www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

6 reported there today via Birdguides - any directions know - grid ref?

Hi All, I saw three LTBs at Kingsdown today just opposite "Moonraker" I've put more pictures in my diary.

Good Luck

Hoggers

I had a quick look after work tonight between Chambers Wall and Shuart near Reculver. Despite some good sun and warm temperatures I only managed to find 1 Long tailed Blue although I believe 6 were seen earlier in the day. A photo below of the female. A couple of shots on my Blog: http://www.marcheath.blogspot.com

Marc

This is making me SO envious. I wish there were colonies to the west of Southampton as I'd be inclined to travel to see those. I'm afraid after my Gatwick disaster in July I can't stomach that journey into the far south east.

Between 11.00 hours and 13.00 hours today we managed to see 7 Long Tailed Blues at the site Marc Heath mentions. That is between Shuart and Chambers Wall. Hopefully we did not double count any. This is the same site where 10 plus were seen yesterday by the excellent local Reculver team. Thanks to Marc and the other Reculver regulars for making this site public. Park at Minnis Bay west end and walk along the sea front towards Reculver. There is a footpath that heads inland near the horse stables after about 15 minutes. You then get to a railway footpath crossing. Stay on the raised bank that runs parallel to the railway and heads west towards Chambers Wall. Do not cross the railway but stay on the bank checking the Everlasting Pea as you go. There is more Pea in flower than at Kingsdown. They were very flighty today, perhaps because of the heat, and would not settle long enough for us to photograph. One gentleman did manage a few photos of a female in poor condition. From the views we had I would say that it was 5 males and 2 females. Two males did a spiral fight way up into the sky and were lost from view, but presumably returned to defend a territory.
I would say that the temperature was about 19-20 degrees with almost full sun. Perhaps if we had been an hour earlier they would have been less mobile and more photogenic. The weather forecast for this site for Thursday and Friday is to say the least, dire. Very cold and strong Northerly winds.

Hi
I made the trip to Kingsdown Leas today from Southampton. I did toy with the idea of going to the Reculver area, but in the end I stuck with Kingsdown. I spent 4 hours there in beautiful sunshine. Two positive LTB sightings along with several possibles. I got there a bit later than intended, but well worth the visit There were perhaps half a dozen other spotters there. Thankfully one of them found an LTB which sat and posed for a while allowing photographs near to the 'Moonraker' house. My second sighting was much later in the day around 2pm near to the house which is having lots of building work done. I did walk all the way up to the monument but saw not much up that way.
Good luck to anybody else that make the effort.

Well, after failing to connect the previous weekend, this Sunday certainly made up for it

The weather conditions were perfect, i parked up at the Monument end, and made my way down to the site, having a scan to see if i could see anything of interest on route.
As soon as I arrived, both Paul and Adrian were onto their first sighting of a very photogenic male, so i joined in and captured my 1st ever photos of this lovely little butterfly.

On the day I saw 3 males, and just the 1 female(the one with the wing damage).

It was great to catch up with some of the people that were also there the week before, but this time it was smiles all round.
We even had a fair few laughs during the day too and I still say that i would have sighted more of em...if i had just followed around that charming, mature, over zealous with her camera, nameless women!!! she was good value

I hope we get to do it all again next year...well, maybe not next year...but who knows, this sort of sighting could become more regular.


Cheers Paul.

Ive still got to go through all my photos, but this one came out ok.

I would just like to say many thanks to everyone here updating info as well as giving directions for the Long Tailed Blues at Kingsdown Leas in Kent. I drove from Northants overnight and got to the site in plenty of time on Sunday 6th Oct. I headed out onto the site when it was getting light. The key thing I thought at this time of day was to target any flowers left on the Broad Leaved Everlasting Pea plants incase of roosting blues. The good thing is at 7.20am I found a female roosting on a pea flower at TR 38029 47209. It was not a fresh specimen but it was good to find one. Later in the day when a number of butterfly enthusiasts turned up a fresh male was discovered in the grass not far from the GPS reference given for my female find. Another male was recorded sitting on top of Hemp Agrimony at TR 38016 47270 which stayed for quite a while and was well photographed by everyone present. I also flushed a small butterfly that was blue but it soon disappeared so I cannot confirm its identity but it could well have been another Long Tailed Blue.
Later in the day a Clouded Yellow passed by and I recorded it passing me at TR 38028 47197.
In the afternoon I wandered down to the beach looking for Crimson Speckled moth incase one was about on flowers but sadly I did not find one. However another Clouded Yellow buzzed past me at TR 38006 48425, not far from The Zetland Arms.
So all good stuff and good to me a wide range of interesting people.
One thing to mention is that the Broad Leaved Everlasting Pea does die right back during the winter which would be a problem for the Long Tailed Blues as they would need a continued supply of fresh foodplant for their continued survival.

Brian Laney, Northamptonshire.

There have been some stunning photos on this and other forums/diaries. However, there has been little in the way of description of behaviour. (Maybe I just missed that). There is a photo of LT and Adonis Blue together. So is LTB often at ground level or does it spend most of its time around taller plants like everlasting sweet pea? Or does the pea simply sprawl in the places where LTB has been found? I am not familiar with the plant in the wild. What native butterfly species does LTB’s behaviour most resemble?

Any more general details would be appreciated.

Jack

Plenty of LTB activity at the site near Minnis Bay today (just follow Dave Brown's directions)

I've put more photos in my Diary.

Happy Hunting

Hoggers

Just to put on record again my thanks to Neil (Sussex Kipper) as if it wasn't for Neil's enthusiasm & willingness to share the Long-tailed Blue sightings & related information on here and personally by phone (including to me) then quite a few folk (including myself & my family) wouldn't have known enough to have the confidence to make a long journey to hope to see this rare migrant to our shores! This forum actually makes this species (Long-tailed Blue butterfly) seem common at present which is testiment to the power of this website's forum in bringing the lepidoptera community together when something very notable happens such as this!
Pinch yourself and you'll realise that 2013 wasn't actually a dream after all!!!
Cheers all,
Lee Slaughter (Cornwall).
PS: I have posted a similar message on Sussex Kipper's own blog/personal diary.

Maybe the end is in sight for LTB at Kingsdown. Today we, and at least 3 others, failed to see a confirmed LTB sighting over a 2 hour period in ideal weather conditions. Some of us had a brief view of a blue near Ship House and another just past Moonraker. The views were all to brief to be sure of ID but the flight pattern suggests that they were of this species. Based on our sightings yesterday at Minnis Bay I suggested to those we met to head that way if they needed LTB. Hopefully they had the same success as Hoggers had. There is now no Everlasting Pea in flower at Kingsdown, unlike Minnis Bay which still has a reasonable showing. I think the weather is now against further sightings, although hopefully I am wrong.

lee3764 wrote:Good stuff Paul (Testudo Man)! Hopefully everyone that travelled however many times to try & connect & see this species has now seen it & frazzled away the ozone layer with the many thousands of miles of driving we've done between us all!! Does Paul Whetton take the biscuit with over 1500 miles in total over several visits to see them eventually yesterday?
Cheers,
Lee Slaughter (Cornwall).

Cheers Lee, I guess i was quite lucky really(compared to some of the others travelling down) I only had to make the trip twice, and since Im from Kent anyway, it wasnt that much of a trek for me. I have to admire anyone, who travelled 100's an 100's of miles, in order to connect with a butterfly.


A couple more photos from me, cheers Paul.

Really glad you found your LTBs in the end, Paul I am really pleased for everyone who has managed to see them this year.

Testudo Man wrote:Well, after failing to connect the previous weekend, this Sunday certainly made up for it

The weather conditions were perfect, i parked up at the Monument end, and made my way down to the site, having a scan to see if i could see anything of interest on route.
As soon as I arrived, both Paul and Adrian were onto their first sighting of a very photogenic male, so i joined in and captured my 1st ever photos of this lovely little butterfly.

On the day I saw 3 males, and just the 1 female(the one with the wing damage).

It was great to catch up with some of the people that were also there the week before, but this time it was smiles all round.
We even had a fair few laughs during the day too and I still say that i would have sighted more of em...if i had just followed around that charming, mature, over zealous with her camera, nameless women!!! she was good value

I hope we get to do it all again next year...well, maybe not next year...but who knows, this sort of sighting could become more regular.


Cheers Paul.

Ive still got to go through all my photos, but this one came out ok.

6th-October-2013-147-to-600.jpg

I hope that I am wrong, but with the predicated fall in temperatures the Long Tailed Blue season may be drawing to the end. It has been an absolutely fantastic year for butterflies, in particular the Clouded Yellow, but especially the Long Tailed Blue. I would like to place on record, as I am sure many others would, or already have, my appreciation for the many finders of the LTB, but especially Neil H. Not only has he found, or made public, new locations for the LTB, but he has constantly updated us with stunning photographs of the species and an endless supply of information and news. He has also put things over in such an enthusiastic way that many of us have just had to go and see them for ourselves. After a poor start, this year has been personally one of the best that I can remember for butterflies in over 30 years of wildlife watching. The Long Tailed Blue in Britain will long be remembered and associated with 2013.

PS. Neil, I hope that I am not pushing my luck, but next year can you find lots of Camberwell Beauties, Bath Whites or Queen of Spain fritillaries in addition to more Long Tailed Blues please.

Do we know just how far-ranging LTB sites have been? I'm aware sightings have been made in both Kent and Sussex, but have there been any more from other parts of southern England?

I think you'd need to add Suffolk, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Wiltshire to the list, although I'd need to do some digging were you to ask me for locations!

Cheers,

- Pete

Pete Eeles wrote:...Wiltshire...

That is interesting, being a fair distance inland.

Indeed - just the one notification which was on the Purple Empire (but the containing post seems to have been removed, which was all about LTBs - looks like someone's done a cleanup to make it more iris-centric!). Anyway, as I recall, Piers (yes, Felix!) mentioned that he was rearing some LTBs through from eggs found in a Wiltshire garden.

[EDIT]
@1:48:20
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0 ... Wiltshire/

[EDIT2]
Towards the bottom of this page:
http://www.wiltshire-butterflies.org.uk ... tings.aspx

Cheers,

- Pete