Thank you all. With regard to your comment about Gatekeeper spottiness
Wurzel, it would make complete sense, and fits with my theories, about the starting stock having this gene, since the starting stock will always be at the previous northern limit of their range
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
. I would wager a bet that environmental conditions in Wales are closer to those of Cumbria than they are down here in the south, hence the greater
Excessa numbers.
And thank you
Peter for mentioning the article that adds a lot of fuel to my theory
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
(Not sure what you could possibly mean by the special one though...
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
)
I had a great time
Goldie even if the weather wasn't always perfect
Hi
Neil, it really is very beautiful and a perfect antidote to London life, I wish I could of stayed longer to be honest, if only for the fantastic fish & chips
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
.
It does seem to me that abs like
Excessa are all part of the natural variation of the Gatekeeper, taking into account the article mentioned by Peter.
Arnside Knott part 4
An addendum to a previous post, a fifth Brown was also on the wing, the Ringlet, but they were very much on their last legs here!
Skippers:
There was just the one species about for me, the Small Skipper but like the Gatekeeper, in numbers I’ve not seen since last season anywhere down south. Also like the Gatekeeper, I was told these are also relative newcomers to this part of the world. I did, partly out of habit, check as many as I could for black tipped antennae. I wasn’t seriously expecting to find any Essex but stranger things have happened!
![IMG_0430.JPG (92.36 KiB) Viewed 472 times 27th July](./files/thumb_13753_06a476e5da04e62f25177b621de78b7e)
- 27th July
![IMG_0434.JPG (111.01 KiB) Viewed 472 times 27th July](./files/thumb_13753_eeade44793e170d5c218d9efd6b2b033)
- 27th July
![IMG_0926.JPG (91.2 KiB) Viewed 472 times 29th July](./files/thumb_13753_d830e0c932548319735c39bebb0690dd)
- 29th July
Whites:
There were plenty of Large White around. This was quite common around town as well as up on the Knott. I don’t think I saw any Small’s at Arnside, it wasn’t until my last full day that I found Smalls, GVW and Brimstone, all at Gaits Barrow.
![IMG_0690.JPG (123.54 KiB) Viewed 472 times 29th July](./files/thumb_13753_4bbb3f1f5177ba56174d004885b64c4c)
- 29th July
![IMG_0701.JPG (94.76 KiB) Viewed 472 times 29th July](./files/thumb_13753_24bf04f96253583308a36dfcc341ac14)
- 29th July
Lycids:
Well my ‘least likely to find’ target species didn’t show up in the end so I still have the Northern Brown Argus on my ‘to see’ list. To be honest I’d rather tick that one off over the border anyway, where they actually look a bit different to their southern cousin.
A White-letter Hairstreak was reportedly seen feeding on the morning of my arrival, long gone by the time I arrived and Purple Hairstreak were also seen by others but the only Lycid I actually saw was the (not so) Common Blue. I saw my first one on the lower slopes on my first day but he didn’t settle, it was blowing a bit of a gale anyway so the chances of a good shot weren’t good even if he did.
I had to wait a couple of days before I saw my next one, on the morning of the 30th. Killing a bit of time before my train down to Crewe I disturbed this male under grey skies. Those lunules look rather pale to me, ab?
![IMG_1043.JPG (110.9 KiB) Viewed 472 times 30th July](./files/thumb_13753_2f91305832024f387610b2182610734b)
- 30th July
![IMG_1049.JPG (120.94 KiB) Viewed 472 times 30th July](./files/thumb_13753_de97f6e8add94da02078079c4f23d48d)
- 30th July
Returning on the Sunday afternoon I found another (or perhaps the same one) a short distance away, this time much more active in the sun.
![IMG_1108.JPG (140.32 KiB) Viewed 472 times 31st July](./files/thumb_13753_137484d7bdf52196841ee0f95f62efbc)
- 31st July