I went out between thundery downpours on my local patch today, and saw the first newly-hatched Peacocks of the summer brood - just a couple nowhere near each other so likely from different egg batches. PK2 070724.JPG There were several new Red Admirals too, of which this was the most well-behaved. R...

A nice bonus, Trevor. They do seem to relish those semi-shaded kind of situations - I have dozens of photos in ever-changing light like that. At least they generally open their wings when it's like this.

Cheers,

Dave

After the morning at Chobham, later in the day on 24th June , I made a somewhat shortened circuit of my local patch. I managed to find examples of all the Skippers that fly here - a few Small... SS1 240624.JPG ...one or two Essex... ES4 240624.JPG ES6 240624.JPG ...and a rather worn male Large. LS2 ...

Wood Whites are durable creatures, Trevor. That one is the same individual as one that I photographed last Saturday, and it was not exactly new then! The nick out of its wing and the curious orange mark are unmistakable. Good to see the SWF getting properly underway as well.

Cheers,

Dave

Some of those earlier shots have insane numbers of Heath Fritillaries in them! The place will be full of eggs - will there be enough cow wheat to feed them all? They seem utterly dependent on it in the UK - presumably in mainland Europe its tastes are less restricted as it seems to be a common lands...

Looking forward to whatever you post, Pete, from home or abroad. That Cleopatra is a great taster - a shot I'd love to get one day, having practiced on domestic Brimstones a bit...

Cheers,

Dave

24th June : male SSB at Chobham Common. SSB12 240624.JPG SSB25 240624.JPG SSB28 240624.JPG SSB31 240624.JPG SSB32 240624.JPG SSB35 240624.JPG SSB36 240624.JPG SSB39 240624.JPG SSB41 240624.JPG SSB30 240624.JPG Also seen during the visit were the particularly sandy-coloured Small Heaths that fly her...

Thank you, Goldie. Large Skippers seem to be difficult to find this year - never more than one or two wherever I've been. With the warm (even hot) and fairly sunny weather continuing, I went out again on Monday 24th June - though today it had to be somewhere not too far away. I headed for Chobham Co...

I think we have a consensus here: they are Small Skippers. With the other one (a definite Small) taking an interest in the pair, it is logical that the female would be, and given the potential variation described above it follows that the male of the pairing is Small as well. Occam's Razor - the sim...

Despite a (largely accurate) weather forecast involving cloud and sporadic drizzly rain, there were bright intervals as well and it felt warm and muggy during those periods. Butterflies were active again on my local patch, principally Meadow Browns but rising numbers of Gatekeepers and a continuing ...

Despite mostly cloudy skies and occasional drizzle, I found both Small and Essex Skippers flying on my local patch today (as well as quite a few other species). I stopped to take a few shots here and there to try and ID some of them, and focused in on a male Small Skipper. SS2 050724.JPG What I didn...

Marbled Whites probably into three figures in today's sunshine at Box Hill, accompanied by Meadow Browns, Small Heaths and more noticeably - Dark Green Fritillaries. DGF8 040724.JPG DGF5 040724.JPG Anyone suffering from butterfly deprivation could do worse than pay the Burford Spur area a visit at t...

Cheers, Wurzel - I've never seen the West Country population of Heaths, but if they're as good as the Essex and Kent ones, it'll be well worth the effort. :) 23rd June : part three. I now set off for home, but for the sake of variety (and for the hell of it!) I decided to go across the Dartford Brid...

23rd June : part two. A short drive later and I was in Pound Wood, with a mix of sunshine and cloud. I headed to the recently coppiced area (EWT carefully label the coppices and you can see how they progress through the wood, with the cow wheat (and therefore the Heath Fritillaries) duly following)...

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 A3113. 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