August 2016 - part 2
11th August 2016 - (Thursday, Csütörtök)
A short, late afternoon visit to check whether last night's rain had made any difference to our 'water problem'. The answer was a resounding 'no', although there was evidence that some water had gone through the top irrigation channel. Apart from that, the rain had obviously only 'watered the plants' again. Even so, that's better than nothing. As I write these words during the evening, we have had quite a lot of steady rain, so maybe the situation will be better tomorrow. There has also been quite a dramatic drop in temperature, and I saw no butterflies at all during my brief visit.
12th August 2016 - (Friday, Péntek)
A morning visit (0945-1120) to check whether last night's rain had raised the water levels. It had not, but perhaps it had maintained the status quo. As it was warm and sunny again, there were several butterfly species in evidence, and I believe I managed to photograph all of the species seen ! Here's my list: Small White, Wall Brown, Silver-studded Blue, False Grayling, Dryad, Chalkhill Blue (4 males, 1 female), Meadow Brown, Chestnut Heath, Large Skipper (2 seen), Small Heath, Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, Woodland Grayling, Silver-spotted Skipper, Wood White, and a female Short-tailed Blue (15 species). I also documented a Hornet 'raiding the larder' .... stealing wrapped prey from the web of a Wasp Spider ! There were also one or two (possibly new) moth species. As I was about to depart from the site, a pair of Whitethroats were seen hopping about in the Bramble bushes, but they stayed tantalisingly behind the twigs and leaves, leaving me with no photographic record.
17th August 2016 - (Wednesday, Szerda)
Today's lunchtime visit (1255-1400) was mainly to check the water situation, as rain had fallen steadily for most of the night and morning. But disappointment was waiting, as there was no great influx of water to The Bowl. In fact, the only places where extra water was noticed were Rock Baths 2 and 3. During the visit, the sun kept peeping from behind the clouds, and the butterflies started to open their wings and become active. Around 9 species of butterfly were seen, and right at the start, a Dor Beetle was seen on the airfield road outside the SQ that had several passengers on its underside: parasitic mites.
19th August 2016 - (Friday, Péntek)
Today, I spent over 4 hours at the SQ ... and it was time well spent as there were so many impressive things to record. Again, it was hot and sunny, causing me great 'water anxiety', but the array of 'specials' on display eased my troubled mind somewhat. The most spectacular was the male Large Copper .... no words needed ... just look at the photos ! Two other Coppers seen were the Small, and the male Lesser Fiery. A surprise was the male blue that was either an Eastern Short-tailed Blue or a Provencal Short-tailed Blue. I am still examining the photos taken, but I think it's the latter species. After all these years of photographing female Wasp Spiders here, I saw my first one actually walking on the ground, as opposed to sitting on a web ! We also have a good crop of Peaches, although some are not too beautiful in appearance.