Hello all,
Started out late today,for our weekly trip to Dungeness,still windy,but warm with patchy sun ,hopes weren't high but we still went anyway, on arrival we made our way along the power station fence, and were surprised to see so many Common blues on the wing,keeping low in the dried grass, also a few Brown Args; Small Whites, Small Heath and several
Meadowbrowns and Gatekeepers,looking very weatherbeaten now, and about a dozen Small Coppers,seen along the fence. On into the "Moat" and here there were very good numbers of Coppers on the wing,bumped into Hoggers who,d also done well, we,d just arrived and Hoggers and his pal were just off, found one or two , oddly marked individuals in the moat,one with a paler hindwing bar,and another very dusky Blue spotted individual,and another with a row of pale spots inside the forewing border,but my butterfly of the day was an absolutely miniscule male Common Blue,easily half the size of a normal Common Blue,with a wing length of no more than 10.mm ,just once a Copper landed beside it,but I just wasn,t quick enough with the camera. Regards Allan.W.
At least I knew where I was aided by one of the NT leaflets. I took the walk back through the Isle of Wight Plain and among the fleabane and mint was a Clouded Yellow helice form, which I have never seen before.
Goldie