara would turn up. To say it was slow was an understatement, just two Cream-coloured Coursers ambling by.

Then the resident Raven entertained us, dining on the old figs, the heat was soporific but when a large, odd looking, brown animal crossed the road just yards in front of us I was bolt upright and wide awake. I had never seen anything quite like this and between us we hadn't got a clue to its identity, two more appeared, this time behind the car and further away, but I managed a quick shot. Subsequent research reveals that they are Canary Island Wild Dogs, take a look at the coat of arms of the islands - guess what? Two big brown dogs!

 

The final surprise came as three large Yellow-legged Gulls landed close by and joined the Raven feeding on whatever insects were popping up in what is virtually a desert.

 

We couldn't leave without a final visit to the agricultural areas around La Oliva. When we arrived a Kestrel was terrorising a flock of Trumpeter Finches, What a hoot, the birds sat on the top of a berm and directed a constant stream of alarm "Paaaaarps" at the post squatting Kestrel.

I finally investigated the Shrike's nest and recorded the juveniles.

 

As we left, one last Hoopoe graced us with his presence.

Whilst the primary targets for the holiday were avian oriented I couldn't ignore the chance of some exotic butterflies. I knew that Monarchs could be found at Betancuria and that Plain Tigers occurred in the car park at the Oasis Park Zoo down in La Lajita. Also a posting on Sussex Butterfly Conservation by Neil Hulme suggested that the place was alive with the African Grass Blue, Zizeeria knysna  so I was disappointed not to find one. Another mistake was not to photograph the large whites, I had dismissed them as "too common" when they are possibly are a separate species from our UK residents. Tolman states that Pieris brassicae are not known to occur in the Canaries - others disagree.


My holiday list:

Canary Islands Large White, Pieris cheiranthi??   La Oliva but everywhere in shaded 
greenery

Small White, Artogeia rapae                                     La Oliva but everywhere

Green Striped White, Euchloe belemia                    La Oliva

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui                                  everywhere in huge numbers.

Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta                                 La Oliva

Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus                       Tindaya Plain

Geranium Bronze, Cacyreus marshalli                    La Oliva and Betancuria

Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Leptotes pirithous           La Oliva and Rosa de los Negrines

Monarch, Danus plexippus                                        Betancuria

Plain Tiger, Danaus chrysippus                                Oasis Park, La Lajita

Greenish Black Tip, Elphinstonia charlonia             Rosa de los Negrines and El Cotillo

I haven't done any butterfly photography in hotter climes before and failed to realise just how active and unapproachable they can be. The Plain Tiger never came close enough for a macro shot so I resorted to using my 400mm f5.6 - it was either that or climb up into the ornamental flower beds at the zoo. Well that's my excuse anyway.

The Monarchs were deceptive too - they seemed to flop about but were actually quite quick and never really settled. The most obliging subject was the Lang's I had three and when the sun went in they posed perfectly. Whatever, here is what I managed to capture.


Geranium Bronze

Green Striped White

Lang's Short-tailed Blue

Monarch

Plain Tiger