Showing posts with label Chambers Farm Wood. Show all posts

Monday, 19 July 2021

His Imperial Majesty Graces the Day at Chambers

As I parked the car and began to gather my gear His Imperial Majesty flew across the car park and settled on the gravel. My first purple emperor butterfly. Having failed last Thursday I was keen to get back to Chambers Farm Wood at the earliest opportunity and today turned out to be hot (26C) and largely cloudless. I was absolutely delighted as I found 8 (and possibly more as I didn't count properly) purple emperors. They settled onto the gravel track readily and immediately began to eat/drink? minerals from the ground. They even settled on a fellow photographer's hat and shoulder to feed on the salt. By and large the settled with wings closed and, although the underwing is beautiful it is the purple sheen on the upper wing of th male that they are famous for. And getting this was a challenge, peering through the viewfinder waiting for the moment when they briefly flicked their wings open. Even then the light has to be from the right direction to capture the sheen. Not easy.

As well as emperors there were large numbers of ringlets on the wing and I was pleased to get some more gatekeeper shots. Large silver washed fritillaries glided majestically through the wood but refused to perch up. I was delighted with some images of a painted lady against the light and pleased with a comma butterfly which perched with wings closed to show off the white 'comma' mark.

The highlight of the day, though, has to be the emperors. By 2.00 it had become too hot for me and for the purples which headed back into the cool of the tree canopy. Time to make my way home for a beer to celebrate.

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Comma

Gatekeeper

Painted Lady

Purple emperor

Thursday, 15 July 2021

Went in Search of Purple Emperor but Drew a Blank

A warm but dull day today. Having planned to go I drove over the Chambers Farm Wood in the Lincolnshire Limewoods to search for purple emperors. There was very little on the wing and, although good to be out, it was disappointing. I did however find my first gatekeeper of the year.

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Gatekeeper

Meadow Brown, Female

Thursday, 3 June 2021

Marsh Fritillaries at Chambers

As I pulled into the car park at Chambers Farm Wood in central Lincolnshire I found ex international athlete Adrian Royle looking for bugs. Sadly Adrian had to retire early from athletics due to calf and achilles injuries but many years later he is now a fine athletics photographer and 'bug' expert who regards Chambers as his 'office'! Consequently it was a pleasure to spend the morning with him. I had gone to Chambers to look for marsh fritillaries which have been incredibly successful here. Many years ago Little Scrubs Meadow was prepared to provide ideal conditions for this special butterfly and some were released. They have gradually become more numerous until in 2020 their numbers reached into the 1000s.

We wandered along the easy access trail, noting how few insects were about. However, once in the meadow, marsh fritillaries were very active, many pairing up and mating. On one occasion three males were trying to mate with one female. Later in the morning an official count was made of butterfly numbers in the meadow and just over 100 fritillaries were found with a scattering of other species. although, the peak is expected to be next week it is a long way from the four figure numbers of last year.

Walking around the rest of the forest very few insects were seen, although half a dozen marsh fritillaries were found about a mile away on the junction of forests rides. Only one common blue, a couple of dingy skippers, two male orange tips and a brimstone were seen. Talking to a friend on the phone this morning, Roger felt that everything is three weeks behind. We are just not seeing the numbers that were around last year at this time. Dragonflies are having a very poor start to the summer.

The vegetation is now beginning to grow and become more lush and I enjoyed seeing and photographing ragged robin and water avens, two of my favourite plants. The butterfly orchids in the woodland at the north end of Little Scrubbs Meadow were conspicuous by their absence. Presumably they are late as they are reliable every year.

It was amazing to see and photograph the marsh fritillaries, though, so a good morning was had.

To view large, please click on an image.

Immature common blue damselfly

Red Hazel Leaf Roller Weevil

Marsh Fritillary

Marsh Fritillary. Mating pair

Marsh Fritillary

Ragged Robin

Red-Headed Cardinal Beetle

Water Avens

Monday, 20 July 2020

A Day of Lifers at Chambers Farm Wood

New Butterflies for me at Chambers Farm Wood.

I had been keen to get to Chambers Farm Wood for some time. Because of the Lockdown and isolation I didn't get to see the marsh fritillaries earlier in the year and now I wanted to see and, hopefully, photograph the silver-washed fritillaries and purple hairstreaks that are on the wing at the moment. So picking the first day of good weather available to me, I set off early as it was due to cloud over by lunch time. Although sunny, it was decidedly chilly at only 14C, but this didn't seem to deter the butterflies. As I walked down the main ride towards the junction of paths known as Five Ways, the verges frothed with meadowsweet, its sweet scent heavy on the air. It wasn't long before I saw my first silver-washed fritillary and after that they were plentiful; large bright orange shapes drifting majestically through the vegetation. Some were becoming quite worn, though, as were the good numbers of white admirals still around. In fact I saw one white admiral that seemed to have almost no wings left. There were also a good few brown hawker dragonflies about but none perched up for photography, sadly.

I had almost given up on the elusive purple hairsteaks, despite walking around looking upwards trying to spot them in the oak canopies where they spend their time. On my way back to the car I followed the white easy access trail and thought that I had seen a couple but they disappeared up into the trees. I was nearly back when, fortunately, someone pointed one out at rest on a leaf. The sun had gone in so it refused to open its wings but, nevertheless, the underwings were beautiful, and such a small insect as well. My day had been made.

Species seen included: