Thanks
Pauline, unfortunately it seems I'm either asleep, at work or out chasing butterflies when they emerge
Thanks
DaveHe was only a bit further down the path from where you found him from what I can gather so he definitely had a territory, perhaps it was more to defend the large amount of horse dung on the path there
Thanks
Wurzel best I could do given the time of night and rushing around to grab the camera and get him set up before his wings expanded
Thanks
David but there's a lot more than four, they was the first of twenty three I ended up with!
July 2020
Wednesday 1st. In the intervening day another seven Holly Blues had emerged (all when I wasn't looking, at work mostly) so on my day off I left early to release all ten back onto the Marshes. At 7.30am I figured at least one or two would hang around allowing me to grab a few pictures but no, every single one fluttered off without so much as a toe settling on anything, ungrateful little buggers! To be fair it was already quite warm and other butterfly life was already active including my first Gatekeeper of the season.
![IMG_0056.JPG (137.51 KiB) Viewed 704 times IMG_0056.JPG](./files/thumb_13753_5ecb5a2a987b807a4dfe1cd332ca665e)
A trip to Epping Forest was the main event for the day, hoping for another purple experience which as it turned out, I was going to get. As usual Meadow Brown and Ringlets were out in numbers, joined by Large Skippers and the first of the second generation of Green-veined White plus the occasional Large White. I’ve been taking more of an interest in the more ‘mundane’ species this year for obvious reasons. Much like Wurzels mild obsession with Gatekeepers, I’ve been getting slightly obsessed with looking for extra ocelli on Satyrids
![Confused :?](./images/smilies/icon_confused.gif)
. I’m finding the double pupiled ocelli on female Meadow Browns, ab. bioculata, is relatively common, almost to the point where I’d say its within normal variation.
The Ringlets were as far as I could tell all very much normal except for one half of this mating pair which had the beginnings of an extra ocelli on the hindwing growing out of another one.
A few fresh Brimstones were now out to join the summer butterfly bonanza
And the Comma’s, who are having an excellent season, were to be found on every patch of flowering Bramble. They provided constant distractions for the few male Silver-washed Fritillary who were zooming around, repeatedly feeling the need to check each one just in case one had miraculously turned into a female SWF. Adding a splash of colour was the odd fresh Peacock and a rather nice Red Admiral doing its best Purple Emperor impression
One Purple Emperor did put in an appearance, a fleeting visitation through the lower canopy by the side of the path but the Purple experience for the day was left to the Hairstreaks, which when the sun shone, seemed to be literally everywhere. Most of them didn’t settle (or didn’t settle anywhere useful) but with so many raining down from the trees there always going to be enough to train the camera on.