Melting.. I'm Mellllting..... Pt. 1; One, Two, Three

A sudden and inexplicable shift in the weather has made it all hot and sunny. 

I don't approve. 

Anyone would think it was summer or something, and we all know that in actual summer it rains. Just a bit warmer rain than in winter.

Anyways, I defied my instincts - to cower in the boiling shade - and went out in the morning to the Nose, to see if anything was about. The odd wandering rarity had been found on other patches by other birders the same way after all. Duty and so on.

Also, the weekend of the Big Butterfly Count was come around again, and as butterflies are studiously ignoring even the big Buddleia down there, ::Points out the window:: I'm having to go to them. 

 

Go I indeed did, on both days, and made 5 timed counts. Perhaps should have been more, but hordes of assorteds and the sheer heat did for me. I also had a look about for any wandering birdies that might have mistakenly found themselves there.

Needless to say, I found no Melodious Warblers. I did find something nice on Sunday, but that's not for this post. [You'll be happier about that when you see the photos...]

Gatekeeper

Starting to emerge, soon they'll likely outnumber the rest combined! Our Gatekeepers come in many forms, varying in brightness and size, so they can imitate an amazing variety of other species...

This one is small and bright, and in flight looked very like a skipper [yes, it flew like one, too!].

Small Copper

Or is it another small Gatekeeper?  :) Yes, a good look and it's obvious, but at a glance, flying insect? 

 

Small Skipper

Not Essex, note underside of antenna tip [black in Essex]

I should point out that getting anything sitting still was hard yards indeed, as the sun and general heat made them all supercharged... [Then, when you finally find one sitting down, and can get an angle on it, along comes some BLEEEPing mundane stomping right through your attempted shot. Joy.]

Ahem.

Right, anyways.

Saturday was far countier, with four taken; IMD at Brandy Bend, Look Out, the Mud Path, and The Mounds. Numbers of the expected species were ok if not epic, though Ringlet numbers on the shady Mud Path were pleasingly high for the site.

NOTE: For reasons beyond the grasp of this little black duck, you are no longer allowed to record anything but the commonest spp. on the BiBuCo. This includes, for example, skippers. Yes, very rare, hard to ID unless you've a digital camera... like on everyone's phones, you mean?? But we can tell the Whites apart ok. Call Meadow Brown from Ringlet and Gatekeeper?? Come on....

I've inputted my counts taken already, but I won't be bothering with any more.

Getting back to more important things;

Meadow Brown?

Nope, it's another Gatekeeper!

Meadow Browns were the most common sp., but none posed! So here's a Gatekeeper doing it's best impression. [For non butterfiles, MB has only one white dot in the black wing spot, Gatekeeper has two]

Coming Up...

Pt 2 [shock], also an interlude which will make you feel green about the gills... [Ho ho ho]

Be Seeing You...