Hoggers

[Padfield]

Definitely a brown argus, Hoggers. In the field you will have noticed her looking smaller and more silvery in flight than a common blue female. The general appearance of the upperside is distinctive but those fringes, with dark bands extending right to the outer edge in the forewing, are conclusive.

Guy

[Hoggers]

Thanks Guy, much appreciated

Best wishes

Hoggers

[Hoggers]

No complaints about the weather today: it was warm, bright and sunny at Dungeness

And it is still a case of "All Things Bright and Coppery"

My patent Copper-O-Meter detected 29 of the little darlings today

So there's still life in the first brood

I can't get over the number of Blue Badge Holders I've come across this Spring

It seems like practically every Copper either has a full set of blue badges

Or at least some sign of them

Up until this year I'd always thought that the BBC's ( Blue Badge Coppers ) made their strongest showing in the third brood.

At this stage of the brood it's the females that are in the best condition. As for the males, they are mostly tired and worn out by work ( as in the Coppery World so in our own .. )

This was the best looking male that I found today

There's definitely a feeling of the changing of the guard: as numbers of Common Blue and Small Heath increase so the Small Coppers dwindle.. for now at any rate: the Coppers will be back in force soon!

I found this mating pair of Heaths

Now and again I will find a Copper with a pale right wing. Here's one, a female, that I chanced upon today

I've yet to find one with just a pale left wing!

My favourite Copper of the Day was this gorgeous female

[Hoggers]

Today I had the opportunity to do a Copper Watch at Dungeness

Most males are battle scarred

But some are still in fine condition

I sat down beside this male

And watched him. It wasn't long before he began performing the mysterious Stalk Dance

When a male Copper behaves this way he will quickly tap his feet over the plant surface

Here's a photo that will I hope give an idea of this tap dancing routine

I left him to it and walked on. I saw good numbers of Small Heath

Then I found another male Copper

I decided to spend an hour in his company. He favoured a pebble perch from which he would launch himself at passing flies and the like. I saw him carry out quick flights around his territory.

On other occasions he would go nectaring. I noticed that his manner of flight when changing from one flower to the next was far more subdued than when, for example, carrying out a reccie of his territory. His way of flying when nectaring was rather like a Small Heath when they fly through long grass, slower than when darting around checking his Patch.

I mention this because after watching him for about 20 minutes he embarked upon the Stalk Dance routine

and I noticed that his manner of flying from one plant to another during the Stalk Dance was just the same as when going from flower to flower nectaring

This is something I confess to having missed in the past and it made me wonder if it gives a clue as to explaining why they perform the Stalk Dance at all. It just seems to me that when they are in need of nectar they are "looking" for suitable flowers and thus fly at a moderate pace. So when flying from plant to plant in order to do the Stalk Dance are they "looking" for a particular plant?

Certainly the foot tapping suggests they are attempting to detect something

I don't know! I'm not a scientist

Great fun to watch whatever they're up to!

The Copper - O -Meter reached 19 today.

Ps. I came across this beautiful grass flower

Can anyone tell me its name?

Hoggers

[Allan.W.]

Hi Hoggers,
Your grass looks like a Quaking grass species to me,quite widespread but mainly on open downland I believe,hoping for a trip to Dungie myself this weekend,plants mainly,but of course I,ll be keeping an eye out for Coppers !! regards Allan.W.

[Hoggers]

Hi Allan, thanks for the grass identification - I can't remember ever having seen it before. It's a beautiful species - I must see if I can get some for my garden!

Best wishes,

Hoggers

[Hoggers]

A Common Rosefinch dropped into Dungeness for a visit today and drew a large crowd of admirers.

I was counting Small Coppers

My Copper-O-Meter reached only 9

So there were more Twitchers than Coppers

(Which is a shame because Coppers are so much better to look at)

This dwindling of Coppers is well in line with past years

I do not expect their numbers to increase significantly until the third week in June

I saw Small Heaths and Common Blues and two Brown Argus

Attractive though they undoubtedly are, there're not Coppers!

All the Coppers that I saw today were male ( and yesterday, when I counted 19 Coppers, I found only one female)

Two males today were holding very definite territories, frequently returning to the same perch.

Still a precious few to be found!

[Hoggers]

I've been keeping an eye on a few male Small Coppers in the moat at Dungeness all of which have been holding territories for a number of days

One is very prominent. He lives by the Hoary Cress

He's a handsome chap

The other males are generally not so trim

I sat down and watched this male for an hour

I noticed that he spent a great deal of his time nectaring

then after about 30 minutes he set off on a round of Stalk Dancing

I was able to confirm the impression I formed the other day that the manner of flight when embarked on a Stalk Dance is slower and less urgent than when, for example, doing a check around the territory or when seeing off an intruder

They fly in much the same way as when nectaring

I get the impression that when Stalk Dancing the male Copper is looking for particular plants

I like this out of focus photograph because it illustrates what the male is doing when he tap-dances down the stem of a plant - look at his extended front leg

Classic Stalk Dance Pose:

It's fascinating.

The Copper-O-Meter reached 12 today

And unlike yesterday I found two females. The first was battered. She roosted inside a bramble bush but would come out to nectar before returning into cover

The second female was a stunner: great condition and a fully paid up member of the Small Copper Blue Badge Club

I spent some time with her and I'm glad that I did: after sunning herself she went on a walkabout in the grass

And whilst doing this I watched her lay an egg!

I need glasses for reading (which I'd left at home ). The egg was so small it was at the very edge of my ability to see it - the huge glass-like tube in this photo is in fact my Biro!

But I just managed to line up my camera to get a photo of the egg itself

What a beauty! I was over the moon!

[Goldie M]

Great shots Hogger's, not seen one up here yet so looking forward to when I come down there, Fantastic shot of the egg by the way. Goldie

[Hoggers]

The Blue Tit chicks in my nest box look ready to go

Six chicks from eight eggs.

Here's mum squashed up against the side on a visit to her brood

I think they'll be gone any day now.

Hope the weather improves for them!

[Goldie M]

The chicks should be up here Hogger's the weather's been great for once it makes a change for us Goldie

[Hoggers]

Hi Goldie, it's good to hear that you've been having some decent weather for a change! Up until today it has been quite the opposite down here: day after day of wind, rain and thick cloud. The Blue Tit chicks left their cosy nest box the very next day and it couldn't have been easy for them.

An old school chum of mine visited me today from Norfolk ( he also spends a lot of time in the Orkney Isles where his partner is the locum GP ). He brought the sunshine with him, the first we've seen in a week!

( By the way, they're off to Hoy for a month soon and have promised to send me photos of any butterflies they see, which I'll post here )

We headed down to Dungeness and right from getting out of the car we began to see Painted Ladies

They looked fresh and we guessed they'd just arrived on the breeze coming in off the sea ( We counted 15 )

AllanW was just finishing his visit to Dungeness but stopped to swap notes with us. It was good to see you again Allan.

Dungeness is in blossom and the scent in the air is gorgeous : they should bottle it!

It was good to see so many Small Heaths

(They were flying up with almost our every step)

And Common Blues

Including some beautiful females

We saw several Brown Argus

And were delighted to find a mating pair

No visit to Dungeness would be complete without mentioning Small Coppers. As I've noted previously, the first brood is on its way out and to be honest after a week of horrid weather I had not expected to find any at all today.

But there's no getting a good Small Copper down

Tired and ragged though they may be these last members of the first brood are hanging on

The Copper-O-Meter reached only 4 but one of these Coppers was very special to me indeed

I first logged him on his patch on 27th May

And he was still there today. Brilliant!

[Hoggers]

I was going through my notes today when I realised that the long staying Copper (featured in yesterday's report) had in fact been seen on 24th May, not 27th.

Here he is on 24th May when I first saw him, nectaring on his patch

As to his age, any guesses? 4 or 5 days old?

Now another photo of him but this time taken on 28th May

Still on his patch but looking worn with a dent in his left fore-wing

And finally here he is, on the same patch, when I saw him yesterday

He has held the same territory for at least 13 days, is perhaps 17 or 18 or so days old, and he survived six consecutive days of rotten weather!

[kevling]

Hoggers,

Have been enjoying your diary of Small Copper sightings. Although it does constantly remind me that I have yet to see one this year yet At this rate I'll be waiting for the second brood.

Regards Kev

[Pauline]

All of that goes for me too - but I also like the chicks and Painted Lady

[peterc]

Me too - no Small Coppers yet either. At least the second brood is usually more numerous so I think most of us will have to wait for a while

ATB

Peter

[Hoggers]

Hi, Thanks for the messages - I think Dungeness must be one of the premier sites in the UK for Small Coppers and I'm lucky to live fairly close to it.

I expect the second brood there to really get going in about three weeks time

Best wishes

Hoggers

[Goldie M]

No Coppers yet Hogger's but I've managed a Painted Lady, I'll have to wait until I come down there I think
Goldie

[Hoggers]

Don't come down for the Coppers just yet, Goldie! I managed to squeeze in a quick visit to Dungeness today where I saw about 12 Painted Ladies

Re-fuelling after their long journey

Small Heaths a-plenty

Two Brown Argus, not as many Common Blues as I'd expected ( it was very hot so I expect they were taking things easy in the shade somewhere ) and the odd Small White drifting about, but as for Coppers..

Just the One

I checked on the long stayer but there was no sign of him. I wonder if the terrific thunderstorms of last night saw him off?

So yes, I managed to find only one Copper , holding a territory all on his tod

But although the adults have gone I noticed how the recent rain has prompted all of the Sorrel into vigorous growth, so I like to think of all those hungry Small Copper caterpillars down there munching away on the luscious leaves and getting nice and fat and ready to produce the next brood!

[Goldie M]

Hi! Hogger's I won't be down there until August, hope fully I'll get to see the SC and also the ones I missed last year SSSkipper, and if I don't see Adonis next week, hope fully those has well
It looks like the Painted Ladies have arrived in force not seen them like this up here since 2009( Great) Goldie