August 2018 - Part 2
12th August 2018 - (Sunday, Vasárnap)
A fairly late one-hour visit (commencing 1840), but a very worthwhile one. I saw at least 6 Chalkhill Blue, all of them male. A single Silver-spotted Skipper appeared, and there were 2 Short-tail species. The Dryads are coming to the end of their time now, but that doesn't stop the False Graylings chasing them as soon as they take to the air. So, the butterfly species list: Chalkhill Blue, Silver-spotted Skipper, False Grayling, Great Banded Grayling, Dryad, Short-tailed Blue, Eastern Short-tailed Blue, Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, Small Heath, Chestnut Heath, Silver-studded Blue, Wood White, and Common Blue = 13 species.
14th August 2018 - (Tuesday, Kedd)
A rewarding late afternoon visit. A courting-mating pair of Silver-spotted Skippers, at least 6 male Chalkhill blues, and the first 2 females appeared. A stunning Adonis Blue male, fresh out of the box. His brilliant blue almost knocked me off my feet! Also a brand new Reverdin's male. I'll try to make some sense of all these sightings: Green-veined White, Short-tailed Blue, Common Blue, Chalkhill blue (6 male, 2 female), Adonis Blue (male), Sooty Copper (male), Chestnut Heath, False Grayling (about 20 seen), Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, Large White, Chestnut Heath, Dryad (only two seen, and they looked old and tired), Reverdin's Blue (male), Small Heath, Silver-spotted Skipper (mating-courting pair), Meadow Brown, Weaver's Fritillary, Silver-studded Blue, Wood White, and female Silver-washed Fritillary = 20 species.
15th August 2018 - (Wednesday, Szerda)
This morning there was quite heavy rain and I visited the SQ in the afternoon to see what the situation was. The airfield road showed signs of water, as did the top irrigation channel. There had also been a small waterfall, and there was water in Rock Bath 2. I noticed that some debris had collected at various points along the channel, and so I used the small shovel to clear the partial blockages. At least the flowering plants had been 'watered'. Almost immediately, I found a male Chalkhill Blue that was calm enough to be photographed, close up, with the small lens. As I entered The Bowl, a Green Lizard ran off through the vegetation, but its movements were rather strange and jerky. Catching up with it, I saw that its tail had been broken off, probably today, judging by the red-raw wound. In addition, it had at least one Tick in its ear cavity. I suspect that one of those wretched local cats was responsible for the damage to the lizard. On a Purple Loosestrife stem I saw what I thought was a pair of Chalkhill Blue, but once I focused the camera, I saw that, on the left was a male Common Blue, and, on the right, a male Adonis Blue! So, butterflies seen were: Chalkhill Blue, Common Blue, Adonis Blue, False Grayling, Reverdin's Blue (a superb male), Short-tailed Blue (females), Silver-studded Blue, Small White, Scarce Swallowtail, Dryad, Small Heath, Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, Wood White, Large Skipper (male), and Silver-spotted Skipper (2 seen) = 15 species.
16th August 2018 - (Thursday, Csütörtök)
Only a 1 hour 15 minute visit, but so many things were seen! These included a mating pair of Praying Mantis (I couldn't wait to see if HE was eaten by the female!), a quite friendly Black Redstart, and a family of Spotted Flycatchers that were being dive-bombed as they sat on their perches by a group of Barn Swallows that were angry about losing some of their flying insects to this group. It was funny to see the Flycatchers 'duck' as the Swallows dived in! Several butterfly species were seen: Short-tailed Blue, False Grayling, Dryad, Silver-washed Fritillary (male), Wood White, Reverdin's Blue, Lesser Fiery Copper (male), Chalkhill Blue (both sexes), Chestnut Heath, Sooty Copper (male), Common Blue, and Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow = 12 species. On a sad note I found a dead Green Lizard next to the Red Light track, and its tail was missing. I need to check its markings with the live one I found in The Bowl yesterday, but I suspect it was the same individual. A battle ensued over the corpse between Wood Ants and Common Wasps.
17th August 2018 - (Friday, Péntek)
Today I visited during the morning, but it was still very hot and sunny. There were masses of butterflies in The Bowl at this earlier time, with some plants hosting 3 or 4 of various species. For the record, these were observed: False Grayling, Silver-washed Fritillary (an ordinary female, and maybe a valesina variant), Meadow Brown, Reverdin's Blue (including a crab spider victim), Small Heath, Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow (several, including a mating pair), Common blue, Chalkhill Blue (both sexes), Chestnut Heath, Green-veined White, Dryad, Woodland Grayling (the 1st of 2018), Great Banded Grayling, Short-tailed Blue (several), Lesser Fiery Copper (male), and Wood White = 16 species. Also saw what may have beeen a Merlin in the air, and a Black Woodpecker flew over the site, being chased by other birds.