Thanks Trev and Jack. Yes - most impressive. I don't think I could do the same with my camera, being restricted to 15 second exposures, followed by 15 seconds of processing time! And Marek - you're right: no Camberwell beauty day is a bad day!
I Joined Matt Rowlings this morning for a foray at our favourite rosy grizzled skipper site. This turned out to be covered in horses, so did not prove fruitful - but it is only where they nectar, not where they breed, so the species will not be affected. In any case, we soon found two rosies nearby, engaging in another of their favourite activities, 'puddling' (often not actually in a puddle). These are both the same one:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2013/onopordi5may2013d.jpg)
(poor shot, but shows the unmistakable underside, should anyone doubt the ID!)
Here is Matt, checking his LCD to make sure his picture of the rosy is at least as good as mine:
In general, it was a successful morning, the full species list being: Small white, green-veined white, large white, southern small white, orange tip, Eastern Bath white, wood white, Berger's clouded yellow, brimstone, swallowtail, scarce swallowtail, common blue, Chapman's blue, baton blue, Adonis blue, green-underside blue, holly blue, Provençal short-tailed blue, green hairstreak, small tortoiseshell, red admiral, peacock, comma, Queen of Spain, Glanville fritillary, small heath, speckled wood, wall, de Prunner's ringlet, rosy grizzled skipper and dingy skipper.
This is a baton blue, diminutive cousin of yesterday's chequered blues:
These cockchafers were living up to their name, in what can only be described as an orgy in the oaks (living up to their name of
maybug, I meant ...).
I split at midday. My target for the day had been to see both rosy grizzled skipper and Oberthür's grizzled skipper, which meant heading off to another site in the afternoon. I also wanted to find fresh Dukes, which fly near the Oberthür's. In the event, it turned out Oberthür's were not flying yet - instead, their meadow buzzed with grizzlies (
malvoides):
Normally, the first brood grizzlies are on their way out when the Oberthür's fly, so I think this is another example of the year being late. But the Dukes were fresh and obliging:
The sky was alternately clear and overcast. During one of the overcast patches, this green-underside blue offered lovely views of its blue upperside:
Yesterday, I saw a beetle sitting atop a grass stem, as if impaled. Today I saw exactly the same thing, in what must be the same species of beetle:
If anyone can name it, I'd be interested to know.
Here is a green hairstreak from the same site:
Up close and personal ...
A dingy skipper:
And a military orchid:
I took advantage of a cloudy spell to cycle up the hill to meadows I've not explored before, pausing en route at a small site where violet fritillaries were common and various blues were active.
It was mostly cloudy when I reached the new meadows and I saw little, though it was a pleasant walk. What I did see was this little blue:
I spent some time studying and photographing it, despite the poor light, as the shape of the wings and the appearance of slight chequering made me uncertain whether it was a little blue or a female Provençal short-tailed blue - the latter can be deceptively plain and sometimes has the barest kink in the wing instead of a tail. I'm pretty sure this is a male little blue, though. Green-underside was the predominant blue in these meadows, hanging around the edges near trees and shrubbery, and green hairstreaks hung in long after the sun had gone:
33 species of butterfly seen today. Things are looking up!
Guy