millerd

[millerd]

Thank you all for your appreciation - of the Coppers in particular.

Lovely vivid Small Copper

It was indeed a corker, Trevor!

Do they fade quickly, or are they born different shades? Or are there sub species?

As far as I know there is only one subspecies in the UK (though as the species is amazingly widespread in Europe and beyond, I imagine subspecies exist elsewhere). However, it is quite a variable butterfly, with the initial colour ranging from deep shining red-orange to a brassy, almost golden yellow. There is also the very rare white aberration which is the holy grail for Small Copper enthusiasts! The heaviness of the dark spotting also varies, as do the number and intensity of the blue spots - many have none at all. As for wear, if you get the chance to follow an individual butterfly through its life, you will find that initially they remain quite fresh-looking for perhaps four or five days and then gradually fade and lose their vibrancy. As I mentioned somewhere else, they can live for up to six weeks, quite a lifetime for such a small creature!

That first egg laying Holly Blue looks like it's on Common Vetch which I don't think I've seen listed as s foodplant anywhere!

I've seen Holly Blues lay on vetch before, Paul: the other day at Bedfont Lakes they were using it quite a bit. But then nothing surprises me about this butterfly any more. There is another coming up shortly - dogwood this time!

It was great catching up today - we'll have to do it again soon

It was a great day, Wurzel, with a fine array of species despite the overall lower numbers for some than twelve months ago. The last year of weather has affected them all in quite different ways, and we shall no doubt continue theorising for a while yet.

Now - back to my morning trip back on 14th May. The sunshine encouraged me up to Aston Rowant for the first time in 2023, and I headed briskly (it was distinctly chilly first thing) across the top of the slope to the hawthorn scrub along the fence running down to the bottom. In the shelter here I found the Green Hairstreaks I was expecting. They were generally not particularly fresh, but I was treated to the unusual sight of two nectaring in close proximity - clearly there is no squabbling allowed at the breakfast table!

As things gradually warmed up more butterflies appeared - still mostly in sheltered spots like the gully at the bottom (which I think is an ancient trackway). The Dingy Skippers were particularly well-turned out...

...but the Small Coppers (this is one of two seen) had seen better days.

In the absence of many other butterflies, I followed one or two of the moths and somewhat unusually for me managed some reasonable shots. Silver Y popped up several times...

...plus a number of these two tiny colourful closely-related moths whose names I always forget.

I had been vaguely hopeful that some blue butterflies might be out as both Common and Adonis are found here, and I thought I'd struck lucky when something very blue headed over the top of the gully from the open slope. I clambered up to see where it had gone, and found it sooner than expected, sitting in a dogwood bush. Of course, it was not what I'd been hoping to find, but was instead a female Holly Blue. Largely oblivious of my somewhat precarious presence right next to her, she set about finding suitable spots to lay on the dogwood flower buds. Though Holly females frequently open their wings a bit to warm up during their laying sorties, especially when the air is chilly, I was treated to a rather nice display from this one.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Lovely Small Blues Dave, love the Green Hair Streaks, I've looked for them here but not found any yet, not sure where to look either, I know where the Purple Hair Streaks are in East Blean Woods but never seen an Green Hair Streak there yet, may be I need new glasses Goldie

[millerd]

Green Hairstreaks can be really hard to spot, Goldie - I've often had them fly up in front of my nose when I didn't see them before they saw me...

Monday 15th May was another sunny one with a chilly start which continued through the day, only reaching 17 degrees at best. However, the strong May sunshine soon saw butterflies out and about.

I started the day down at Staines Moor, and was rewarded with a whole selection of Small Coppers. The first brood in 2022 was a bit sparse compared with previous years, and I was pleased to see a bit of a revival for 2023 - probably down to an increase in the size and number of the distinctive red-tinged patches of sheep's sorrel around the site. There were little concentrations of butterflies, causing a good deal of interaction.

The amount of wear varied a lot between individuals.

Though the Coppers were the main attraction, there were a few other species around. The inevitable Holly Blues of course...

...a few GVW...

...and male and female Orange Tips.

Also seen: Red Admiral, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Love all the Small Copper shots Dave great to see them back on track I managed to find names for the moths. The monochrome one is Pyrausta nigrata and the more colourful one is one of the Mint Moths...I'd go for Pyrausta purpuralis

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thank you for the moth IDs, Wurzel - I really should remember those two!

Returning from Staines Moor, I just continued onto my local patch. Obviously the butterflies don't acknowledge such distinctions, and there were a selection of common spring species along the path. However, my eyes are somewhat attuned by now to a certain glint of blue, and there in front of me at an almost ideal height on the brambles was a male Holly Blue. The combination of chilly air and the sunshine/cloud mix made it open up nicely, and for quite a while. How could I resist?

Then came quite a contrast - from a near perfect male to a rather less-than-perfect female. Difficult emergence is an understatement - but amazingly, this butterfly could still fly, and with so many amorous males around no doubt she went on to continue the species.

There were several other Hollies along the walk, including typical male puddling activity - still plenty of damp muddy patches at this time.

Other species included this variety of individuals...

...but the highlight was the first Small Heath of the year here.

Unless you count that Holly Blue from earlier of course!

Just for a bit of context, here is a view of Hithermoor Lake, which is next to a portion of my usual local walk. Heathrow Terminal Five is about 2km straight ahead...

Dave

[David M]

...I started the day down at Staines Moor, and was rewarded with a whole selection of Small Coppers...

They seem to be doing well this year, Dave. I guess their 2022 flight period was sufficiently 'either side' of those two mini heatwaves, meaning the lhp was in decent condition for the early stages.

[millerd]

Yes, David - the first brood Coppers do seem better this year than last.

A few more bits and pieces from 15th May: some Orange Tip eggs...

...and a couple of other interesting insects.

cardinal beetle

mayfly

Dave

[Katrina]

Good capture of the orange tip eggs I find eggs in general tricky to get in focus.

[millerd]

Thank you, Katrina - my camera has a useful little close-up function, but it's still very hard to get it to focus on the egg rather than things around it. There is also the problem that when you are that close, you often cut off the light from the subject. This all means a large number of dark and/or blurred shots in amongst which (if you are very lucky) is a decent one.

Relatively cool again on Tuesday 16th May, but mostly sunny. I covered my local patch more fully today, and managed 14 species for the first time this year, though only one of these reached double figures:

Holly Blue 25
Orange Tip 9
GVW 8
Small Copper 6
Small White 3
Red Admiral 2
Speckled Wood 2
Large White 1
Comma 1
Peacock 1
Brimstone 1
Small Heath 1
Small Tortoiseshell 1

Brown Argus 1

The last of these was the first one I'd seen here this year - as usual appearing before the Common Blues.

The Small Tortoiseshell was a bit of a surprise, nearly a fortnight after the previous sighting. I only managed a poor shot, but I assume it was an old one, not the first of a new generation.

One or two others now, before I move to the top two of the day.

Having Holly Blues outnumbering everything else is hardly unusual, but the females especially were just showing off today. I watched one give a male the runaround after sitting demurely on a forget-me-not to start with.

Others were off out egg-laying - principally on goats' rue today. They have the habit (rather like Brown Hairstreak females) of coming out frmo the foliage after each egg to recover from their exertions and bask.

However, the day's real stars were the Small Coppers - to which I will devote a separate post.

Dave

[millerd]

The six different Small Coppers I found locally on 16th May were well spread out, but this is the highest one day total for the species here since 2021. Some were very new too, and several struck photogenic poses and kept the shutter finger busy.

Splendid little butterflies!

Dave

[trevor]

Absolutely splendid Small Coppers, and shots to match.
A for your co-operative Holly Blues, especially the fresh female.

Locally the ' June Gap ' seems to be in full swing

[Allan.W.]

Nice Copper shots Dave especially the "Dandelion " shots .................the last one is exceptional !
Allan.W.

[Katrina]

I am loving the on the clock shots too

[millerd]

Cheers, Trevor - the Coppers performed well that day.

There does seem to be a bit of a lull in numbers as we get into June (I had a day last week without any white/yellow/orange butterflies at all), especially as the Common Blues are nothing special this year so far.

Thank you Allan and Katrina! Those Coppers really had a day for posing on the dandelion clocks - I think there are three separate individuals doing it in those shots! I'm not sure what the attraction is - no nectar, a wobbly perch, at the whim of the wind, not remotely camouflaged... Very photogenic, though, so maybe they are just showing off!

Wednesday 17th May was a bit warmer, but less sunny. My local walk was a bit shorter and there were fewer species seen. However, one of these was a flyby Painted Lady, only my second here this year. The rest were mostly familiar faces, though the shot I managed of a tatty female Large White counts for something as they are insanely difficult to approach at this time of year.

Some of the rest:

A male Holly Blue that couldn't compete with yesterday's...

...and a female that definitely could.

Today's guest moth was a Silver Y, keeping still for once.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking selection of lush shots Dave - brilliant Coppers and Brown Argus but it was the Holly Blues from a couple of posts back that got me.I was scrolling down..."sublime...lush..etc" and then "wtf!" I've never seen such a bad case of getting out of bed on the wrong side before

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

You've clearly got a thing for Small Coppers, Dave, but those gleaming, female Holly Blues do it for me every time!

[millerd]

Cheers, David and Wurzel. That just happened to be a particularly good day for the Coppers, and they were a right bunch of posers as well. As for the female Hollies - well, that's more of an everyday occurrence, but I still can't resist them!

With a long weekend away in prospect, on a sunny Thursday 18th May I headed down to Denbies again to see if the Adonis were now out. They certainly were, with several dozen fresh males scattered across the slopes. Also out, and flying amongst them in smaller numbers were Common Blues and before long it became relatively easy to tell the two species apart. Each year requires a few encounters to relearn the differences! First, a few Common Blues...

...and quite a few Adonis!

One or two females were also spotted, but the only ones that stayed still for photos were the ones that had already been snapped up by eager males.

Completing a Blues Quartet were numerous Brown Argus...

...and the inevitable Holly Blue female, laying on dogwood at the bottom of the slope.

Clearly the worries about the continued presence of Adonis Blues at this site were unfounded. They do seem to do better in the spring brood here than in the summer - maybe the very robust population of Chalkhill caterpillars really does have an impact on the foodplant just at the time that Adonis females are laying the eggs of the summer brood. Certainly sites like Mill Hill in Sussex which have far fewer Chalkhills regularly have a good summer brood of Adonis.

Dave

[bugboy]

Splendid Adonis Dave

[millerd]

Cheers, Paul! After all the dire prognostications I'd heard about the Adonis at Denbies, it was great to see a healthy number (and a fortnight later it was even better, so no cause for alarm at all I'd say. Fingers crossed).

A few weeks back I had arranged to visit a couple of old friends, first one in Taunton, then another who had recently moved to Topsham in East Devon. As the time approached, amazingly the weather forecast steadily improved (particularly in the South West) and on Friday 19th May I headed down the A303 into increasing sunshine. With a day to play with, I was able to divert the few miles up to Cotley Hill near Warminster and see what was out on this epitome of Wiltshire chalk downland.

Within a few minutes, I had seen the first couple of Marsh Fritillaries, Grizzled and Dingy Skippers, and Brown Argus - and had been taken by surprise by a particularly large and fresh female Wall Brown. A very good start... However, with the addition of a couple of very worn Green Hairstreaks and one or two Small Heath, that was about the extent of it. The disappointment in not finding any Blues at all (no Common, Adonis, Small - or even Holly ) was made up for though by the freshness and colourfulness of the Marshies. About a dozen or so were flying, and most were pretty new and therefore still in decent shape.

First of all, the Wall...

...and a few Skippers.

There was also this moth, doing an even better Grizzly impersonation than a Mother Shipton...

I'll show the various Marshie shots in a separate post.

Dave

[millerd]

Cotley Hill Marsh Fritillary 19th May:

Dave