June butterflies in lockdown Holyrood

As we moved towards the epicentre of the butterfly year, July, Holyrood park was continually proving itself to be the best place for a combined run and butterfly hunt. The species count was heading towards 20, and there was plenty of bright days to be out taking photos. This page covers several days photos, from the 18th to the 30th June.

6 spot burnet moth caterpillar
(5 spot caterpillar is more hairy but similar)

Loads of small heaths about. They can be easily overlooked as they have a tendency to dive into the long grass and rarely sit with open wings. In fact the only time you get a glimpse of their more brightly coloured yellowy uppers is in flight. (One of 9 UK species that doesn't sit with open wings I believe.) If it's cold and overcast they will sometimes climb onto a runners warm hand for a photo.

 

the first burnet moth of the season - 18th June

cinnabar caterpillars

19th June and there were several Common Blues around the park. This one in Hunters Bog. When fresh there is little better sight in Summer.

yellow shell moth hiding

Graylings fluctuate in my affections. They are extremely well camouflaged and sit with closed wings making decent photos rare. They tend to hang out near the crags (where the sun warms the stone) or rocky high ground up Nether Hill, but if you're lucky you might catch them feeding on buddleia or wild thyme making them more visible. They are easily spooked but (sometimes) worth the effort.

Best spots for butterflies changes on a weekly basis and follows the blooming of wild flowers. For a while the first bay of the crags either side of Hutton's Section was very busy with between 5 ~ 10 species. All the small dudes - small heaths, aging small coppers, NBAs and common blues (and latterly small skippers) would dot and dodge around the lower flowers and grasses, while the meadow browns, ringlets and small tortoiseshells would fly between the bramble flowers. Graylings would skirt the rocky boundaries while an occasional red admiral or painted lady might fly through. Or if you are really lucky a hummingbird hawkmoth. I saw one here last year but none this year so far.

It was also quite a good spot for common blue females. Richard and I watched one brazenly approach a male then after a brief engagement flight, joined in congress for what was about an hour before they parted. 

Meadow Brown

Meadow Browns and Ringlets are all over the place. Like all emerging species they are eagerly anticipated but after a couple of days they lose their appeal as neither of them are apt to sit up high in a prominent position. The female MBs can look great in an orangy muted way but mostly they are boring brown jobs that haunt the depths of tangled grasses making for poor photos. You can either regard that as a challenge or just walk past. I flit from one to the other but if there are other species around (and there nearly always is at this time of the year) then I will generally ignore the drab brown flutterings of messrs ringlet and brown.

small coppers have been less abundant but should be appearing again shortly

NBAs similarly beginning to fade

ringlet

Weirdly the top of Crow Hill proved time and again a hotspot for the 2 vanessids, Red Admirals and Painted Ladies. Maybe it's a case of king of the castle, with Arthur's Seat summit (higher still, and absent of butterflies) being too rocky and busy with humans. Not really sure why but from early on this year there have been reports of RAs and PLs zooming about in the inevitable wind up there. Often several of either sort will be bombing about in the stiff breeze; almost more for fun than territorial dispute. They will land and sit pressed to the ground while I try to employ ninja skills to shimmy up close and get a photo. Since they keep low to avoid buffeting from the wind, macro is the only shot that is going to look decent. Which means lying on the ground, arm outstretched, wriggling towards the subject like a snake. Which presents an unlikely vision to any passers-by. 

Hutton's Section and the Rad Road from above.

Another area worth checking out is the wildflower borders planted next to the Parliament Buildings. Lots of flowering thistles, oxeye daisies and scabious which attract whites, burnets and small torts. You can often hear the repetitive screechings of the Peregrines who have a nest high on the crags opposite.

We haven't yet had a huge migration of Painted Ladies, like last year. It makes occasional individuals like this one, atop Crow Hill, all the more treasured. 

dog fights above Crow Hill

macro detail

ringlet buried deep in grasses

summer scenes of social distancing

Small Tort, A's Seat and Ken.

Another area worth a look is near the Pollock (Commie Pool) entrance. There are 2.5 large clumps of flowering thistles on the rising ground before the Queens Drive. I had reported a (70% sure) sighting of a DGF up Crow/Nether Hill. Next day Mairi had spotted a pair in the stone trap ditch below the crags and Richard then photographed one/some on those thistles near the Pollock entrance. I visited the place often over the next few days but only found MBs, ringlets and STs. I say only, but the Small Tortoiseshells were in mint condition and looked great posing on the thistles. And were sufficiently intoxicated to allow decent close-ups. DGFs did appear later bringing the butterfly species total to 21 for Holyrood (so far) which is outstanding for a city centre park and made the whole lockdown much easier to get through without going stir crazy.

MB

small skippers

Great to see so many small skippers. At first just ones and twos, then lots. A charming small butterfly often mistaken for an orange moth, and lovely when fresh. Males have that curved black line on their forewings - a sex brand; with specialised scent scales. 

narrow bordered five-spot burnet

 

Trump like quiff

 

the next generation

Just at the Pollock end of the Radical Road, between the first 2 sets of barriers there was this large bush that flowered for a week or 2. During that time RAs and STs would regularly visit. I spent a very pleasant late afternoon there with Andrew and Unda. We chatted away while taking an occasional photo in the fading light. The best of the butterflying was done for the day, but it was great to blether away while the RAs danced about this shrub and Unda found tiny creatures beyond the scope of my dimming old man's eyesight to take photos of, with her macro lens. On the walk off we found a very dapper small skipper, one of the first and best of the year. 

 

Photo Andrew Mckie. Andrew took this photo of me taking pic in macro mode
which shows size of small skipper and how close I have to go to get photo below