All the Leps are brown...

….and the sky was grey. I’ve been for a walk…

…at Aldbury Nowers (which doesn't fit into the Carpenters' song lyrics...at all, even with a crowbar). It's right on the edge of Herts, a SSSI and a chalk grassland. I joined a new friend for a wander and in spite of a serious lack of sunshine, we notched up all things winged & brown, and the occasional splash of colour:

Butterflies
Dingy Skipper 7
Grizzled Skipper 3
Brown Argus 5
Small Heath 3
Orange-tip 11
Brimstone 9
Green-veined White 1

Moths
Treble-bar (Aplocera plagiata)
Mother Shipton (Callistege mi)
Small Yellow Underwing (Panemeria tenebrata)
Burnet Companion (Euclidia glyphica)
Wavy-barred Sable (Pyrausta nigrata)
Common Purple & Gold (Pyrausta purpuralis)

Dingy, hoping for some sunshine

Grizzled Skipper

Brown Argus

Spot the moth!....a Treble-bar (Aplocera plagiata), I think, judging by this helpful ID tip 

Wavy-barred Sable (Pyrausta nigrata)  on a Common Rock-rose, I think

Small Yellow Underwing (Panemeria tenebrata)  on Common Mouse-ear, its larval foodplant

A whole lot of finger crossing

Mother Shipton moth (Callistege mi) by the A41 on 12^th May 2016

Yikes! Where did the last 12 days go?! Although butterfly numbers are low and late, I still seem to have spent inordinate amounts of time devoted to them. Last Monday, the 9^th, as part of the preparations for Duke of Burgundy (re)introduction, I scoured Roughdown Common and Bovingdon Brickworks for representative foodplants (Cowslip and Primrose) that females might choose for egg laying. It was then a case of labelling, photographing and mapping them all with a view to returning every 2 weeks to capture (photograph) their progress. The idea is that we’ll then have evidence to show that the sites can support the larvae right through to pupation….so long as these foodplants remain lush and edible (rather than desiccate in sun or drought). Fingers firmly crossed, prayers dispensed and mind set to "optimistic"!

Pyrausta aurata  (Small Purple and Gold or Mint Moth)  Roughdown 16/5/2016

Dingy Skipper, Brickworks, 12/5/2016. A male, indicated by the dark scent/sex-brands running through the forewings. These contain the androconial scales used during courtship

What else? Well, having religiously visited the A41 Bourne End/Boxmoor junction every weather-appropriate day since the beginning of May, the first Small Blues took flight on the 12^th. Just 3 of them and they were feeding feverishly on Grass Vetchling, Common Mouse-ear, Red and White Clover, Cowslips and Buttercups. Despite having no influence whatsoever on the survival of these little creatures, it hasn’t stopped me willing them through the winter, hoping all those tucked away larvae stay safe, and I felt as though I were greeting dear friends returned from a perilous adventure. I was so pleased to see them. Incidentally, 60-70% of the Kidney Vetch we planted at Roughdown and the Brickworks has taken, so, once again, fingers crossed for the future.

The best bird of the last week was the arrival of a Lesser Whitethroat jangling/rattling away at the western edge of the Brickworks. I wonder if it’s the same bird that turned up last year?

Not a Lesser Whitethroat but one of the many singing male Blackcaps around the Brickworks. This one hiding in a mess of Buddleja on Monday

On the botany front, I found a new patch of Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) at the Brickworks. This, along with plenty of Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria), Creeping Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans) and copious Bramble (Rubus fruticosus) is surely going to be tempting to any half-sane wandering Grizzled Skipper (a rare and restricted species in Herts and absent from BMT land). You guessed it, fingers firmly crossed.

Finally, I walked the Brickworks late afternoon yesterday. The Common Blue butterflies have yet to emerge and there’s still no sign of Brown Argus. The latter theoretically emerges the first week of May but my first sighting last year was the 10^th. This year, I’m anticipating that they’ll be slightly late but we’re definitely getting to the end of the window of expectation. All I can do is stay optimistic and hope for the best (no more fingers left to cross!).

High-end Fashion, Ancient Civilisations ...Dingy Skippers

Bovingdon Brickworks (BMT): I feel a bit sorry for the Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages). Its name doesn’t exactly inspire interest, unless, like me, you initially wondered whether it was pronounced dinghy, as in the skipper of a small sailing vessel....ahem. Anyway, as something of a county rarity, with just 17 butterflies recorded in Herts and Middlesex last year (excluding the Brickworks colony), it becomes a little more appealing. Up close, it’s really quite attractive, in a Burberry palette kind of a way: taupes and camels and caramels and, well, let’s face it, browns. Its patterning is subtle but it is beautiful, with a quiet Aztec echo, and I was more than happy when I had the opportunity on Sunday to photograph not just one, but three fresh specimens at the Brickworks.

Initially, I spotted a solitary settled butterfly. Later, I found a pair that were just coming together to mate, so I followed and photographed their progress too.

Finding a pair of rare butterflies that are just about to mate is wonderful. It’s exciting to find more than one at all, but to then watch them manoeuvre themselves into position, knowing that this very act will give rise to new life, is doubly exciting. Initially, they were tussling in flight and I thought they were sparring males. However, they landed together, hitched up and that was that. For the next 40 minutes, they were locked in union. Together they settled and together they moved.



In this second pair of images (below), I was pleased to capture the subtle greens and blues on the tips of the forewings, which were only evident when the sun was out. I guess there are a few microscopic scales here which, at certain angles, reflect the green/blue spectrum.



When the sun got a little too hot, both butterflies retracted their wings. Below, I caught the moment where underwing and upperwing were on show. From this angle, the burnt umber browns have taken on a lovely bronze shimmer.

Finally, I hope I've saved the best of the photos till last. Nature's Aztec artistry...

P.S. I spotted the first Small Copper & first Brown Argus of the season at the Brickworks on Sunday. Crossing my fingers more appear soon...

Dingy Skippers in Hertfordshire

Should your heart’s desire be a Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages), you’ll be hard-pressed to find one in Hertfordshire, unless you visit one or two key sites. Although distributed throughout Britain and Ireland, colonies are often small and localised, and numbers generally have declined rapidly in recent years. In Hertfordshire, it’s as rare as the Green Hairstreaks (Callophrys rubi), according to the results of the 2014 transect survey. There are small populations at Aldbury Nowers (6 recorded in 2013; 12 recorded in 2014); Shrubhill Common (4 recorded in 2014) and Tring Park (1 recorded in 2014).

Last year, I noted 3 possibly 4 Dingy Skippers at Bovingdon Brickworks (BMT), which is pretty good going given the other county records. Adults emerge the first week of May so I optimistically visited the Brickworks at the end of last week. No luck. But, today, I was really chuffed to find 2, although keeping track of them and getting even one photograph proved tricky. Best effort below - hopefully there will be other opportunities in the coming weeks.

[More on the Dingy Skippers, including a mating pair, HERE]

Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages), Bovingdon Brickworks, 4 May 2015

There’s no sign yet of last year’s Brown Argus (Aricia agestis) colony. The only other butterflies I saw today were 3 Small White (Pieris rapae), 5 Peacock (Aglais io) and 1 Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae). Not great going for warm conditions (15°C) with sunny spells.