Coppers as good as Gold
Despite typical may conditions for my part of the world (40mph gusts and ridiculously unpredictable weather) the last few days have been exceptionally enjoyable (on the patch as ever). Early Purple Orchids are now in full swing in the woods including a nice rose pink specimen, and plant wise things see to be ticking along nicely.
- Early Purple Orchid
This morning a beautiful female Brimstone paid the garden a flying visit, long enough for a quick close up.
- Brimstone
And then this afternoon, it was copper time! I headed back to the spot where I saw 15 or so of these little beauties about 2 weeks ago despite the wind, and I was not to be disappointed. There seems to have been an explosion in numbers and I lost count somewhere in the 50s. It was a truly incredible sight, the patches of Forget me Not and Sorrel were all filled with these little buzz bombs vying for space and rotating studiously on flower - heads. I had a fantastic time soaking it up and enjoying them, definitely worth going to have a look! I suspect if I headed off the path I could have seen almost as many again, with more flying amongst the grass, which was almost red with sorrel, no doubt the reason for their incredible numbers, indeed, it was not unusual to have 7 or 8 in view at once.
- Small Copper
- Small Copper
- Small Copper
- Small Copper
- Small Copper
- Small Copper
There was a bit of variation in the uppersides in terms of the extent of the orange, along with a couple of nice
caeruleo-punctata. I'm beginning to wonder if this form is caused by high temperature, since it is very frequent on the continent and with this warm spring people seem to be seeing lots of them (when they're more usually thought of as a warm second brood thing).
- Small Copper - F. Caeruleo-Punctata
This Female had quite a nice dusting of orange on her hindwings.
- Small Copper - Female
But the real variant of the day was this chappie...
- Small Copper
I'm going to stick my neck out and say he's some sort of aberration (possibly
culprinus?) as he was markedly more pale (almost white in flight) than his fellows. He also behaved differently, far more of a typical male copper, vivacious, territorial and inclined to long patrol flights that made him difficult to photograph. Whereas the other coppers, perhaps dulled by the density of their population were more docile.
- Small Copper
This was the first photo I got of him. The ladybird eventually crawled onto his hindwing, flushing him and causing a howl of dismay.
- Small Copper
He was a beautifully coloured specimen, in some lights appearing almost grey, under cloud a pale white and when the sun hit him right, this pale straw yellow.
- Small Copper
Finally a comparison with a more normal copper.
- Small Coppers
.....
I think they have been branded ophrys pietzschii, but not being a distinct species the name was dropped. Still, if they become a distinct species, you saw 'Bee Fly Orchid' here first 
