It was a bit of a welcome change, Buggy, after so many blanks drawn at Bookham this season.
Cheers, David and Wurzel - I've lost track of what those Hairstreaks were up to this year, but it was good to see them again, even if it was September.
No more of them now, but there will be plenty of Coppers in the posts ahead.
For the next few days I stayed local, with the weather not being that brilliant, and no definite targets out elsewhere just yet. Things here were gradually on the decline, as might be expected, but as ever there were one or two points of interest among the outings on
5th, 7th and 8th of September (6th was one of those "blank" days - which are actually rather rare).
First of all was a puddling Holly Blue - not a rarity you might think, but instead of the fresh male I expected, this one turned out to be a worn female. This does seem unusual behaviour...
Nice new Commas brightened things up...
...along with the ubiquitous Painted Ladies.
One was spotted cleaning its proboscis after a long stint of nectaring on the buddleia.
There were some fairly fresh Small Coppers around...
...and a selection of Whites.
I found some Common Blues, possibly a new brood or maybe just some late ones from the summer emergence.
The Brown Argus were certainly not that new.
Just a few Red Admirals...
...and one or two Small Heaths.
Today's guest moth spot goes to this one: The Box Tree Moth.
This is an attractive, but rapidly spreading pest species which is capable of ruining many hours of careful topiary. I have found an infestation very close by and will post more on this separately.
Dave