The Grayling

 The Grayling (Hipparchia semele) is a very rare butterfly in East Sussex and is restricted to just one downland site, which I have visited regularly over the years. 

However, I haven't managed any visits to the site since about 2020 and so I was very keen to reacquaint myself with this interesting species in 2025.

I have always found the peak flight period at this site to be about the last week of July and the first week of August but when I arrived on 6th August, I didn't see any after two hours of searching. It seems that the Grayling has not had a very good year.

By way of allaying my disappointment, here are some images of the Grayling, taken between 2007 and 2015.

Grayling (Hipparchia semele)

(males)

(females)

(mating)

The first two images are of a mating pair successfully fending off a male interloper.

The same pair at rest.

Return to the Downs

 The rolling chalk hills of the South Downs is a landscape that I love. They provide a fantastic habitat for many species (some only to be found on chalk) and since I was a boy, I have spent many hours exploring the hilltops and secret valleys of what is now the South Downs National Park.

In recent years, for one reason or another, I have not been able to spend as much time as I would have liked walking the ancient chalk trackways. However, after two knee operations, I am keen to make up for lost time.

I have made the most of the sunny weather during the last two weeks of May and have been visiting some old haunts.

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)

(male)

(female)

(mating)

Adonis Blue (Polyommatus bellargus)

(male)

(female)

(mating)

Small Blue (Cupido minimus)

(male)

Brown Argus (Aricia agestis)

(males)

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)

Wall (Lasiommata megera)

(male)

Several day-flying moth species were on the wing and a couple stopped for a photograph.

Common Heath (Ematurga atomaria atomaria)

(male)

Yellow Shell (Camptogramma bilineata bilineata)

Burnt-tip Orchid (Neotinia ustulata var.ustulata)

This rare and endangered orchid is only found on short chalkland sward. 

Some Moths during September

 The weather during September was rather changeable and marginal when it came to deciding whether to put the moth-trap out. The catches were dominated by Yellow Underwings and Boxworm Moths, the latter of which is starting to turn up regularly and in multiple numbers at my light trap.

Although not uncommon, the Orange Swift (Hepialus sylvina) and Barred Hook-tip (Watsonalla cultraria) made their first ever appearance in my wealden garden.

The Lace Border (Scopula ornata) is a nationally scarce moth of chalk grassland and Bob found a couple of colonies on the East Sussex downs a year or two ago. He kindly took me on a tour of one of these sites and managed to find a few second brood individuals for me to see.

Orange Swift (Hepialus sylvina) (female)

Barred Hook-tip (Watsonalla cultraria) (female)

Oak Hook-tip (Watsonalla binaria) (male)

Autumnal Rustic (Eugnorisma glareosa)

Feathered Gothic (Tholera decimalis) (female)

Rosy Rustic (Hydraecia micacea)

Delicate (Mythimna vitellina)

Pale Mottled Willow (Paradrina clavipalpis)

Lace Border (Scopula ornata)

Large Tortoiseshell

My friend Bob has always been very good at keeping me in the loop, whenever he finds an interesting butterfly. When he happened upon his second Large Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros) of the year, on his local patch on Sunday, he kindly gave me a call. 

Bob is very used to me not having my mobile 'phone switched on but we exchanged texts about his find later that evening and I decided that it would be worth an early morning visit to the location the next day.

I was on site by 0745hrs and it wasn't long before a beautiful female polychloros appeared and I had her to myself for 3 hours.


The Large Tortoiseshell has had a curious history as a breeding species in Britain. During the first half of the twentieth century, it occurred in relative abundance, interspersed with long periods of scarcity. During the second half of the century, it became a very scarce butterfly and was eventually presumed to be extinct. From then on, sightings of single specimens were generally regarded as being of doubtful provenance. However, during the last few years, sightings have started to increase in regularity and there appears to have been significant migration events during the springs of 2019 and 2020, culminating in evidence of breeding this year.

The appearance of this species in Britain always generates excitement amongst lepidopterists.

Large Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros) (female)

Butterfly Awakenings

Our winter has been a very mild one but the hope of seeing any early appearances of our hibernating butterflies has been rather delayed by the stormy weather of recent weeks. What was needed was a nice warm and sunny day with no wind, to entice them from their winter slumber. That day arrived on Monday 16th March.

I set off for Pevensey Levels to enjoy this beautiful day and to look for some butterfly activity. I was not disappointed and saw 7 Peacocks (Aglais io) and 2 Commas (Polygonia c-album).

Peacock (Aglais io)

Comma (Polygonia c-album)

Earlier in the month I visited another favourite downland dewpond in search of Newts.

Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris)

Male.

Females.

Breeding Toads

Despite having to scrape the windscreen yesterday morning, it was a bright and breezy day and I set off for a walk on the downs to check one of my favourite dewponds for any signs of toad activity. 

Usually by the first week of March, this pond is heaving with breeding toads but on my arrival it looked very much like the main event was nearly over. 

This should really be no surprise, as the winter has been unusually mild.

 I normally expect to see dozens of breeding toads but I only saw about five pairs. However, the pond side was absolutely clogged with spawn, signalling that many pairs had already been and gone.

Common Toad (Bufo bufo)

During the breeding season, the highly charged males will fight each other off in a frenzied attempt to grasp a female and she can disappear into a ball of writhing males. Occasionally, sadly, females are accidentally drowned. I think that this is what has happened to the female in the following image. There were no signs of her having been predated upon.

Back on 5th February, Bob and I saw our first Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) of the year whilst we were walking on Ashdown Forest.

Essentially a migrant to our shores, this species has only relatively recently been able to survive the winter in Britain. It is a continuously breeding species and does not have the ability to hibernate. Many fly south in the Autumn but some overwinter as adults or larvae. Adult butterflies need to roost during inclement weather and they must go in search of food during sunny and mild spells in order to stay alive.

The heathland of Ashdown Forest provides plenty of thick insulating layers of dead bracken in which to roost and plenty of winter-flowering gorse to nectar upon.

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)