www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I went down to Castle Hill about 5.30 this evening. I was hoping to find some SSSs but it was not to be. I did manage to find some roosting Chalk Hill Blues and Meadow Browns. It was tricky photography conditions and quite windy. I was pleasantly surprised to find some in good condition after the weather this weekend.

Nice moody shots, great atmosphere to them.

Stay safe,
Trevor.

The weather here is even worse today Katrina - it's like November! It's good to know I'm not the only one venturing out in it and as we've proved, it's still possible to get some good shots .

The evening shots really do hold a lot of atmosphere Katrina, especially like the first shot

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Thank you Trevor, Pauline and Wurzel. It was a case of trying to press the shutter in the second the wind dropped to get them.

Today I went to Chantry hoping to get shots of SSS. I only saw one that whizzed past. I did see more roosting Chalkhills
I stopped at Pulborough Brooks where the Buddleia in the children’s play area had about 10 Red Admirals, 2 Peacocks, one Small Tortoiseshell and a worn SWF. I stopped at Steyning on the way back where it was a pleasure to meet a couple from Leeds and John W. I did not see any BHs.
Lastly I visited my friend who had kindly alerted me to a Large White Pupa in his garden.

Hope you catch up with Brown Hairstreaks soon, Katrina. Glad you saw a couple of Peacocks - this is one species I have only seen in very small numbers this summer. Maybe they all aestivated during that heatwave we had in mid July?

I'm guessing from the text that the view is an early sunrise? Beautifully captured Katrina.

The butterfly mix is a lovely photo - this year seems to have been quite good for the Vanessids.

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Thank you David - I must try again for the Brostreaks.
Thank you Pauline - it was early morning.
Thank you Wurzel.

Today I went to Chantry closer to midday for a change. I saw SSSs, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Brown Argus, Chalkhill Blues . 2 Red Admirals, 1 Brimstone , 1 Small Copper and some Small Heaths.

A Red Admiral visited my Hemp Agrimony- rare event in my city centre patio!

That must have been a nice sight Katrina - the butterflies that you don't have to travel for always count double in my book

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

A lovely sight on your patio. I've now had TWO Small Torts in my garden this year.

Stay safe,
Trevor.

Thank you Wurzel and Trevor. I don’t get many butterflies in my patio so this was a joy and stayed for 20 mins.
I particularly like the 3 blue scales above the orange band on the hindwings.

Those blue scales probably make it ab merrifieldoides

Thank you for looking that up Bugboy!

I wonder if it was named after this lady … from Brighton, interested in nature

https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/booth/ab ... errifield/


If anyone wants to see better specimens they are some here
https://data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset/collecti ... a11e68f68e

Fantastic observation Katrina and a lovely specimen. I doubt whether I would have even noticed that; you've got me checking my old images now!

Thank you Pauline , again I think I have bugboy to thank. I don't know how many blue scales you need to count as an ab but no one has contradicted us so far .....

I went back to Steyning today and in total saw 5 Brown Hairtstreaks down.
I must thank everyone there for their teamwork and generosity . William from Linlithgow found the first one I saw, then the couple from Kent, then Ken (I think), finally I found one myself and while we were photographing it Lisa found another in the same area.
Most people were wandering to an extent so may have had different tallys
I was a pleasure to see Bob again and meet new people.