(Un)Common Blue.....

[NickB]

Saw my first 2nd brood male the other day and yet to see any more.....

Very few 1st brood earlier this year around here; and only 1 site where I would gauge it had a reasonable year. Others only yielded the odd one, where I would usually have expected to see 5+ on any visit.
Is this the experience of UKB'ers too?

I also noticed that I saw very few (if any) brown female forms. Almost every shot I have of a female exhibits some blue....even if it was the only one I saw at a site.
Again, what have others seen?

N

[millerd]

My experience with my local site was that the first brood appeared very late, with the numbers about half that of 2011. The emergence seemed strung out, too. My observations of the females was just the same - all were markedly blue with none you could possibly mistake for a Brown Argus. Still waiting for the first of the second brood...

Dave

[Padfield]

I can't comment on numbers in the UK but it is certainly normal for first brood females to be much bluer than second brood females. True brown females, in my experience, are only found in second or later broods. The same is true for several other species of blue, notably Chapman's blue.

Guy

[The Annoying Czech]

I totally can't imagine Common Blues being scarce

[Philzoid]

My experience with my local site was that the first brood appeared very late, with the numbers about half that of 2011. The emergence seemed strung out, too. My observations of the females was just the same - all were markedly blue with none you could possibly mistake for a Brown Argus. Still waiting for the first of the second brood...

Dave

I have to agree with these comments. As a point of observation, most of the few I've seen have been in late May - June - early July and the females with varying proportions of blue scaling (although I would say ths is the norm now (last 2 - 3 years)) rather than the predominantly brown individuals I used to see.

Not scarce but certainly not living up to its common tag this season

[NickB]

I can't comment on numbers in the UK but it is certainly normal for first brood females to be much bluer than second brood females. True brown females, in my experience, are only found in second or later broods. The same is true for several other species of blue, notably Chapman's blue.
Guy

So, higher temperatures during development lead to brown females (mainly) in the 2nd brood. (?)
Conversely, low temperatures lead to bluer individuals in the 1st brood. (?)

At least, that is one conclusion that could be drawn from this....
N

[Neil Freeman]

I was in Norfolk on a family break during the last week in May and saw dozens of Common Blues in the dunes just north of Great Yarmouth as posted in my diary.

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=5424&start=140

The 2 photos below show the 'bluest' and the 'brownest' females that I saw there with most being somewhere in between.

Common Blue female - 30.05.2012

Common Blue female 30.05.2012

Unfortunatly, I am not in a position to check this location to see how second brood are doing there, or indeed if they are out there yet.

Apart from there, I only saw first brood at a couple of other places and not in the same numbers.
I have yet to see any second brood anywhere locally

Cheers,

Neil F.

[a_j_steele]

Strangly the best blace i seen 2nd brood common blues this year is the flower garden at the olympic park (help its stays that good for nature after the games)

[John W]

I saw very few first brood Common Blues and have yet to see a second brood one.

Cheers
John W

[Julian]

Certainly this year and last, they are uncommon around these parts of Suffolk. My local patch had 2 showing last week, but that's all. Plenty of LHP but few adults to be seen. On another site I saw a male. Maybe much of the second brood is still emerging in the warmer weather but it certainly looks bleak. A few years ago we were jokingly referring to it as the Not-so-common Blue.

[NickB]

My visits round local sites have revealed a few more 2nd brood CB (some females) - but at about 30% of last year's numbers.
More reports over Cambs & Essex but still not large numbers.

[Julian]

A couple more seen on my local patch and reports of emergence from southwest of the county of Suffolk. Maybe we'll see more of this brood.

[NickB]

A couple more seen on my local patch and reports of emergence from southwest of the county of Suffolk. Maybe we'll see more of this brood.

Let us hope so....maybe they are just later.

[NickB]

Went to a place that was grazed-out last year but free of cattle this summer...and found a plague of Common Blue - well, by this year's standards.
20+ Common Blue - 5 males in view at times - with good numbers of females around too.

Still some bluish females tho'...

[Neil Freeman]

Just posted this one in my diary and I remembered this thread.

Taken at Aston Rowant this week.

Common Blue female - Aston Rowant 16.08.2012

Up until last weekend, I have still not seen any second brood around my neck of the woods in the midlands and I notice that there are only a few sightings being reported in Warwickshire.

Neil F.

[RobS]

Still about at Shipton Bellinger......and more common than the Brown Hairstreaks.

Cheers
Rob

[NickB]

Nice ones, guys! Still only the one site where I have seen them in good numbers; been a late season, and they were still out there last week.
I'll be going round a few local sites again this week.....

[LauraS56]

I can't comment on numbers in the UK but it is certainly normal for first brood females to be much bluer than second brood females. True brown females, in my experience, are only found in second or later broods. The same is true for several other species of blue, notably Chapman's blue.
Guy

So, higher temperatures during development lead to brown females (mainly) in the 2nd brood. (?)
Conversely, low temperatures lead to bluer individuals in the 1st brood. (?)

At least, that is one conclusion that could be drawn from this....
N

Here in the north of England, the females of both broods are not noticeably different in their blue-ness. The only really brown cb females I've seen were first-brood, in south Wales.

[NickB]

Up in Lincolnshire Limewoods yesterday: 2 females: One a very tatty but very blue one; and this brown one...

Quite a mixed picture presented here for the second brood, though generally seems to have bounced-back compared to first-brood, which is normal.

[NickB]

Female from today...