the return of the tangerine terror

 

22nd June

DGFs are back!
Along with Common Blues, Dark Green Fritillaries are one of the major highlights of my butterfly calendar. They appear round about July and are really only about for a month. Going against the general trend of a late damp Spring and many of the fritillaries failing to appear when they usually do, my first DGF was this tremendous specimen at Holyrood Park on 22/06/21. I say tremendous because not only was it visually splendid and in mint condition, but it sat (reasonably) still for a few photos, a thing that fresh DGFs are not known for. In fact this almost never happens!

It has taken so long to write this up the DGF season is almost done with just a few stragglers bringing up the rear. But it was a great year for them if numbers at Aberlday and Gullane were anything to go by.

I started off near Holyrood Palace at an undisclosed place noticing undisclosed birds that tradition determines should not be advertised because mentals may interfere with them. It seems kind of unlikely that A/ they would and B/ any self-respecting mental wouldn't be able to ascertain the sort of info that I, a third rate birder, is only too well aware of. As is everyone I speak to with a camera and passing interest in wildlife in the park. If indeed it was in the park. Which it might not have been. (It was.)

Ken
or is it?

So I was going up the ditch which was waist deep in long grass and nettles. Pretty much the first thing I saw was a brand new DGF. And it sat still for pics. I was thrilled. Actually the first photo was, I think, of it flying about after I disturbed it, and I took an in-flight record shot as they are likely to fly off at 80mph never to be seen again. However it settled for a photo; maybe it wasn't fully warmed up or had just emerged and was having a moment. I saw Ken further up the ditch and shouted at him, as he may not have seen the DGF. He didn't respond and I was torn between letting him know and taking more photos. I decided on the former and swam as quickly as possible through the long grasses to find it wasn't Ken but a doppelganger. Another enthusiast of sorts, (why else would he be in the ditch?) although not particularly interested in a DGF. I returned and the DGF was still in the vacinity and still posing for photos. Excellent! 

It was so excellent I felt I must have used up all my butterfly luck for quite some while. That's how it works isn't it? You have bad days and good days and an occasional outstanding specimen lands in your lap and then there is a empty week or 2 while surplus luck and statistical improbables accumulate again? Well, I felt it might be the last double six thrown for a while.

in-flight record shot

I saw this blue, then shouted at "Ken", then went back for more DGF

see the dark green colour in the centre?

So quite a few folk have been saying why Dark Green when it is SO orange? The answer I gave Nick ages ago when he asked is (and you can use this yourself on any smart-arses): there are 8 and a half fritillaries in the UK. (The half is the Duke of Burgandy which used to be a fritillary but got promoted to metalmark) and they all look very similar. In order to differentiate they are called after the bit they have that the others don't share. So none are called Orange Fritillary. There is a High Brown but it is pretty much indistinguishable from the Dark Green. Don't worry, you won't have seen it unless you went looking for it. They are very rare. All the fritillaries are lovely butterflies and every now and then I plan a trip to see some down south, but have never quite made it yet. Anyway, watch this space  - maybe next year! There's always too much going on in July! The dark green has something of a reputation, being a fast and furious flyer and I like the name Iain gave it - the Tangerine Terror - very much. 

nice fresh Northern Brown Argus

fake Ken heads off

I was pleased to see a chimney sweeper moth but less pleased to have to trail after it through long grass for 10~15mins trying to get a proper photo. It was not for settling, or settled in places near impossible to get a decent shot. I had thought it a really dark NBA for a while (about the same size) until I saw the white tips. First of 2 or 3 spotted today.

Also got video of this chap rubbing his legs together.
Nice to see the origins of a noise you always hear but rarely see.

rant alert

This (small tort and painted lady) was most likely up near Hutton's Section and the first bay of the crags. It is really shit that they have put in more restrictive fences in the last week or 2. Such a waste of money. What is wrong with a sign saying if you go beyond this point you do so at your own risk? Apparently the Park's insurance isn't covered if the barriers are easily crossed. However the Dolomites aren't fenced off, neither is the Lake District, so why can't we use a little bit of common sense and not bow down to the Health and Safety gods that insist on a cautious and juvenile approach to something which has been going on since the park came into existence. I mean either they have been grossly negligent for years or the recent fencing and barriers is overkill? I'd like to suggest the latter.

It is modern toss and the more we allow and encourage that kind of wet blanket thinking, the more we are at the mercy of mousy men in hard hats saying NO you can't do what you consider reasonable because something bad might happen. Do you really want your boundaries to be dictated by chinless jobsworths? Is the Radical Road more dangerous now than 10 years ago? Did something happen in our recent history that increased the rockfall? Was there anything wrong with the previous warning Beware Rockfall. That kind of covered it and of all the people I know who regularly used it to for running training not one was hit by a rock and died. It makes me rage. I spoke to a ranger recently and he was more in agreement than defending the use of new fences. But I have stopped spending so much time in that part of the Park because it depresses me. I should probably be writing to the people in charge and giving them a hard time. I think they need to be given a hard time about it. 

Painted Ladies have been few on the ground this year.

common blue

nba

speckled wood

small heath

dull beige moth

I think I then went to Crow Hill possibly looking for admirals and painted ladies as they often collect around the summit there. I hadn't made any arrangements with Mary but she turned her telepathic radar on and tracked me down there mid-run. I had been stalking Walls and Graylings as neither RAs or PLs had shown up. They have been thin on the ground this year but it makes you appreciate them more when you do spot one. 

wall

grayling

Neither of us had much of a plan so I put away the big camera and we ran over to the top of the crags where there can sometimes be RAs, PLs and even STs at the highest point of the crags. Funny they are drawn to the highest points. Can there be an advantage? Anyway there were none but as we descended above the palace side we spotted STs on the dandelions on the cliff edges. And a kestrel came by. Later on, another chimney sweeper. But that was maybe in the quarry on the back of the crags. I had suggested we go there and Mary went off in a strange direction. I took the more direct line and never knew where M went to. She phoned me from home some time later. Not to ask how to get to the quarry which I think she might have thought she went to. Just to check I wasn't dead. Usually I'm not and I wasn't on this occasion either. The quarry had some common blues and then I may have gone back to Hutton's Section and eventually bumped into Real Ken who was busy taking a photo of a ringlet. I did so too, as I hadn't recorded any that day yet. Possibly the last day for a month I nearly went home without a ringlet as they have had a decent summer. Me too!

Real Ken

On the way home I saw this large white which wasn't going to land. I ran alongside and took some in-flight photos. Not great results but nice to confirm the species and get a record shot. I didn't count up just how many species this brought the total to, but was happy with the wildlife I'd bumped into and the places I'd been. Good day out taking pics. And all but 10 miles run and walked while taking them.