June 2021

[Greenie]

Spent a couple of hours at Lullingstone Country Park near Eynesford before the heat of the day got unbarable for both butterflies and searcher this morning .
Small Heath , Meadow Brown and Common Blue were the main species seen , until I put up my first of 5+ Marbled Whites of the year .

A little later a flash of orange through the long grass , proved to be my first of 3 Dark Green Fritillaries , all ' out of the box ' and aslo new for the year .

To top off the visit , 3 Lizard Orchids in full flower were found .

[zigzag_wanderer]

A bit prosaic to anyone outside my part of the world, particularly with all the recent new-emergence sightings posted.

But I managed to double my 2021 Small Tortoiseshell count whilst walking back from work today.

[David M]

...until I put up my first of 5+ Marbled Whites of the year.

Midsummer is truly here!!

[petesmith]

Great work, Pete.

That last individual is surely an aberrant? I can't see any orange lunules at all.

Massive variation within the "normal range" , but yes I agree David - this one is a bit different. I am thinking this may be ab. unicolor

[millerd]

No Marbled Whites here as yet, but I also saw my first DGF of the year this afternoon, at Box Hill.

Cheers,

Dave

[Charles Nicol]

i walked from Sharpenhoe Clappers to Sundon Country Park and back today. the weather was fabulous. not many butterflies though...

i was delighted to find a Bee Orchid

[David M]

Sunday 12th - Meathop Moss in Cumbria:

10-15 Large Heaths along with half a dozen or so Green Veined Whites and 3 Brimstones:

[Medard]

That's a cracking  picture  of the Large Heath David, regrettable a species I have not seen and most unlikely too now, however I shall try again for the Heath fritillary.
The question has been asked elsewhere on UKB,where are all the butterflies ? My visit to the Sweet track at Shapwick Moor produced one Large Skipper, a very tiny one, three Speckled Woods and a fleeting glimpse of a meadow brown.
The Dragonflies at Priddy mineries provided some compensation, a Broad bodied chaser  decided to pose for the camera, what an amazing wing structure a dragonfly has, Black tailed Skimmers were also active and numerous.
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com/

[Matsukaze]

Hi Jim, did you see the Downy Emeralds at Priddy? (and the SPBFs, for that matter?)

[millerd]

Hi again, Chris.

I dropped by Priddy on my way back from Collard Hill on Tuesday and saw half a dozen very active SPBF. I'm afraid I'm useless with dragonflies and though I noticed quite a few by the pond, I couldn't tell you what they were! My first visit here, and it's a fascinating place. Also seen were Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Large Skipper and many Small Heaths.

Cheers,

Dave

[David M]

That's a cracking  picture  of the Large Heath David, regrettable a species I have not seen and most unlikely too now, however I shall try again for the Heath fritillary.

Large Heaths have yet to peak, Jim. You've got the rest of the month to see them should you have a site within reasonable travelling distance.

[aeshna5]

My first Marbled White of the season yesterday afternoon on a warm but heavily overcast day in Perivale Park, west London. Also 4 Meadow Brown, 2 Small White, 3 Large Skipper & a Brown Argus. Day flying moths were 2 Mother Shipton, Burnet Companion & 3 Silver-Ys plus several Common Grass Veneers.

The ponds yielded 3 Emperors, a pair of Broad-bodied Chasers (the male guarding the female as she laid her eggs), 3 male Black-tailed Skimmers, 25+ newly emerged Common Darters plus a few each of Azure, Common Blue & Blue-tailed Damselflies.

Generally few butterflies around this week in gardens, etc- just the odd Painted Lady, Red Admiral & Holly Blue.

[Deborah]

The hot sunny weather a couple of days ago coincided with the first Meadow Brown males appropriately in the meadow next door. I counted over 30 before I got too hot! A Large Skipper too and a few Burnet Companion moths. In the garden I have never seen so many Painted Ladies and Small Tortoiseshells at the same time before.

[David M]

..In the garden I have never seen so many Painted Ladies and Small Tortoiseshells at the same time before.

Hopefully we'll get a Painted Lady influx if they're appearing in numbers round your way, Deborah.

We had a 'mini invasion' during May but nothing much since.

[Medard]

Hi Jim, did you see the Downy Emeralds at Priddy? (and the SPBFs, for that matter?)

Yes Chris,the Downys are active at the moment ,difficult to capture as ever, large red Damselflies can be seen at the same location.
Black Darters and the Emperor will be emerging soon, along with the beautiful Emerald green Damselfly.
The SPB Frits,
the numbers seem to be holding up well , only had a fleeting glimpse of one Dingy Skipper ,despite three visits no Green hairstreaks seen.

Four of my favourite photos taken at Priddy, amazing how consistent the emergent dates are given the climate at Priddy.
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com/

[David M]

Sunday 13th - St Abbs Head, Berwickshire:

Common Blue 20-30
Small Heath 20-30
Green Veined White 8-12
Northern Brown Argus 3
Wall Brown 1
Small Copper 1

[petesmith]

Lovely shots there David! Interesting that you were up there just two days before me and yet your species counts were quite different. I am guessing the weather conditions may have played a part, or maybe we were focusing on alternative areas of the site. I got a total of 15 Northern Brown Argus, 5 Common Blue, 3 Wall Brown, 1 Large White and 1 Green-veined White, although given that I was heavily preoccupied with NBA I might have been guilty of recorder bias!!

[Bertl]

When the sun finally appeared after 5 o'clock tonight i seen my first ever small blue butterflies. All photos taken at old sand quarry near Glamis, Scotland.

[David M]

Lovely shots there David! Interesting that you were up there just two days before me and yet your species counts were quite different. I am guessing the weather conditions may have played a part, or maybe we were focusing on alternative areas of the site. I got a total of 15 Northern Brown Argus, 5 Common Blue, 3 Wall Brown, 1 Large White and 1 Green-veined White, although given that I was heavily preoccupied with NBA I might have been guilty of recorder bias!!

Thanks, Pete. Yes, I'm sure the weather suppressed numbers. I was there for just under two hours and I reckon during that period I had no more than 20 minutes of sunshine (with no interval lasting more than 5 minutes or so). Had it not been for that pristine female appearing then I'd have probably stayed for another 1-2 hours, but I knew once I'd seen her I wouldn't be able to improve on that and with a long drive home awaiting I saw little incentive to remain given that conditions were not clearing up.

[Medard]

Today on Exmoor.
I arrived at 7-am, the sky was overcast, not at all promising, experience has taught me it only needed a ray of sunshine to bring the winged wonders out , I had to wait until 11am and a break in the gloom, a half hour of sunshine did the trick.

One of small number of very pretty Orchids found in a glade, can some kind person ID please.

Orchid

Two Moths for ID

Moth no 1

Moth no 2

Large Skipper

Large Skipper

And last but not least
Heath Fritterrys

Heath Fritterry

Heath Fritterry

Heath Fritterry

Heath Fritterry

Heath Fritterry

Rhododendron

Rhododendron