October 2018

[David M]

One last chance to hit double figure species in a day, folks....

[jasonbirder]

Surely we could finish the year with a Long-tailed Blue after such a hot summer and so many episodes of southerly winds?
(Mind you I haven't exactly been over-run with migrant Moths in the trap this year so perhaps i'm missing something obvious.)

[aeshna5]

A lovely warm sunny afternoon yesterday + in London's Richmond Park saw a male Brimstone, Red Admiral, 2 Speckled woods, 4 Small Heath + 5 Small Coppers.

Also 6 species of Odonata with 3 Willow Emeralds the best.

[Deborah]

Not quite finished here yet. Speckled Woods, Red admirals, Peacocks,a Comma, two male Brimstones, a Small Copper, and these on my carrots today. I don't know if it's not too late for them to make it to pupate; I hope not.

[David M]

Not a lot doing on the Gower coast this afternoon. One hour at Port Eynon returned just 9 Small Whites (all males) and solitary Red Admiral and Speckled Wood.

[Allan.W.]

Good to see the Swallowtail caterpillars Deborah ,many years since I found several at Hickling Broad , (Brittanicus ) very interesting ,unusual caterpillars ,I showed my pics to my uncle ,sadly now long gone ,and he knew straight away what they were ,and back in the early 1930,s he too found three caterpillars in the local allotments ,here in Ashford (Kent ),also feeding on carrot tops ,somehow the local doctor ,I would imagine a butterfly collector (very popular in that era ) ,heard about these caterpillars ,came to the door ,introduced himself to my uncles parents,
and offered to buy the caterpillars from him if he was willing, for something like half a crown each (12 and a half pence ) a fortune to a small boy
and needless to say he sold them !
As for your caterpillars ,pupating ,I would think that they,ll be fine. Glad you liked the Coppers !
Regards Allan.W.

[David M]

...As for your caterpillars ,pupating ,I would think that they,ll be fine.

Agreed. In all honesty, they don't look far from doing so given their size.

[Vince Massimo]

Yesterday, 7th October on the Sussex coast at Lancing I found several Sea Kale plants on the shingle beach with Large White larvae feeding on them. Also seen along the length of the promenade were 5 Clouded Yellow, 4 Small White, 3 Common Blue, 1 Peacock and a Small Copper, mostly at Widewater Lagoon. While walking on the Downs above the village, I also encountered occasional swarms of Harlequin Ladybirds which would give you a nip if they landed on you. There were also lots of Wall Browns up there too.

Large White larvae - Lancing, Sussex 7-Oct-2018

Clouded Yellow - Lancing, Sussex 7-Oct-2018

Vince

[Jack Harrison]

New species today for Moray. I met a birder who was photographing a butterfly. I couldn't see the target so I asked what it was.
"Peacock Admiral".
"Do you mean a Peacock or a Red Admiral?" I asked.
"No a Peacock Admiral".

Genuine sightings today: Speckled Wood and Painted Lady. The "Peacock Admiral" which I saw very distantly was probably a Peacock.

Jack

[millerd]

"No a Peacock Admiral".
Jack

I saw one of those today in Sussex, Jack. It was in flight nearly against the sun and it was definitely one or the other...

Dave

[Vince Massimo]

Today I visited my local Brown Hairstreak hot-spot in Ifield (Crawley). When I was there last January I rescued around 90 eggs after Blackthorn suckers were cut in one of the fields. I checked the remaining suckers today and found them loaded with eggs, so took away some stems before they were strimmed. I only selected those with groups of eggs and left the singletons, which I will go back for on another day.

Blackthorn suckers - Crawley, Sussex 10-Oct-2018

Brown Hairstreak eggs - Crawley, Sussex 10-Oct-2018

Brown Hairstreak eggs - Crawley, Sussex 10-Oct-2018

The final count was 38 eggs on 8 stems, which will be returned to the wild next March.

Vince

[bugboy]

Wow, I've never seen clusters like that before, Vince! I wish I'd known they were going to do a similar thing at Bookham a few weeks ago so I could have done a similar thing

[Vince Massimo]

I've never found groups of eggs like that before, Paul. These suckers were between 30 and 60cms high and they are always worth checking if they are growing in a sunny location. Worth bearing in mind for next year at Bookham.

8 eggs on this one

Vince

[Ian Pratt]

Lovely surprise today with a wall brown spotted by my wife on euryops in our garden.

[NickC]

That's a lovely wall brown photograph Ian.

[Testudo Man]

October here in Kent, is still producing some nice finds for me.
3rd brood Common Blues/Brown Argus/Small Coppers. But only in small numbers.
Ive also seen Peacock, Red Admiral, Clouded Yellow, an even a male Brimstone on the wing.

Highlights were finding another superb fresh female Common Blue(blue type/phase) on the 5th,
an a fresh female Brown Argus on the 10th. Both these beauties were sighted at Bredhurst, Kent.
I hadnt visited this site for well over 2 years...i was looking for Adders(i didnt find any!!).
But the small amount of fresh butterflies on site, made up for not finding any Snakes.

Several images, cheers Paul.

Female Common Blue(blue type/phase) Image is not cropped. 5/10/18.

Small Copper. Image is not cropped. 5/10/18.

Female Brown Argus. Image is not cropped. 10/10/18.

[Allan.W.]

Paul,3 top notch pictures there ,the female Common Blue is particularly stunning ! Nice one !!
Regards Allan.W.

[Allan.W.]

At a warm ,but breezy Hothfield Common (Kent ) today ,our main quarry were...….. Chestnuts ,a bit of a tradition we,ve been going for years ,and this year they seem to be particularly plentiful (and large !) ,the Common is also an excellent butterfly site ,particularly Small
Coppers .At Hothfield they seem to be in two distinct areas ,the first ,not far from the main Car park ,on the old Football pitch (Hothfield FC )
and I was pleased to find 5 here. moving on to the first of the large ancient Sweet Chestnut trees ,it took us exactly ,ten minutes to pick up our quota ! So on to the main bog area ,which in spring / Summer is an exceptional plant site with excellent bog plants ,including Bog Asphodel ,Heath Spotted Orchids ,Sundews to name but a few ,it also holds Kents only colony of Keeled Skimmer (dragonflies ). While we were there today we found a further ten Small Coppers ,including one which may be a fourth brood .
Most were feeding from the few ,last gasp Ragworts ,with one particularly small plant holding up to five Coppers . The only other butterfly we saw was a single worn Brown Argus.
Regards Allan.W.

[Testudo Man]

At a warm ,but breezy Hothfield Common (Kent ) today ,our main quarry were...….. Chestnuts ,a bit of a tradition we,ve been going for years ,and this year they seem to be particularly plentiful (and large !) ,the Common is also an excellent butterfly site ,particularly Small
Coppers .At Hothfield they seem to be in two distinct areas ,the first ,not far from the main Car park ,on the old Football pitch (Hothfield FC )
and I was pleased to find 5 here. moving on to the first of the large ancient Sweet Chestnut trees ,it took us exactly ,ten minutes to pick up our quota ! So on to the main bog area ,which in spring / Summer is an exceptional plant site with excellent bog plants ,including Bog Asphodel ,Heath Spotted Orchids ,Sundews to name but a few ,it also holds Kents only colony of Keeled Skimmer (dragonflies ). While we were there today we found a further ten Small Coppers ,including one which may be a fourth brood .
Most were feeding from the few ,last gasp Ragworts ,with one particularly small plant holding up to five Coppers . The only other butterfly we saw was a single worn Brown Argus.
Regards Allan.W.
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P1360541.JPGP1360545.JPG

Looks like you had a good Small Copper session then mate. I like the image of the Small Copper on the large fallen brown leaf.

Thanks for your comment on my 3 latest images i posted...an you are right, that Blue type/phase Common Blue was a real beauty.
Thats the 2nd time this year that i have found/photographed a female Blue type, an both butterflies were stunning.
As you can imagine, i took many images of her too. Here is another pic of her, this has been cropped some.
If you look on the hind wings, you can see 2 small lighter blue patches(per wing).

PS. I didnt go looking for butterflies today, but sighted A Peacock, Speckled Wood, an 4 Red Admirals on the same clump of Ivy.

[Allan.W.]

Thanks Paul ,yes we had a pretty good (and unexpected !) session with the Small Coppers at Hothfield this afternoon .
Like yourself I,ve been lucky with "blue" females this season and have taken some pleasing (for me !) shots of several , that said
I,ve only seen 2(females ) in this brood ,love it when the Common Blues are flying ,and I,m building a fair collection of pictures of variant females,
along with Small Coppers and Grizzled Skippers ,my three favourite British butterflies.
Regards Allan.W.