Thank you, Pete!
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
The foodplant you refer to was abundant alongside the path and fingers crossed there will be a healthy second brood (as there usually is). In 2018 it was particularly good with many dozens of butterflies flying.
Many thanks, Goldie - they are indeed really delicate little things, but somehow they manage not to tear their wings at all.
On
Sunday 17th May, more warm sunshine drew me out and this time it was for my irst visit of 2020 to Denbies Hillside. In "normal" years I'd have been here at least a couple of times from early April onwards, and with the early season this year as well I wondered what stage things would be at.
The hillside looked very dry, with no great amount of grass growth to conceal the large amounts of horseshoe vetch. There was a good variety of chalk downland species, with Dingy Skippers, Small Heaths and Adonis Blues the most numerous, and Common Blues, Green Hairstreaks, Small Coppers and Grizzled Skippers (and even Holly Blues) in far smaller numbers. Of the Green Hairstreaks seen, all were females flying low over the grass looking for spots to lay.
The Common Blues were soon easy to distinguish from the Adonis by their more rapid and jinkier flight. I tracked down one female...
...and then found an absolutely tiny male, about the size of a Small Blue at best.
The familiar sight of a Holly Blue wandered along the bottom of the field with the Common Blues, but took an interest in the dogwood bushes - which they ignored.
There were a couple of Small Coppers, including this bright new one in the usual spot next to the western border hedge of Steers Field.
Some of the few Grizzlies seen were still quite fresh.
Dingy Skippers were numerous, but difficult to approach and many were rather worn.
However, this one stood out.
Amongst all the Small Heath, a fellow enthusiast had singled out one that he thought looked a bit pale and thought it might be just wear though possibly an ab. However once it flew, in flight it was almost white and once caught up with you could see that though a bit worn, this did not account for its ghostly appearance.
Both Neil H. and Guy P. have confirmed this to be an example of the rare ab.
alba. Thank you both for this expert ID.
That just leaves the Adonis Blues - which I will post separately as it became evident that there were just as many (if not more) females around as there were males, and there is of course more variety to be seen amongst them.
Dave