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Excellent images again Dave, what a great few days you've had! The QoS, and that Silver-spotted Skipper? I think a few are in order!

Now you can be out and about morning til nightfall everyday during the season the OT gyandromorph is certainly 'do-able' That second Small Heath is a great shot

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks, Essex - I won't get two days like that again I don't think.

Retirement is good, Wurzel, but not quite the blank sheet of paper some folk imagine it to be... Still, I hope to chase a few Orange Tips next year, just in case. Yes, catching them like that is one of the few occasions you can get close to Small Heaths without them bounding off. Even then, the female was a bit twitchy.

Monday/Tuesday 4th/5th September: Weather and other commitments rather limited activity, and a couple of short local walks were all I managed. On the Tuesday, the large meadow area received its annual mowing (a month earlier this year than 2016, though the same as in 2015) which will no doubt have an impact of what was left here. I doubt I'll see the Clouded Yellows again (one was still around on Monday). Here's a rather autumnal selection. There were a few Holly Blues around high up in the ivy round two local ash trees, sharing the spot with several Red Admirals - they like it up here in less warm weather at this time of year as they get the sun for longer, and nectar is all around for little effort. For the male Hollies there is always the chance of bumping into a female too.

Dave

Wednesday 6th September: the forecast was reasonable, so I thought I'd try one more visit to Bookham Commons. There was a bit of sunshine from time to time, enough to bring out the butterflies. Since my last visit all the Gatekeepers have now disappeared, and the only possible source of confusion for a hunter of Brown Hairstreaks might possibly have been the numerous Speckled Woods. These were mostly lovely new individuals. To be fair, there were one or two Meadow Browns, a nice new Comma... ...and even an ageing Brown Argus to distract... ...but the most eye-catching feature of the day were the Small Coppers. They were mostly quite new, and must have numbered close to double-figures, and one in particular was a stunningly beautiful insect. Perfect in every detail except for the tiniest of nicks out of its wings, it repeatedly demanded the attention of the camera, and even took to my finger at one point. Pruning the Copper photos down to a sensible number has been difficult... Oh, and by the way, there were two different female Brown Hairstreaks basking in the sunny intervals before setting off on another round or two of egg-laying. Not often they play second fiddle to anything. I'll post the Coppers separately.

Dave

6th September: Bookham Small Coppers. Dave

I think there will be some envy from a certain Small Copper enthusiast when he sees your examples.
As you said yesterday, they are all stunningly fresh, and well marked. Blue spots among them too.

Looking forward to your Wall images,
Trevor.

Good to meet you yesterday Dave. Looks as though it was worth the longish drive for you with several really fresh Wall Brown. Looking forward to seeing the results.

They were a splendid little selection of Coppers, Trevor - not quite in the numbers available down on that well-known Kentish shingle promontory, mind, but the blue-spot individual was a real cracker.

Good to meet you too, Bob - definitely worth the drive as it always is to your part of the word. Wall photos coming up shortly.

6th September: A bit later on. After the Bookham trip I fitted in another brief local walk. Of interest today was a very faded female Brown Argus a long way from their usual haunts. I'm convinced that late in the season, the females of various butterflies wander quite a way looking to lay in new spots in order to spread their species. I've seen a couple of Small Heath in this area recently, also quite a distance from their main colony, and there was the female Small Copper I saw here just a few days ago.

I came across several Speckled Woods, including this one which had just emerged from inside the shrubbery at ground level - presumably another female on an egg-laying mission. Finally, in common with most days recently, there was another bright new Comma. Dave

Good to see Bookham is still putting out the goods, and that is a lovely Copper. Looks like they're trying to finish the year on a flourish again. Not sure when I'm going to get out again now the weather has deteriorated

That's a lovely Small Copper Dave, we don't see many round here worse luck, love the shot of the Copper on your finger Goldie

Hi Dave,

Just catching up again after another few days away.
Cracking find with the Silver-spotted Skipper bilateral gynandromorph. I see the third Meadow Brown down on your report from September 2nd has orange patches on her hindwings, I have been seeing more and more like this over the past couple of years.
That's a lovely Small Copper as well with a great set of blue spots

Cheers,

Neil.

Definitely worth another go down at Bookham, Buggy. Hopefully the sun will shine a bit over the weekend.

Thanks, Goldie - as well as being a real looker, that Copper seemed to have no fear, hence the number of close-up shots and its willingness to sit on my hand.

Thank you, Neil - it just shows its worth checking every photo, even the mediocre ones! Hmm - I wonder if Meadow Browns are getting brighter? I may have a look back at previous years and see if there's a trend.

Thursday 7th September: Another sunny start to the day, so I set off for Sussex, following Trevor's posting of probably third brood Walls. I ended up at High & Over, and though the weather had deteriorated, it was still reasonably warm and the sun was still there though rather hazy. Almost immediately I encountered Badger Bob near the viewpoint and within minutes, the first Walls. After seeing two males and a female, Trevor also appeared and we had repeated sightings of these three and perhaps one other. Also seen were a large number of whites - mostly Small Whites, but with one or two Large and GVW as well. A Red Admiral spent a long period flat on a bench (there were one or two others on the ivy flowers as well), and there was also a persistent Peacock. I glimpsed a Small Copper, but it whizzed past at speed in a red-orange blur; there were several Speckled Woods along the paths leading down from the car park.

However, the day belonged to the Walls: I will try and post some shots that aren't the same as Trevor's... Dave

Definitely worth another go down at Bookham, Buggy. Hopefully the sun will shine a bit over the weekend.

Forecast is a real mixture of weather, sadly I'm at work so I'll just have to settle for doing my transects if the sun shines for long enough!

Love those Walls, I'll have to try and visit High and Over some time, I keep hearing about it and it's not a million miles away from Newhaven

Lovely fresh Coppers from a post or two back Dave and then a fantastic set of Walls, you filled your quota there Mind you it does seem slightly odd seeing fresh butterflies when the weather over my way is almost end of Autumn/start of winter

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Love the Wall Browns, Dave. It's such a bonus to have a site where they are resident.

Well done with the Small Coppers too, especially those caeroleopunctata specimens.

You certainly made the most of that female Wall, and quite rightly so,
as they are far more elusive than the males, and it is always a treat to see one.
It would be interesting to know the ratio of female to male in a Wall colony.
I have noticed a few ' same shot, different angle ' images, but that was inevitable .

A great day, great shots, thanks for the company.
Trevor.

PS. How about a visit to the old railway, next Spring ?.

Thanks, Buggy - worth the journey to High & Over, certainly. However, it's a bit of a step from Seaford station, though you could get the bus along to Exceat and walk up from there.

Thank you, Wurzel - there are still a few fresh ones around, but you have to choose your species and select a spot to find them. However, it's feeling distinctly autumnal now.

Thank you as well, David - this is a really reliable location for Walls, and as I have to travel 70 miles whichever way I go to find them these days, it's the no. 1 choice. The Bookham blue-spot Copper was a real cracker, wasn't it? Hopefully there'll still be a few more of these to see this year.

An excellent day all round, Trevor, including the lengthy chinwagging with you and Bob! A visit to your patch in the spring sounds a very good idea too.

Friday was not a day for going out, and I felt like a rest after a week of really good sightings in a variety of locations. 21 different species seen over seven days (which didn't even include any Small Tortoiseshells or Painted Ladies) - not at all bad.

Saturday 9th September started well, but you could see that the cloud would bubble up by lunchtime and the forecast was (accurately) predicting worse later on. I settled for a stroll around my local patch, and a typical early autumn offering dominated by Red Admirals and Speckled Woods. There were whites of all types too... ...three Commas altogether, of which this is one... ...and a single new Peacock.Its late appearance makes me wonder if there has been a second brood around here - it's happened before.

So here are a selection of the many Speckled Woods, perching momentarily between chasing each other along the paths......and a few shots of the crop of really new Red Admirals which appeared today.
Dave

Hi! Dave , looks like the same butterflies we're getting up here at present lovely shots of the Admiral , I think I'll have to venture to Hall-Lee-Brook ( my local patch ) for the Speckies I really like that shot of one on the Berries Goldie

Sunday September 10th: the sunshine today was even more short-lived than on Saturday. There was just time before the clouds arrived to see what might be flying in the immediate vicinity to home. There was a Comma... ...and a scattering of Red Admirals on the ivy, plus a couple of Large Whites on the buddleia - one of each sex, but they took no notice of each other whatsoever.There were also several Speckled Woods......including a female which appeared briefly from egg-laying sorties deep in the undergrowth. Dave

Cracking set of images Dave from the 'Autumnal Collection'

Have a goodun

Wurzel