The fresher of those two Painted Ladies is a beautifully-marked individual, Trevor. Hopefully the flowers will keep going at Herstmonceux, and the butterflies with them. I'm guessing it's a favoured final stopping off point for southward-heading migrants at the moment.

Cheers,

Dave

Great Silver-spots, Wurzel, and the shot of that one on your hand just reinforces their hold on the gold medal spot in the cuteness event at the Skipper Olympics.

Cheers,

Dave

A very pleasant reminder of that period of the summer at Bookham where it became difficult not to see a nectaring Hairstreak, Paul. :) I don't know if their habits have changed, but nectaring (and easily approached) males have been the order of the day in this location for several years now (and fem...

The weather cooled down slightly over the next day or two, and with this and other activities interfering it actually wasn't until 21st September that I went butterfly-hunting again on my local patch. There was a decent amount of sunshine, though there were storms not too far away. sky 210923.JPG Nu...

Brand new male Holly Blue assisted to a sheltered spot out of the wind and gratefully opening up in a burst of sunshine - encountered within sight of home today. :) HB1 191023.JPG Also seen in warm but mostly cloudy and breezy conditions were another Holly Blue, a Large White, a Small White, a Small...

Cheers, Wurzel - that butterfly made an interesting study and it was very helpful that she stayed put for so long. 16th September , Sussex - continued. Up at High & Over the first obvious things up high and over the top of the Downs were a large flock of parascenders making the most of the therm...

The females of this species can be really striking, and my favourite one of 2023 was seen back on 24th May down at Lulworth.Though I came across good numbers of males in both broods at both Aston Rowant and Denbies, none can really compete with this female.

Dave

The sun returned at around one o'clock today, along with a strong wind. However, the chill of yesterday had gone (I scraped frost off the car yesterday morning), so I set out locally to see what might be attempting to fly. I soon found Red Admirals, a couple of egg-laying females battling with the b...

With more warm sunshine threatened, on 16th September I decided it was time to visit the Sussex coast where by all accounts it was not possible to avoid seeing a Long-tailed Blue at the moment. :) However, I made more of a targeted approach and headed initially for the Tidemills car park on the A259...

You're right Wurzel - I've seen Hummers around in several spots, including that day at Shipton B. However, all my shots this year have been of resting insects. Over the years, I've had far more Red Admirals land on me than any other butterfly. They seem to show no fear and will persistently buzz you...

15th September was a similar sort of day - sunny and very warm again. With plenty to see locally, it seemed pointless really to struggle with the M25 and go to any of the other relatively close downland sites where I'd probably not see much at all. Here is a mix of what was out and about... SpW1 15...

A very nice LTB, Katrina - it must have been a shock for it to wake up to such low temperatures! At least that meant it opened right up to make the most of the sunshine. Great photos. Their wings have such amazing texture to them!

Cheers,

Dave

My choice is from the same day and place as Wurzel's, but a different butterfly...I like the way it has tucked itself down into the cup formed of the curling bramble leaves.

That was indeed a good day!

Dave

Splendid photo, Wurzel!

My choice has to be one of a male and a female nectaring close together in August at Allerthorpe Common in Yorkshire. My sister and I gave up counting Brimstones at the 50 mark that afternoon - they made quite a sight. Dave

Thanks for the moth ID, Paul - it didn't occur to me that it might be an emerald! I do see them here occasionally, but obviously I've only met fresher ones before. :) Cheers Wurzel and David. I like to get shots of fresh GVWs when I find them in both spring and summer broods - the two are markedly d...

It was even colder today on my patch near Heathrow, with it only scraping up to 12 degrees at best. I was out there before midday, and I suspect it was still single figures then. However, the sun shone and there was little wind, and if anything there were a few more small lycaenid butterflies around...

Cheers, Wurzel! :) It was surprising to find such a fresh Adonis so late -it did rather stand out amongst its fellows... Green-veined Whites are a much-underrated butterfly in my book, especially when new, and the following day I encountered another. 12th September was not quite as warm (only 24 deg...

Though today was much cooler than yesterday locally, it was also much sunnier: I ended up seeing more butterflies and more species. One was yet another Small Copper I'd not come across over the last couple of weeks, though by the amount of wear it must have been around for a few days at least and ev...

One final warm day was promised by the Met Office for the southeast of the UK today (13th). They were right (it reached 21 degrees this afternoon), and around 1400 the sun even made an appearance, so despite a stiff breeze I headed out optimistically onto my local patch. Almost immediately, a Holly ...

11th September was another very warm and mostly sunny day, reaching 27 degrees locally. My usual walk revealed 13 different species and a respectable overall total of around 80 butterflies (though Small Whites accounted for 30 of these - there appeared to have been a sizeable emergence round here)....