Just had a walk around Horsenden Hill and it would appear that there is a fresh batch of Small Copper out at the moment...7 in Paradise fields and 4 on the hill.
While having a pint of cider and a bit of grub at The Ballot Box a Purple Hairstreak landed on the bush next to me, only 4 feet away!
Martin.
Small Copper in London
Yeah as I am 15 min's away by foot from office to summit I kept an ewye on the hill this week. Today I watched a Purple Hairstreak on the ground appearing to lay eggs on grass stems! I saw a similar thing at nearby Grove Farm yesterday. No mistake about the ID though.
Yeah no shortage of Small Coppers. On Monday I saw atleast 5-6 of them in the New Ballot Box field while unsuccessfully looking for Dave Howden's aberrant SC.
The Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers are still hanging on in large numbers, albeit rather tatty and faded now. I'm increasingly seeing a bigger proportion of females to males, so I guess the earlier males are starting to die off.
Also plenty of fresh Green Veined Whites too. Not seen any dragonflies though curiously. And no Peacocks either. I presume the latter have gone to hibernation til next Spring then.
The highlight was a Brown Argus on Monday in Batts field. I submitted the pic I took into the July photo comp. According to Dave H that was the first BA sighting for 3 years I think. Nice! Failed to repeat that sighting today though.
-Mike
Yeah no shortage of Small Coppers. On Monday I saw atleast 5-6 of them in the New Ballot Box field while unsuccessfully looking for Dave Howden's aberrant SC.
The Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers are still hanging on in large numbers, albeit rather tatty and faded now. I'm increasingly seeing a bigger proportion of females to males, so I guess the earlier males are starting to die off.
Also plenty of fresh Green Veined Whites too. Not seen any dragonflies though curiously. And no Peacocks either. I presume the latter have gone to hibernation til next Spring then.
The highlight was a Brown Argus on Monday in Batts field. I submitted the pic I took into the July photo comp. According to Dave H that was the first BA sighting for 3 years I think. Nice! Failed to repeat that sighting today though.
-Mike