White-letter Hairstreak
I quickly found a second one and they both regularly engaged in aerial skirmishes with each other, twirling upwards together before breaking away and settling on leaves but in different places. A third individual also appeared at times but never lingered for long.
White-letter Hairstreak
White-letter Hairstreak
White-letter Hairstreak
Another 2 then appeared, twisting and twirling in the air before both landing on the same leaf. They quickly positioned themselves back to back and then joined abdomens to commence mating and they stayed locked together for 30 minutes before eventually flying off in separate directions.
White-letter Hairstreaks
White-letter Hairstreaks
White-letter Hairstreaks
I then walked across to The Range, noting Pyramidal Orchids in the usual spot along the way. I spent around 30 minutes scanning the Elm tree at The Range but couldn't find any Hairstreaks present although I did see the distinctive marks made by their caterpillars on some of the leaves.
Pyramidal Orchids
I then decided to have a quick look at The Plym, the tide was heading in with 2 Shelduck and 2 adult Great Black-backed Gulls the only birds seen along the almost mud free river. A Whitethroat was singing along The Ride, a Blackcap and Chiffchaff were heard nearby and a House Martin, a Swallow, 2 Swift and 3 Buzzard were seen overhead.
A quick look around Chelson Meadow was almost butterfly-less with just a Meadow Brown, a male Orange-tip, a male Common Blue and 4 Large Skipper seen. Grass Vetchling was still in flower and I found a nice Ectophasia crassipennis feeding on an Umbellifer flower, a parasitic fly that is colonising the UK from Europe as the climate warms and only my second sighting of one after my first at Wembury in July last year.
Grass Vetchling
Ectophasia crassipennis
Tuesday 18th June was warm and sunny again as I headed out to Wembury for a walk. The June birding doldrums are well and truly here now with just the usual birds seen but it was an enjoyable walk none the less. The highlights were a single Gannet offshore, 2 (or possibly 3) Dartford Warblers at The Point, a summer plumaged Black-headed Gull off the main beach (presumably a returning failed breeder) and a noisy fledgling Raven constantly harrassing an adult bird in the horse field.
My first Ringlet of the year flitted past before landing out of sight amongst the brambles but a male Common Blue, a Speckled Wood, 4 Meadow Brown, a Large Skipper and a worn Green Hairstreak were a little more accommodating.
Battle Weary Green Hairstreak
It was still warm and sunny on another trip out to Horrabridge on Thursday 20th June to look for butterflies, there were still very few around despite the continuing warm weather but along with a male Brimstone, 2 Large Skipper and around 10 Meadow Brown I found a very smart Dark-green Fritillary.
Dark-green Fritillary
Dark-green Fritillary
Dark-green Fritillary
A Broad-bodied Chaser, 2 male Beautiful Demoiselle and 2 Golden-ringed Dragonfly were also buzzing about and I found a very nice Black-and-yellow Longhorn Beetle too.
Broad-bodied Chaser
Black-and-yellow Longhorn Beetle
There wasn't much around on the bird front as expected but Willow Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff were still in song and quite a few Willow Warbler fledglings were also seen. Siskins were still songflighting overhead and a male Grey Wagtail was feeding 2 fledglings along the small stream under the viaduct.
I have also had my broken Nikon ED50a telescope returned to me, I suppose one positive about my experience with Nikon was that I wasn't charged anything for it to be couriered to and from their workshop in Holland, nor for them to take a look at it. However to add to insult to injury I have since received an automated survey email from them about my "repair" which I duly completed and which was hardly complimentary and I then received another email from them thanking me for completing the survey and offering me 10% off any Nikon product!
David has repaired it with epoxy and fibreglass ribbon, it all seems fine and is correctly aligned up although it hardly looks pretty. I'm not too fussed about how it looks as it will be hidden away in its cover and wont be seen but it certainly seems very secure and hopefully shouldn't break again.
Repaired!
No comments:
Post a Comment