ernie f

[David M]

Thanks, ernie. Will PM you nearer the time.

[ernie f]

Went to my other 'go-to' location for Adonis blues the other day but no success I am afraid. Never mind though because I did see this pair of Chalkhills getting 'down and dirty' down on the dirt so to speak.

[ernie f]

And overnight...

A Brimstone Moth got inside our house. Not the living room this time. It was on the floor of the hallway. Took a few pics before managing to shoo it outside.

[Wurzel]

Cracking view of the Chalkhills Ernie I've only just started seeing the odd Adonis on the Evil Book of Face Ernie so fingers crossed they're just a little delayed

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Went to my other 'go-to' location for Adonis blues the other day but no success I am afraid....

This species is especially late this year, ernie.

Perhaps the bonus will be that they'll eke their way into October this autumn, and provide a bit of additional bright colour when things are otherwise winding down.

[ernie f]

Well I have good news. I went to my local patch once again in search of Adonis Blues and found three. All three were on the worn side so must have been flying a while already. When I hadn't seen them last time I guess they must have been there but I was just not looking hard enough. I was over the moon because I saw absolutely no second brood Adonis here last year and was beginning to think the second brood just did not fly here.

But they do!

Being a bit on the older side they were not as brilliantly metallic looking as I am used to and indeed I had to look again and again under different lighting conditions and directions to make sure I was not getting confused with Common Blues which were also flying here at the same time. That meant bending right down next to each one and moving my line of sight from side to side to see the wings change colour from a greenish tint, through blue to almost purple. Luckily they were generally quite amenable and stayed long enough in one spot with their wings open for me to do this. Of course they did have the black marks crossing the white fringe around the wings but then so do the Chalkhills which were also flying here, but they clearly were not Chalkhills.

Also saw a few Brown Argus which were just starting up. Large White, Small Skip, Small Heath, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper. Not a bad little haul for one hours tramp across a very small reserve.

[ernie f]

Today I spent a short while at my other Adonis Blue site and saw three males and one female. So again this site has both broods I am pleased to say. Not many individuals but the population appears to be stable.

When I observed this species in Hampshire at this time in previous years I would regularly see examples of brilliant blue, on occasion tinged purple or bright green. Here though all the examples I have seen this week at my two sites in Gloucestershire have a greater tendency to show purple and dark green hues, particularly purple on the fore-wings. I have no idea why, or even if it is a 'thing' because I haven't really observed them for enough years here to make a judgement but it certainly appears that way. Could it be simply that they are further north? This is one of the most northerly spots in Britain for them I believe. Or could it be that the bedrock here is limestone and the bedrock in Hampshire is chalk? Maybe its just a minor local mutation in the ones around here. I don't know.

A bluer example in shade.

The more common Hampshire 'look'.

I know its a bit subtle, but it is more obvious in the field and took me a while to get used to.

[trevor]

Very nice Adonis, Ernie. I always look forward to both broods.