The recent settled warm and sunny weather has spurred on the emergence of our summer butterflies. A very common but nevertheless welcome sight are the first Meadow Brown's.On the 4th June at Bouldnor there were a flurry of them with at least twenty plus recorded and today at the same location I came across at least two Large Skipper. Rather belatedly for me was also a first sight this season of the Dingy Skipper
Back on the Isle of Wight the Glanville Fritillaries are now gracing the slopes of the Sea Cliff Landslip at Freshwater and all along the south west coast of the Island. Not many to be seen today and I wonder if emergence has been delayed due to earlier weather conditions. The habitat photos below show typical Glanville terrian on the Landslip.
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| Male |
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| Female |
A butterfly encountered on numerous occasions during my wanders along the tracks around our holiday base were skippers. All attracted to the roadside flowering plants and the garden flowers. There are records of three species of skipper on Rhodes,however the one I was hoping to see was the Laventine Skipper Thymelicus hyrax, which is restricted to a few eastern Aegean Islands, although there are a couple of regions in mainland Greece where they can be found.The other two species on Rhodes are the Lulworth Skipper Thymelicus acteon and T. sylvestris the Small Skipper.
All are difficult to identify,at least for me, so I thought it wise to consult an expert on my return home. The result was not what I had hoped for and the Levantine Skipper was not among the photographs I had taken. Still,I had managed to photograph the remaining two species and they can be seen below,duly captioned.
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| Lulworth Skipper |
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| Small Skipper |
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| Lulworth Skipper |
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| Lulworth Skipper |
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| Lulworth or Small Skipper |
The Aegean Meadow Brown Maniola telmessia, is found on the island of Rhodes and as similar species are not present it is safe to say that identification is certain. I was pleased to see quite a few of these this month (May) although I noted that there were a notable lack of female sightings. Perhaps the females were under cover before egg laying.
Over the last few years I have been lucky enough to encounter the impressive Two-tailed Pasha butterfly. Not only in the field but on several occasions around our holiday pool. In Rhodes this month this magnificent butterfly appeared poolside and helped itself to my Mythos beer. Spending some time on the can it eventually flew off. However this was not the only time we were fortunate enough to see it as it returned at least three times in the next few days to sound out my wife's beaker of dry white wine and explore what other goodies it could find on my wife's skin and on the table. What a treat
Almost four years have passed since I last made a visit to the Greek Islands ,so a holiday to the island of Rhodes was much anticipated. There is still a burst of colour from flowering plants along the trackways and fields in May to tempt the butterflies. However despite being a rather small brown skipper I was pleased to encounter the Pygmy Skipper,Gegenes pumilio, by the side of a track as pictured below. Although a very fast moving butterfliy it was good enough the settle on this stone.
Following a cloudy start to the day ,this afternoon was sunny and warmer with a brisk breeze. And the butterflies responded with another new spring species at Whiteway's. The single Green Hairstreak has now been joined by another of the same and that can be confirmed by the different underside markings,as seen below. The other new arrival today was this Grizzled Skipper shown in the following photo.
With the first appearance of the Green Hairstreak at Whiteway's on the 23rd of this month,I would have expected to see other spring species following very soon afterwards at this site. However to date the Green Hairstreak is still a lone occupant. As the weather is now it seems improving, I am hopeful that everything will quickly catch up.
With little new to see at Whiteway's today I visited Bouldnor Forest and all was quiet with just four species on show. Brimstone male's were evident along with this female resting on a bramble in the sun. Several Speckled Wood were recorded as well as a first Comma sighting of the year.
Persistent visits to Whiteways at Freshwater Bay finally paid off today with a first spring butterfly sighting of the year. This single Green Hairstreak was observed feeding on the usual flowering plants that are found at the site.
Although not as memorable as the species in my last post a good number of butterflies have visited my garden this summer, attracted mainly by our flowering Buddleia. Apart from the more common garden butterflies there have been visits on several occasions by the Dark Green Fritillary and more recently Wall Brown. In addition Painted Lady was first seen in the garden back in May and also today when this individual spent some time nectaring
In my back garden there is a well established Everlasting Sweet Pea plant. It has now grown to a good size and flowers profusely. At this time of the year I always look out for the possibility of a visiting Long-tailed Blue as I have just one record on the 23rd August 2019 when a female was seen briefly close to the same plant. So it was with some excitement that I recorded one today flying vigorously around and landing several times on the flowers.
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Today in Bouldnor Forest the butterflies were numerous in the bright but sometimes cloudy weather. Now that the Yellow Fleabane is in flower it is a magnet for summer butterflies. Among the species enjoying the flowers were three Painted Lady, all in prime condition and therefore perhaps local emergents. In addition Silver-washed Fritillary now seem to be more evident although some showing signs of wear and tear. At least four males were recorded either nectaring on Thistle or Hemp-agrimony. In the more open forest areas I came across a couple of Wall Brown.
A morning visit to Bouldnor Forest was rewarded with the sighting of three summer butterflies. We are enjoying a few days of warm sunny weather and the butterflies obviously responded. I quickly came across a White Admiral as it energetically fluttered in and out of the small trees and bushes at the side of the track. In all at least four individuals were recorded. It was also a thrill to see a first Silver-washed Fritillary of the year .The male was seen thrree times as he speedily flew along the ride. The visit was concluded with a single Marbled White.
