The blue hindwing spots on that Red Admiral are strikingly large, Ian. Really eye-catching.

Cheers,

Dave

Thanks, Allan - yes, that Brown Argus caused me to think a bit before labelling it! That blue bloom on the body is very deceptive, but the abdomen shape is definitely male (as was its behaviour in the field), and there is actually not a single blue scale on the wings. It was an extraordinary butterf...

Hopeful for some Clouded Yellows, I visited coastal Sussex today. However, I had to make do with these instead (plus an unexpected Bugboy sighting! ). Dave

20th August at Denbies - continued... As I made another tour of the hillside, along the middle path towards the western end of the slope I was wondering why I hadn't seen any mating pairs of either Adonis or Chalkhill Blues. As I mused upon this, I suddenly thought I'd spotted one - disturbed into f...

Thanks for the plant ID, Vince. Not one I knew, but the Small White obviously did. :) Thank you, Goldie - I'd seen them do this before but never long enough for me to get a photo. :) Cheers, Wurzel! I think you've suffered from the bad bits of the summer all falling within the school holidays... :) ...

Great Cloudies, Trevor! If they hang around, I may have to venture down that way soon...

Cheers,

Dave

Can anyone ID these two beasties seen today on my local patch near Heathrow? Thank you! Cheers,

Dave

A :mrgreen: or two for your Cloudies, David. They don't seem to have penetrated as far inland as me yet... :) Never mind - there are new butterflies still emerging on my local patch. On another gloriously sunny and warm day, I came upon a brand new Red Admiral, still in post-pupal doziness as it sli...

With the continuing spell of good weather and what seemed to be decent numbers and variety of butterflies locally, on my next local walk (on 19th August ) I performed one of my more careful counts. I vowed to concentrate on numbers and resist the temptation to take so many pictures, but one or two s...

Cheers, everyone - it was good to get some shots of a Grayling in a different pose than the usual ones, and one that didn't require grovelling soundlessly on spiky ground to get level with them... :) Looking back, I see that the middle part of August was pretty warm and sunny overall - at least in m...

Thank you, Katrina. :) I've watched Graylings go to roost in trees when it's clouded over, but that was the first time I had one actually pose on a tree trunk so perfectly. I think those are now among my favourite shots of the species. :) 13th and 14th August were very similar days, with only a litt...

Amazing shot, Pauline. It held its wings together above its body, like a butterfly, rather than flat as it no doubt will in the future. That eye, too - because it seems to have a distinct pupil, it makes the species even more birdlike and intelligent-looking. Brilliant.

Cheers,

Dave

Thank you, Goldie! :) 12th August was another warm one, though rather less sunny. Having become a bit fed up recently with sitting in queues on the M25 just to travel 25 miles from home, I set off along ordinary roads down to Chobham Common to see the Graylings. There were good numbers around, but g...

My very limited knowledge of these things, Philip, leads me to suggest a geometrid moth of some kind.

Cheers,

Dave

On a hot and humid morning down at Denbies today, a few male Adonis were recognisable among the many worn and largely unidentifiable females of various blue species. Particularly bright among them was this much fresher individual. AB1 100923.JPG On the other hand, this was the best the Chalkhills co...

The decent spell of weather continued on 11th August , and I went up to Aston Rowant once again. It was good to see fresh Adonis and fresh Chalkhills flying together without the latter outnumbering the former to the extent that they do at Denbies. AB1 110823.JPG AB2 110823.JPG AB3 110823.JPG AB4 110...

Hi Mike - no, this is well within normal variation for a Green-veined White. Here's another female (from the spring brood) for comparison. Cheers,

Dave

Before the temperature rose to 33 degrees this afternoon on my local patch near Heathrow, one or two things were flying when it was a cooler 23 degrees at nine this morning. Small Whites are everywhere at the moment. MB1 090923.JPG CB2 090923.JPG GVW1 090923.JPG SC1 090923.JPG SH4 090923.JPG PK1 090...

Indeed it was, Wurzel: the right weather, excellent company, and a generous portion of the target species. :) A shame you didn't do so well the following day - it was a very warm and sunny one (I see from my local walk records for 10th). After that series of Hairstreak-filled trips out, I stayed loc...

Hi Mike. That's a female Green-veined White. The females are often quite heavily marked like this. Here is one I saw at Aston Rowant in late July... GVW3 260723.JPG ...with a female Large White seen close by for comparison. LW1 260723.JPG The latter species is noticeably bigger, and the black markin...