ernie f

[Wurzel]

Great set of Purps again Ernie - but the backlit Common Blue is my fave from your latest offering I think there is something about the conditions this year - I've seen Purps down at Bentley, Alners Gorse and even today I got a surprise one down on Nettles on the Down at Grovely Wood- I can't recall a season like it - it's as if they're on the Price is Right!

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

You're really cleaning up with these Purple Hairstreaks, ernie.

This is probably the trickiest species for me and you have made it look so easy.

We have them in south Wales but I don't know a genuinely reliable place where they can be seen and photographed like you have been able to do. If I see them at all it's via good fortune so hats off to you for your ability to track them down and get such close up images.

[ernie f]

Wurzel - I get it! Come on down! You are our next butterfly on "The Price is right"!
I liked that backlit Common Blue too. The two pics are not of the same butterfly but both were within a few feet of one another, basking in the sun together.

David - I consider myself lucky to have Binswood near me. It was where I saw my first ever PStreak and where I have seen the most individuals in any given year.

[ernie f]

Alice Holt today, not for any particular reason, but just to make a change from Binswood!!!

Did see 4 PStreaks there, but all were up in the oaks flitting about as they do. Also L & M White, L Skip, MBrown, Ringlet and Gatekeeper, R&W Ads, H Blue, Peacock, Comma and SW Frits.

Also this moth in my house last night. Don't know what it is for sure. Common or Lesser Common Rustic perhaps?

[Wurzel]

Cracking stained glass Silver-washed Ernie If I remember (probably incorrectly ) the only way to separate the two Rustics is to 'gen det' them

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

Interesting view of the Silver Washed Fritillary, ernie. Looks like a nice stretch of woodland clearing too. No wonder you're seeing plenty right now.

[ernie f]

Wurzel - Thanks for the info on the Rustic. I wasn't even sure it was one of the Rustics.

David - Its a nice spot in Alice Holt, favoured by Purple Emperors and Essex Skippers - neither there at the time I took the pic of the SWF though.

[ernie f]

[ernie f]

Hurrah, the Grayling are back at Folly Hill. 5 seen today, 4 of which were in the lek area and all of them fresh.

[Wurzel]

Great shots - is that Grayling an aberrant as the 'eye' looks pretty oval - if it was a Ringlet is would be an ab.lancelotta (or some such )

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

Hurrah, the Grayling are back at Folly Hill...

Gee, the summer is simply flying by. Silver Spotted Skippers and Brown Hairstreaks next week, in all probability.

[ernie f]

David - Yet again another butterfly that seems to have started flying slightly earlier this year.

Wurzel - What an Eagle-eye for detail you have. I never even noticed the flattened wing-spot. Maybe an ab but since it is very fresh the wings still appear to have that "concertina" effect which may be squashing in the spot somewhat. It may become more circular as the wings flatten out more? Unsure.

[ernie f]

I've got a book on butterflies published only 10 years ago in 2010. In this book it tells me that the usual flight period for the Dingy Skipper is from mid-May to end-June and then a possible second brood sometimes for a short period in the middle of August.

So why is it I saw two of them today at Noar Hill?!

Yet another example of a species flying earlier than expected. I cannot remember ever seeing a 2nd brood Dingy at Noar Hill anyway.

It looks like a Dingy to me. Its not some kind of day-flying Dingy-like moth that I am not aware of is it?

[Allan.W.]

Hello Ernie ,
Amongst the hoards of Chalkhill Blues flying this morning at Temple Ewell Downs ,Kent i too saw a single reasonably fresh second brood
Dingy Skipper, maybe a little early (although not much !) ,we see second brood Dingys at several local sites (mid-Kent),most summers .
Regards Allan.W.

[millerd]

Given the early season, we could be seeing a few other extra broods around, and maybe in spots where they don't usually appear. That's a nice sighting, Ernie!

Cheers,

Dave

[ernie f]

Allan - Nice to hear you have 2nd brood Dingies round your way too. I have yet to see a Chalkhill this year but then I have not yet visited my usual haunts for them yet.

Dave - And today I thought I saw a 2nd brood Small Blue too, but it was fleeting so no pics I am afraid.

[ernie f]

I counted 49 Peacocks at Noar Hill today and I only visited half the reserve. Also R Ad, L, S, GV and M White, S, L and E Skipper, SW and DG Frits (4 of the latter), S Heath, C Blue, poss S Blue (2nd brood) and another 2nd brood Dingy, bringing my total for this species this week to 3.

Small

Essex

Backlit DGF

[Wurzel]

Great shots of the Dingies Ernie I saw two or three today which brings my total to 5 this season so I think it'll be a good year for second brood Dingies It's good to see them though I don;t know what impact it'll have on numbers next year - the odd one or two shouldn't really matter

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[ernie f]

For those of you who do not know but who have an interest, Comet Neowise is nearing its closest approach to Earth right now. It can be found in the North-western sky. When it gets dark enough (around 11.30 pm where I live ' cos I live in a town) it is a naked-eye object, a fuzzy core with a hugely long and fanned-out tail, the tail flaring upwards. If you live in the countryside and have little or no air pollution, you may even see it just after sunset. Best if you have a pair of binoculars though.

Locate the constellation "The Plough", also looks like a saucepan. Find the lowest star in the "pan" part of the constellation, the one closest to the horizon, then track vertically down toward the horizon and look for a smudgy thing.

Have fun.

[ernie f]

Oh - don't forget - never look directly at the sun, especially not with bins, not even as its sets.