Hoggers

[Wurzel]

Lovely set of Coppers Hoggers - especially the Blue Badgers and a mighty impressive count! Brilliant action shot of the beetle

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

There was a real mix of weather at Dungeness today...I counted 211 in all

Mightily impressive, Hoggers, and as ever there are some beautiful individuals in your gallery.

What is your record count for the first brood?

[essexbuzzard]

211? That’s amazing, Hoggers!

[Goldie M]

Always happy to see your Copper's Hogger's Goldie

[Hoggers]

Hello and many thanks for your kind comments.

211 is very high day count for the first brood - I had to cover a lot of ground to reach it!

I've looked back at my notebooks and I've certainly never seen more first brood Coppers in a day since 2012. I've a sneaking suspicion that 2010 was better but since I moved home 18 months ago I haven't been able to find my 2010 notebook : I will let you know when ( if ! ) I find it!

Something told me that Pip wasn't going to be left behind today

Dungeness is a sea of Sorrel

The tasty fresh leaves poking up through a cake of lichen.

But my goodness it was cold there today! Bright sunshine (mostly) but a strong chilly wind blowing. It felt like a bright winter's day.

And the Coppers were understandably less conspicuous than on thursday last

I put Pip to work sniffing them out

And we managed to count 63 during our walk

My favourite was this handsomely marked fellow

No rare beetles today but when you've got Small Coppers it's always a superb day

[ernie f]

Hoggers - Of course we don't get nearly as many Small Coppers where I live but even here there is a noticeable improvement in first brood numbers over recent years.

[David M]

…And we managed to count 63 during our walk

That’s still a formidable total, Hoggers, and yes, looking at her face, I can see there was no way you could have left Pip home that morning!