There are a few fresh Tortoiseshells around, Trevor - let's hope they still look like that next March...
I'm sticking with my final diagnosis of that being a dark summer Comma, Wurzel.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Having gone through lots of other photos, it turns out that they are not all two-tone (though some certainly are), and something about those hindwing edge spots doesn't seem right for the winter version. I wonder if there any "intermediate" forms?
Thanks you for that confirmation, David. I thought it could only really be a GVW, but without seeing the underside, the lack of dark scales along the veins, and the overall softer look to it confused me a bit.
![Confused :?](./images/smilies/icon_confused.gif)
I have found a photo from last year of a male GVW where the patterning is the same as this one, but there are black scales along the veins on the edge of the hindwings - which looks more "normal". Incidentally, are there any known instances where the two species have hybridized?
After a complete washout on Friday, I hoped for better on
Saturday 19th August. I set off reasonably early and made my way down to Noar Hill.
By the time I had arrrived, the sunshine had become a bit patchy, there was a stiff breeze blowing, and truth be told it wasn't that warm. As usual, there were loads of wild flowers, but butterflies were not around in any numbers. The commonest species was the Common Blue, but these were all looking really worn.
There were a few Small Heath around, but it wasn't until I stopped in the last pit at the far end where there was some shelter that anything truly worth a photo appeared. First up was this beautiful new Red Admiral, with a lovely velvety texture and its body hair puffed up by the wind.
Then a sudden burst of strong sun seemed to energise the Brimstone population, and they emerged from their hiding places to nectar.
It was while I was following one of these that my eye was caught by something that I at first took for a rather bright female Gatekeeper. I had come across a couple of these earlier, but they were duller and more yellow, so I decided to follow its somewhat erratic flight down to the grass. It landed, and stretched its wings wide to soak up the weak sunshine. It was a female Brown Hairstreak. She was virtually unmarked in terms of rips and tears, and had all her tails intact, but she had been out for a while and the glorious shiny chocolate brown had worn to a much more dull matt finish.
After sunning herself on the ground, she moved from shrub to shrub seeking better spots to bask and seemed completely oblivious to my presence.
Eventually, she took off towards the trees and disappeared. All I can assume is that recent indifferent weather had kept her up in the trees after mating, and that now the urge to lay was upon her and she needed to warm up sufficiently to do so - hence the full on basking.
Dave