First photo from Chiddingfold (Tugley Wood) in the last week of June, when after a while spent chasing round after larger and flashier butterflies, this one settled very nicely with wings almost flat (though not for long enough for me to get everything in as good a focus as I should have done). 7B7A...

These seemed to have quite a good year in Surrey. First photo is from Ashtead Common in the first week of July, when a number of them were coming down to the path for minerals and/or taking aphid secretions low in the oaks. P7060106_A.jpg In late August, also at Ashtead Common, this female finally o...

My first photo is from Tugley Wood (Chiddingfold Forest) in late May. After a bit of the usual faffing around in not ideal conditions, a couple of PEs descended from the trees and started circling around at low level. One settled briefly and was off, but the other settled a few metres away down the ...

Just one excursion, to Sussex in late May, to catch up with the PBF. Not promising at first, as there didn't seem to be many present and those that were kept relentlessly charging around. Eventually things settled down a bit and I managed some shots, though undersides were a bit challenging as the b...

That reminds me of some great 1st Augusts in Switzerland - looks a bit chilly for searching for larvae at the moment, though!

This isn't the best-composed photo, but it recalls a hot day in July when there had obviously been a mass emergence of Peacocks, and dozens were nectaring on a buddleia clump in a clearing in pine woods in SW Surrey. Although there were so many charging around that a definitive count was impossible,...

Relatively few around in Surrey (and, I think, the SE generally) this year, this one from a local country park in mid-June being amongst the earliest I saw. 7B7A0621_A.jpg They did feature in the late season parks-and-gardens display . A visit to Hinton Ampner NT in mid-September found at least two,...

Didn't manage many Orange Tip photos this year - though I usually seem to be out at the wrong time of day to catch up with them anyhow. Thought my luck might just be in when this male settled on the bluebells at a local nature reserve in SW London, but it was up and off before I could attempt a clos...

Didn't start catching up with Meadow Browns until quite late on. This male was at a local country park at the end of June, while we were out looking for White-letter Hairstreaks. 7B7A1049_A.jpg A rather nice female enjoying the bramble as the sun started to come out at a local recreation ground at t...

So here is a qualifying Marsh Frit, in the sense that is from the UK in 2023. Given that it was at Hutchinson's Bank, I'm conscious that some may dispute its qualifying credentials. 7B7A9621_A.jpg And the same could be said of this one, from the colony which seems to have turned up at Magdalen Hill ...

Beckeri is a fantastic butterfly, isn't it? You could almost take it for Spanish Fritillary desfontanii , which can be confusing if they're at the same location. Some of them are an almost uniform brick red, like this one. IMG_5016_A.jpg But I digress - the above is neither from the UK nor taken in...

A midsummer trip to Box Hill provided a couple of butterflies which settled obligingly whilst everything else was charging around on a hot day. 7B7A0719_A.jpg 7B7A0773_A.jpg Also a mention for this one, because it's the closest I've ever seen one to where I live. There's been a colony (probably an a...

This may not add much to the great store of knowledge, but with all the reports of activity in Sussex I was tempted into a couple of trips. First to Whitehawk Hill early in September, where some four males were a bit worn and very active on a hot day, but I eventually managed to get a few photos. P9...

Large Skippers seemed to be rather late and not particularly abundant in our area this season. The following are all from late June, starting with a rather confrontational one at an open space north of Epsom. 7B7A0690_A.jpg A male resting in the early evening at Bookham Common. 7B7A0802_A.jpg And th...

These seemed to do well in the Surrey/ SW London area, especially the second generation. A partial third generation as well. Here's a first generation male at a local nature reserve on the edge of SW London in early May. It was very vividly coloured so presumably quite fresh, but nevertheless looked...

That's interesting, Vince. I've quite often found eggs with slightly crumbled/ incomplete tops, at a time when they've obviously been recently laid. When observing Brown Hairstreak egg laying, I've sometimes noticed that when the egg is laid it looks to be covered in some kind of moist gloop, but th...

In the indifferent spring weather, we didn't see many Grizzled Skippers until a trip to Denbies in late May, when they were around in reasonable numbers. This one is from that visit.

From a small nature reserve at the tip of SW London in early July.
From a country park in suburban Surrey in early August.
And two nectaring together in a hedgerow on the edges of SW London.

This year I saw Green Hairstreak in mid-April, at a small heathland site in Surrey where they normally fly quite early. As I hadn't seen them there for a few years, this was cheering. 7B7A8750_A.jpg 7B7A8762_A.jpg In early May, on a visit to the North Downs near Chipstead, it seemed like things had ...

From the Surrey heaths. First one from July, when some buddleia in a clearing was a butterfly magnet. (One of the dozens of Peacock around is on the left, but that's another story.) P7200667_A.jpg Whilst on the main heathland this one chose a more traditional nectar source. P7200708_A.jpg Then from ...