millerd

[Wurzel]

A great report Dave and great to see you manage to squeeze in a Holly Blue I recall the one time I went there that it was Small Blue heaven and it looks to have continued

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thank you everyone once again.

Definitely Small Blue heaven, Wurzel...

The Glanvilles here are an introduction that took place a few years ago, Janet, and it hangs on - just. Mr Sp0ck can tell you more about them.

That Small/Holly Blue combination was complete luck, Andrew - The Holly joined the others while I was there.

I took the tram from Croydon too, Trevor. After that accident in 2016 they certainly take it easier on the sharp curves now...

Sunday 27th May brought me back to my local haunts. Another hot and humid day, and it was good to find increasing numbers of Brown Argus and Common Blues, including some of the latter in a different area along a footpath next to the River Colne.

I'm glad to say the regular strimming here is limited by the presence of the concealed river bank and reeds, and there is a healthy growth of trefoil amongst the other vegetation. One of this species was a striking female, as well as several males.

The colour of the latter does vary somewhat, with some paler examples.

Elsewhere, I found a Brown Argus laying on cranesbill...

...and there were several others.

There is also a new generation of Speckled Woods appearing, probably the outcome of those that wintered as caterpillars rather than chrysalids.

One other item of interest is the discovery of a relatively healthy patch of quite tall hedgerow elms. This deserves some close attention in a few weeks time...

[millerd]

With a bit of time in the afternoon on 27th May, I set off down a local path towards Staines Moor. It was really too hot and sticky, so I returned before reaching the target area, but I did find a side path into some untended damp grassland and had a brief explore here. More Brown Argus and Common Blues appeared (they really are ubiquitous species at the moment)...

...and a very flighty Red Admiral that appeared to be looking for nettles to lay on but kept well ahead of me - not like the "tame" ones of late summer. Best of all though were a couple of Small Coppers - a slightly worn male and a newish female.

Further exploration is required on a less hot day I think, especially as I discovered some more elms in the hedges down here as well.

Dave

[Wurzel]

That female Common Blue really is striking Dave, some of the blue on the upperside is almost white I haven't seen that many Brown Argus yet apart from at the Hill where we were tripping over them

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Lovely Common Blues, Dave, and your female Brown Argus is beautifully marked - rather like the ones I see in France with the bold, orange lunules extending all the way to the apex of the forewing.

[millerd]

She was rather a stunner, Wurzel! I found another couple of gems today, but they'll get posted in another day or two. The variation appears almost infinite, all the way from Brown Argus mimics to bright blue with a few red marginal spots...

Thank you, David - yes the orange spots nearly become a band on that female BA, and the Common Blues have been a joy recently.

Monday 28th May: Hot and sunny once again, but it was time to go out a little further. I was delighted to find the unwelcome visitors to Steers Field at the top of Denbies Hillside had departed. Celebrating with a cup of tea from the van, I saw that this field and the footpaths within it are currently shut to enable reparation to be carried out. There are, however, alternative paths to the main slopes. Here is the notice posted by the NT:

On the hillside it was indeed hot, and typically breezy. There were lots of Adonis Blues around now, but very few stopped for any time, and if they did they shut their wings immediately. One individual I could approach was a diminutive female, which had aberrant markings. However, they were not symmetrical and I judged it to be a bit deformed rather than a true ab.

In the usual spot, there were still Green Hairstreaks sparring and spiralling, and I followed a few to their resting points (much higher up than usual).

I zoomed in on one contender only to find that it was a confused Holly Blue, not a Hairstreak at all.

After about half an hour I noticed that the cloud that had been brewing to the south had come a great deal closer and looked set to reach Denbies before long.

Not wishing to get caught on an exposed hillside in a major thunderstorm, I returned to the car. To the east, it appeared to be clear and much less threatened, so I headed over to the other side of the Mole Valley and Box Hill.

Dave

[millerd]

28th May (continued...) Over at Box Hill, it was clear that any threat from the weather would pass by. It started cloudy, but gradually the sun came through the high level cirrus outflow from the storm to the west and it became very warm. However, it was also somewhat later, and the butterflies were less active than I expected. I chose to look at Dukes again, where there were good numbers of Adonis and Common Blues flying - in fact I don't think I've found so many first brood Adonis here before. They had spread across the bottom of the viewpoint slopes and into adjacent meadows as well.

I spotted a mating pair of Common Blues, and noticed that the female was an ab., resembling the ab. krodeli form of the Adonis.

The pair were content to sit there until the sun came out: however, once it did, both individuals tried simultaneously to open up and bask, which resulted in them spiralling around the plant stem until inevitably they broke apart.

A normal female CB for comparison.

Also seen, mostly along the bottom of the slope, were Dingy Skippers, Brown Argus, Small Heaths, plus at least one Grizzled Skipper.

Finally, but not staying still long enough for a photo, was a single Small Blue. I have seen one or two at Box Hill in the past and there is a colony somewhere on the Hill. Before leaving for home, I walked along the bottom of the viewpoint slope and further along to the west, looking south over other flowery meadows. Here were a number of Brimstones indulging in courtship behaviour (there are a pair in this shot of the view).

Box Hill this year is rivalling Denbies - and it hasn't come into its own yet with the DGF and Marbled Whites...

Dave

[Katrina]

Well done for spotting the ab!

[Wurzel]

Indeed as Katrina says a great set of abs - Adonis and Common, that CB must be a named aberrant? I see you've taken Holly Blue Whispering to even greater heights getting Green Hairstreaks to morph into them now!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thank you, Katrina - no credit due, really, as the mating pair were perched up and out in the open!

It probably does have a name, Wurzel, but I suspect there are many CB abs on the lists... A task for a dark cold winter evening, perhaps... Yes, that Holly Blue was one very mixed-up butterfly! As the first brood gradually disappears, their habits are changing, but pretending to be a Green Hairstreak is new to me!

29th May was still warm, but it rained all day, sometimes quite hard and with thunder rumbling almost constantly. It turned out to be the only day this month that I didn't see a butterfly.

Wednesday 30th May was cloudy, bright, warm and above all dry. I went out locally and didn't expect to see much, but was pleasantly surprised. First up was, of course, a Holly Blue. The fading first brood are starting to nectar on the recently opened bramble flowers.

Shortly afterwards, I found an Orange Tip caterpillar: there should be lots of these around, but it's the first I've seen so far on all the garlic mustard.

Next was a fleeting view of a Large Skipper, the first here this year. I was to find this butterfly again later on. As I walked around the large meadow area near the motorway, I found Common Blues, and to a lesser extent Brown Argus, everywhere.

There were a couple of lovely blue female Common Blues, quite similar but not the same individual.

Common Blues numbered over 25, Brown Argus at least 15. The sun was still not out - however, the heat of bright midday at this time of year was good enough. It meant the butterflies weren't too active, but they basked regularly. On my return I came across the Large Skipper again, but this time it was very amenable to photographs.

Not bad for what was actually a completely cloudy day.

Dave

[millerd]

Thursday 31st May: More sunshine today, so I headed out a bit further - to Harmondsworth Moor. Usually the first Meadow Browns would be appearing here by now, but I didn't turn any up at all. In fact it was very quiet really, with just a handful of Brown Argus, Common Blues and a couple of Small Heaths. However, a nice new female Brown Argus was egg-laying on the tiny cranesbill plants on one of the cut paths.

I always understood that this species laid on the underside of leaves and its northern cousin the NBA laid on the top surface... Today's female hadn't read that bit of text, clearly. There was also a pretty fresh male of the same species.

Dave

[Wurzel]

"Today's female hadn't read that bit of text, clearly." That's Brown Argus for you, they do whatever they want and if you don't like it they'll be all up in yer grill Lovely set of shots and interesting to see the variation even on the topside of the Brown Argus with some with really clear black spots on the fore wings and the difference in lunules etc

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Some lovely, vivid images on this page, Dave. I particularly enjoyed the Brown Arguses, a species I've yet to see in the UK this year. They may be dull in ground colour, but they are beautiful little butterflies and one hopes the recent warm spell will see them have a good year.

[Pauline]

There are so many folk upping their game now both in terms of photography, observation and field craft it is difficult to find different yet appropriate words to describe the results so I'll just say that those Brown Argus shots are stunning Dave

[Allan.W.]

Some cracking images there Dave ! particularly the Common Blues and Brown Argus. I found an abberant Common Blue similar to yours the day after ,maybe AB; Obsoleta (or close to. )…….. once again great images !
Regards Allan.W.

[Allan.W.]

Some cracking images there Dave ! particularly the Common Blues and Brown Argus. I found an abberant Common Blue similar to yours the day after ,maybe AB; Obsoleta (or close to. )…….. once again great images !
Regards Allan.W.

[millerd]

Thank you for the kind comments everybody. Fresh Brown Argus really are little jewels, the silvery undersides contrasting with deep shiny brown uppersides set with bright red studs. Great to watch as well - lots of character for such a small butterfly - and that's when interesting behaviour appears.

On the way to and from Harmondsworth Moor, I passed through some of my local patch, and was surprised to see not one but two elderly Orange Tips.

White butterflies have all but disappeared as well, but I did spot a new GVW.

Common Blues and Brown Argus were around as well, but I didn't see very many today.

However there were several blue butterflies along the margins of the meadow area, which turned out to be female Holly Blues egg-laying.

It is possible to make out another egg just to the right of the butterfly

Always good value, those Holly Blues!

Dave

[bugboy]

I see they're laying on Goats-rue like they do on my local patch

[trevor]

Your last couple of reports really do show the transition from Spring species,
to those of Summer. You certainly caught that female Brown Argus, depositing
her eggs, just right. Great underside shots.

More excitement to come !.
Trevor.

[Andrew555]

Some fantastic stuff in your recent reports Dave. The female Common Blues, Brown Argus and Large Skipper stand out particuarly for me.