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Well done on finding the Coppers, they have been in short supply this year!

Thank you, Katrina. With so many tales of doom and gloom about this species, finding them unexpectedly again locally this year has been a real highpoint for me. It's not as if I haven't looked for them either.

Wednesday 7th September: With the promised hot sunshine appearing at last (pushing 28 degrees at around half past four) I had another stroll around my local patch. Compared with the cloudy day on Monday, with just glimpses of the sun, there were fewer butterflies around, curiously. Clearly the new Commas, destined for hibernation, do not care for hot sunshine and were hiding away somewhere. I only saw one, and at a distance. However I spotted a Peacock, again settled a way away, which was somewhat unexpected as I haven't seen one for several weeks. A lousy record shot: Later on I watched several Red Admirals fighting around the treetops, doing their best Purple Emperor impressions, including a fairly aggressive dive-bombing of me when I moved into a particular patch of sunshine. Out in the open field area and into Copper country, I saw only one of this species, and not close enough to photograph. The Brown Argus had spread out much more widely in the sunshine, and at least one female was searching for egg-laying sites, keeping low to the ground in less grassy areas. Both rock-rose and cranesbill grow here - I don't know which is preferred. There were a few Common Blues as well, all male. As I predicted the other day, the one species which popped up more numerously in the sun was the Small Heath. Some were old, some new, and I spotted one nectaring and flicking its wings characteristically. I managed a few shots of semi-open wings, but of course this was an aged individual, so they are far from striking. The new example that posed nicely stayed resolutely with wings shut. I also managed to approach one of the remaining handful of Meadow Browns. They are very sensitive to movement in the grass, but this one settled on a bramble and failed to detect my motion towards it. Finally, on the gentle walk home along mostly shaded paths there were some more new Speckled Woods around. Interesting to see how changes in the weather can have a big impact on what you see - with the perhaps unexpected effect that hot sunshine is nothing like as good as bright warm cloudiness for seeing certain butterflies.

Dave

On Tuesday, I photographed a Small Heath AB. and that one kept flicking it's wings part open.
Tantalising glimpses that my camera could not capture. So very well done with your shots.

Trevor.

Thank you, Trevor. I've seen this behaviour a few times, but this is the first time I've managed to get the shots. Difficult to say, but I don't think they open up much more than this, and it's always when feeding. I saw your ab - I've never come across one remotely like that!

Thursday 8th September: I wangled a day off today and spent most of the morning at Denbies. Lots of sunshine and pretty warm, but much windier and fresher than of late. Consequently the butterflies were much trickier to get close to and even track down. The mix was as described by Buggy the other day (when it was warm, muggy and cloudy, and without the wind): Adonis, Common and the occasional Chalkhill Blues, Brown Argus, Small Heath, Meadow Browns, Clouded Yellows, a couple of Tortoiseshells and a single Small Copper. I'll check to see if this was the same Small Copper Buggy saw... The Cloudies were up in Steers Field today as well as on the main slopes, and I followed one as it skipped from one bindweed flower to another. I have not seen one on this nectar source before, but the butterfly sought them out in preference to everything else. One of the others down on the main slope was one I saw last week - the forewing tear was a clear identifier. Attempts at upperside shots using the burst mode on my camera failed dismally - the butterflies were just too quick or took off at oblique angles.

Most trips out have their special moments and today's star was a brand spanking new Painted Lady up on the top path in a bit of shelter. A splendid insect. Dave

Looks like a different Copper to what I saw on Tuesday, mine had subtle but clear blue badges. (I possibly had two, or one male that was VERY mobile!) I wonder whether that was my male Cloudie? Lovely Painted Lady too, I've had a pretty good year with them

Lovely Clouded Yellow Dave and Painted Lady, nothing doing here at all except for SW's and Whites, the Tortoiseshell's only appear if the Sun Shines Goldie

Great stuff with the Small Heath Dave And your Painted Lady has the blue spots - I've still not seen one of those

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Definitely not the same Small Copper, Buggy - which is good, as there may be more around than we think. Not your Cloudie, either - I think there must be at least four around at Denbies. The curious spot in the middle of the hindwing is almost like a fingerprint - no two are alike and it makes counting them possible (as long as you have a picture of all of them!).

Thank you, Goldie. The Painted Lady was a real bonus, and much less hard work than the Clouded Yellows.

Cheers, Wurzel! I wish the Small Heath had been a bit less tatty, but you can't have everything. I noticed the blue spots on that Painted Lady at the time - how unusual is this? Looking at a few photos from this year, it seems quite a rare occurrence.

Sunday 11th September. Yesterday was a complete washout. Despite the pretty good weather we've had round here since the start of August, most of the weekends have been very average, which tends to colour the memory somewhat. However, Sunday was sunny, though a good deal cooler than it has been. I started off with a morning walk locally, and found that the Red Admirals had started to feed on the newly opened ivy flowers, a sure sign that the season is drawing to a close. There was quite a variety in size, but most were pretty fresh and probably locally hatched. There were around a dozen in various places, including four in one spot with ivy and blackberries - what more could they ask for? There were Commas around as well, though less obvious, especially when sitting with closed wings higher up. Speckled Woods flitted about along the paths as well. The meadow/field area still had Common Blues and Small Heaths as it did the other day, but I didn't see a single Brown Argus or Meadow Brown. However, there were a couple of Small Coppers. It won't be long before this area is bereft of butterflies, and the woodland paths with the flowering ivy will be centre of what activity remains.

Dave

Sunday 11th September - Part Two.

After my local walk, there was plenty of time to head somewhere a bit more exotic. A creature of habit, I elected for Aston Rowant again - I seem to be alternating between here and Denbies lately, and though the species found are similar, the sites feel rather different. Numbers are slowly dwindling here now, but once I'd got my eye in, it was clear there were still quite a few Brown Argus flying, even the odd quite fresh one. Most were worn, tiny grey-brown ghosts, but there was still some courtship behaviour. Bigger grey-brown ghosts turned out to be female blues - when worn like this, it is very hard to distinguish between Chalkhills and Adonis. One of each, in that order? I'm guessing here... Bigger again were the Meadow Browns, with quite a few females still flying.However, I was looking to see how the Adonis Blues were faring. It turned out that there were still quite a reasonable number of males around, their intense blue catching the eye. All were getting worn in various degrees, but some were in reasonable condition.The same could not be said for the last remaining Chalkhills... ...nor really for the Common Blues which probably actually outnumbered the Adonis (this one was probably the best of the bunch). A brilliant Small Copper managed to evade the camera lens twice, much to my annoyance, but then over on the far side by Beacon Hill I caught sight of a Clouded Yellow. I watched it go to ground as a cloud hid the sun, and closed in, only to be faced with an age-old dilemma: there on a flower head just in front of the grounded Cloudie was another Small Copper. After a very quick and very poor distant shot of both for the record, I inevitably ended up getting a proper shot of neither. Never mind - the Clouded Yellow reappeared, along with one other, and I did eventually get close enough for the odd photo. On the return across the slopes, I was surprised to disturb a female Silver-spotted Skipper which was not too badly worn considering the date.Also seen: Small Heaths, Small Whites, GVWs and a Speckled Wood. A pretty good afternoon, really.

Dave

Hi Dave, I have not managed to get down to Aston Rowant this year so it is good to see your reports from there to remind me of what I have missed...Oh well! hopefully next year.

Cheers,

Neil.

Aston Rowant has been pretty good this year, Neil. I've just looked back at my visits for the same weekend in 2014 and 2015: 11th September 2015 was very similar and I even had a Clouded Yellow in exactly the same spot. On 12th September 2014 the season looked all but over with far less variety and fewer butterflies. Interesting to make the comparisons.

13th September: Record-breaking heat here in the southeast, and when I went out after work at around 1630, it was still over 30 degrees and I didn't expect to see much on my local patch. This turned out to be true, with one major exception - I saw at around 20 Red Admirals, with a dozen of them on one ivy patch alone. Many were favouring the shade, and most were nectaring with wings closed. I spotted only one Comma, apparently dozing with antennae close together up on a willow branch. There were a few Speckled Woods darting around in the shade under the trees, including one with a deformed wing. I ventured briefly out into the meadow area, and aside from a couple of Small Heaths and a Meadow Brown, found only two butterflies - which had curiously decided to share a single thistle bloom with the whole expanse of field to choose from. One was a Common Blue, and I think the other was a Brown Argus from the shot I got when it was left on its own. However, over to the Red Admirals again - a selection: Their propensity today for favouring the shade meant that a lot of shots were a bit half-and-half. One of these does however bring out the spots at the base of the wings in brilliant electric blue. One individual also caught my eye a bit as it seemed a bit paler than the others. I managed only a single shot of this butterfly, and it does look pink rather than scarlet and is not worn in any way. It might have been a trick of the light, but it did look different. Dave

You can never have too many Red Admirals Dave.
Considering the heat you did well to get as many shots.
On the way back from Dungeness on Monday I pulled off the A259 for a pub lunch,
as I re- joined the main road, after lunch, clouds of Red Admirals flew up from some Ivy
as an HGV passed by at speed. 50 to 100 I would think.

There's life in the season yet !
Trevor.

Aren't Red Admiral undersides amazing Dave! If you catch them in the right light 'as you have done' it really brings out their rich and complex pattern, very smart on the upper side and amazingly psychedelic underneath.

Absolutely stunning when they are this fresh.

ATB

James

Beautiful Red Admirals Dave It just seems a pity that we didn't have this weather earlier in the season when a lot of the species on their last legs now would have been resplendant

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you both for your kind remarks - much appreciated. I have a fondness for Red Admirals and could watch them for hours - helped by the fact that they are relatively fearless and approachable, and also readily investigate people - which they seem to regard as some sort of mobile bush for perching on. Their undersides are wonderfully intricate and colourful, matched in my view by very few others - maybe the Wall of which some great images have been posted recently. At present, they are intent on nectaring, and as the ivy has come into flower have diverted all their attention to it for most of the day.

After a dismal and chilly Saturday hereabouts, Sunday 18th September was much warmer with the bright cloudiness that has been the rule for a fair bit of this year's butterfly season. It was enough to energise the white butterfly contingent which, with only a couple of Large exceptions, were all Small Whites. There were a few Speckled Woods as well, which mostly elected to bask higher up to make the most of what brightness there was. One exception: Otherwise, there was just the one solitary Common Blue/Brown Argus, (so worn it was difficult to tell, but I think the latter)... ...and mixing in with the Red Admirals on the ivy one Holly Blue. This butterfly was new and very active, not staying on any flower long enough for a photo before a combination of bees, wasps and bigger butterflies set it flying off into the trees. I wonder if a third brood will appear - the recent hot weather may well have encouraged some individuals to complete their life cycle now instead of in the spring. To be honest there seem to be one or two most years.

Finally, the Red Admirals. One individual, though relatively worn, appeared bursting with eggs - a huge abdomen reminiscent of a large spider rather than a butterfly. Most of the others were pretty new-looking: I saw a dozen or so overall, with half of this number on one particular clump of ivy. Dave

Beautiful Red Admirals, Dave. I have never seen one spread it's wings as far as the
specimen in the last few images. The best specimen I have ever seen was found this morning.
Unfortunately my image does not do it full justice.

All the best,
Trevor.

Thanks, Trevor. Almost all the Red Admirals round here are brand spanking new at the moment and are a splendid sight.

Friday 23rd September. A lucky chance to go out locally on what was a lovely sunny day today, as my son had an unexpected "Insect Day" from school as he has taken to calling them. After breakfast at the local café, we encountered our first Red Admiral sitting on the footpath in front of us. It was distinctly docile, and took a bit of persuading up onto an ivy flower, and I wondered if it had been caught by the slipstream of a passing car. It did not appear to be damaged. My camera was out of charge, so we couldn't record any of this, and it meant a stop at home to collect a charged one. Out on my usual patch, the currently favoured clump of ivy had easily a dozen more Red Admirals feasting on it, and I managed five in one view. Over the whole walk, I probably doubled that total - not all were nectaring and some were flying purposefully southwards without stopping. The other species seen frequently along all the shady riverside paths was the Speckled Wood, quite often in twos and threes and back up to decent numbers again overall for the time of year. Out onto the meadow/field area close to the M25, and it appears the Small Heaths and Meadow Browns have finally disappeared for the year. However, the Small Copper corner was active again, with at least two quite distinct individuals regularly squabbling with each other, and a freshly-emerged Common Blue occasionally joining in the fun. I assume the Common Blue is a third brood individual as I have seen no fresh example here for a few weeks. There's still life in the season, yet.

Dave

This warm spell looks set to continue for a few a while yet so plenty more action left before winter arrives. (assuming we get a winter this year!)

Lovely Small Copper Dave, and that is a wonderfully fresh Common Blue I was looking back at you Common Blues from 13th September - the first blue on it's own shot seems to be missing the second spot from the head end from the 'arc' on the hindwing.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Lovely Butterflies Dave, especially the Copper ,Goldie