www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi David, exactly! Had the conifers grown, they would have swamped the site, plunging it into darkness. Leading to the loss of both species, of course.

Thanks Wurzel, glad you like the pictures.

On Monday , I headed to Grays. This is the only Essex site I know of for man orchids. However, before I got to the orchids I found this lovely Common Blue female, one of the finest I have seen, and reminding me of some of the more exotic European species. After last years drought, I thought the man orchids might be small or sparse this year. But I needn’t have worried, for they were splendid! I have seen man orchids in several places, but these are the largest and most splendid ones I have found. Some are yellow. While others are red. The flowers really do look like little men! This old chalk quarry has lots of legumes-pea flowers- and these support large numbers of Holly Blue, as well Green Hairstreaks. Then onto Folkestone, where the late-spider orchids are now in flower. I also saw Adonis Blues, and this mating pair of Dingy Skippers. All in all, a good day.

Another gorgeous blue CB female Mark. Have you seen many brown ones?

Woke up to the lovely sight of an adult and juvenile great-spotted woodpecker on my garden fat block this morning. Not the best picture,in terms of quality, through a window and it was raining as well. But I’ve never seen them before.

Cracking sequence of shots Essex Those Man Orchids actually do look like the thing they're named after As for the Spider Orchids they're like a Necker Cube illusion - I can see the Spider, legs pulled close in to the body and then it shifts and becomes a very beefy Super Gnome Brilliant

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Fabulous Woodpeckers, Mark, but your mating Dingies are giving me green eyes. I'm pretty sure I've never seen that myself!

Hi Pauline. I haven’t seen any brown ones this year yet. The brownest female I’ve found in recent times was last July, when I found this one at Windover Hill in Sussex.

With the weather forecast as it is, we might only get one chance to go out this week. So we decided to make it a good one and, on Sunday, headed down to Swanage. Arriving at Durlston Country Park, our first butterfly was this Meadow Brown, warming up in the hazy sun. I’ve seen several males in the last week, but this is my first female. It wasn’t the last, though, as twenty minutes later we found this pair. We saw plenty of Small and Common Blues, and Esther spotted this rather nice female Adonis. Several bee orchid were present. And here is the habitat.

Of course, the main reason for going to Durlston was to see the Lulworth Skippers. They took a while to find, but eventually we found several of these tiny little butterflies. We then headed into town to get lunch, which was enjoyed on the beach, before heading back to Durlston late afternoon, and seeing a few more Skippers. It had been a long, but thoroughly enjoyable day out.

Hi! essex, lovely Meadow Brown, can't believe they're out yet, the Summer seems far a way with this awful weather . Love the Wood Peckers in your Garden Goldie

Good that you managed to get out successfully during this miserable spell, Mark.

Love the Lulworths and the Bee Orchid but that female Meadow Brown is resplendent. They don't usually pose like that early in their life and that's a particularly well marked individual too.

Hi Essex,

Very nice shot of the female Adonis at Durlston. Glad you found some Lulworth skippers too. They are still on my small list of species not yet seen, but I have been to Durlston Country Park, which is a beautiful site.

Regards
Kev

Hi Mark, nice Lulworths from Durlston but I really like that female Meadow Brown with the orange patches on her hindwings. I have seen a few like this over the past two or three years and have made a point of looking out for them.

Cheers,

Neil

That is indeed a very bright and attractive female Meadow Brown, Mark. They are so difficult to approach when new, and you still have to persuade them to open up as well! Good to see the Lulworths too - I hope to pass by Durlston before too long as well, so I trust there will be a few around in their unusually long flight period.

Cheers,

Dave

I just finished commening on Dave's striking Common Blue female and then I looked back at your one of June 7th - yet another amazing example.

Thanks everybody for your kind comments. I trust we are all making the most of this rather challenging weather!

Yesterday, Monday, the sun came out to play, and I at last got the chance to check in at one of my Heath Fritillaries sites in Essex. Hockey Woods has been visited by others, and valuable information has been gathered. So I headed for another site, on the other side of Rayleigh, which is less visited. Arriving at the area I saw them last year, I soon found the first ones, mostly closed winged in the strong sun. They are probably now nearing their peak, and numbers were reasonable, if perhaps slightly lower than last year. One particular bramble bush had about 15 feeding from it. But I had to wait until early evening for the first adults to settle with wings open. Here is a male. And here a female, with her more contrasting markings. This is a very fussy species. In this wood, some coppice areas which we hoped would be colonised by the food plants, and the butterflies, have not a cow-wheat plant in sight, and have just grown over with brambles. In other areas populated with the plant, where clear areas have been maintained, it is growing amongst grass. While cow-wheat can survive this, without bare ground it becomes too cool for the caterpillars. So it is essential to coppice new areas, where new bare ground can hopefully be colonised by the plant. But it has to be visible from current areas as well, for the butterflies usually turn back if they encounter dense scrub or woodland. But if the habit can be created just right, Heath Fritillaries can exist at great density. Can we ask any visitors to tread carefully, not only to avoid trampling the value cow-wheat, but also because newly emerged adults and mating pairs will be on the ground,perhaps tucked under leaves. Can I also say that all the Essex sites have open access, and visitors are welcome.

Great set of Lulworths and Heaths Essex The last Heath shot is a cracker - a threefer, open wing, closed wing and in cop

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Your patience certainly paid off there, Mark.

It now White Letter time. So, earlier this week, it was time to head down to my favourite White Letter Hairstreak site, which is Hadleigh Castle CP, for my annual fest. In reality, I often make several trips there during the season, as it really is a great site for so much wildlife. Being south facing, the Hairstreaks emerge early, and there were already many around. The majority were males. I rather like this picture, something a little different. Almost as if it is watching me! The first females are now emerging. Photography is easy here, as the adults reliably feed low down, within reach. I also saw my first Marbled Whites and Essex Skippers of the year. And the Skippers I managed to identify were this species, I’ve yet to see a Small Skipper this year. Many wild flowers bloom here. One of the special ones is the Deptford pink. This is the only place I have found it, in Britain, and I always look for it at Hadleigh.

Lovely Whitters Essex Great to see the Essex too Essex, though a little unusual in that normally the Smalls are out before the Essex aren't they?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

When I'm abroad, Mark, I find that Essex Skippers are usually slightly earlier than Small Skippers, so I suspect what you're seeing isn't unusual.

However, unusual to me is the sight of White Letter Hairstreaks nectaring low down. You're lucky to have a site where this is commonplace.