Hello, 20 May 2008 First Brown Argus today. I have deleted an earlier Common Blue report as it has not been confirmed as a personal sighting by me this year. The frequent Adonis Blues can be mistaken for Common Blues if they are flighty and do not settle. Butterflies are too many to note them all. T...

My apologies Andy, it may well have been this second site that I was thinking of when composing my original post. Felix. Hello Felix, No apologies necessary. I expect it was the Shoreham Bank. It is typical that unfounded rumours circulate about the good ole days when butterflies abounded. Because ...

PS: A similar conservation grazing cattle wipe out has occurred to the Chalkhill Blue populations and Horseshoe Vetch on the nearby Anchor Bottom. This land may have been fertilised in the 1950s and sown with grasses though. http://www.glaucus.org.uk/AnchorBottom.html Shoreham Chalkhill Blue butterf...

That is an impressive carpet of horseshoe vetch Andy. What are your thoughts upon the crash in Chalkhill Blue numbers at Mill Hill (compared to a few decades ago)? Clearly supply of suitable food plant is not an issue. Some sites in Dorset have been ludicrously over grazed which has resulted in tot...

Hello, This caterpillar was on Yellow Flag. Is it The Drinker, Euthrix potatoria ? http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Caterpillar036.jpg http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1991 on page http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Moths.html I am not sure if moths are off topic, but this caterpillar was out in the daytime. Cheer...

Hello, Horseshoe Vetch At peak probably a couple of days before the pictures on the lower slopes of Mill Hill, Old Shoreham. http://www.glaucus.org.uk/VetchTrail2008.htm#14May Privet incursions and ground disturbance has caused lots of bare patches. One patch is Tor Grass, Brachypodium, useful for W...

Hello, I can't seperate the whites in flight with female Brimstones, Orange-tip females, Large Whites, Small Whites, GV Whites all sparring together in an area the size of an average garden. Usually at least one on the list is missing though. Adur Butterfly & Large Moth List http://www.glaucus.o...

Gwenhwyfar wrote:Went out this morning and found lots of Grizzled skippers and a few Dingys, also had three Small Heaths & 1 Common Blue.

Where?

All my Grizzled Skippers are normal:

http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Skippers.html

Do you find Pyrausta nigrata in the same habitats at the same time?

http://www.glaucus.org.uk/P=nigrata340.jpg

Image is too large to display correctly. Click for link.

Grizzled Skipper var. intermedia.

What is the difference please?

Hello,

Strewth, the reports have been amazing as I have found everything late in Shoreham this year until I missed the Adonis cause I thought it was too early!



Is this a male or female Adonis?

Hello, 9 May 2008 I was two days late on parade to see my first Adonis Blue Butterflies of the year on the lower slopes of Mill Hill. One of the three looked very much like a brown female with its wings closed and without the distinctive blue as it flew off. I also saw five of my first Small Heath B...

Pete Eeles wrote:Just a thought Andy - but you might want to start a Blog to record your sightings

Cheers,

- Pete

Sightings are at:

Adur Butterfly & Large Moth List
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Butterfly-list2008.html

Hello, 29 April 2008 On a tepid cool 11 °C day a passage trip on the footpath section of the the Waterworks Road (Old Shoreham, West Sussex) produced two fresh Large Whites, a female Orange-tip and a Holly Blue, all attracted to Green Alkanet flowers. 28 April 2008 There were two Peacock Butterflies...

Hello, 27 April 2008 With spots of rain and a relatively cool 13.8 °C, the butterflies remained moribund in the morning. There was a Small White over residential Shoreham, but there were none in flight on the approaches to Mill Hill. On the lower slopes, I disturbed just one Small Tortoiseshell, dis...

Hello, Great pictures of Orange Tips. Better than I have ever managed, being let done by faulty equipment, more than once, before another failure today. 25 April 2008 The first Dingy Skipper of 2008 was seen on the the lower slopes of Mill Hill around midday. One Grizzled Skipper was also spotted on...

Apparently, samples of mature larvae taken and reared through in recent years from sites around the south of England reveal that Chalkhill Blue larvae are being heavily parasitised. I am not yet aware of what specie of hymenoptera is responsible, but watch this space for more details... Felix. [/co...

Apparently, samples of mature larvae taken and reared through in recent years from sites around the south of England reveal that Chalkhill Blue larvae are being heavily parasitised. I am not yet aware of what specie of hymenoptera is responsible, but watch this space for more details... Felix. Hell...

I have Chalkhill Blues numbers for Mill Hill, one acre counts not cumulative for comparison purposes as the monitoring was the same and numbers vary from year to year. I cannot compare cumulatative unless I know how the numbers were added up. Chalkhill Blues had their best year recently in 2003. The...

Now I have the pictures side by side, I have yours down as a GV White. At the beginning of the season, my eye is not in properly.