I reckon the females will be around for a while yet, Buggy, and Tuesday is looking reasonable weatherwise at the moment.
Thank you for the appreciation for the Peacocks, Pauline. It was great having so many to choose from, and the constant changes between sun and cloud meant they often stopped to bask for a bit. Ideal, really!
Goodness knows why I am still seeing fresh
hutchinsoni Commas, Wurzel. Maybe the downturn in the weather has delayed a few emergences, but it really is nearly two months from the solstice now. Maybe the theory needs revisiting!
Yes, David, a worn male Brown Hairstreak would win no prizes in a beauty contest. You can see it was once a subtle sandy colour underneath, but on top it has to be the least interesting butterfly around.
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
The females win all the prizes, and that particular one came top of the pile.
Thank you Goldie! Is there anywhere near you that you can go to? Didn't I read that some had been seen last year or eggs found in the Arnside area? There's still some time yet I'd say.
Friday 11th August: part two - Down at Denbies.
There were a few items on the "hopeful" list for this afternoon: Clouded Yellows, Silver-spotted Skippers, a second brood Dingy and some more Adonis Blues. I drew a blank with the Dingy, and likewise the Cloudies (though someone else saw one earlier on), but did okay with the others on the wish list. As ever with Denbies, a fresh breeze was blowing, and the sun had now become hazy. There were lots of Chalkhills flying, many still pretty fresh and including as nearly as many females as males.
The females varied quite a bit, and included a striking one with quite a bit of blue on it.
There were also several mating pairs, as you might expect.
As for the Adonis the numbers were rather disappointing, with perhaps only seven or eight males seen, and no females. Most were fresh.
![AB3 110817.JPG (2.79 MiB) Viewed 546 times with hindwing marginal black spots](./files/thumb_9839_61f41ae8b57c3f22be01e1e3128e688e)
- with hindwing marginal black spots
![AB6 110817.JPG (2.66 MiB) Viewed 546 times with no black spotting](./files/thumb_9839_a741507d87bbfcbeab8581677104994f)
- with no black spotting
One turned out to be an ab., with reduced hindwing spotting and some congenital damage on the upperside.
I managed to see a couple of Silver-spotted Skippers right in the middle of the slopes as usual.
There were good numbers of Common Blues and Brown Argus, plus a couple of Small Coppers.
Finally, on the steps where Green Hairstreaks show off in May, I disturbed a male Silver-washed Fritillary - something I haven't seen here for several years. Not more than a record photo unfortunately as it was extremely restless.
The other notable sighting was on the stroke of three o'clock when 35028 Clan Line sped through on a steam-hauled railtour: a common sight in the summer months especially.
Dave