Hello all,
Things are really starting to wind down now here in Kent,i,ve continued to look for Small Coppers (away from Dungeness),at various likely looking sites , about twelve in all now ,and have managed to find at least 3 Coppers at every site ! bar one. 2 more weeks and I think that,ll be it for the Kentish Coppers(for this year) ,hope I,m wrong,they,ve given me some memorable ,never to be forgotten moments this season ,I,ve also started looking for Coppers in egg and caterpillar stages and without trying too hard ,have been quite successful
and am currently rearing and watching two "pet" Copper caterpillars,and once seen, the distinctive feeding patterns of the larvae on the foodplants leaves are pretty easy to find in the wild,as are the empty egg cases ,(especially if you own a pair of"Pappilio" close up butterflying binoculars (best £85) I,ve spent for ages),I,ve also come across some oddties
as well in my travels ,namely a smart "Radiata" in Orlestone forest, but probably the most interesting was at a great plant site on the edge of Littlestone golf course an absolutely tiny
male blue spot ,which had a wingspan of between 12-15 mm,i,ve never seen one quite like it,took a couple of shots but ,with nothing to give it scale ,it is just another Small Copper !
Don,t know about anyone else but I,ve really struggled with Speckled woods this season,and have probably seen more this season in urban areas than the wider countryside, still a few fresh looking Male Common Blues on the wing , the odd Meadow Brown,whites ,Comma,Red Ad and Peacock.............its going to be a long winter without them.
The other evening my niece rang to say she,d got a Moth the size of a bat on her living room curtain ! did I want it !! she sent me a pic; YES!!
a lifer ,something I,d always wanted to see ,Convolvulous hawkmoth, I went around and retrieved this beauty,and later released it in our garden .
A footnote to this is, that there have now been quite a number of Convolvulous Hawk sightings with at least a couple at Dungeness,Hythe, and New Romney. Regards Allan W.