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Testudo Man wrote:...then i finally got what i went for, a female DGF.

Can't fault that, TM. First class.

Loads of Large Skippers on the mire restoration sites in Exmoor today - not something I usually think of as an upland species.

Mark Tutton wrote:Interesting Lee - it looks like yours is another one judging by the wing damage - I think there may be as many as six present at Alice - saw at least two today one could have been the all black nigrina. Attached are some pics, I hope they don’t mind, I was present when some were taken one is mine but the others are Pauline, Ernie and Mike Gibbons. Pauline's and Ernie's were over a week apart so whilst they look similar I think they are probably different specimens?
The weather certainly did something!

Hi Mark, looking at the wing damage, the individual I saw is the same butterfly in Mike's photo.

Best wishes,
Lee

Chiddingfold,Purple Emperors.
After the rain a good day.I saw four groundings,and two flying within an hour and a half.This photo is one on rabbit droppings,presumably due to the lack of dog poo and the latter having more fat and minerals.Can anyone tell me the actual minerals the males require and the chemical changes in the body?
P.J.Underwood

Near Biggin Hill airport in Kent , 4 Small Blue still on the wing , no sign yet of Chalkhill Blues , but 131 Marbled White , with just one female was compensation .

David M wrote:

Testudo Man wrote:...then i finally got what i went for, a female DGF.

Can't fault that, TM. First class.

Thanks for that David, she was a beauty.

So, last Saturday 6/7/19, i visited 3 locations here in Kent. I was hoping for an early Chalkhill Blue sighting, but it was not to be!
2 of the areas looked just right for the Chalkhill Blues, so it must be any day now, for them to emerge.
I did sight a very fresh 2nd brood male Common Blue, so that was a bonus.
All 3 locations showed a good number of Marbled Whites, as well as the usual species for this time in the season.
A faded Painted Lady was seen, along with 2 fresh Small Tortoiseshell.

Several images from the day, cheers Paul.
No images are cropped, 2 camera set ups used.

That single fresh 2nd brood male Common Blue. A couple of male Marbled Whites. Small Skippers.

At Bookham today, anyone remember what they're called, it's been ages since I've seen one!

Speckled Wood-v. common around here at Chiddingfold generally,but at the moment more Purple Emperors and White admirals where I frequent.
P.J.U.

P.J.Underwood wrote:Chiddingfold,Purple Emperors.
After the rain a good day.I saw four groundings,and two flying within an hour and a half.This photo is one on rabbit droppings,presumably due to the lack of dog poo and the latter having more fat and minerals.Can anyone tell me the actual minerals the males require and the chemical changes in the body?
P.J.Underwood

According to Ken Willmotts booklet for BC published in the 1980’s “the males come to the ground to obtain essential substances which are not available to them in the canopy. One of the most important is salt. Sodium is present naturally in both male and female emperors but the male passes some to the female with his sperm which is needed to help the eggs develop”
More recent research may have superseded this but it may be a start?
Kind Regards
Mark

I recently spent 2 days PE searching in Fermyn Woods. I arrived early on Weds. 3rd, spent 5 hrs seeing none and left having seen 1 picture of a grounded male.

I returned with PhilB on Friday morning and by 11am we were loosing hope; Phil was saying he hoped we saw none and then he wouldn't have to come again, when we came across one grounded in the triangle where tracks split. We had been there for 5 minutes before we noticed that there were in fact two down and we had been lying within 2 feet photographing the first! We saw another fly-by, but by that time most were too warm to spend much time on the ground, though both of our grounded males did leave to be replaced by two more/same males about 30 mins later. The rides all over the woods have been widened leaving a different feel to the woods compared to the more intimate and shaded rides of old Fermyn. PE numbers are undoubtedly down and have been for a few years; this is counter-balanced by the fact that the Emperor is reclaiming old woods and colonising others across West Cambridgeshire and Essex. Those record numbers in Fermyn must have been the source for this eastward spread into nearby woods.

Also spent some time around the Burwell Cutting/Devil's Dyke near Cambridge. Target was Chalk-hill Blue. Perhaps a little early this season; as it turned out I saw five fresh male CHB. The main stars were the large numbers of Marbled White in the cutting, the odd Comma and Small Tort, with good numbers of Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Small Skipper and a few old Common Blue and three fresh Brimstone.

Testudo Man wrote: This might be an Essex Skipper too?
P1910219-copy-to-600.jpg

Yes, the dark tips seem to say so (-: beautiful captures.

The first third of July has been big time for the summer browns to finally pop-out in decent numbers. In all 3 patches I visit in my area in Bs4, marbled whites have been flying in good numbers on Calligton Rd, Meadow Browns/Rignlets do well in Eastwood Farm, Skippers came back to Arnos Vale cemetery. The best surprise so far is to have Essex skippers showing in Eastwood where small skippers reign supreme; on this area there were small coppers last year but none for this season.
Here here, some photos of an ES enjoying a sunbath. Sorry for the image quality, here are just some screenshots, too busy to fiddle with images this morning cheers!

A few days into a visit to Dorset and it's going pretty well!

Purple Hairstreak and Silver-washed Fritillary Valezina from Alners Gorse.
Large Tortoiseshell and Grayling from Portland.
Cheers.

Fantastic Andrew!!! All of them. I can't choose a winner so one of these for each Really well done!

Andrew, those aren't sightings, they're works of art!

Particularly impressive is the Large Tortoiseshell. We get a few in spring but I'm scratching my head to remember if we've had a fresh, summer brood adult posted before.

Newly emerged Small Tort on Moray Coast 10th July. This is early by traditional standards of what is normally a single-brooded species in this area. In 2018 I suspected there were two generations so maybe this is going to become the norm.

Still a few very elderly Painted Ladies.

Single Speckled Wood in this most unlikely of habitats.The gorse burned last summer. It has provided the abundant Yellowhammers with some excellent vantage points.Jack

Eyes to the sky, butterfliers: a Camberwell Beauty was photographed yesterday in Hull by a former colleague of mine.

https://twitter.com/DominicCHenri/statu ... 4733529089

After days or rain (not accurately measured but 50 mms+ in past five days), it finally stopped this lunchtime. I wandered the few hundred metres along the road to a “guaranteed” Ringlet spot (southeast of Nairn). It was still cloudy – light levels 23% of peak on clear mid-summer day and temperature 17C, there were several bobbing around over the very wet grass. Those I checked were all males and quite small ones at that – almost confusable with Chimney Sweep moths when seen from a distance. I expect to see Ringlet in the garden in the next few days.

Jack

CallumMac wrote:Eyes to the sky, butterfliers: a Camberwell Beauty was photographed yesterday in Hull by a former colleague of mine.

https://twitter.com/DominicCHenri/statu ... 4733529089