May 2022

[adrian riley]

Hi, Gang
The 'hairy knees' in the genus Pyrgus are erectile pencils of scent scales found in the males and are used for chemical communication during courtship.
Cheers, Ade

My learning of the day Ade and what a cracking factoid that is. Cheers ! As ever I shall say that casually in conversation as being my own knowledge.

Well, it is your knowledge now!
Ade

[Deborah]

North West Brittany coast. Sunny but breezy. First male Common Blue (?) and a very unexpected Clouded Yellow.

[Greenie]

Deborah , your Common Blue is a ' blue form ' female . Always a nice find . Greenie

[Deborah]

Thank you Greenie! One day I’ll stop getting it wrong I’m happy to have seen her.

[millerd]

More new brood Small Tortoiseshells out on my local patch this morning, despite the prevailing wind and mostly cloudy conditions.

One of them was particularly striking, looking overall paler than usual and with very little contrast between the orange and yellow patches. The yellow margins were also broad and well-defined and the blue marginal spots very pale. It looked very yellow-orange in flight, as well as being noticeably larger than normal - it took a moment or two to work out what it was!

(Clicking on the image will show it in all its glory and gives a better idea of how pale it was.)

Cheers,

Dave

[zigzag_wanderer]

Hi, Gang
The 'hairy knees' in the genus Pyrgus are erectile pencils of scent scales found in the males and are used for chemical communication during courtship.
Cheers, Ade

My learning of the day Ade and what a cracking factoid that is. Cheers ! As ever I shall say that casually in conversation as being my own knowledge.

I'd like to be a fly on the wall during your casual dropping of erectile pencils into conversation Otep..... particularly if the recipient was a tad hard of hearing

[zigzag_wanderer]

Generally overcast at lunchtime today, but with a couple of very short sunny interludes.

Saw a Dingy Skipper on a small patch of Eggs and Bacon and also a female Black-tailed Skimmer.

There was one that got away. Slightly larger than the Dingy Skipper and a bit redder. It briefly landed in a buttercup patch but I lost it before I could take a snap. A moth of some sort I'm sure, but not an underwing type as the red/brown colour seemed uniform in flight. Hopefully it'll come back.

Did snap a very small micro. Not sure what it is but looks conchy.

[millerd]

There was one that got away. Slightly larger than the Dingy Skipper and a bit redder. It briefly landed in a buttercup patch but I lost it before I could take a snap. A moth of some sort I'm sure, but not an underwing type as the red/brown colour seemed uniform in flight. Hopefully it'll come back.

It could be a Burnet Companion moth - they are everywhere on my patch at the moment where there are loads of birds-foot trefoil and buttercups (but sadly no Dingy Skippers). They can look quite orange-red-brown in flight especially when new, as they are this shade underneath.

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers for the for the info Adrian

Otep I've just PM'd you some details about the Glannies

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Stevieb]

A good selection on the hill today. Plenty of Adonis Blue in cop too. Beacon Hill, Wiltshire

Dingy Skipper 7
Grizzled Skipper 1
Green-veined White 2
Common Blue 6
Adonis Blue 10
Holly Blue 1
Red Admiral 1
Painted Lady 1
Marsh Fritillary 3
Speckled Wood 5
Wall Brown 1
Small Heath 8

27th May

27th May

27th May

27th May

27th May

27th May

27th May

27th May

27th May

[David M]

Sat 21st May - Fairwood Common, Gower:

Several Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries seen, with some looking to have been out for quite a while. Still no Marsh Frits, but half a dozen Green Hairstreaks near the field margins:

[Bertl]

Only managed an hour out at deeside yesterday morning before it clouded over and the showers appeared. Still enough time to snap some PBF on the wing.

[Allan.W.]

I fear that thats it ! for the Grizzled Skipper sites (at least two of three ) this season near me ,the sites are now overgrown with very little butterfly activity at all .In an hour and a half all i saw was 1 Comma (very worn ) 1 Small Heath , and best a fresh Small Tortoiseshell ,and my first Large Skipper of the year,plus a single Common Blue male which shot by ,without stopping . Compensation was finding high numbers of the moth ,Arched Marble.

Allan.W.

[millerd]

The fine weather drew a particularly large attendance for the guided Skipper walk at Fineshade Wood this morning (27th). Luckily, there were a few Chequered Skippers to be seen (though a ratio of 5:1 observers to butterflies made things a bit tricky). Mostly they were nectaring at a bit of a distance, but I was fortunate to have one appear on a bramble flower quite near to me for just long enough...

Many thanks to Ellie, the Skipper Ranger, for guiding the walk and providing interesting background information to this re-introduction.

Dave

[David M]

Very nice, Dave. Hopefully this butterfly will successfully establish itself and its emergence coincides with a period where there is a bit of a lull in the UK, so it should provide a good opportunity to see something new for a lot of people.

[zigzag_wanderer]

There was one that got away. Slightly larger than the Dingy Skipper and a bit redder. It briefly landed in a buttercup patch but I lost it before I could take a snap. A moth of some sort I'm sure, but not an underwing type as the red/brown colour seemed uniform in flight. Hopefully it'll come back.

It could be a Burnet Companion moth - they are everywhere on my patch at the moment where there are loads of birds-foot trefoil and buttercups (but sadly no Dingy Skippers). They can look quite orange-red-brown in flight especially when new, as they are this shade underneath.BC1 220522.JPG

Cheers,

Dave

Thanks Dave - I reckon you've nailed it ! I saw it very briefly on the buttercup, and could only see the forewings but it was very similar to your photo. Funnily enough, although I'm now seeing Mother Shipton regularly at work and used to see it in massive numbers throughout June in my local fields (before the developers started making it harder to walk round them), I don't think I've ever knowingly seen a Burnet Companion...until now. Not sure how I've missed them as I know they are common in the right conditions (as your local patch attests).

There was no sign of it today although the Dingy Skipper was back on the birds-foot. I did see 3 or 4 flying Cinnabar, my Brown Argus, an Emperor dragonfly, a Yellow Shell and a grass snake. Cinnabar seem to have a strong preference to land and rest vertically.

Went for a walk with a pal after work. Very pleased to see 4 fresh Small Torts and several Red Admirals (flying about 5 pm), also a Four-Spotted Chaser.

[Greenie]

A short visit to look for Adonis Blue at Biggin Hill failed to find a single one .
But it did produce 14 species , albeit in small numbers .
On my way back to the car , a flash of pink landing on Wayfarer flowers turned out to be my second Painted Lady of the year .

Leaving her feeding ,I had taken no more than a dozen paces when a flash of yellow caught my eye . At distance it looked like a male Brimstone , but as I got closer I could see it was a female Clouded Yellow .

She was busy egg laying and constantly on the move , but I luckily manage an in flight shot .
Mind you , the majority of the attempted flight shots went straight in the bin .

[peterc]

The fine weather drew a particularly large attendance for the guided Skipper walk at Fineshade Wood this morning (27th). Luckily, there were a few Chequered Skippers to be seen (though a ratio of 5:1 observers to butterflies made things a bit tricky). Mostly they were nectaring at a bit of a distance, but I was fortunate to have one appear on a bramble flower quite near to me for just long enough...CS1 270522.JPG
Many thanks to Ellie, the Skipper Ranger, for guiding the walk and providing interesting background information to this re-introduction.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Yes, it was a satisfying day at Fineshade Wood. I was wondering with a large group if I would see or recognise anyone from the Herts & Middx branch. It was difficult to get close to any Chequered Skippers as you mentioned and the best I could do was this:

Peter

[Charles Nicol]

i went slightly further afield today... Ivinghoe Beacon.

i saw a Duke, and my first Meadow Brown of the season

the Duke was happy to be photographed, unlike the Meadow Brown which led me a merry dance.

[David M]

It was difficult to get close to any Chequered Skippers as you mentioned and the best I could do was this

Great to see people able to go and visit a location for these home grown butterflies.