On
Wednesday 2nd October, I had once again arranged to meet up with Bugboy down at Tidemills near Newhaven. The weather had changed overnight, the humid warmth of the day before being swept away ahead of a stiff northerly breeze, though there was quite a bit of sunshine. Anywhere in the shelter of the wind felt the benefit of the sun, but down by the seashore such spots were hard to find. We started by walking to the location where there had been such success on 21st September, but the BLEB had largely gone over, and there were no butterflies of any kind. Heading back across Tidemills, the story was the same, except for one brief intake of breath when a female Common Blue bowled along past us.
Soon afterwards, I spotted a Clouded Yellow also battling the breeze. However, it managed to find some flowers in the lee of an embankment, and slowed down to get some sustenance. We eventually caught up with it.
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Having failed to find any Long-tailed Blues down here, Buggy and I embarked upon Plan B, which was to head over to Brighton on the next train and walk up to the TV mast on Whitehawk Hill, the scene of a good number of sightings this year. An hour or so later, after an invigorating slog up from the station, we found ourselves in the company of a host of other UKB folk. They greeted us with the sorry tale that we had missed a new male LTB by a matter of minutes, and after a few conversations everyone dispersed across the hilltop to see if it (or another) could be located. It wasn't long before the shout went up - Mark (Essex Buzzard) had found what we were all looking for. A small crowd gathered, the butterfly opened its wings a bit, and as is traditional blades of grass obscured the best views.
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![LTB5 021019.JPG (1.58 MiB) Viewed 1782 times LTB5 021019.JPG](./files/thumb_9839_e2b00f1035b79b344af93eb3c533b7d0)
The wings then closed, and the LTB seemed settled in for the duration.The consensus was that Neil should produce his field scissors, and Mark (as finder) volunteered to do a bit of gardening. The task was skilfully accomplished, and clearer views of the target became available - albeit side-on only.
There must have then been a change in the intensity of the sunlight, as gradually the butterfly eased its wings open. There was a palpable rise in the levels of excitement, shutters clicked, and everyone managed some great shots of a beautiful fresh male UK-born Long-tailed Blue.
The butterfly, energised by the sunlight, started to move around a bit.
Suddenly, it was off onto the breeze, and this was my last shot, just after the moment of takeoff.
And that was the last we saw if it.
An excellent day up there on the hill - very sociable indeed and great to meet everyone, plus the bonus of a rare and lovely butterfly.
Dave