Butterflies, Birds & Dragons, Somerset Levels 24th July

A mixed day of warm sunshine a strong breeze and a little cloud for our walk that would take us along the track end to end and return from Sharpham Ham Wall to Shapwick end, a total of 8.5 miles!

We started our walk from Ham Wall carpark and made our way past the first platform and onto the Avalon hide. Not too much going on from the hide but we did see Marsh Harriers and Great Egret over the reeds. Reed Bunting and Reed Warblers were still busy gathering food flying too and fro around the hide. 

As we left the hide we caught sight of a Hobby in the sky no doubt hunting for dragonflies. Our path then took us along the grassy path past the screens. From one of the screens we had a great but distant view of the island which was crammed with a Great and Little Egret, Lapwings, Black tailed Godwits, a Glossy Ibis, a couple of unidentifiable Sandpipers plus some duck species.

Eventually we joined the main track again and walked towards the Sharpham end keeping an eye out for the Little Bittern ...  just in case! 

 Plenty of Hemp-agrimony now in flower which was attracting a whole range of butterflies and other insects. What a superb plant! In fact for the day we saw a total of 15 species of butterflies. Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Small,Large & Green Veined Whites, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Brimstone, Ringlet, Painted Lady, Holly Blue and a Clouded Yellow.

Heading back towards Ham Wall we were lucky to see a Bittern fly off. Also plenty of Dragonflies around but seeing them settle and land for a while a different matter! The pond area at the carpark was also very rewarding for dragonflies.

Disappointing that the scrape area is now flooded in the hope of 'drowning the weeds' that have grown on the little islands. Not sure if this is a good idea and most certainly the birds and waders have gone elsewhere!

Still, it's a great walk along the track and drain and at the end where a mass of wild pea is growing we found a few fresh Brimstone butterflies. 

Another great day out with nature, you can't beat it!

Small White

                

                  Gatekeeper 

Red Admiral

               

                   Common Hawker

   Common Hawker

                

                   Great Egret

   Great Egret

                

                    Speckled Wood

    Great & Little Egret, Glossy Ibis, Black tailed Godwits and a couple of Sandpipers

                

                   Glossy & Sandpipers etc

   All together on one island!

               

                  Godwits and Lapwings

   Just too cute not to include

               

                   Speckled Wood 

   Peacock

  

              

                 Brimstone 

   Jersey Tiger Moth

                

                

   Comma             

                

                  Large White

    Holly Blue

                

                   Comma

  Brimstone 

               

                    Painted Lady

               

                  Painted Lady

    Common Hawker

                

                   Hemp-agrimony so good for butterflies 

   Common Darter

                

                   Emperor Dragonfly

                

                   Brown Hawker whizzing on by

      

               

                

  Four spot Chaser

               

               

                   Small White

   Brimstone - good to see fresh new Brimstones in the 'pea' area at Shapwick

            

                

               

               

                   Ringlet

   Common or Migrant Hawker? 

               

Devon Butterflies July 2017 - Silver Studded Blues & Fritillaries etc

Wednesday 12th July and a visit to the pebbled heaths of Devon in the hope of seeing the Silver Studded Blue. We have never been to this collection of heaths before which sit above the Exmouth and Sidmouth area. A cloudy start but eventually the sun broke through across the beautiful heathland. 

We started our search at Bicton Common which looked stunning with its bonnie purple Heather starting to come out. Our path took us to the top of a ridge where we spotted some flighty Dark Green Fritillaries and Large Skippers. 

We also got a great views of a Redpoll several Sand Martins, Hobby, Stonechats, Green Woodpecker, Dartford Warblers and heard a Yellowhammer.

It wasn't until the early afternoon with a stronger bit of sun that we got our first sighting of a S S Blue, a female and wow, I didn't realise it's such a small butterfly. We found a few more females and a couple of males in the Heath and grasses. Just so pleased to have seen a S S Blue another lifer in a beautiful location.  We will return to to this lovely location a little earlier next year to catch the Silver Studded Blue at its finest! 

Friday14th July and a visit to Ashclyst Forest near Exeter to hopefully find a few Silver Washed Fritillaries. Once again a cloudy start but the sun soon broke free to light and warm up the woodland glades. We followed the purple trail ( as recommend by Phil @fled1000) which was brimming with Fritillaries from start to finish. It is hard to describe just how many of these beautiful woodland 'gliders' there were, it seemed there were hundreds! Along the trail we found a buddlea bush and not only Fritillaries were present but many Peacock, Red Admirals and a few rather worn White Admirals. Also seen on the trail were Ringlet, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown, Green veined White, Comma & Speckled Wood.

After leaving the forest we just had to return to Bicton Common to get one last look at a Silver Studded Blue and yes we found a few despite the very strong breeze.

     

   Silver Studded Blue 

               

   S S Blue a little worn and faded

               

                   Female S S Blue

               

                   Male S S Blue

                

     

               

                  Silver Washed Fritillary- Ashclyst Forest

                

                   Typical pose of Silver Washed

                

                   White Admiral

               

   3 Fritillaries on the Buddlea! 

                

                   S W Fritillary, Peacock and a Red Admiral

    Hi Ho Silver!

                

                

               

               

                 What a beauty! 

               

   Large Skipper

          

             Silver Studded Blue - female