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10th October
Mill Hill: part three

My last look around up by the car park, an area which had been productive of Walls last time, had very little. However, a silvery flash caught my eye: a very new male Brown Argus. I had seen a somewhat worn female down at the bottom, but this one still had some of the sheen that new individuals display. Clearly a third brood butterfly. So, one last look at the agrimony, where shadow was starting to encroach. I spotted something different - I thought it was a Wall to start with, but it was just too bright. A Small Tortoiseshell, a real rarity this autumn and a delight to see. My final encounter of the day was a Red Admiral nicely posed in autumn sunlit foliage. Another splendid day (well into double figures for species), and this time likely to be the last full day this year. Though Saturday looks to be very warm again, and fairly sunny, it looks to be also very windy, so with some rather wild weather in between, I suspect it won't be the same.

Dave

That Brown Argus is practically mint Dave Double figures in October is not to be sneezed at

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I probably should have listed them...

Brimstone
Clouded Yellow
Small White
Common Blue
Brown Argus
Small Copper
Speckled Wood
Wall
Small Heath
Meadow Brown
Red Admiral
Small Tortoiseshell
Peacock (probably! )
Comma (seen by Trevor)
Painted Lady (seen by Ben)
Fourteen, most likely fifteen, species on 10th October. Pretty good.

Dave

A great haul, Dave. Would love to have seen that Small Tort. !.
And that Brown Argus is brand new. It seems I should have stayed longer.

Lets hope the frost keeps away for a while.
Trevor.

It was a lovely finish to the day to find that Brown Argus, Wurzel, and a terrific day altogether.

The Tortoiseshell was a most welcome sight too Trevor. No frost in the forecast yet, but it will be cooler - probably down to normal for the time of year!

Saturday 13th October: My first chance to go out anywhere since Wednesday. It has been extremely windy as well as continuing to be very warm - last night the temperature didn't dip below 19 degrees here, which would be unusual in July...

The day started with a shower, and quite a lot of cloud, but by lunchtime the sun was out and it was very warm indeed - but still windy. I set off along my usual local walk and quickly saw a couple of Small Whites. In a more sheltered bit of path near the lake, I found a Comma basking on the ground. Every time it flew up to the brambles to sunbathe, the wind dislodged it, so it gave up and stayed earthbound. It was a beautiful new deep orange.Next was another Small White, lodged by the wind in a curious nook. Its wings were a bit askew I think, but it soon upped and flew off with the wind.I reached the area where I have seen most Small Coppers, and sure enough there was one flying. The photos show it is the same one first encountered on 19th September and regularly since. It wasn't particularly new then, so it is doing really well. Soon after this, I caught sight of a Peacock on the ground nearby, but it took to the air almost immediately. This sighting was followed by my spotting a Small Tortoiseshell on some late-flowering thistles, but it too was lively in the sunshine and flew off downwind. A final Small White and another Comma nearer home completed the tally.

Dave

That is a lovely Brown Argus from Mill Hill Dave and an amazing tally for the time of year

Glad to see you are still seeing butterflies around your local patch. No chance here yesterday, we copped the edge of storm Callum and although we missed the deluge that came down further west, we still had some heavy rain through the morning and high winds all day.

Cheers,

Neil.

Seems that you had a better forecast than me Dave - mine told me that today (which was terrible) was going to be the better day and Saturday was going to be dire - hence I made plans accordingly and voila they messed it up again! Glad to see that you were able to take advantage of the sunny spell

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cracking stuff, Dave. You truly are blessed in your neck of the woods….especially from a Brown Argus perspective!

Cheers, everyone - the season continues I'm glad to say, despite one day of solid rain, and one day of grey dampness.

Tuesday 16th October started sunny, and the warm sunshine persisted until just after lunch, when the cloud returned. I headed out locally again, and things seemed more as they should be in mid-October, with three Red Admrals spotted in quick succession - though none of them settled for more than brief moments. Commas were more cooperative, with three individuals counted and some reasonable images to be had.I wandered into the Small Copper area, and amazingly was soon in the company of the same individual first seen a day short of four weeks ago. This is his territory - between the clumps of vegetation are the bare patches with pebbles he favours.He is looking a bit ragged now, but his energy is undiminished.I saw but one Small White today, in roughly the same area, but it was a very new male. The underside shot clearly shows the extra apical vein that distinguishes this species from its Southern cousin. Finally, there was the one that got away. I stumbled (almost literally) upon a brand new male Holly Blue taking minerals from a patch of damp soil, but it was disturbed and flew up and away with a flash of perfect azure wings. There may of course be a few more around, but my prolific local colony has likely taken a hit with the loss of several ivy-covered ash trees.

Dave

Lovely Commas Dave and hat is a very fresh Small White - is that the last throw of the dice for this species in 2018 or could there be a few more should the weather pick up I wonder?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Nice to see that you're still finding lots of butterflies, Dave That Small White looks very new, as was the Brown Argus at Mill Hill in your previous post Lets hope that the weather behaves itself for a bit longer!

Mike

These fresh looking butterflies could extend the season well into November for you, Dave. Assuming there is no cold weather forecast you might rack up 7 or 8 species around Bonfire Night, which would be quite phenomenal.

That would be exceptional, David. Two or three species locally in November is usually the limit.

Looks like some decent weather coming up, Mike. Things should hang around a bit longer, hopefully.

Who knows, Wurzel? Today was pretty good...

Thursday 18th October: A mostly sunny day after a disappointing damp and grey one yesterday. Fairly warm too, but I went out locally without any great expectations. However, on a mass of ivy that has been notably bereft of anything lately, I was greeted by no less than five Red Admirals and two Commas. Most of the Admirals looked quite fresh and may well be local hatchlings, and today they were nectaring calmly rather than charging of southwards.During the rest of the walk I saw another four in different spots, and the total of nine is the highest for a while - though at this time last year I was regularly seeing 15 to 20. A single Small White also made an appearance.

I obviously also had to look in at the Small Copper spot, and walking through a different (but similar) area, I spotted another ancient stalwart dashing around.However, the Copper first encountered on 19th September was still there monitoring his usual territory.I have to say that he was looking a bit frail today, and at one point when walking he slipped off his leaf. I suspect, sadly, that his time will soon be up, after at least 29 days and surviving a wide variety of weather. What a resilient little creature!

Dave

Lovely shots of the Admirals and Commas Dave That Copper has certainly been through the wars Dave I wish him well

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Superb looking Commas and Red Admirals, Dave and an ab.bialbata in there too!

Mike

Lovely vibrant Red Admirals, Dave.
It's great to see them in good numbers at last.

Hope you'll have a trip to the seaside soon.

Trevor.

Cheers, Wurzel - I'm afraid I wasn't able to pass on your best wishes today, but you never know, he may be around next week.

Thank you, Mike - I hadn't spotted that bialbata... I seem to remember from last year that they pop up fairly regularly, but it was the only one I definitely saw yesterday.

Thanks, Trevor - they were a good-looking lot of Admirals, and a welcome sight considering how few have been around in this neck of the woods this year. And now for a trip to the seaside, as you predicted!

Friday 19th October: An inauspicious start, with an early trip to the dentist and only 4 degrees first thing as well. However, with all that out the way, I drove down to Southwick again, following Trevor's and Bugboy's reports from Wednesday. It was much warmer when I arrived, and a bit of high cloud was occasionally obscuring the sun - very useful. To start off, here are some more views of the site, without the careful cropping to conceal the industrial bits! I saw my first Clouded Yellow at the top of the steps, and then found a fellow enthusiast (from Peacehaven) engrossed with another which had grounded during a cloudy interval and not yet moved: it was a nice fresh female.There followed an assortment of others, both male and female, either nectaring in the sunshine or perched when the sun was in. By the time I left at 2, the cloud had disappeared and the butterflies had become very active and unapproachable.A few fresh-looking Small Whites were also around, even harder to get close to than the Cloudies. There were also several Red Admirals, none of which settled for more than a moment or two, usually on the path where they appeared to be taking moisture.I watched a number of them take off from this position and head across the harbour towards the sun and the open sea.

Last but by no means least were a few Common Blues. One was a bit tired......but the other two (one male, one female) looked much more fresh.Today's non-butterfly is this Little Egret, probably the one Bugboy spotted on Wednesday. Another great day out on the Sussex coast.

Dave

Some lovely shots recently Dave - that female Clouded Yellow will have me heading down there when next I get a chance. I’ve had my face buried in horseshoe vetch on mill hill for far too long in recent days, and I still can’t decide if i’m looking at Adonis or Common Blue hatchlings and that despite having a good look at the egg prior to hatching in several cases - hmmm - a change of scene will do me good!

A great selection of Cloudies Dave That certainly looks like a juxtaposition of a site - "on your left we have cracking butterfly filled grass banks, on your right we have a view of an industrial estate"
You'll have to call the Small Copper Sid

Have a goodun

Wurzel

It would seem that more Cloudies have emerged at Southwick since Wednesday.
For a start we didn't see any females, and your males are different specimens to mine.
Another visit beckons !.

Great report and images,
Trevor.