Re: Neil Freeman
Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 8:28 am
Cheers Wurzel. That damage was quite possibly caused by brambles, there are some large patches close to where he was flying.
Thursday 17th September.
Having found the Small Coppers at Blythe Valley yesterday (Wednesday 16th), I thought I would have a look at another local site this morning to see if I could find any more. The spot I chose to visit was a stretch of public footpath through some meadow areas just outside of Solihull. I had walked this footpath back in July and found good numbers of second brood Small Coppers here (reported on page 167 of this PD) so I figured there was a good chance of one or two third brood examples being about today.
The path runs from Catherine-de-Barnes, a village just outside of Solihull back towards the town itself and as I didn't want to walk all of it this morning I parked at the Solihull end which is closer to where I had seen most of the Small Coppers previously.
I arrived just before 10.00am and set off along the path with it still feeling a bit cool. There was a mixture of about 50/50 cloud and sun but a cool easterly breeze was keeping the temperature down a bit and with the sun lower in the sky at this time of year it takes a bit longer to start warming things up. Nevertheless, as I slowly wandered along the path and it slowly warmed up I spotted a Small Copper, and then another one, and then a bit further along another one, and then two chasing each other about. During the next hour or so I ended up counting at least nine with maybe one or two more, mostly males in varying conditions including some that looked nice and fresh, plus a couple of large females as well.
There were quite a few molehills along the side of one meadow and some of the Small Coppers were basking on the bare earth of these and on other patches of bare ground to warm up.
As with most of my local spots at this time of year, other butterflies were thin on the ground with just a couple of Small Whites and a single Comma being seen.
I then doubled back to the car and decided to try another local spot.
Bye for now and stay safe,
Neil.
Thursday 17th September.
Having found the Small Coppers at Blythe Valley yesterday (Wednesday 16th), I thought I would have a look at another local site this morning to see if I could find any more. The spot I chose to visit was a stretch of public footpath through some meadow areas just outside of Solihull. I had walked this footpath back in July and found good numbers of second brood Small Coppers here (reported on page 167 of this PD) so I figured there was a good chance of one or two third brood examples being about today.
The path runs from Catherine-de-Barnes, a village just outside of Solihull back towards the town itself and as I didn't want to walk all of it this morning I parked at the Solihull end which is closer to where I had seen most of the Small Coppers previously.
I arrived just before 10.00am and set off along the path with it still feeling a bit cool. There was a mixture of about 50/50 cloud and sun but a cool easterly breeze was keeping the temperature down a bit and with the sun lower in the sky at this time of year it takes a bit longer to start warming things up. Nevertheless, as I slowly wandered along the path and it slowly warmed up I spotted a Small Copper, and then another one, and then a bit further along another one, and then two chasing each other about. During the next hour or so I ended up counting at least nine with maybe one or two more, mostly males in varying conditions including some that looked nice and fresh, plus a couple of large females as well.
There were quite a few molehills along the side of one meadow and some of the Small Coppers were basking on the bare earth of these and on other patches of bare ground to warm up.
As with most of my local spots at this time of year, other butterflies were thin on the ground with just a couple of Small Whites and a single Comma being seen.
I then doubled back to the car and decided to try another local spot.
Bye for now and stay safe,
Neil.