www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Thursday 17th October

Work commitments and then poor weather had until now kept me from a journey in search of British Long Tailed Blues. I had religiously kept an eye on the weather forecasts for the last few weeks and last weekend it seemed likely I would be having a day off on Thursday 17th October. Luckily the forecast stayed the same and first thing Thursday I was heading for Minnis Bay. Despite early cloud and rain, I expected the day to brighten.

I found the site easily thanks to Dave Brown's excellent directions. Upon reaching the raised footpath adjacent to the railway, I was initially concerned that the recent cold spell had finished the everlasting pea, it seemed to have gone over and I could see none in flower. The first sighting I had were of dragonflies; there were a lot of different ones buzzing about. After what seemed like ages of watching the dragonflies but little else, I saw a female Small White, the first butterfly of the day.

Here's a few of the dragonflies:
A little while later and further along the path, I chanced upon Nigel and Bill, two Fermyn Woods regulars. They were lovely chaps, nice enough in itself but best of all they were watching a Long Tailed Blue! They had already seen one male earlier in the morning and were now watching 2 or 3 others around a nice sheltered spot containing a few pea flowers. There were two very fresh females that must have emerged Thursday morning along with at least two males. I am being conservative as males would come and go along the railway line and I don’t want to over count. But the females were very fresh:
By now the sun was blazing and out of the sea breeze it was really warm. We stood and watched the Blues for a while chatting away. All of a sudden, one of the males found a fresh female and seemed interested….he landed next to her and fluttered away, trying it on. He was quite persistent and as she moved a short distance away, he would follow and try his luck. His persistence paid off and eventually she relented and they coupled. We couldn’t believe our luck!
They moved about quite a bit.
My favourite photo of the day.
I knew that I would be lucky to see anything today so see British Long Tailed Blues, let alone a male and female meet, court, mate and eventually separate was simply stunning.

While the Long Tailed Blues were paired, UKB’s own Hoggers came along and saw his second mating pair in a week! Nice to see him again, the last time was in Wrecclesham a couple of years ago.

We all took plenty of photos and watched as the pair separated until we lost them.

We walked further along to where Nigel and Bill had seen a male earlier in the morning, seeing a few more Small Whites on the way.
Fellow UKB member Keith Woonton and a colleague appeared and reported a Clouded Yellow and a Comma. I then found another male Long Tailed Blue and a large Peacock flew around us.
After another check of the area where the mating had taken place and no new sightings, Hoggers and I headed back to the car park having a good talk about butterflies.

My sightings – 5 Long Tailed Blue (3 male, 2 female), 5 Small White and 3 Peacock.

For a day out butterflying in mid-October, today was a day I won’t forget in a hurry.

Thanks to Marc Heath for finding/publicising the site, Dave Brown for directions and Neil for advice.

Lee

Great stuff, Lee. We'll look forward to the images.

I'm so pleased for you Lee

Me too. I nearly found my way there myself,but,in the end,i went for Clouded Yellows in Sussex,which i thought might be more reliable.

I did wonder if you might have gone...

Thanks David, Susie and EB.

Photos added above

Best wishes,

Lee

Great photos of the LTB. Your dragons are of 2 species- Common Darters + the larger Migrant Hawkers.

Lee Hurrell wrote: Photos added above

Magnificent!

What a great show Lee
Really glad you got there in the end.

PM to follow shortly.

Vince

Thanks Aeshna, David and Vince.

Best wishes

Lee

Lee, a fantastic report and photos of the LTB's, I really enjoyed it

Having seen Long Tailed Blues in September at Kingsdown,yesterday (Thursday) i decided to have a look at the Minnis Bay site. Thanks to the excellent directions on this forum,i found the site easily.

However,despite several hours searching,in very good weather,i failed to find any,and neither did the other two people who were also present,so,although it is possible we could have missed an individual or two,it must be said that there is a good chance they have finished now. Certainly most of the food plant,everlasting pea,is now dying back.

Still an enjoyable day though,with several Peacock,and single Large White,Comma,Small Tort and Red Admiral.

Thank goodness Lee went last week...

Butterflysaurus rex wrote:Lee, a fantastic report and photos of the LTB's, I really enjoyed it

Thanks Rex

Best wishes

Lee

essexbuzzard wrote: Thank goodness Lee went last week...

I was very lucky last week EB. Sorry you missed out today.

Best wishes

Lee

All the exciting news about Swallowtails overwintering in Kent and Sussex reminded me of the Long Tailed Blues we had down here last Summer at Kingsdown and the Minnis Bay area.

When would be a good time to have a look for adults ?

Where the species is resident it is either continuously brooded in overlapping broods without diapause (the tropics and sub-tropics) or has a very short period of inactivity in winter as egg, caterpillar or chrysalis (southern Europe and North Africa). I would be very surprised indeed if it could survive the length of a northern temperate winter but if it did I would expect to see it first thing in spring and after that at any time, if enough survived to continue as a breeding population. They've never been proven to survive the winter in Switzerland, even in the Rhône Valley, and I would keep your hopes reined in, Hoggers!

Guy

All of the evidence suggests that the autumn brood (which has migrated up through mainland Europe, but seldom as far north as our shores) mates and then flies south to continue the breeding cycle. Sadly, I believe the chance of them 'getting through' in the UK is 0%.
BWs, Neil

But they could come back this summer (or at least their grandchildren) now they have had a taste of British hospitality

Yep. Let's hope they liked chicken tikka masala and chips. It would be nice to think they'll come back soon but, realistically, it might be a while.
BWs, Neil

The locals at Kingsdown cover this area on a regular basis, at least every day over the weekends. They are the ones who found them last year so if any were around I am sure that they would have mentioned it by. Sadly, there is belated evidence that some of the British born specimens were taken last year by unknown collector(s), or at least some are claiming them to be British born. From which location is not known but this would have restricted the length of time they were on view in the wild.

I reported at the time that I saw a Man With a Net at Kingsdown on 26th September, a day when virtually none were seen.

Dave