It is a bit of a mystery about the Meadow Browns, David. It does makes you wonder what the caterpillar of a mid-September emerging butterfly has been doing all spring and summer...
Thank you Goldie - it seems Red Admirals are coming out round here too. Lovely to see them.
Sunday September 20th: Very limited opportunities today, just a half hour or so at Denbies on the way to pick up my son from cub camp, and about the same at home later on. A cloud sat over Denbies when I was there, which didn't help matters, and my sightings were restricted to Meadow Browns and Small Heaths. One of the latter was newly emerged, with floppy wings being blown around in the breeze.
At home, I did glimpse a couple of Holly Blues high in the ivy before being accosted by the latest incumbent of the Red Admiral glade. It came close to landing on me, but was more timid than its predecessors.
There was another sunning itself in amongst the brambles and ivy - a white-spot variety like the one I saw yesterday (but not the same one).
I caught sight of what appeared to be a pair of sparring Speckled Woods, but as they came out of the tussle, one butterfly looked a very pale orange-brown rather than the usual colour. It settled within sight, and turned out to be an ancient hutchinsoni Comma.
![Comma1 200915.JPG (511.9 KiB) Viewed 546 times In sunlight](./files/thumb_9839_e73bd3323028ba489453bf4899676d77)
- In sunlight
This extremely late to be seeing one of these, since they usually appear at the end of June and do not normally have the staying power of their overwintering cousins. It just shows what the vagaries of the British summer can do.
![Comma2 200915.JPG (484.44 KiB) Viewed 546 times Under clouds](./files/thumb_9839_63ffd63c9098ba919db93832c97bfa62)
- Under clouds
Dave