Broxhead - 10th June 2016 Silver-studded Blue numbers continue to increase gradually. This afternoon there were 16 males in the lek and for the first time there were females with them, I counted 4. There were 11 males on the bank facing the lek and I know there are two females there too. Also three ...

Mazzab - You have captured it beautifully. Did you notice at the apex of the roll the wings are opened slightly? I have seen this before in other species.

Wurzel and Janet - hope you have luck in your SSB searches.

Wurzel - I am sure "Slop Bog" is a lot nicer than it sounds.

Great stuff.

CallumMac - Your sequence appears to show the Small Blue also moving its middle leg out as part of the wing motion.

Matzukaze - I shall add the Large Blue to my list of butterflies that do it. I'm not going to be able to go that far to witness it myself. Thanks.

Broxhead Common - 9th June 2016 Broxhead is my study area for the Silver-studded Blue. It can be anywhere on this reserve but certain to be found on the short grass and heather beside the main road lay-by. Step around the metal barrier and you are there. Here there can be many hundreds across the wh...

Goldie - like you I am thrilled to see just one. Some years that is all I manage to see. It's just luck of the draw.

Ha. Even your NCCFO is a little bit coppery.

I usually do my lichen watch in late autumn and winter. They are fascinating and like you I find getting an exact ID almost impossible in many cases. Don't forget to look for them on the ground. If you haven't already you might be surprised.

Nice shots Katrina. We are a bit behind you at Broxhead, where I counted 23 today.

Wurzel, sorry if I spoiled your tea. I promise - no more dogs vomit slime mould. It's also called Scrambled Eggs Slime Mould - that would have been more apt for tea!

Glad you like the SSB shots. As I am doing a study of them - you can expect to get a few more in the near future!

Broxhead Common - 6th and 8th June 2018 Broxhead Silver Studded Blue lek.JPG The third of the three sites I visited on the 6th. I came here specifically to find the Silver-studded Blues and found four on the left bank and one in the lek – all male. They were only to be found where the heather had ju...

Dilettente

Its possible that its inherited from ancestors - in fact it has to be in some way for them to have evolved this behaviour - but many blues also do it and none have rear wing eye or antennae marks of any kind.

So far this year I have seen the following butterflies do a wing roll:

Holly Blue
Green Hairstreak
Brown Argus
Small Blue
Common Blue
Silver-studded Blue

I have seen only a couple of Small Copper so far but they did not do it.

Pete - It was great to meet you too. I think you got a better shot than me of the male attempting to mate with the female. Thanks for showing me those eggs. The pics I got of them weren't as bad as I thought in the end. Pauline - Mag Hill always seems a good spot for the Painted Lady. There is a bud...

Magdalen Hill - 6th June 2018 After visiting Farley Mount Country Park as I reported yesterday, I then went on to Magdalen Hill as it is on the way home from there but I also wanted to check out the Small Blue population in “The Scrape” at the top of the hill plus I wanted to see if I could get my f...

Thanks for the info Pauline. I went to Broxhead and found five fresh males so I am well happy.
Now waiting for the females to make things interesting.

Kev - I know what its like to be stuck in an office all day - I had a few decades of it until I retired.
Thanks for your comments on my efforts with the Adonis Blues and the Orchids. All I need to do now is get a picture of an Adonis Blue sitting on an orchid!

Today was one of those good days where everything seemed to go right. I visited three reserves to make the most of the sunny weather - these were Farley Mount Country Park, Magdalen Hill and Broxhead Heath. There is so much to report that I'll do each location on a separate day, in order starting wi...

Neil - Yep. I am sure you are spot-on with your moth ID of Celypha lacunana. I checked my pic against your reference. Thanks. Wurzel - I was amazed to find a plant so much like a Monkey Orchid in Hants and I nearly missed it too. I was on my way out of the Man Orchid area when I decided to return an...

Janet - I've just been going back through some of your recent posts. I love the range of pics of things you have seen. I can't work out which I like the most but that Skipper on an Orchid takes some beating.

Alice Holt Woodland - 4th June 2018 Spot the squirrel.JPG For an hour in the afternoon things brightened momentarily enough to get out. The woods were quiet on the butterfly front with only three fresh Speckled Woods, a Speckled Yellow moth and a micro-moth. I have no idea what species it is. Can an...