My first Purple Hairstreaks of 2024 seen late this afternoon squabbling around the top of the line of small oak trees next to the M25 J14 roundabout. A little earlier I'd rediscovered an Essex Skipper colony next to the roundabout at the other end of the A3044. This curious tiny roadside colony flou...

Some excellent background info on the Heath Fritillary populations in Essex, David. I have regularly visited Both Hockley and Pound Woods over the last 15 years and have noted considerable fluctuation in numbers. I've also seen them at Little Haven (close to Pound Wood and along the same power trans...

With more changeable weather apparently set to arrive from the west, I headed east on Sunday 23rd June to Essex. I started at Hadleigh Country Park, specifically the little bit of elm-lined footpath near Leigh-on-Sea station. As reported earlier by Bugboy, the bigger elms here have been well and tru...

22nd June - Marbled Whites on my local patch adjacent to Heathrow. They are still a bit of a novelty for me here, hence the extra attention I gave them. :) MW16 220624.JPG MW14 220624.JPG MW13 220624.JPG MW8 220624.JPG MW6 220624.JPG MW10 220624.JPG MW5 220624.JPG MW9 220624.JPG MW1 220624.JPG MW11...

The Met Office overview of the month is at the end of this link. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/weather-and-climate-news/2024/dry-cool-and-sunny-june-for-the-uk Aside from the marked dryness of the month, it really wasn't very far off the average. June 2023 spoiled...

That is a terrific Marshie variation, Wurzel - it looks like a completely different species but I couldn't tell you which one!

Cheers,

Dave

Cheers, Wurzel - I was definitely pleased with the White Admirals. :) It can be so much easier when there's no one else around... On the other hand, at Priddy with the uncertain ground there was no one else there either, and with one misstep I could still be lying there now! Saturday 22nd June was a...

Hi Dave - that looks like a female to me. They can often be much darker than the males, sometimes even with greenish hints in the mix. Here's an example I saw last year on the Chilterns that looks similar to yours. Cheers,

Dave

A pretty good start to July in Chelmsford with 204 butterflies seen from 13 species That very much mirrors my start to July, David - despite largely cloudy conditions, there was a lot of UV coming through and there were 200+ butterflies of 14 species around on my local patch on the other side of Lo...

Naturally enough, stats for other locations around the country (and even in the SE) will be different - perhaps markedly. Once again the notable feature of the weather up here has been cloud, lots of it. Cheers, Neil. I have to say, Neil, I was surprised that there had been as much sun as the stats...

Once again, the month ends and reliable stats for the weather during June have been compiled by the Met. Office. I will refer to those for Heathrow, as it is as within a couple of km of the patch where my local butterfly sightings are gathered. Naturally enough, stats for other locations around the ...

The solstice arrived, and on Friday 21st June I stayed local with a high of 26 degrees and 9 hours of sunshine. After a couple of days away, I decided to attempt a count of what was about, following my usual circuit. This is the tally: Meadow Brown 239 Small Heath 24 Common Blue 8 Marbled White 5 Re...

The final stop-off on 20th June was once again at Fairmile Common. There were more Silver-studded Blues around now, but by no means large numbers. I did spot a few females, but they were fast moving today in the sunny and warm conditions, and most of the males displayed undersides only. With the maj...

On 20th June, after Box Hill came Bookham again, to watch a few more White Admirals before they become too battered.A couple of them had found some mud to puddle in.

30th June : Despite cloud and a bit of drizzle for a while, the skies brightened around lunchtime. Even with damp in the air the Meadow Browns and Skippers were active on my local patch today and as things improved I ended up seeing over 300 butterflies of 13 species. Highlights included sightings ...

Good year for Ringlet so far this year any one? 2024.06.28 Ringlet Pound Wood.jpg Just a very limited snapshot, David, but during my recent visits to Chiddingfold Woods mainly for Purple Emperor (which take place annually at the same time of year) I'd agree that Ringlets are having a good year ther...

The next stop was just across the Mole Gap at Box Hill, an here all I could find were more Marbled Whites. Even the patch of Kidney Vetch had one in the spot where last time there was a Small Blue. Dave

With the relative novelty of continuing good weather, I set off on another multisite tour round some of the hearer bits of Surrey on Wednesday 20th June , starting this time at Denbies. All was much as expected for the time of year, with the last dregs of the spring Blues just about flying and Marbl...

Much better shots than mine, Trevor! :mrgreen: Still, I had another bite of the purple cherry today in somewhat different weather... That chase was a sight to see, and I was surprised at how active the Emperors were around the treetops even when it was cloudy and relatively cool. Another very sociab...

Silver-washed Fritillaries now flying at Chiddingfold with the White Admirals and Purple Emperors. Also seen: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Marbled White, Speckled Wood, Brimstone, Wood White, Comma and Red Admiral.

Dave