It looks as if the weather may perk up round your way a bit by next weekend, Goldie - I certainly hope so.
Definitely a fresh local crop of Admirals, Wurzel.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
A reliable sight here in almost any month of the year these days. And the new Commas are just magnificent.
Yes, Buggy, get out and see them whilst they're fresh - they haven't got the staying power of the hibernating brood...
Saturday 10th June: Glorious weather this morning, but I was forced to stay local - which is no great chore as there is always something to see. For the first time in quite a while, I saw all the common Nymphalid species on the same day: Red Admirals, Commas old and new, an elderly Peacock, several new Small Tortoiseshells, and two Painted Ladies. The wind made photos difficult to achieve and the sunshine made the butterflies very active: the Painted Ladies were just astonishing in their high speed aerobatics. New hutchinsoni Commas appeared in their usual haunt at Comma Corner - two in particular spent ages contesting the right to sit on the same leaf.
![Comma1 100617.JPG (3.07 MiB) Viewed 604 times Comma1 100617.JPG](./files/thumb_9839_238b8d5ec72b537f0ece6bbba4af8e01)
![Comma2 100617.JPG (2.65 MiB) Viewed 604 times Comma2 100617.JPG](./files/thumb_9839_a072bd2890f9ce6eba385542a0b71bf2)
![Comma3 100617.JPG (2.48 MiB) Viewed 604 times Comma3 100617.JPG](./files/thumb_9839_923a6deeab3ce01fbc723908eed6716b)
![Commas 100617.JPG (3.98 MiB) Viewed 604 times Commas 100617.JPG](./files/thumb_9839_37777abc80dbf4edc20dc0ff20bb2821)
As I walked the path across the open areas, I disturbed a series of Small Tortoiseshells, as well as the Painted Ladies - they were basking and taking minerals from horse dung. Whilst following Common Blues and a Brown Argus, I was putting up Small Heaths in all directions, and I glimpsed one of these being intercepted by a small orange blur, which turned out to be a Small Skipper. Unfortunately, every time I approached it, another Small Heath would disturb it. One of the Common Blues today had the same aberrant joined spots as I saw on another earlier in the season.
Also seen today were Speckled Woods, Meadow Browns, Large Skippers and a Small White.
Close to home on my return, I found a newly emerged Small Tortoiseshell nectaring avidly on the abundant bramble flowers.
It clouded over later on, but I had another brief excursion. Bizarrely, at Comma Corner, there was a Comma - not a new one this time, but one of the old timers from last year. Even more oddly, I found another shortly afterwards.
It seems that the new brood revel in sunshine and hide away if it's cloudy. However, the hibernators appear to cope happily with less sunny and warm conditions, as you might expect. I didn't see the two generations together, and I do wonder how they would interact.
Dave