Autumn Ladies Tresses in Bexhill - 15th August

The Autumn Ladies Tresses are now showing really well on the bowling green in the Polegrove.

Autumn Ladies Tresses

Autumn Ladies Tresses

Autumn Ladies Tresses

Autumn Ladies Tresses

Autumn Ladies Tresses

Steyning Rifle Range & Mill Hill - 15th August

A trip to the rifle range at Steyning to see Brown Hairstreaks proved ultimately successful with one female being seen at about 10.30 a.m., as well as a Speckled Wood. Thereafter headed off to Mill Hill near Shoreham which seems to be the best place to see Adonis Blues. Managed to find several pairs mating.

Female Brown Hairstreak

Female Brown Hairstreak

Speckled Wood

Male Adonis Blue

Male Adonis Blue

Adonis Blues mating

Adonis Blues mating

Adonis Blues mating

Horseshoe Plantation - 13th August

Lots of Chalkhill Blue activity with several pairs mating plus a Red Admiral and Common Blue.

mating Chalkhill Blues

mating Chalkhill Blues

Red Admiral

Common Blue

Common Melilot

Fore Wood - 12th August

A cloudy day with not so much butterfly activity and hence a good opportunity to photograph some of the many different flowers that grow in Fore Wood together with the associated insect life.

Gipsywort

Water Mint

Wood Sage

Hemp Agrimony

Wild Basil

Hardhead

Golden Rod

Meadow Pea

White Clover

Spotted Longhorn Beetle

Slow Worm

Steyning Rifle Range & Polegrove Bexhill - 11th August

Steyning Rifle Range is a former target shooting range which has now become a mecca for those wishing to see Brown Hairstreaks in Sussex. The females usually start to fly about ca. 10.30 a.m. provided that there is sufficient sun and the air temperature is high enough. On this occasion we saw just one female Brown Hairstreak during the couple of hours we spent searching the site.

female Brown Hairstreak

Back at base I looked over the Autumn Ladies Tresses which grow on the bowling green in the Polegrove in Bexhill. Some of them are just starting to come into flower.

Autumn Ladies Tresses

Autumn Ladies Tresses

Horseshoe Plantation - 7th August

The second brood of Adonis Blue have just emerged at Horseshoe Plantation. Other highlights were Essex Skipper, Small Skipper, Small Blue and Brown Argus.

male Adonis Blue

Small Blue

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper

female Brown Argus

male Adonis Blue

male Adonis Blue

Small Blue

Park Corner Heath - 6th August

The second brood of the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary is distinctly smaller than the first brood, maybe by as much as 30%. However, it is almost as though the same amount of colour is now concentrated to give an even more intense butterfly. I managed to find four different individuals during ca. 2 hours of patiently looking for these beautiful specimens.

male Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

female Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

female Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Tugley Wood - 5th August

Tugley Wood is just over the border into Surrey and hence a 2 hour drive from Bexhill but is apparently a very reliable place to see Wood Whites. The drive was worth it as there were good numbers of the second brood, some of which were performing their curious 'courtship dance'. Also Silver-washed Fritillaries and Large Skipper.

female Wood White

male Wood White

female Wood White

female Wood White

Large Skipper

Fore Wood & Abbots Wood - 4th Aug

Visited Fore Wood in the morning to see the Silver-washed Fritillaries and also found Green-veined White, Painted Lady, Brimstone as well as Peacock and Meadow Brown.

female Silver-washed fritillary

Green-veined White

Green-veined White

Brimstone

Painted Lady

Peacock

 The afternoon was spent at Abbots Wood where the colony of Silver-washed Fritillary is much larger - even so it was a great surprise to see two different aberrations of this species within the space of a minute - the beautiful valezina and the not quite so attractive nigricans as well as the regular forms.

Silver-washed Fritillary ab valezina

Silver-washed Fritillary ab nigricans

male Silver-washed Fritillary