No question there! Nice shots! Saw a few myself today, though a little aged and shabby... Essex_Sk_m_1_low_D'Engaynes_17th_Aug_2012.jpg Also plenty of Peacock on Hemp Agrimony - always one or two, sometimes several around each patch. A few MB and Gatekeeper too and....lots of Common Blue, eventually...

Julian wrote:A couple more seen on my local patch and reports of emergence from southwest of the county of Suffolk. Maybe we'll see more of this brood.

Let us hope so....maybe they are just later.

My first Small Tortoiseshell for ages yesterday - flying around my washing in the garden....

My visits round local sites have revealed a few more 2nd brood CB (some females) - but at about 30% of last year's numbers.
More reports over Cambs & Essex but still not large numbers.

A few more Peacock around here too at the moment; saw 2 yesterday morning. Back to the CB today....more females emerging to accompany the thuggish males as they slug it out over their "patch".. CB_f_1_low_EBNR_13th_Aug_2012.jpg CB_f_2_low_EBNR_13th_Aug_2012.jpg CB_m_1_low_EBNR_13th_Aug_201...

Continued my Common Blue quest. Several males in the Cemetery behind me... CB_m_1_low_MRC_8th_Aug_2012.jpg and at Cherry Hinton East Pit, I found my first females.... CB_f_1a_low_CHCP_8th_Aug_20.jpg ...Not so much blue on most of the females I saw; CB_f_2_low_CHCP_8th_Aug_201.jpg It seems that the s...

Another local male Common Blue - but only one - as I went to 3 local sites. CB_1_low_EBNR_7th_Aug_2012.jpg Also a couple of fresh Small Copper and lots of 6-spot Burnets.... 6-spot_Burnet_1_low_EBNR_7th_Aug_2012.jpg Still good numbers of Meadow Brown, Gatekeepers, a few Small and a couple of Large W...

I can't comment on numbers in the UK but it is certainly normal for first brood females to be much bluer than second brood females. True brown females, in my experience, are only found in second or later broods. The same is true for several other species of blue, notably Chapman's blue. Guy So, hig...

Saw my first 2nd brood male the other day and yet to see any more..... :( Very few 1st brood earlier this year around here; and only 1 site where I would gauge it had a reasonable year. Others only yielded the odd one, where I would usually have expected to see 5+ on any visit. Is this the experienc...

Interesting report - in Cambs, where our colonies mostly inhabit linear features - Dykes, old railway lines - or are surrounded by agricultural land or unsuitably managed NRs, there is little habitat to colonise outside of these narrow confines. (Over the past few years, a satellite colony has estab...

:mrgreen: I was wondering if any one else was feeling strong...? I have: 1 - Small - Orange antennae tips 2 - Essex - Black.... 3 - Small - Long sex-brand just visible and antennae tips ARE black 4 - Small - Curved sex-brand visible 5 - Essex - Black antennae and no real visible long sex-brand 6 - E...

Essex or Small...?

"Wing Bling: For Female Butterflies, Flashier Is Better"
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 153115.htm

Not sure what to make of this - but sounds interesting - as often we see "conclusions" that are not necessarily ones which others may have come to.....
N

Maybe one of the other honeydew-producing groups is responsible. Scale insects are much less conspicuous than aphids - are we missing these? Guy I agree - other insects that damage the tree may also be responsible, leaving holes which the tree also may try to fill using a sticky sap or resin. Woodp...

Yes - started to see some in the last few days - not many tho'

Out to see some local Chalk-hills....before the rain. CHB_f_3_low_Burwell_2nd_Aug.jpg CHB_m_1_low_Burwell_2nd_Aug_2012.jpg The wind made photography difficult and meant that the males were down in the grass and the females just hunkered-down for most of the time.... Also lots of 6-spot Burnets and D...

Nice Skippers, Jack!

In my NW Norfolk garden this afternoon: Large White 2 Small White 1 GV White 5+ Comma 5+ (some seemed NOT to be the pale summer form hutchinsonii but couldn't get a good underside view) Hedge Brown 1 Meadow Brown 1 Holly Blue 1 Large Skipper 10+ Still amazingly,no Purple Hairsteaks on the oaks. Whi...

I have seen Black Hairstreak using honey-dew on leaves as nectar sources - particularly where there are fewer other nectar sources available - as well as bryony and wayfaring tree (I think). This was especially true in some areas of nettles under blackthorn bushes one year. This wet spring was conce...

One of my Essex girls from today...... Good spot! I must have checked out 30+ Skippers last Friday in order to reveal an Essex but all were Small Skippers, sadly. :( Luckily, I have Large, Small AND Essex just round the corner - and it keeps me on my toes when all 3 are flying at the same time. The...