millerd

[trevor]

I hear it was a successful visit to Whitehawk today, Dave.
A certain law dictated that today was the day that my car was booked in for a service!.
Otherwise I would have joined in the party up there.

Trevor.

[millerd]

It was a good day up there yesterday, Trevor - your absence was commented on! A pity that particular law prevailed on the day and kept you away from a very sociable gathering.

On Friday 20th September, it was another warm sunny day and I had a quick look round locally in the morning, before popping down to Denbies later on, encouraged by my Clouded Yellow sightings in Sussex the day before.

The one thing of note at home was a glimpse of a Peacock, possibly a second brood individual since their main emergence was way back in mid-July. No photo today, though one or two other species posed for me.

At Denbies, there were still no Clouded Yellows - in fact there was very little of anything. Meadow Browns were the commonest, but most of the many Small Heaths seen last time had disappeared now. I eventually spotted a scattering of female blues, worn and difficult to confidently identify, though I suspect this one is Adonis.

More surprisingly, and even more worn, was a single Silver-spotted Skipper. It was well down in the grass and may well have still had a few eggs to lay.

Finally, there were a couple of Small Coppers, this one being the freshest.

It was flying somewhat recklessly in the vicinity of this beast, which having no Chalkhills on the menu was making do with grasshoppers.

Dave

[essexbuzzard]

Glorious Walls from Mill Hill, Dave. I was there yesterday afternoon, and there were still a few on the more sheltered lower slope. But most of the butterflies there were showing their age,and will soon be gone, a bit earlier than last year.

[Wurzel]

More lovely shots Dave - you're right they did sit well for you especially the Painted Lady - a nice angle giving the wings a more curvy look

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel - always worth another Painted Lady shot - there might be very few around next year.

Thank you, Mark - the Walls behaved unusually well that day and I came away more than happy with those photos.

Saturday 21st September. A forecast was in place for a perfect summer day - sunny, very warm and light breezes, despite this being the equinox. I had arranged to meet Bugboy down at Tidemills near Newhaven to look for Long-tailed Blues, there being a reasonable chance there could be a mixture of new arrivals and locally emerged individuals with just the right weather to encourage them out.

Our searches of the likely areas proved unsuccessful, but we encountered James (Butterflysaurus Rex) engaged upon a similar quest. He had some ideas where else there might be some flying not too far distant, and after a bit of walking we came upon a patch of BLEP which was to all intents and purposes the jackpot. The various groups of flowers were regularly visited by LTBs, which were flying with great energy in the warm sunny conditions and only very rarely basking anywhere. The consistent pose we were faced with was wings closed and nose buried deep in a pea flower seeking nectar. We were joined after a while by Neil H. and his expertise established that there were at least nine different individuals, with boths males and females represented, and including one or two new males as well as older ones of both sexes (quite probably primary immigrants). To be honest, I was happy just to get some reasonable photos of this rare and attractive butterfly.

two hiding here...

a bit of wing-rolling

two here as well

a female opened a little

a female, possibly looking for a spot to lay

One distraction came when a very friendly lizard decided to bask on Bugboy's rucksack...

A very memorable day indeed, and I make no apology for the number of photos here - this species still doesn't appear very often, even if its arrival is becoming commoner.

Many thanks to James.

Dave

[trevor]

What a great haul of LTB's, Dave.
Looks as though you achieved a good mix of migrants and home grown on that trip.

Super images too!.
Trevor.

[bugboy]

That's nearly a fortnight ago now, seems like only yesterday... although we did actually have similar results yesterday anyway

[David M]

Great sequence of the Long Tails, Dave, even if many are frustratingly nestled amongst pea flowers. I find this a tricky species even in France & Spain where there are obviously many more of them, so any decent upperwing shot is well earned.

[Neil Freeman]

Nice Wall Browns a couple of post back Dave and a cracking selection of LTB photos

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Cracking stuff Dave - looks like you saved the best of the season until last From when I've seen them abroad they do seem to behave a little like Hairstreaks in that they don't often open up So how much warmer do our winters need to get to see them establish themselves - perhaps Bournemouth Council should plant up a load of BLEP at Soutbourne

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Many thanks to all of you. It was one of those days that will linger long in the memory. They may not have been the first LTBs I'd seen, but seeing so many and being able to approach them so readily (despite some of the more unusual and precarious positions adopted!), plus a sociable time in illustrious company, made it one that will stand out.

I do need to scrutinise the photos a bit more rigorously and try to establish how many individuals are actually depicted. Their underside patterning is almost like a fingerprint - no two seem to be exactly alike. Even the eye-spots at the hindwing apex vary markedly in size. A rare opportunity - goodness knows when so many will be available again for such a bit of research. Really extraordinary.

So, how to follow that then? On Sunday 22nd September, the weather hadn't quite given up. It remained warm and quite muggy, there was even some early sunshine. I set off onto my local patch, but only managed to find 13 butterflies. However, eight species were represented, including a couple of surprises, one of which was a great piece of good fortune.

First of all, there were one and three-quarter Small Coppers. One was older and paler, but the newer, brighter individual had met with and accident that had all but removed one hindwing. It made no apparent difference to its ability to manoeuvre, and the pair of them spent a great deal of time chasing and sparring.

The last of the Small Heaths were flying: they may just scrape into October, but I suspect not this year.

Then came the first surprise - flying fast and low over the ground was a dark shape, which as the sun went in dived down to reveal itself to be a very fresh-looking Peacock.

A bit later on, in a completely different spot, there was another.

Finally, as darker clouds gathered intent on eliminating what was left of the sunshine, pottering along from flower to flower came an even better surprise: a Clouded Yellow. This was the the first (and to date the only) one that has appeared on my local patch this year, taking the species tally here for 2019 up to 25. It was a fresh-looking female, and with the sun now becoming very intermittent and within a short while actually likely to disappear altogether, I reasoned that all I needed to do was keep my eyes on the butterfly and eventually it would settle and be completely approachable.

I mused on another good day, certainly easing the anticlimactic feelings following on from the previous one, as I wandered back home with the rain starting to fall.

Dave

[trevor]

Well done with that female Clouded Yellow, Dave.
This species has taken me into November in previous years, but not this year.
I have yet to see one in 2019. Shoreham and Tide Mills have been useless.
Might give Mill Hill a try.

Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cracking stuff with the Cloudy - it must have meant that there wasn't so far to come down from from the day before the Peacocks must have helped with that as well - lush looking Interesting looking damage on the fresher Small Copper - it looks very ragged and also like something has scarped all the scales off from the edge of the damage - doesn't look like a bird strike which would be much cleaner?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

For once, poor weather conditions played into your hands, Dave. That said, I find female Clouded Yellows reasonably approachable even in warm, sunny conditions. It’s the males that are almost permanently supercharged!

Lovely, mint fresh Peacocks too. Not a particularly common sight towards the end of September.

[millerd]

Thanks, all of you - the Cloudy was very welcome, and even better that it was in such good condition too. The Peacock was a pleasant surprise as well.I hope you have some luck with the Yellows in Sussex, Trevor - I've seen one or two in various spots down there, but not more than that.

Monday 23rd September - it was too much to hope that the weather would say really warm, but in fact it wasn't too bad and there was some sunshine: another trip out on my local patch was worth doing. No Cloudies today, but instead I recorded the highest Small Copper count of the year here - six individuals, in various states of wear and tear. Some of the settings were distinctly autumnal, but this wasn't really surprising, given the date.

Another Peacock was also spotted...

...plus an elderly Brown Argus.

However, a very new Common Blue turned out to be the real highlight.

Still a bit of life in the season round here.

Dave

[millerd]

24th September was a "blank" day, and my trips out locally on Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th were relatively brief. There's always something to see, though, and both days included a new-looking Common Blue - possibly the same one.

I found a female Speckled Wood, though they continue to have a relatively poor season here.

Red Admirals were appearing in greater numbers now, a sure end-of-season sign...

...plus a Peacock again...

...and they were joined on 26th by a rather new and quite friendly Painted Lady.

Dave

[millerd]

Friday 27th September continued the trend of providing a brand new male Common Blue when I went out locally.

I also found a female, rather more worn and seeking out suitable plants on which to lay.

The usual variety was still around...

...and for once I managed to get close to a Small White, in this case a really fresh one.

I also nearly trod on this Painted Lady, demonstrating the excellent camouflage the species has against a background of dry plant litter.

Nearer to home, these pernicious moths were still emerging from the box hedge.

Saturday 28th was less conducive weatherwise, and felt distinctly more autumnal with more Red Admirals around.

They were now beginning to enjoy the flowering ivy.

The continuing presence of the odd Peacock felt a bit incongruous, mind.

Dave

[millerd]

On Monday 30th September, there was once again very little sunshine, and aside from Red Admirals...

...there was just this Painted Lady to brighten things up. Luckily, it was very happy to be photographed.

One of the definite highlights of summer 2019.

Dave

[Wurzel]

What is going on with those Peacocks Dave -they should be tucked up and settling down to hibernate shouldn't they? Those Painted Ladies look in really good nick - heading southwards to you reckon? It has been a great year for them hopefully we won't have to wait another decade for the next one

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

I think the Peacocks are second brood individuals, Wurzel, which probably only emerged in September and are busily taking on fuel to get them through the winter. It's a bit trickier in October than it is in July, and looking at the insects in the photos they need to put on a bit more weight!
The Painted Ladies may well be locally emerged ones, just feeding up before flying south. It would be brilliant if 2020 gave us a repeat influx, but experience shows that doesn't generally happen... Maybe it'll be something else - Southern Small Whites? They've been confirmed on the Channel coast a couple of km south of Calais...

Tuesday 1st October. A new autumn month, but actually it felt a bit more like summer again, with highs here of 21 degrees and some good spells of sunshine. I counted 18 individual butterflies of eight species:
Red Admiral 6
Common Blue 3
Small White 2
Painted Lady 2
Comma 2
Small Copper 1
Holly Blue 1
Peacock 1
Small Heath and Brown Argus seem to be over for the year, but I was surprised not to see a Specklie today. A few highlights:

And that pesky moth again...

It's difficult to drag myself away at this time of year, as it is actually (strange to say) quite difficult to find the variety elsewhere. However, there was one thing that wasn't going to turn up on my local patch...

Dave