One of my Essex girls from today......

Managed a quick trip out before work today - lots of Essex Skippers about, several Whites (various), a few aged Ringlets and still lots of MB. Managed to catch a Hedge Brown or two basking....

I read that article (following Gruditch's link) in a meadow near Geneva, watching butterflies enjoying their liberty, and my first thought was that it was the kind of thing I'd rather not know if the price of discovering it was tethering wild creatures to a flight mill. :( Guy Indeed! I don't like ...

That's encouraging for me: I planted out 3 small seedlings of AB this Spring, in a place close to me, but with no other AB, though I do see plenty of Brimstones there. At present they are all doing well, about 2 feet high, in amongst the edge of some brambles and I will keep them clear of other over...

That does sound interesting....
Yet many of our Large Whites, for instance, do come over here from the Continent......
Presumably, if it were an advantage, then would we would find our Whites becoming darker?

Some ID for you. :?: :?: Ian Hi Ian - I'd go with: Small (distinctive sex brand) Small (brown antennae) Essex (black antennae) Essex (black antennae + distinctive sex brand) Small (brown antennae) Small (distinctive sex brand) Cheers, - Pete I agree - but wasn't sure on 2 - which I may have said Es...

Nice abs! Worth the wait, eh?

Yes - nice one, Trev! Your panning practice has paid-off :wink: Beautifully set. I started off early today - but not early enough, as everything was going at 90mph when I arrived. Nice to see a lot more whites; Small and Essex Skippers too. One very fresh Peacock and a Red Admiral were welcome addit...

PhiliB wrote:..... renders his life forfeit.

iole bait, perhaps?

Not quite the mass emergence I witnessed with PhilB and Sussex Kipper last year - but not bad! Phil stopped me treading on one......which turned-out to be this abs ... PE_abs_Composite_low.jpg With females around now, the males were quickly up in the trees after picking up their salts from....well, ...

More People than PE's at Fermyn today! Saw about a dozen or so down on the tracks (I missed spotting a Matthew Oates by minutes!) Saw no females down myself; one or two spotted elsewhere.... At one point I had 5 males down in front of me; it settled down to just 3 in the scrum.... PE's_1_low_Fermyn_...

Looking for PE bait, Pete?

Jack Harrison wrote:So the rule of thumb: Essex man's is short and straight
Jack

Saw a GVW, several Essex Skippers and Meadow Brown, a Large Skipper, a Comma and the first 2nd brood Holly Blue in the Cemetery after work today

Hoggers wrote: ... and this contender for an Essex Skipper

Nailed-on contender. No way to argue about that one!

How come when I work on Saturday and Sunday, the weather is ALWAYS good???

Good man, Paul! Well played....saved the camera! Bones DO mend....but £2K worth of kit..... :( (Tho' I can see Roger's thought bubble, as you went over the edge.... " Oh, shit! Paul....Noooo!!!!" "How long will it take to explain all this?.... ...I've only got 4 days left :twisted: !!...

Jack Harrison wrote:So the rule of thumb: Essex man's is short and straight
Jack

Thanks for that succinct summary, Jack...

Tristan Lafranchis says that the small skipper has a well defined black marginal border whereas the Essex skipper has a balck marginal border which is usually diffuse along the veins. This is clearly shown on the photos above. :) Ian Also the sex-brand in the Small is usually slightly curved, where...

Fabulous images, guys!
I can imagine the routine quite well
The Harding "Hire-cars CAN go anywhere....." approach certainly worked for us....
I noted the resting Peak White
N

Made a couple of composites.... Small Skipper.... Small_Skipper_Composite_low.jpg Essex Skipper.... Essex_Skipper_Composite_low_July_2012.jpg It is not always possible to get the right angle to see the orange or black tips properly ... :( ...nor are they as orange in some Small Skippers as others......