I made a couple of unsuccessful attempts to see Dingy Skippers around my patch early in the year. Once at Asfordby Hill in Leicestershire, and then at Twyford Woods in Lincs. Both are usually reliable sites but - alas - my efforts drew a blank. I did manage to catch up with them in Dordogne in late ...

Common Blues were seemingly badly affected by the unusual weather here in Notts. First brood arrived late and disappeared early, second brood was more plentiful - but again arrived rather later than would normally be expected. Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus).jpg Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) (6)...

Thanks Chris - most helpful! :) It's good to have my IDs confirmed. The main reason I was wavering was that my host during my vacation in Dordogne suggested that the individual in the landscape-oriented shot I posted in the 'Favourites' thread was alfacariensis - though to be fair to him he'd only t...

I took these pics in France in mid-September. There were lots of Berger's Clouded Yellow about but I have made the determination that these are 'ordinary' Cloudeds. If you know different please don't hesitate to tell - I'd be keen to learn more about any diagnostic features to look out for. Clouded ...

The eyes have it! Red-veined Darter it is!
marmari and bugboy - thanks both!!

Another angle for luck...

While we're on the subject of European darters would anyone care to offer the benefit of their wisdom on this one... P1220094-1qa_edited-1.jpg Common Darter? - or perhaps Southern Darter Sympetrum meridionale ? Or is the latter just wishful thinking? Seen in mid September on a chalk grassland hillsi...

Brown Argus (Plebeius agestis) (4).jpg Above is an example only notable because it's the first one I've ever recorded in my Nottinghamshire garden - thus becoming the 22nd species I've seen here in 5 years of residence. (Next year I'm hoping for Small Heath - there's a colony about 100 metres away,...

Above is one from the lovely Hills and Holes Reserve at Barnack on the Cambs/Lincs/Rutland/Leics border on 21st July.
Below is one from St. Pompom in Dordogne, France in mid-September.

There's plenty of buckthorn in the hedgerows between the fields that surround my village so the trick is providing nectar to attract these lovely critters over the wall and into the garden. Bluebells seem to be an early favourite - but I've found the key to many summer visits is to plant the UK-nati...

Overcast day, late in the flight period - but there were still plenty about in their usual spot at Glapthorn Cow Pastures on 3rd July.

The male and nicely-marked female open-wing shots are from late May in Dordogne. The middle was taken early morning after a cool wet night in early September - still warming up, this individual's wings are covered in tiny droplets of water - also in Dordogne. Adonis Blue (Polyommatus bellargus) - Sa...

Thanks Wurzel :) It's nice to know that these threads I started back in 2011 have become a yearly feature here at UKB. Though I no longer have time to be a regular contributor on the site I'll still pop up with a few additions where I'm able. I see you have initiated a new section ('migrants') this ...

Aha! David, your suggestion of False Barred Yellow E. elathea looks good. They don't have those in Florida! :wink: Just to confuse matters further, I have seen Barred Yellow with that combination of wing colours though. I guess with a species Complex like that of Eurema we'll never really know. I re...

Top two almost certainly Barred Yellow Eurema daira . Last one probably same species unless significantly different size or habitat. ID from static photos with no scale often rests with the appearance (or not), and position of, one (or two) tiny dark spots on the underside of hind wing near to the b...

The last thing I expected to see on a quick jaunt round Cotgrave Forest in Notts. was a Purple Emperor. Fortunately, once I'd got over the shock, this male was happy to pose for a few shots to confirm my sighting. I submitted my records to the East Midlands BC branch and during the following two wee...

An early spring Peacock soaking up the morning rays in my garden. Peacock (Inachis io) - Flintham, Notts. - 10th April, 2015.jpg And one at rest on sedum from the Piet Oudolf designed garden at Trentham, near Stoke. The plant here reminds of those on the Magic Roundabout - something about the stalk ...

My fourth summer in the Vale of Belvoir and this year was the first time the Painted Ladies turned up in my back garden. Joy! Rather self-indulgently here's four pics of two individuals taken apart a week apart in late September. Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) - Flintham, Notts. - 19th September, 201...

Not much to say about this shot, but the site itself - Sherwood Heath LNR, near Ollerton in Notts. - is interesting. It combines one of the last remaining patches of lowland heath habitat in Nottinghamshire with an area of reclaimed spoil from the adjacent Thoresby colliery. These former industrial ...

These are definitely creeping northwards year by year. Now many more sites appearing in Notts. albeit with small colonies. I photographed a mating pair at Bingham this year - just 4 miles from my house - whereas I used to have to travel 30 miles south into Leicestershire or Rutland to get a reliable...

Nothing much to say about this individual... but what was unusual was that in an hour on a cool and cloudy July morning at Barnack I saw about 5 male Chalkhills - and then singletons of another dozen species, without every getting a repeat. Large White (Pieris brassicae) - Barnack Hills and Holes, C...