Thanks Wurzel. I was lucky the sparring coppers had a protracted fight right above the more or less blank canvas of the sandy path so they could be seen well. I have seen Woodcock roding at Frensham Common in Surrey. It was exciting because they flew only a few feet right above my head doing that fu...

John I have a problem with killing things of any kind simply for display. As far as breeding them yourself from bought stock in order to kill them is concerned, how do you know for sure the source is reputable and what exactly does reputable mean? On the topic of scarcity. Everyone knows for example...

Broxhead - 6th Sep 2018 Sheep with Broxhead Heath behind.JPG Yesterday afternoon I think I established for myself that Sleaford was at peak 3rd brood Small Copper time so today I wanted to test Broxhead. Now normally you see Small Coppers on the path near the lay-by when Broxhead is at peak but ther...

Thanks, Andrew.

I one way its good because I love Small Coppers but in another its sad because it means the butterfly season is nearing its end.

I chose the title of this thread with some care but I am beginning to think now that I could be justified in removing the words "of some members".

5th Sep 2018 at Sleaford Heath. Saw a Small Copper do a wing-roll for the first time. It performed two perfect rolls and no more. Also, same place and time, two more Brown Argus wing-rolling. Again, as before at Broxhead in the last entry they did it with their wings open. Could this be their prefer...

Sleaford - 5th Sep 2018 pm Back to Sleaford Heath. I was here a few days ago. Its a small heathland remnant - you can walk across it in any direction in just about 5 minutes. A field with a lone tree lies between the Broxhead Heath and Sleaford Heath and is really the only thing that separates them....

It certainly is fascinating to watch, Wurzel. I like the idea of a genteel butterfly brush-off.

Broxhead - 5th Sep 2018 I went back to the Small Copper lek area today. My intention was not to increase my count because I had been here before recently so would only be counting ones I had already seen but instead to yet again try and improve my Turkey Trot pics. They did not disappoint. A male wo...

Hi, Wurzel. I've got so many pics of Small Coppers now I don't know what to do with them all. I am using the burst mode on my new camera a lot to try and capture that Turkey Trot "essence" so I am keeping sequences of shots of them now. I will be sorting through them all the way up to Chri...

Broxhead - 4th Sep 2018 Another trip to Broxhead and I clocked up another 14 Small Coppers – these are in addition to the ones I have already seen here and my total for Broxhead and the Broxhead Extension (which are just different entrances to the same reserve so I shall add the two together) is now...

Wurzel. Its amazing how those Dartford's can throw their voices. I began "stalking" them for pictures and many was the time I could hear their "scratchy" calls all around me (which is how I knew there were five - 'cos I didn't see them all at once). I scanned the distance, expect...

I have just seen your post on the Grayling. I was fascinated by your description of how they fly around you and then land directly behind you. Next year when this happens I too will look on the ground behind me. That pic of one in flight is fantastic. I clicked twice on it to enlarge it twice. OK, s...

Thanks for the heads-up on the possibility of 2nd brood SSBlues, Dave. I shall check out my patch to see if any are there.

Broxhead (Anvil End) - 2nd Sep 2018 (pm) Anvil End (2).JPG Another three Small Copper bringing the Broxhead total now to 52. One kept coming back to this Ragwort despite all the heather around about. P1010715.JPG Non-butterfly Snapshots of the day I have got a few shots of Dartford Warbler but today...

Thanks, guys. I have noticed that sheen before and "oily" describes it to a tee.

A sequence of pics showing a Brown Argus wing-rolling with wings open. Brown Argus - wing roll1 (1).JPG Brown Argus - wing roll1 (2).JPG Brown Argus - wing roll1 (3).JPG Brown Argus - wing roll1 (4).JPG Brown Argus - wing roll1 (5).JPG Brown Argus - wing roll1 (6).JPG Brown Argus - wing roll1 (7).JP...

2nd Sep 2018 - Kingsley and Broxhead Heaths P1010717.JPG I visited different parts of both of these heaths this morning to see if I could increase my Small Copper counts and I could (a bit). Kingsley only gave me one more bringing its total to 5 but Broxhead gave me another 5 bringing its total to 4...

Thank you, all

Of course even though there will be more Small Coppers at Broxhead to come it will never get close to Dungeness. For one thing, the first brood does not appear here.

But in good years we do get a late (fourth) brood which takes us into October.

Sleaford/Broxhead/Kingsley/Shortheath - 1st Sep 2018 Dewy web rainbow.JPG A bit of a marathon this morning. Because this appears to be getting to be a good 3rd brood for Small Coppers I decided to do a spot survey of the best locations of these almost connected heathlands near me. The Results were: ...