Hoggers

[David M]

Tortoiseshells are usually pretty common in my 'neck' but I've thus far seen very few second brood individuals. Hope that changes soon!

[Maximus]

Hoggers, we've still got tadpoles in our pond too

[Goldie M]

Just spotted your Coppers Hogger's and they look Great, love the Clouded Yellow on the flower, I like to see butterflies on Flower heads Goldie

[Hoggers]

The Coppers of Dungeness were red hot today

Highly active and difficult to keep up with!

Numbers are on the up: I counted 42 today

So hot out there I felt in danger of melting

I saw 7 Painted Ladies and a Clouded Yellow in amongst the Small Coppers. I liked this minimally marked individual

And before retreating from the glare of the sun I sat down just to watch the Coppers at play

Wonderful!

[Wurzel]

Cracking Small Coppers as always Hoggers, especially the minimally marked one as you said

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Hoggers]

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated.

When I got to Dungeness this morning it was very warm and stuffy but dull with none of the brightness of yesterday to get butterflies up out of their roosts.

Luckily for me the sun eventually came out strong, and when the sun comes out so do my favourite butterflies

Amongst them was this one,a fresh blue badger but with less colour to the forewings than usual

I knew that rain was on its way so instead of doing a Copper Count I decided to do a Copper Watch.

I found a male

And sat down to see what he got up to.

The answer was soon clear : he got up to a lot! He had fight after fight with another male

Sometimes they'd break off for a rest but soon got at it again

They twice flew out of my view but would return separately then start fighting again. I got the strong impression that a battle for territory was going on

In the end only the Copper I'd found to begin with returned from one of these punch ups

So he held on to his territory and the other male moved on.

I was delighted to see my favourite Small Copper behaviour: the Stem Walk

The male will suddenly leave his perch and visit several near-by plants, walk down them head first whilst quickly tapping his feet against the stem.They then return to the perch.

I've seen many males do this. If anyone reading this knows why they do it, or has a theory, I would love to hear from them!

The sun didn't last, it grew dull again but I'd seen some great things and counted 22 Coppers including these two ( one of which has a lovely hindwing orange bar)

I wonder: is it me watching them, or them watching me?

[Neil Freeman]

More Coppertastic stuff Hoggers, I love that last one...watching me, watching you

Cheers,

Neil

[Hoggers]

Hello Neil, I'm glad you enjoy my Small Coppers!

Today was a wonderful day for a Copper Hunt after a week of torrential rain and cool temperatures. In fact it's been so miserable I feared that when I got to Dungeness I wouldn't find any Small Coppers at all. I need not have worried

Some very very Coppery indeed

But what to make of this greasy moth-like Copper?

If she's worn, the wearing looks uniform

I found a mating pair

He looks most pleased

This male, however, was given the brush off

(you can see the female fluttering her hind wings whilst raising her fore wings - I wonder if it's her behaviour that sends him the cold shoulder message, or whether she's wafting a chemical signal at him?)

I watched perching males

And the inevitable punch-ups

I had lunch with a male Copper. His territory was a small patch of shingle surrounded by brambles

And like other males that I've observed he would suddenly break off from watching to investigate plants growing close by. However, there was no grass or other tall and slender plant to hand, only brambles , so he didn't do the "heads down stem walk", but simply flitted from one thorny bramble to the next.

I counted 68 Small Coppers today

Also saw several Painted Ladies, Red Admirals and a couple of Small Tortoiseshells

Not many of them about this year.

It was good to be amongst the Coppers again

[Allan.W.]

Hi ,Hoggers,
Obliterata ,again ,I reckon, loved to have seen it when fresh !,i wonder what caused the greasy appearance? and a pair ,something I,d really like to find! never seen a pair I,ve also noticed the "heads down,walk down the grasstalk,and must admit I find that a bit baffling as well ,you,ve got some new additions to the Dungie insect regulars ,namely Sickle bearing bush cricket,and Italian Tree Cricket,so you may stumble across these,on one of your jaunts! great observations and pictures as usual. Regards Allan.W.

[Hoggers]

Hello Allan, I've seen many males do it (but never a female). If all males do it then surely it has a purpose. I've not found it mentioned in Thomas and Lewington.

This afternoon I visited a different part of the Dungeness area, Denge Quarry. Plenty of Coppery habitat and so I wasn't surprised to find Small Coppers!

Sprinkled more thinly than in the Power Station area but nonetheless very much in residence

Also a fresh Brown Argus

And a fly by Clouded Yellow

The terrain near the quarry is typically sparse, but I noticed that the recent rains have benefited the Sorrel, which is growing very green and lush.

I watched this chap

give himself a wash and brush up

I saw 16 Small Coppers around the quarry

So well worth a visit

[Allan.W.]

Hello again Hoggers,
We were at Dungeness today,and amazingly the second Copper we came across ,was your ab; from yesterday! not a similar one,but the same one,right down to the scratch marks on the hindwing,we saw about 20 Coppers in all ,including a couple of blue spots ,still good numbers of Common Blue,one or two faded Brown Argus,Painted Ladies,SmallTorts, various Whites ,and a few weather beaten Meadow Brown including a pair,glad you had some joy at Denge Quarry,must say i'm not familiar with this spot . Regards Allan.W.

[Paul Harfield]

Hi Hoggers

Just having a top up of Small Coppers
I have still only seen a grand total of 3 this year , all of which were this month and each in a different location.
Could you please send a few over this way

[David M]

Fresh Brown Argus at this time of year is highly notable, Hoggers!

[Hoggers]

Allan, Denge Quarry is just along that road which turns left shortly before the right turn onto Dungeness Road. The land all around it is open to the public.

All the Brown Argus I've seen for the last couple of weeks have been on their last legs so I was very surprised to find a fresh one yesterday, David.

Jack, I'm sending you a Small Copper

First Class, naturally!

Last sunday I spent some time watching a male Small Copper at Dungeness. Today I thought I'd go back to see if he was still there

He was! Very much more battered than when last we met but still occupying the exact same spot

So he's held that territory for at least 7 days.

(Incidentally, you can see in the photos just how lush the Sorrel looks right now: tender and juicy for all those lucky Small Copper caterpillars! )

I get the feeling that female Small Coppers have a tough time of it once mated dealing with unwanted males. It must be very draining and because the female often retreats deep into the brambles and other vegetation, the cause of wing damage etc.

I saw several females today having to deal with this problem

I've now become used to the females behaviour on these occasions; fluttering her hindwings horizontally whilst holding both forewings vertically upwards (reminding me of a displaying turkey!)

The males nearly always seem to simply switch off when confronted by such a display: they may pursue briefly but then will freeze allowing the female to toddle away and then the male will fly off, leaving the female in peace

I counted 47 Coppers on my walk today

Including a lovely blue badger

Although some have become worn to a degree, most are fresh

And enjoying the return of the fine weather

[Goldie M]

Hi! Hoggers I'm still enjoying your Coppers, no sign of them here yet, good job I saw them earlier in the Year at Southport.Goldie

[Hoggers]

Hello Goldie, glad you like the Small Coppers! And I hope you get some near to you soon.

I spent a pleasant couple of hours this morning chasing Coppers at Dungeness. Although glorious fresh butterflies are still to be found

(and I particularly liked this chap with blue badges and a lovely round black spot on his wings

)

The number of worn individuals is definitely on the up

Which leads me to wonder just how much longer this generation will last.

I watched a female sunbathing when she surprised me by exuding a milky blob from her abdomen before immediately flying off. It's not something I've seen before.

This female went into her "cold shoulder" routine even though the near-by male was intent on nectaring and had paid her no attention whatsoever

You can see her adopting the "Turkey Strut" pose in this next photo

Blackberries serve as wonderful perches for the posing males

But this female was imbibing from them

I also watched a male fly from blackberry to blackberry, tapping his feet quickly against each one (reminiscent of the "stalk walk" behaviour I've seen before).

I counted 40 Small Coppers today

[Goldie M]

Absolutely beautiful Butterflies Hoggers, especially those on the berries wether their a bit worn or not
Did your flowers you bought last year produce any Butterflies for you I hope so Goldie

[Hoggers]

Thanks Goldie. My Wallflowers are still going strong but the Black Eyed Susans didn't survive I'm afraid. Plenty of Buddlias but so quiet this year! Hardly any Small Tortoiseshells. I keep waiting for them to appear but it's getting late!

Best wishes

Hoggers

[David M]

Plenty of Buddlias but so quiet this year! Hardly any Small Tortoiseshells. I keep waiting for them to appear but it's getting late!

I was thinking likewise till last weekend, Hoggers, when I found 3 dozen Torties on a large patch of creeping thistles in Pembroke. By now, thistles have usually gone over, but we're a little behind where we were last year, so I wonder if the vanessids are still able to find sufficient nectar-bearing plants in wild areas rather than having to come to gardens to look for them?

[Wurzel]

Lovely Coppers as always Hoggers Larkhill still has Blues showing well so I'm still awaiting the final brood of Coppers as they're usually out after the Adonis

Have a goodun

Wurzel