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Thank you, Trevor - you're right, you never know the kind of folk you're going to bump into out there in the western hills...

Spot on, Wurzel, they can be a stunning butterfly (especially when you think about the variety there is in the female of the species too).

Tuesday 22nd May: Another sunny and warm day, so another excursion, but not too far - down to Bookham. With no hope of following in Bugboy's footsteps and tracking down various exciting larvae, I stuck to the easier option of seeing what was flying in Banks Meadow where Small Coppers and Brown Hairstreaks are the order of the day in August.

The first surprise was to discover that the same strip of hedgerow and grass was home to Dingy Skippers. Perhaps it shouldn't have been so surprising as the field is full of birds-foot trefoil, but I'd not heard reports of them being here. I saw four or five, maybe more. Before long a couple of Common Blues joined them, and then so did half a dozen Small Coppers and a single Brown Argus. Where territories overlapped, multi-species battles frequently ensued as all three smaller species are distinctly belligerent little creatures. The Coppers were particularly fresh, and some had a distinctly burnished appearance - brassy rather than coppery.
Also seen along the hedgerow, disdainfully ignoring the melees below, was a Comma, the first I've seen anywhere for quite a while. On the walk back to the car, I came across an elderly Peacock, a few Orange Tips flew by and several Brimstones were found nectaring.
Today's moth (there's always one) was a Silver-Y. After Bookham, there was time to have a look at Box Hill - but that will have to be a separate post...

Dave

More great stuff Dave, great Coppers and a Comma - where has that one been hiding?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Lovely Butterflies Dave, some I've yet to see .Goldie

Cheers Wurzel and Goldie - at least it's not the full trek to Dungeness for a variety of coppers (though that place is something else...!).

I went on from Bookham to Box Hill, and a look at two separate ares of the hillsides there. First up was Burford Spur, quite an exposed chalky ridge, which had a sprinkling of both Dingy Skippers and Common Blues. The latter were newly out, as this example shows. I then moved over to Dukes, the area of hillside to the east of the main viewpoint slopes.This whole hillside turned out to be full of blue butterflies - mostly Common, but Adonis as well, with a ratio of about 5 to 1. There were also Dingy Skippers and a few Small Heaths. It was very warm, very sunny, but quite breezy too, so getting any shots at all was on the tricky side. A nice new Common Blue female: Various Adonis of both sexes, the males showing wear already: Clouds built in the distance (over Kent, possibly as far away as Northern France...), but again no showers came my way today. Dave

Back to home turf on Wednesday 23rd May. A wander round my local patch started and ended with Holly Blues......but in between was a selection of Common Blues, Brown Argus, Small Heaths, Speckled Woods and whites. Orange Tips have clearly finished here for the year. Shame!
However, there does seem to be new round of Speckled Woods and Small Whites appearing at the moment. Dave

Thursday 24th May was mostly cloudy for a change, and I stayed local again and sought out a few roosting butterflies. I started on my local patch and found Common Blues, Brown Argus and Small Heaths. There was enough warmth in the sun through the clouds to cause one of the blues to open up a bit. I then moved on to have a look at Bedfont Lakes CP again, where there were more of the same. Dave

Friday 25th May was another grey one, but the forecast seemed to indicate that the cloud might clear from the south later. When things brightened at home, I took the risk and drove down to Bentley Wood. The sun did appear sporadically, including for a few minutes as soon as I arrived - which was enough to energise this Marsh Fritillary, the first I have ever seen at this location. In the brief spells of sunshine, Pearl-bordered Fritillaries magically popped up from the vegetation. Most were worn now, but one or two females were in reasonable condition and these took the opportunity to lay eggs in the dry bracken on the ground where violets were growing.. Eventually, as the sun refrained from coming out properly before the time I needed to leave, the butterflies started to roost. As far as I could tell there were no Small Pearls out yet, but considering the lack of sun there was a good showing of PBF.

Dave

Great stuff recently Dave, it's hard to keep up Interesting to see a proper 'brown' Common Blue female and a lovely set of Pearls They were in an even worse state of repair today - they seem to have come and gone in the blink of an eye It was odd to see Marsh Frit - where have they been hiding then?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Lovely PB pics, Dave - it's still my ambition to see one for myself!

Great reports of your recent wanderings, particularly Bentley Wood,
a site I've yet to visit. As for Boxhill it's many years since my last visit,
and I once worked in Dorking.

Must catch up !.
Trevor.

Lovely Butterflies Dave, I tried to see some this weekend but didn't catch the Dukes or the Frits so I've enjoyed yours Goldie

Dave,

Well done on finding the Marsh Fritillary at Bentley Wood - I thought they had disappeared from the site . As Wurzel said, they might have been there all along.

ATB

Peter

Fabulous set of reports lately, Dave, and I'm particularly encouraged to hear about your Marsh Fritillary find.

The male Common Blue in your Thursday 24th May report looks fresh out of the pupa. Absolutely stunning.

Thank you everyone. The Marsh Frit at Bentley was a real surprise and within a few minutes of arrival too. An interesting reappearance (if it ever went away of course). Some of the Common Blues I've been seeing have been quite lovely, but like everything else, in the constant good weather we've been having they are active for 12 hours a day and become worn very quickly. I think they all emerge and couple over a shorter spell of time too and then get to work laying! With reasonably decent weather between now and August we could be in for bumper second broods. Fingers crossed...

Saturday 26th May. Another excursion today, but I put myself in the care of TfL for the day and went down to Hutchinsons Bank by public transport. As ever, Mr Sp0ck was at hand to provide a commentary on the site , and said that no 100% confirmed sightings of Glanvilles had been made this year yet, though he had confidence in a small handful of "flyby" sightings. We had another of these while I was there, but it was really inconclusive (a rapidly moving orange-coloured butterfly of the right sort of size). To me it could have been a new Comma, or possibly a Painted Lady - a three-way split of equal likelihood in my book.

Never mind the Glanvilles though - this is a terrific place to visit. Dingy and Grizzled Skippers, Green Hairstreaks, Common Blues, Brown Argus, Holly Blues, Small Heaths, Brimstones, GVW, Speckled Woods, a Peacock, a Red Admiral and even a couple of Orange Tips. Add to this my first Large Skipper of the year and hundreds of Small Blues... and you get the picture. Which of course is what I did - lots of them, and it has taken a while to whittle them down.

Where to start? Well, here is the sign at the main way in, at the end of Farleigh Dean Crescent. Immediately on from this is a sheltered and sunny gully where many of the above-listed species can be found, and where Glanvilles have been seen in the past. The rest of the site is chalk hillside vaguely divided into compartments with interlinking paths. Near the bottom of the hillside along to the east is a large area that has been "scraped", removing most of the topsoil and exposing the chalk. The area is full of kidney vetch and also home to many Small Blues. I saw dozens of females laying on the flower buds.Fresh males were much harder to find. Small Blues can actually be seen anywhere, and it was along the bottom path parallelling Featherbed Lane that I came across several puddling in various spots. I found two together at one point, and as I watched, they were joined by a Holly Blue. One Small Blue was markedly larger than the other, but The Holly Blue dwarfed them both - a great combination! The bottom path is also where I came across the Large Skipper - what a splendid colour this species is when absolutely fresh.Mr Sp0ck promised taras Grizzlies, but I sadly only found the normal ones.There was a mating pair of Common Blues, and a separate rather nicely-cloured female.Finally, to round off, one of the many Dingy Skippers from across the site......a rather nice Small Heath......and a fairly fresh Green Hairstreak with a full line of white spots. All in all, another great day out!

Dave

We had a glanville from 5pm to 6pm on Saturday, it flew in to feed on the Horseshoe Vetch not far from the flyby we had earlier, it was then on the path, since the downpour 10pm Saturday night there have been no other sightings so far.

That could well be the insect we saw earlier, then - it's had a bit of wear, hasn't it! It's a bit pale, which is what made the idea of Painted Lady go through my head later.

Dave

There was a fresh male as well, but didnt get a picture of it, i think this was a female, last seen flying up the bank of the cutting.

Love your Coppers Dave, and the Blues. You have found some really lovely examples.
The Holly and Small Blue together is great.

Cheers

A very worthwhile visit to Hutchinsons Bank, Dave. I arrived by tram when I last went !.
Those Small Blue images are great. It was also interesting to read of your Marsh Frit. find.
According to Ernie f. they were found on the Hampshire side of the site as well.
It would seem that Marsh Frits. are having one of their bumper years.

Trevor.

That was a very satisfying visit, Dave, and nice shots of the Skippers. I didn't know Glanvilles turned up in Surrey - I thought they were confined to the IoW.