July 2017 - part 1
1st July 2017 - (Saturday, Szombat)
As we'd had steady rain last night and this morning, Teréz and I visited the site to see what the effects were (if any). When we arrived we saw that a small amount of water was running down the airfield road, and fuelling a small waterfall. No chance of pools of water in The Bowl though. Further exploration revealed that the rainfall had raised the level of the Rock Bath 1 water to the level it was at the start of June. Unfortunately, by lunchtime the low grey clouds had dispersed, and this afternoon we have a mainly blue sky with clumps of cloud, none of them carrying rain. It looks like I must continue my water-carrying project. Although we weren't on-site for too long, we still found a few interesting things to document. As the water level in RB1 was raised, several Common Spadefoot Toad tadpoles have taken advantage and have migrated to the area to the left (which had been separated by the root systems of the Lesser Reedmace). As long as the water level remains high, this is fine, but if it drops, some may become trapped and we may have another rescue scenario.
I paid another visit at 1745 to deliver today's 100 litres, as I must keep the pressure on this evil drought ! As I arrived with the first two containers, I saw the small Grass Snake vanish into the aquatic plants. It was obviously actively hunting again, this time near the front of RB1. Later, I had another brief sighting, but was unable to photograph the snake. With today's rainfall, coupled with my delivery, the water level in RB1 looks quite good, but as always, I'm still seeking more rain. I checked the reedbed area and found that pools had re-formed, including at my 'rescue patch'. Why couldn't we have had rain 3 weeks ago? Someone 'up there' has a very strange sense of humour.
2nd July 2017 - (Sunday, Vasárnap)
Although there is hardly any water in the Small Quarry, this fact doesn't seem to worry the dragonfly species, or stop them from arriving. Today, a male Beautiful Demoiselle was found in the sunny clearing, just inside the main gate. In addition, a male Emperor dragonfly was discovered hunting in the open area behind the reedbed, and adjacent to the, err .... toilet ! Strangely, the mainly-perched Beau Dem was more challenging to photograph than the Emperor. Why? Because the site was still being battered by strong winds, and I had to take lots of shots of the 'bouncing' Demoiselle in order to get some good ones. Even so, those pix are still not as good as I'd hoped. As for the Emperor, that was a different, and rather strange story. I'm used to Emperors coursing backwards and forwards at speed, and only perching for mating, for instance. But this individual was wonderful. He kept hovering, for many seconds at a time, in different areas, enabling my lens to have time to focus, with the result that I've obtained my first-ever 'reasonable' in-flight shots. The butterflies are now well into the 2nd brood period, with Dingy Skipper, Reverdin's Blue, Brown Argus, and Lesser Fiery Copper all putting in an appearance.
3rd July 2017 - (Monday, Hétfő)
I think that today's new dragonfly was a female Emperor. It can only be 'think', as, unlike the male yesterday, this seemingly all green 'dragon' refused to cease its hunting flights. Therefore, no images could be obtained, but it was of Emperor size. A wealth of butterflies today, and many of them were pristine, indicating that they had just emerged as 2nd brood insects. These included: Common Blue (male), Brown Argus (several), Small Heath, Marbled White (several), Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, Dingy Skipper, Red Admiral, Reverdin's Blue, Essex Skipper, Meadow Brown, Lesser Fiery Copper, Small Copper, Silver-studded Blue (male), and Pearly Heath : 14 species + a 'probable' Heath Fritillary. I photographed a female Darter (as yet, unidentified) which had many parasitic mites attached to it. The water level in Rock Bath 1 remains stable, and was aided by another 100 litres today.
4th July 2017 - (Tuesday, Kedd)
Among the stars today was a fresh female Chequered Blue which was feeding near the reedbed rock wall. Unfortunately, with so many days of high temperatures and little rainfall, most of the Biting Stonecrop (the larval foodplant) appears to be rather dry and lifeless. Hopefully, she can lay her eggs close by, even if not within the SQ this year. Near the end of my visit, a rather old-looking Green Underside Blue appeared on the Purple Loosestrife at RB1. Soon after, I spotted the Grass Snake in the centre of the right-side watery area. I had already seen several tapoles, plus one young Great Crested Newt. I think the snake will concentrate on the Common Spadefoot tadpoles, as they are large, and give more return for its hunting efforts. I just hope many of the newtpoles survive these attacks.
5th July 2017 - (Wednesday, Szerda)
Again, a very hot day inside the Small Quarry. A Marbled White was taking advantage of our watery oasis - the first time I'd seen one there. I had a glimpse of the Grass Snake soon after I arrived, and got better views just before leaving. I wondered if it was the same snake I'd seen in the preceding days, as it seemed bigger today. Having said that, if it keeps 'snaffling' our tadpoles, it will get bigger! Apart from the butterfly observations, many other insect species, and a spider, kept my shutter button active. My daily 100-litre deliveries are keeping the water in RB1 at a reasonably constant level. If only we could now have some prolonged rainfall to give this level a boost, and my poor knee and elbow joints a rest!
6th July 2017 - (Thursday, Csütörtök)
Another very hot day and I felt quite drained by the end of my visit. While carrying the water down I saw a Swallowtail butterfly, but it didn't stop and finally went 'over the top' and out of the SQ. I didn't see the Grass Snake today, but I found a few tadpoles coming up for air. I found some large deer footprints which were probably Red Deer, and there were a few 'deer beds' in The Bowl, itself. The Black Spleenwort is generally 'holding its own', but some shows signs of 'heat exhaustion'. Other butterflies seen but not photographed were: Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, Meadow Brown, Marbled White (several), Reverdin's Blue, and Small Heath.
7th July 2017 - (Friday, Péntek)
When I arrived at RB1 with the first two containers I was surprised that the water level was lower than usual. Strange, because today was no hotter than the last week or so. My theory is that perhaps we have too many large deer coming to drink overnight. I know we have many bees, but I don't think they're responsible! Carrying full containers 3 and 4, I descended the steep slope, followed the path round to the right, and came face-to-face with a Scarce Swallowtail. It was resting on a Hawthorn bush at eye level! I was frustrated as I had a container of water in each hand and the camera was waiting 50 metres away near RB1. Needless to say, the butterfly flew off, but when I went to collect containers 7 and 8, it had returned to the same area. I quickly sprinted back, collected the camera (with long lens attached), and was able to get a few close-ups before the butterfly flew up the side of the SQ, resting on a Spiny Restharrow plant. Before then, it made a grand tour of the Blackthorn bushes, resting very briefly to lay an egg on each twig it selected. My other 'star of the day' was a superb male Meleager's Blue. I only saw a glimpse of powder blue when it took to the air, but the subtle underside markings make up for that. Apart from those two species, I also saw: Reverdin's Blue, Silver-studded Blue, Common Blue, Dingy Skipper, Small Skipper, Meadow Brown, Brown Argus, Marbled White, and Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow: 11 species. I saw tadpole movement in RB1, but no evidence of the Grass Snake.
8th July 2017 - (Saturday, Szombat)
As I arrived at 1730, I saw a mass of black cloud passing to the north of the SQ., but it didn't look like any rain would fall where we need it. For the second day running I found the water level in Rock Bath 1 to be lower than usual. My water introduction area was wet, but didn't have actual water showing above the mossy base. My 100 litres restored things somewhat, and I set-off on my nature walk. As I reached The Bowl, I felt some heavy rain drops and had to make a hasty retreat to the car to shelter from quite heavy rain. While it was still raining I drove around to check whether water was going into the SQ via the waterfall area. Well, water was running down the road, and into our top channel, but there wasn't enough to create the waterfall. I used my boot to cleared accumulated road debris from the channel, and the small amount of water started to move along it. The waterfall didn't happen though, and as I left the site, blue sky was there again. The only butterflies seen were: Silver-studded Blue (3 males), Peacock, and a few Marbled White (including one found dead in a spider web).
9th July 2017 - (Sunday, Vasárnap)
For the 3rd day in succession I have found that my 100 litres of water is not sufficient to keep the water level to its usual mark. There is little more I can do though as the heat is amazing. On my short foray today, I found several Silver-studded Blues, 2 Meadow Brown, Common Blue, and Brown Argus. The most unusual discovery was a mating pair of: Shield Bug - Carpocoris fuscispinus - Tüskés gyümölcspoloska .... not unusual in itself, but this particular male was very different. I wasn't sure if it was an aberration, or just a birth defect, but it had a substantial amount of black 'panelling' on it. While writing this I've just received a message from our friend and bug expert Maria Justamond. She thinks that the insect didn't moult properly, which meant that part of the old pronotum was left in place, preventing the wings from closing. Certainly a strikingly-coloured insect! As Maria says, at least it has secured the next generation, moult problems or not !
10th July 2017 - (Monday, Hétfő)
The thunderstorm that woke me at 0426 this morning didn't do much at the SQ., although it did raise the RB1 water level a little. Will we ever get substantial rain again ? As I carried the usual 100 litres down the slope I saw a Scarce Swallowtail and a Great Banded Grayling. These were not photographed, but lots of other things were. Lots of 'old favourites' appeared, such as the Grey Bush-cricket (female), Great Green Bush-cricket, and Gold-ringed Burnet moth. As for other butterflies, I photographed: Brown Argus, Silver-studded Blue, Reverdin's Blue, Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Grizzled Skipper, Small Heath, Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, and Marbled White. However, today's star of the day had to be the male Eastern Baton Blue that I found on the top rim of the SQ. Although not rare at the site, we haven't recorded it every year, and its stronghold remains the Pipis-hegy airfield and the St. Anna Lake areas. Although the sun was hidden behind cloud for some of the time, the heat, again, was tremendous.