Birdwatcher’s Diary No.91

Published on: 22 Jul, 2015
Updated on: 22 Jul, 2015

By Malcolm Fincham

Still determination to be successful in our quest to get a sighting of a purple emperor butterfly, having being defeated in attempts to see one in my last report, Bob and I returned to Chiddingfold.

Knowing from my fortunate sighting of one last year, there would only be a small window of opportunity when the males of the species just might come down from their ‘master tree’ seeking minerals to feed on.

With them seeming to be later emerging this year, my optimism wasn’t very high. It took two more visits before we finally managed to get some decent photos.

On July 4 we did get a brief sighting of a male as it flew by and settled high in a nearby tree. Although personally satisfied by this, Bob, having not been with me last year to witness one come to the ground, was determined to do better. As decent weather continued on July 6 I got an invite from from him to return to the site.

I have curiously heard a saying in days gone by, that it is lucky to tread in dog poop; derived from ‘every cloud has a silver lining’, I guess. Although not doing so, as last year, fortune once again came my way, as within just a few minutes of us arriving one came down to feed on the minerals of a generously sized pile of it.

This is indeed is a common habit for these beautiful critters, and at a location in the local countryside where we can be grateful that people don’t pick up their dogs’ mess!

My friend Bob’s picture of the purple emperor.

With some patience we waited and watched until we saw it had sunk its proboscis  into its food source, indicating that it would now be preoccupied and that it would be safe to move in closer.

Purple emperor in its full blue-purple colour.

With Bob getting what I felt was the best picture of it, I was more fascinated than I was last year in getting shots to show how the colours of its wings change, depending on the different angles from which they are viewed. As shown in the selection of pictures I took.

Purple emperor with no sign of purple.

Purple emperor – more blue-purple seen from this angle.

Purple emperor – Just a tinge of purple.

Purple emperor (side view).

White admiral.

Several white admiral could also be seen in the area, giving us both the chance to get a few more photos.

Marbled white.

A trip across Pewley Down a few days later set the challenge for us to add a few more butterflies to our year sightings list. Although looking quite sparse of butterflies on this particular occasion, we were soon able to home in on a few marbled whites.

Kestrel on Pewley Down.

The delightful sound of two yellowhammers could be heard calling from the line of trees nearby. Overhead, a kestrel flew by low across the slope.

Red kite over Pewley Down.

Also looking up, a tatty looking red kite flew over, now starting to go through its summer moult of feathers.

Dark green fritillary (female) on Pewley Down.

We did come across and even photographed one of two dark-green fritillary butterflies as we walked the lower part of the slope there.

And despite what I consider to be a novice to the world of butterflies, we also managed to pick out three different species of skipper.

Small skipper.

The small.

Large skipper.

The large.

Essex skipper.

And the Essex.

Small tortoiseshell.

Also adding a small tortoiseshell.

Large white.

And large white to the day list.

Chalkhill blue (male).

Closer inspection along a small sloping section of the hillside revealed a small area of grassland giving us our first sightings of the year of both male and female chalkhill blues.

Chalkhill blue (male) with wings closed.

Chalkhill blue (female).

Chalkhill blue female (side view).

A view north from The Mount.

A few days later we visited the north facing fields of The Mount that looks towards Guildford Cathedral, where we were welcomed by the sound of a skylark singing its heart out overhead.

Ringlet.

Although an overcast morning, the grassland was full of movement from meadow brown, gatekeepers, as well as ringlet and marbled white butterflies. 

Grasshopper.

The long grass was also alive with various types of grasshoppers.

Surprisingly, our best butterfly pictures of the day came while visiting the lower part of the Mount Cemetery afterwards. At the far end where the grass had been less cared for we certainly found it alive with a variety of butterflies.

Common blue.

Common blue butterfly (side view).

Many seemed to be attracted to a privet bush now in flower. Included was a common blue, a similar species to the chalkhill blue.

Gatekeeper.

As well as lots of gatekeepers.

Although I was not in such a frenzy as many birdwatchers, we also found time for a trip to Pagham harbour in West Sussex to view the Hudsonian whimbrel during the first week of July.

This mega rarity to the UK has found its way across the Atlantic from America and has taken up residence there since its arrival. Although views of it were only distant we were able to pick out its distinctive dark rump though our telescope.

Leucistic curlew at Pagham.

I must confess however, although this was another ‘life tick’ for me, I was actually more impressed by the not so distant view of a leucistic curlew as it fed on the mudflats not so far away.

As always this time of the year in my local areas, birdwatching becomes more of a challenge, with fewer birds displaying. And with so many fledglings about at this present time, often the ones seen are not instantly recognisable.

Young robin.

Robins, for example, can look very different before developing their adult plumage.

Young stonechat.

Stonechats look quite unusual in their mottled feathers.

Young redstart.

While redstarts are often only recognised at a glance by their ruddy coloured tail feathers.

A young goldfinch begs food from its parent.

An easier one to recognise while on Thursley Common was a young goldfinch as it begged food from one of its parents.

Checking the pools there, many now at very low levels after a long spell of dry weather.

Dragonfly on Thursley Common.

Dragonfly.

Lots of different species of dragonfly could be seen.

Raft spinder on Thursday Common.

I even managed to pick out for the first time this year, a raft spider. A close relative of the fen spider.

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