millerd

[bugboy]

Just catching up with your Purple Week Dave, very nice, especially the 4 wing purple . Just had a very close look and your final one is the same one I caught up with a couple of days later, a little more worn but still intact

[Wurzel]

That does look a Hibernator Comma Dave - much less two-tone and richer shades of brown It's great to see the Blues are back in Town - great set of shots Soon be time to visit Shipton Bellinger

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

Nice tutorial with the Small and Essex Skippers, Dave, and I love the contrast between the Small Coppers. Just shows how variable they can be.

[millerd]

Cheers, Buggy - interesting that you should have seen the same Emperor. It does show that they come down on more than one day, perhaps several, to build up their mineral levels.

Thanks, Wurzel - the standard-type Commas are starting to appear amongst the summer ones now we are well past the solstice. Overall, there are very good numbers this year round here. Yes, looking forward to at least one trip to Shipton B., maybe before July is out at this rate!

Thank you, David - when you have a lot of Essex/Small flying together, it's an interesting exercise to try and guess which they are by their flight and then seeing how often you are right. Surprisingly, I've found my success rate has improved! I have also found that Essex are more inclined to pose in a way that shows the underside of those antennae, putting their ID beyond doubt.

Wednesday 1st July. The new month dawned very much in the same vein as the last few days of June. Bright, warmish, and a tendency for the odd shower. I spent three hours on my local patch (0930-1230) and covered a fair bit of ground, clocking up over 230 butterflies of no fewer than 18 different species - both figures being highs for the year so far.

Essex Skippers now outnumber Small by two to one (established by dip-sampling across the piece) and are more widespread. For both, numbers are much higher than in 2019 - which is probably down to the area not being mowed so far this year. This happened plumb in the middle of their season last year. This is an Essex Skipper.

Perhaps the most striking aspects of today's walk were the numbers of both Red Admirals and Peacocks - 28 of the former and an extraordinary 34 of the latter. Maybe it's not quite so surprising given the large number of Peacock caterpillars seen earlier in the year.

The Red Admirals were already setting about kicking off another generation.

the moment of laying...

...and the result

Staying with Nymphalid species, as mentioned above the Commas are having a great year too and 15 were seen today mostly enjoying the brambles along with the previous two species.

Added to this to complete the set were a single Painted Lady...

...and a single Small Tortoiseshell.

One new male Brimstone was seen busily nectaring and easy to approach...

...and all three common species of white butterflies. There were only a handful of Large (just 3), but plenty of both Small (26) and GVW (17). Naturally enough, Meadow Browns were plentiful (around 40 seen), but Small Heaths seem to be tailing off at the moment (15 seen today). However, Gatekeepers are now appearing and I expect them to become plentiful throughout July.

Also just beginning to kick off are the second brood Lycaenid butterflies - Small Copper...

...Brown Argus...

...Common Blue...

...and Holly Blue (what else would I finish on! ).

The first part of July is generally the peak of the season here in terms of numbers of species (I think 20 is the maximum I've ever seen on one day here), so the next series of local reports should also have a lot of variety.

Dave

[Katrina]

I am a bit behind looking at diaries but have just seen your 4 wings purple. Congratulations!

[Wurzel]

I usually check on the last day of work as it's a half day but luckily this year we finish a week earlier but I reckon in a fortnight the Brostreaks will be out proper - not the odd, unusually early sighting I was just getting caught up and we seem to have entered into the next frenzied period with Grayling, Chalkhills and Brostreaks popping up all over the place Cracking report again - my favourite has to be the Common Blue - I love it when the spotting shows through onto the topside

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thank you, Katrina! It was a great way to finish the week or so at Chiddingfold and also the run of lovely weather.

Cheers, Wurzel - yes, the underside spotting does often show through on Common Blues, though it doesn't seem to do so on Adonis. The latter appear to have a less translucent layer of scales. I'm hoping for a good showing from the second brood of Common Blues after a splendid one from the first (which actually only petered out a couple of weeks ago).

Thursday 2nd July. More of the same weatherwise, but now the addition of blustery wind. Not very summery... I did venture out, but not all that far, and I saw little of note. A very bright new Comma basking between showers...

...and the coyest of Essex Skippers - I love the way it's just fractionally peeping round the side of the stem and you can see one "eyelash".

Dave

[Janet Turnbull]

Couldn't help laughing at your Essex Skipper, Dave! It could not hide its antennae though.
Janet

[millerd]

Glad you liked the Skipper, Janet! For all their similarities, I always think that Essex Skippers are somehow cuter than Small Skippers - they certainly seem to strike more pleasing poses and are definitely less likely to take off when I'm trying to record them for posterity.

Friday 3rd July. A bit more sunshine today, but still windy. I toured my local patch again, seeing around 170 butterflies of 16 species. I'm still a bit mystified why Ringlets are relatively uncommon here, but I did manage to see one today. There must be something missing from the grassland edge habitat where it borders the bits of woodland.

A selection from the day:

Small Skipper

the most attractive White in my opinion...

...especially the summer brood when new

Essex Skipper...

...and again. Posing of course.

I hope to see this one next spring

nearly new

there were several puddling...

...but when they have a break, this can happen

glorious deep colours against the pink of the buddleia

quite striking when fresh like this

Dave

[Wurzel]

I personally don't think there is much better than a fresh Hedge Brown Dave - particularly one as well caught as that one You did well with the Essex as well, the ones round this way are a bit more reticent about showing their true identity hence why I am currently suffering from 'Skipper Neck' and 'Smessex Knee'

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

You've picked out some real nice specimens there, Dave, best of which in my opinion is that stunning female Green Veined White.

[millerd]

A much-underrated butterfly the GVW, David. Fresh females are stunning.

There are some lovely fresh Hedgies around at the moment, Wurzel, and the bright, rather than sunny, conditions mean that they are out in the open and displaying rather nicely. One of the species that doesn't mind a bit of drizzle too, especially if it's warm and muggy. My efforts to ID the Smessex Skippers one way of the other have mostly resulted in being soaked through from wading through and crouching low down in wet grass. They don't mind a wee bit of drizzle either, but at least they head more readily for somewhere to settle in those conditions. I've been estimating numbers by representative sampling, and lately helped by the fact that the Small are getting a bit worn, whereas the Essex (which first appeared two and a half weeks later) are not.

Saturday 4th July. Another very similar day, with showers, virtually no sunshine, and a stiff breeze. Unsurprisingly the numbers and mix of butterflies locally was pretty well the same as it was on Friday, though there seemed to be a lot of skippers today, with Essex predominating. One or two highlights:

Small Skipper

Essex - male

Essex - female

And now the posers...

I find them hard to resist when they are as fresh as this. No doubt when the Silver-spots start to appear my fickle allegiance will waver, but for the moment...

Dave

[bugboy]

Those Essex Skippers have got a couple of weeks left before you knock them off the top of the list, saw my first SSS on the 28th last year over on Box Hill. Your Brown Argus looks like an ab, missing the all important diagnostic spot on the hindwing .

[millerd]

I've seen one or two Brown Argus locally either missing that spot or having one that is almost invisible. Maybe it's in the local genes... Yes, not long till SSS - the first one I saw in 2019 was on 22nd July up at Aston Rowant. I may well pop up there during the forthcoming spell of reasonable weather just in case.

Sunday 5th July. More sunshine today, but still blowy. I delayed my local walk until mid-afternoon, just for a change, and came up with 18 species again, though not quite the same ones as on 1st. A notable addition was the return of the Speckled Wood - I'd only seen one in the last month, and generally they have been very thin on the ground.

Peacocks were actually the commonest butterfly along the route I chose today, assisted by several frequenting a large buddleia by the lake pretty well within sight of home.

It was good to see a Small Tortoiseshell again, though the early summer brood have all but disappeared now. Hopefully some of them at least will have bred, and more will emerge at the end of the summer.

A few of the other butterflies seen...

...and finally, again within sight of home, an agitated male Small White caused me to peer more closely at the hedge. He had discovered a mating pair and after a half-hearted attempt to dislodge the incumbent male, he left them alone.

Dave

[ernie f]

Dave

My favourite image from your recent posts is that "coy" Essex. Fantastic.

I am a great fan of the odd angle if you can get it, and you certainly nailed that one.

Cheers.

[Wurzel]

Brilliant set of shots Dave That Brown Argus is an interesting little blighter with that missing spot - and not particularly well marked topside either I'm with you - the Essex are cuter than Small - they seem to have more rounded, fluffy features than Small - but Silver Spots beat both hands down in the cuteness stakes

No luck with early Brostreaks yesterday down at Alners - I'll be checking in on Shipton at the end of next week so I'll keep you posted

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thank you, Ernie - a bit of luck with that Essex pose really, but I was pleased with the quirky result. It's good to bring out a bit of character sometimes.

Cheers, Wurzel! I shall be awaiting your Brostreak Bulletin with bated breath...

During the first week of July and its rather indifferent weather I also popped down to Staines Moor a few times - primarily to see how the second brood of Small Coppers were doing, considering how numerous the first round were in the spring. Of course, this flat and open bit of moorland is not exactly sheltered and it was generally pretty windy down there, added to which I seemed invariably to get rained on by everything between drizzle and downpour. The vegetation was very wet, and very quickly so was I. Here is a typical view of things.

Small Coppers were certainly around, probably the most widespread species, but given the conditions it was likely I only came across a small fraction of the numbers actually there. Firstly, some of the others flying (or trying to... Some are actually sitting in puddles on the leaves )

Small Skippers outnumber Essex here

male

female

Now for the various Small Coppers...

This caeruleopunctata individual was probably the freshest I saw.

Dave

[David M]

Some lovely fresh specimens in your last few reports, Dave. July is always a good time of year; the single brooded summer species are on the wing and being joined by second broods of various others. All makes for a great spectacle.

[Wurzel]

Cracking report Dave - you've gotta love those Coppers especially the Blue Badger I read something on Facebook recently where one of the 'posters' reckoned that he only counted them as caeruleopunctata if they had all four blue spots, how or why he decided this I'm not sure So by this classification method yours would definitely be one

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

True enough, David - lots of fresh variety on show, even on cloudy days.

"Four spots only" sounds elitist to me, Wurzel! The Latin word just means "sky-blue spotted", so if you are picky about the number, it should be "caeruleoquadripunctata" for four, "caeruleounipunctata" for one and so on. To me, it crops up so regularly it doesn't even warrant the title of "aberration", just a variation on the norm. After all, take any half a dozen Small Coppers at random, and they will exhibit six slightly different sets of spots, shades of orange/red and degrees of darkness. Some will have four prominent blue spots, some none at all, and there will be all kinds of gradation in between. If you look at the British Butterfly Aberrations website, you'll see all kinds of nuances graced with individual grand-sounding and convoluted Latin names.

Whatever you decide to call it, it was an attractive little butterfly battling against not the best of weather.

Dave