Mill Hill Walls

male second brood Green-veined White, Pieris napi

Yesterday morning I attended a SusSAR search at Devil's Dyke for a missing person. During the search I saw 6 species of butterflies: Red Admiral, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Gatekeeper and an Essex Skipper. We also spotted a Dormouse Nest Tube in woodland. I then checked Hollingbury Park but no White-letter Hairstreak appeared during bursts of sunshine. I was able to do my weekly butterfly transect at Mill Hill on the way back: Chalkhill Blue 14, Meadow Brown 48, Red Admiral 2, Small Heath 4, Wall Brown 2, Small Skipper 1, unidentified White 1. The Walls were spotted by Mark and Ian Cadey at the southern end.

Field Scabious, Knautia arvensis

male second brood Green-veined White, Pieris napi

Meadow Brown, Maniola jurtina

female Essex Skipper, Thymelicus lineola

note the black underside of the tip of the left antenna which shows this is an Essex Skipper and not a Small Skipper.

female Essex Skipper, Thymelicus lineola

female Essex Skipper, Thymelicus lineola

Dormouse Nest Tube

early morning at Kithurst Hill

Peacock, Inachis io

To  view  a  Slideshow,  click  here  then  choose  Fullscreen  (top  right)

On Saturday I rose early and arrived at Kithurst Hill at 7am. There was extensive cloud cover and I didn't find many roosting Chalkhill Blues. On the bank the light levels were too low for photos as it is shaded from the early morning sun. As the sun rose the Chalkhill activity increased until by 9am the west side of the meadow was alive with the light blue flutterings.

male Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

male Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

male Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

old male Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

female Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

old female Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

female Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

female Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

male Essex Skipper,Thymelicus lineola

male Essex Skipper,Thymelicus lineola

Large Skipper, Ochlodes faunus

meadow

Marbled White, Melanargia galathea

Peacock, Inachis io

Scabious

Crab spider, Misumena vatia on Greater Knapweed, Centaurea scabiosa

Crab spider, Misumena vatia

Hawkbit seed head

hoverfly - id needed

Chalkhills and Common Blues in touch

female Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus

To  view  a  Slideshow,  click  here  then  choose  Fullscreen  (top  right)

Early this morning I took Sue to Kithurst Hill to experience the flower meadow. The Chalkhill Blues in the meadow were basking with open wings and flew off as soon as they detected movement from many yards away.  The bank was still in shadow and roosting butterflies were easier to get close to.

  After returning home for an hour I decided to explore the local area and walked a path on the west bank of the Arun, following a public footpath in a circle. I was looking for elms and White-letter Hairstreaks which are known to have been present in the past. I found three stands of English Elm, the last mixed in with Wych Elm, but didn’t spot any hairstreaks. They may be around, but I didn’t stop too long at each site. There were Red Admirals, Speckled Woods, a Comma, 2 Holly Blues, Gatekeepers and Large and Small Whites along the route. Near the end I came across a promising area of grass and flowers and a search proved very fruitful as a pair of mating Common Blues appeared in front of me. A Small Skipper also appeared plus more Gatekeepers.  A pair of Kestrels shrieked as they hunted and sadly I found a dead Sparrowhawk at the side of a field.

Kithurst Hill (also known as Springhead):

Marbled White, Melanargia galathea

Meadow Brown, Maniola jurtina

female Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

female Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

male Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

aberrant male Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

male Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

male Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon

West of mouth of River Arun:

Common Blues mating, Polyommatus icarus
male on right

male on left

Common Blues after mating, male on left

male Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus

English Elm, Ulmus procera

Wych Elm, Ulmus glabra

Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus

Sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus

Mallow, Malva sylvestris

Common Carpet moth, Epirrhoe alternata

Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria