May 2022

[SarahM]

Well done Sarah, that's something I've yet to see.

Thank you Pauline. Hopefully one day you will get to see it for yourself.

Sarah.

[Stevieb]

Good numbers of blues on the wing this morning. Cotley Hill & Bratton, Wiltshire

9th May

9th May

9th May

9th May

9th May

9th May

9th May

9th May

9th May

and one especially for Otep

9th May

[Chris L]

and one especially for Otep

Yay ! Cheers Stevie. My favourite.

A Log of Blues, the collective term

I have only seen Blues on their own and that is what I think I like about the scene.

[Chris L]

Common Blue 40-50
Brimstone 15-20
Orange Tip 15-20
Green Veined White 10-15
Dingy Skipper 8
Small Heath 3
Speckled Wood 2
Brown Argus 2
Small Blue 2
Holly Blue 1
Large White 1

Meantime, in the land that butterflies forgot, my Sunday transect walk yielded 15 butterflies.

[bugboy]

Spent the afternoon walking around the downs in between Eastbourne and Beachy Head. Lots of Walls, 20+ which were the main target for the day. Green Hairstreak, Small Copper, Common Blue, Dingy Skipper, GVW. Also notable numbers of Red Admirals, new immigrants...?

Some nice views too

[Bertl]

Thanks Jack on the dingy skipper and small blue recommendations.......I will visit nearer the time.

[Wurzel]

Managed to hook up with some Dukes at the weekend...is this an ab.leucodes?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Allan.W.]

At the weekend ,I had an early morning visit to Dungeness ,and decided to take a different route to normal ,and parked roadside ,close to the power station entrance road ,and walk the length of the Long pits ,2 long narrow natural ponds /lakes in the shingle and see how the Small Coppers were faring on this section of the peninsula ,i found a few roosting around 7 am ,and then i found a roosting Grizzled Skipper ,something i haven,t found here before typically roosting on a dead plant head .

At 7.20 am the first Copper took to the wing ,and slowly but surely they started their morning flights ,with much scrapping amongst the males ,i was surprised to still see so many fresh individuals and reckon that they must still be emerging.
as i strolled along the pits i found a few more Grizzles and ended the visit with 6 ,spread out all the way along the length of the pit.

Late afternoon (after my niece had cut Lynnes hair ) we visited Samphire Ho ! near Dover to see if there were still a few Early Spider Orchids out ,
there were ,but i reckon ,with the lack of rain the bulk of them ,have given up the ghost,well down in numbers compared to the last few seasons.

There were a few butterflies about and i found my first Adonis Blues (3 males ) along the cliff base ,along with 4 Small Blues ,and several Dingy Skips,
and Wall.

Allan.W.

[Maximus]

Nice Duke ab, wurzel, great shot I saw one at the Heyshot escarpment in sussex a few years ago, didn't get a shot, that's life

[Neil Hulme]

Congratulations, Wurzel. Yes, that's a very nice ab. leucodes. A belter!
BWs, Neil

[David M]

At the weekend ,I had an early morning visit to Dungeness ,and decided to take a different route to normal ,and parked roadside ,close to the power station entrance road ,and walk the length of the Long pits ,2 long narrow natural ponds /lakes in the shingle and see how the Small Coppers were faring on this section of the peninsula ,i found a few roosting around 7 am ,and then i found a roosting Grizzled Skipper ,something i haven,t found here before typically roosting on a dead plant head .

Good to know the Grizzlies are out round your way, Allan. Hopefully Goldie will take advantage over the next week or so.

[Charles Nicol]

today i went to Hexton Chalk Pit. it is a small nature reserve in the Bedfordshire Chilterns.
there was plenty of Dingy Skipper activity, including this pair

i also found this strange plant... any suggestions ?

[aeshna5]

Certainly an orchid rosette-looks like Early Purple to me-presumably one that isn't flowering as they should be flowering by now.

[Rosalyn]

One of 7 Wall seen today nr Peterborough
Wall 184.jpg
I don't remember seeing so many in a single day before.

Nice photo Rosalyn. May I ask what the site is? It might be one that I could travel to from South Derbyshire. I have a site in Much Wenlock, Shropshire that I found last year but other equidistant sites are always welcome.

Thanks Otep, I'm hoping I have messaged you successfully with all the details. It's a members only site but it is easy and free to become one. You could of course visit as my guest if you would like to.

[Rosalyn]

One of 7 Wall seen today nr Peterborough

You've caught that butterfly just perfectly, Rosalyn. Great to know they're appearing in numbers away from the coast.

Thank you David

[Charles Nicol]

Certainly an orchid rosette-looks like Early Purple to me-presumably one that isn't flowering as they should be flowering by now.

thank you for your help aeshna... i followed up your information and found this:

https://twitter.com/drtrevordines/statu ... 8314238976


Charles

[bugboy]

A few planned hours in the Chiltons again turned into quite a lot of hours, there was plenty to point my camera at on a 16 species day!
Dukes - 40+
Dingy Skippers - 50+
Grizzled Skippers - less than 10 (They seem to be have a very poor season so far)
Small Heath - 30+
Speckled Wood - 2
Brimstone - 20+
Orange-tip - 1
Small White - 1
GVW - 3 or 4
Common Blue - 10+
Brown Argus - 5-10 (season debut)
Green Hairstreak - 20+
Small Blue - 1
Holly Blue - 1
Peacock - 4
Comma - 1 (sighted from a distance shortly after a message from Millerd concerning his sighting)

Amongst the Dukes were a couple of possible ab. leucodes

and a worn but still lovely ab. gracilans

[millerd]

Catching up on my local patch near Heathrow after my enforced break, I luckily required little exertion to find a selection of new butterflies. The first three were all my first sightings for the year here...

...and the other two were just splendid examples of their species.

standard version

a very nice f. caeruleopunctata

There were 14 species seen in all, including a very special sighting which has been posted in the thread set aside for the species.
viewtopic.php?t=11277&start=20#p170174
A good way to be back in the fray, albeit rather gently.
Dave

[Wolfson]

Only a few species flying on the Cornish cliffs yesterday and Small Pearls easily outnumbered the sum of the rest. Mating and egg laying in evidence a dark individual stood out. None today, it’s raining

[adrian riley]

today i went to Hexton Chalk Pit. it is a small nature reserve in the Bedfordshire Chilterns.
there was plenty of Dingy Skipper activity, including this pair

52061612681_5b9ce223cc_c.jpg

i also found this strange plant... any suggestions ?

52062101745_d579909cfc_c.jpg

Hi, Charles
Your orchid may be Early Purple, but equally could be Common Spotted. The former are all but over here in Norfolk but, as some rosettes don't produce a flower spike, this doesn't rule the species out of the reckoning. If it is growing in a damp locality, it could also possibly be Southern Marsh-orchid var junialis. I guess we shall just have to wait and see when/if it blooms Keep in touch!
Happy hunting, Ade.