In Search of Chalkhill Blues - on 10th august, 2017

This is another post with me in catch-up mode. It features a visit to a favourite location in early August. At that time I was still only using the Sigma 50-500mm lens.

My destination was Hills and Holes by Barnack in Cambridgeshire, and I set off late morning when it seemed that the weather had a chance of working in my favour.

Things started to look promising when I spotted a pair of Wheatear close to my Little Owl Site No.41 - although no owl has been seen here for many weeks. Here is one of the pair.

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) - near my LO Site No.41

Further on a Kestrel momentarily remained on a post while I wound down my window and poked the camera at it.

Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) (male)

I stopped to have a picnic lunch by my Little Owl Site No.34 in the hope of seeing an owl. I haven't seen one here for a while. They seem to have left the area and have possibly fallen victim to a Buzzard that was hanging around at the time of their disappearance.

I arrived at Hills and Holes at around 13h00, and set off in search of may target butterfly species - the Chalkhill Blue. I'd been twice before to look for this species - once in 2016 when John and I had visited rather late in the season when all the specimens seen were rather worn and tatty, and then again earlier in the season (probably a bit too early) this year when only males of the species were seen. John would have been with me again on this latest visit if he'd not been ill. 

I soon saw a male Chalkhill Blue which had settled on the path ahead of me. Then a little later another one, then a pair of males interacting but all were settling on the path which was not the best of situations. My real target was females of the species and, as usual , these were somewhat more elusive, although I did, eventually, manage to find some.

There were other butterflies too, the most interesting to me being the Brown Argus. This species can, at a glance, be difficult to tell from the female Chalkhill Blue when in flight because their size isn't immediately apparent - the Brown Argus is somewhat smaller.

On the odonata front, I didn't bother with the Common Blue Damselflies, several Brown Hawkers were seen but didn't oblige for a photo, and plenty of Common Darters were seen and a couple were photographed.

Here are some of my shots from the session.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Barnack Hills and Holes

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) - Barnack Hills and Holes

Brown Argus (Aricia agestis) - Barnack Hills and Holes

Note that the dark spots on the forewings of the Brown Argus are somewhat variable in these parts. The norm elsewhere, I believe, is for the spots to be plain black. Hereabouts they tend to have white either side of the black, sometimes almost obscuring the black - tending to make them look somewhat like the Northern Brown Argus.

As previously mentioned, my real target was the female Chalkhill Blue. Here are some images of some that I found that day.

Chalkhill Blue (Polyommatus coridon) (female) - Barnack Hills and Holes

There's no getting away from it, however - the male of the species is remarkably handsome!

Chalkhill Blue (Polyommatus coridon) (male) - Barnack Hills and Holes

 It had been quite a rewarding day, from my point of view, and I went home a happy man!

Thank you for dropping by. I'm undecided, at this point in time as to what my next post will feature.