Coastal Endeavours

Here's the target for today


Croitana croites.

Croitana croites - Western Sand Skipper

According to Braby they fly close to the ground and perch on bare sand. or on the flowers of Conostylis.  Common but local.

Certainly historical records have it at the coastal scrub at Trigg Beach - not a place I would have gone looking for butterflies  - it's a wind-swept area of sand dunes. Fortunately it's only ten minutes away from where I started the day, so by 1030 I've parked the car.

Productive area at Trigg

Walked over to the first patch of scrub, an area of saltbush adjacent to the car park, and already there's something flying - a small Lycaenid. This one's new to me, similar to Neolucia agricola, but without the distinctive chevrons on the underside. Saltbush blue is a pretty fair guess for now - I certainly have a good enough photo for identification purposes.

Theclinesthes serpentata - Saltbush Blue

Another Lycaenid, this one's larger, and rather less co-operative. A relatively fast flyer, my first thought was boeticus, but once it settles it's clear that the underside hindwing doesn't have that distinctive thick white line.

Theclinesthes miskini - Wattle Blue

This is a new species for me, miskini, and that's two new species without leaving the car park - and as I stand in the same spot, a third species settles to give me a hat trick of Lycaenidae without moving an inch.

Candalides acasta - Blotched Dusky Blue

I move on along the beach, but there's nothing else around - I seem to have stumbled on the beachside hotspot on leaving my car. I walk out to the highway, and spot that there's a track leading up the hill through the bush. I eventually discover the start of the track, and the warning sign.

Don't worry - the whole area has been looking very dugite friendly since I first parked the car - I've been very careful where I've been putting my feet.

Climbing the hill at Trigg

Conostylis

Plenty of Conostylis around, but no croites perched on it.


Walk up the hill, nothing of any interest, but towards the top there's a smaller track leading to the summit.

Another acasta

Up here there are more acasta, a good half dozen enjoying the clearer scrub near the top of the hill. Wide views from here back to Scarborough.

View from the top, looking south

Another Lycaenid up here - this time it's biocellata.

Nacaduba biocellata - Two Spotted Line Blue

Still no sign of croites - in fact, not a single Hesperida all morning. I would have been disappointed had it not been for serpentata and miskini.

Back to the car, some interesting grasses along the track.

and with a spare half hour, I thought I'd travel up the coast to Star Swamp.

 I'd seen three species of Hesperidae here earlier in the year, one of which I'd been unable to identify, but I'd never visited in the Spring.

A number of varied habitats here - I started in the SW corner, which is a  promising looking area with Jacksonia and Xanthorrhoea.

Immediately found a female minyas - it seems strange to find  a singleton, when in Bold Park there are always large numbers in an area. Then a large Lycaenid behaving very like the boeticus at Koondoola, jnking around the Jacksonia, but it settles and allows for some reasonable photographs.

Lampides boeticus - Long Tailed Blue

I head over to the actual swamp, where I photographed Anisynta sphenosema earlier in the year on the lush non-native grass.

Good area for sphenosema and papyria

Nothing today but a single Taractrocera papyria - they seem particularly co-operative here, as the males perch on the grass.

On the way back to the car, revisit the SW corner - a nice biocellata on the Jacksonia.

Nacaduba biocellata

So, in terms of the target species, croites - total failure. The new Lycaenidae species were a bonus, making up for it. Possibly just too late in the season, or maybe croites is no longer here at Trigg.