Butterflies in July

Following the first sightings of Marbled White butterflies in this area ever - as far as is known - by first Jennifer Charter and then Nick Croft, (see here) my search on the 9th July provided me not only the opportunity to photograph a Marbled White settled on Heather on the SSSI on Wanstead Flats, but a wonderful butterfly-day generally - with a few moths thrown in.

Brown Argus in Aldersbrook Exchange Lands, 10th July 2011

Walking from my home at the Manor Park end of the Flats, I was quickly rewarded with both Essex Skippers and Small Skippers, feeding on the thistles that grow alongside the football pitches. Near the excess growth of Robinia pseudoacacia that grows by the North Copse, a Speckled Wood was flying around, to settle on the leaves of the shrubby growths. These are very common throughout the area in a variety of locations, but more typically in woodland glades and pathways. West of the Copse over the rough grassland was a Painted Lady - the first I have seen this year. There were occasional Meadow Browns in the grassland, and indeterminate white butterflies viewable at a distance. The one or two that I eventually positively identified turned out to be Green-veined Whites. The real mass of butterflies were particularly the mixed-Skippers, again particularly on thistles near the Centre Road car park, but with a few Small Coppers nearby. There were also Cinnabar Moth caterpillars on the Ragwort

The Marbled White - as I have said - was at the east edge of the SSSI by Centre Road, and favoured the heather which was just coming into flower. I continued from the Flats into Reservoir Wood in Wanstead Park, and through past the Shoulder of Mutton Pond. There were more Green-veined Whites on brambles between the Shoulder of Mutton and Heronry Pond, plenty of Meadow Browns in the grassland, the occasional Small Copper there too. Perched on waterside vegetation by the Heronry Pond were a number of very small but distinctive-looking white micro-moths, which I later identified as Cataclysta lemnata. I had headed in that direction because this was near where the first Marbled White had been seen, but in that respect, to no avail.

Fired with enthusiasm for butterflies, I repeated the search the following day - 10th July - but this time headed straight for Wanstead Park. There was a different feel about the day, and it was Small Coppers that were very plentiful - all over the Plain - and some Small Heath and Meadow Brown. Looking at some of the buddleia in Aldersbrook Exchange Lands, the flowers were distinctly butterfly-sparse, most notable being a single Comma. However, the old sewage works site (the Exchange Lands!) was rich with Gatekeepers, plentiful Green-veined Whites, numerous grass-moths which I haven't identified (yet?), quite a number of Small Coppers and Speckled Wood. The big reward of the day was a brown butterfly, which I managed to effectively photograph. A day or two earlier, local naturalist Tim Harris had sent me some photographs of a butterfly he'd photoraphed in the Exchange Lands in June. He thought it may have been a Brown Argus - which is another species not previously known in the area. Although the photographs did look as though it might be that species, it is not one I'm familiar with and I did have some doubts. These have been laid to rest - I would say - because the brown that I'd photographed was definitely a Brown Argus. There were no other blue butterflies in evidence, by the way.

Two new butterfly species for the area in a week or so - that's not bad!

Just to finish, I decided to have a look at "my" end of the Flats today (11th July). That is the area nearer to Alexandra Lake and opposite the Golden Fleece. I didn't determine whether there wereSmall Skippers present but can reasonably assume there were, but got a nice photograph of an Essex Skipper. No Large Skippers, though. There were a number of Meadow Browns, a few Small Coppers, the occasional white - but this time including a Large White. The next "new one" for the last couple of days butterfly-spotting was a Peacock, perching on brambles. Lastly - while trying to photograph an Emperor Dragonfly flying over Alexandra Lake, a large powerful yellow butterfly flew in over the lake, perched for just long enough on some distant Ragwort for me not to zoom-in-and-focus properly, and then flew off in a VTO fashion over the tops of the London Planes. The blurred photograph showed it to be - as I'd thought - a Brimstone. Later on in Wanstead Park, a Small White butterfly, a 6-spot Burnet moth and a Silver-Y moth were added to the list.

My garden by Wanstead Flats affords the opportunity to see butterflies without tripping over ant-hills, but with limited space and habitat. Within the three days - apart from passing-through whites - it is Gatekeepers and Speckled Wood that have provided the mainstay. However - a neighbouring pear tree is usually my first opportunity to notice Purple Hairstreaks, and I've just caught glimpses of what might be the first forays of these.

So - three days 15 species of butterfly and four moths - plus some unidentified ones. The breakdown is as follows:

Notable exceptions to those seen were Small Tortoiseshell and Comma.

Paul Ferris, 11th July 2011

Update to 'Butterflies in July'

Brown Argus on Wanstead Flats - 8th August 2005

I mentioned in the article above that Tim Harris' Brown Argus of June 2011 was the first record of this species that I knew of in the Wanstead area. He had looked through his collection of photographs carefully and discovered it. I did the same, and found a photograph that I had taken on 8th August 2005 of a butterfly feeding on Marjoram on Wanstead Flats. For some reason I had labelled it "Small Copper", but it It clearly wasn't that. I should have labelled it as the brown form of the Common Blue, but looking more carefully it seems to lack a distinctive spot on its front underwing and appears to be a Brown Argus. Digital cameras are wonderful things for wildlife records!

Paul Ferris, August 2011