www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Still finding a few nice fresh individuals on the hill today. Beacon Hill

Unusually marked Small Tortoiseshell in Tenby today.

web4160 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 5:09 pm Unusually marked Small Tortoiseshell in Tenby today.

What a find, web4160. Been looking for one like that all my life without success.

Nice find Web 4160 ! Love to find a Tortoiseshell like that !
This afternoon i visited a site which i,ve rather neglected of late ,about 3 miles up the road ,it used to be my "go to " Grizzled Skipper site ,but
sadly they,ve now dissapeared .................but its also got a huge population of Common Spotted Orchids ,and i spend hours most seasons photographing the varieties ,at this time of the year ,the site is Purple ,with Devils Bit Scabious ,and these plants nearly always attract Clouded Yellows
There were good numbers of butterflies on the wing ,lots of Small Coppers and Common Blues ,some fresh Brimstones ,Peacock and Red Admiral,
plus a single last gasp Meadow Brown ,and a handful of Small Heath.
After a while i noticed at distance a Clouded Yellow ,flitting about and managed two or three shots ,before it dissapeared .Wandered about for a
while ,and noticed a well marked "White "flying steadily my way ,as it approached ,i could see that it was a very "Pale" Clouded Yellow ,it was very
obliging and posed nicely ,a "Helice " Clouded Yellow ,this is the first time i,ve ever managed a picture of one ! Regards Allan.W.

Finally! The first (only) Painted Lady of the year. Now, apart from the disappointment of the disappearance of the small Purple Emperor colony 100 metres from my doorstep, I can say that I’ve seen almost all that I think it possible to see in my little patch. But who knows what might turn up tomorrow

Allan.W. wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 7:14 pm...noticed a well marked "White "flying steadily my way ,as it approached ,i could see that it was a very "Pale" Clouded Yellow ,it was very obliging and posed nicely ,a "Helice " Clouded Yellow ,this is the first time i,ve ever managed a picture of one

Great stuff, Allan. These aren't common on the continent so to see one in the UK is a pretty rare event.

And yet another Clouded Yellow. This time on the Common this lunchtime. Bewley Common.

Today i made a return visit to the small local site ,that i visited yesterday ,hoping for an outside chance of renewing my aquaintence with
yesterdays "Helice " Clouded Yellow .As i wandered onto the site i noticed several Small Coppers ,warming themselves up on a large Water mint clump
on one of the highest points sat an immaculate fresh male Copper ,about a metre below him on the same clump ,was an equally immaculate female ,
i decided to stand and watch . She made the first move ,and flew right up beside him . The male made a move almost before she,d settled ,pushing his abdomen towards her ,and on the third attempt he succseeded ,i reckon they,d
joined in less than thirty seconds ! certainly the swiftest coupling that i,ve witnessed in Small Coppers . for about ten more minutes ,they pirouetted
round and round ,on the flower head ,she kept muscling him for the best position in the sun ,at this stage i left them to it , and continued my visit No luck today with yesterdays "Helice" ,but i did see a single male Cloudy ,very briefly ,plus 3 Brown Argus ,3 Peacocks ,2 Red Admiral and two each of Common Blue and Brown Argus .
Went back the way i came ,and found the Coppers still joined ,but now settled with wings closed .....................doing their bit for a 4th brood !
(Hopefully !!) Regards Allan.W.

Stevieb wrote: ↑Thu Sep 10, 2020 1:33 pm And yet another Clouded Yellow. This time on the Common this lunchtime. Bewley Common.

Looks like a fresh one too, Stevie. Hopefully if the weather holds we can look forward to seeing a new wave of this species.

A enjoyable little day out to a hill overlooking Brighton today with lots of familiar faces and came home with a camera full of pictures of one species of butterfly

Thanks for comments re; Helice Cloudy David ,she was a real beauty (and well behaved !) ,and of the handful i,ve seen in
the past ,this is the first time that i,ve managed a picture ........................Well pleased !
Regards Allan.W.

A chill wind greeted Keith and myself as we parked up and headed towards the transmitter mast sitting on top of Whitehawk Hill on the outskirts of Brighton . One enthusiast was aready there for an hour without a sighting . A wander around produced Sm.Copper , Sm.Heath and several Whites , but not the species we were hoping for . A few more people arrived and as the sun tried to warm things up , the first LTB of the day was found , a male . Slowly but surely , the inceasing temperature encouraged further individuals to emerge from their roosts , and soon after the aerial spiralling and combat began , with rest breaks taken on the ground vegetation . With more people arriving , the small area of Everlasting Pea became somewhat crowded , so we made our search area wider and were lucky enough to come across a chap trailing a Clouded Yellow as it flitted from one yellow flower to the next . He got his shots and left the butterfly and we took over , and soon realised that it was a female , and were able to confirm this with a few in flight shots , and a lot of out of focus shots that went into the recycle bin . By the time we got back up to the LTBs , the breeze had calmed down somewhat , and all present , including two chaps from Nottingham , were clicking away merrily , especially as by now the odd female had also appeared and even managed a ' double ' . Before leaving the site , Wall and a surprise Brown Hairstreak , found by Keith , were added to the list .
The original plan was to move on to Newhaven Tidemills , but speaking to one chap on site who visited there the previous day and seen practically nothing butterfly or bird wise , decided to change the plan and head for Southwick Basin instead . I must admit that things did not look very good on arrival with a new marina having popped up since my last visit , but we dropped down onto the waters edge and started scanning the high bank below the road . I had just said said to Keith that we should find Clouded Yellow here too , when a male flew by us , which we manage to get a few shots of before he departed . I asked Keith if he ever seen the helice form of the female , to which he replied he hadn't . As we went round the next bend an ' unusual ' butterfly flew past us and landed and seemed to vanish . As we approached the area of landing it took off again , but landed again within view . We followed her back towards the marina and tried for in flight shots . Once again , most were rubbish , but the odd one or two , although ' fuzzy ' , did show the upper wing .
We finished off with Kingfisher and Common Sandpiper before heading home after a most enjoyable trip . Nearly forgot , at both sites we found some large Wasp Spiders .

Clouded Yellow helice, Brown Hairstreak and Long Tailed Blue on the same day in the UK!!

That's a pretty exclusive club to be in, Greenie!

After seeing just two Small Coppers all year so far in Somerset, it's been great to see plenty of them on the Kent/Sussex border this week - twos and threes, mostly, but in 'ordinary' habitat rather than anywhere that looks special.

The seafront at the west end of Lancing produced a group of 9 Clouded Yellow all in one spot on the shingle at the back of the beach. Probably 7 males and 2 females, including a helice. I disturbed a female from a yellow vetch plant and closer inspection revealed 4 eggs of various ages.
Also a Painted Lady on the beach and another 2 more Clouded Yellows further along.

Vince

A few more bits and pieces from the last few days ,all from small ,very local sites in Mid-Kent ,i struggled early doors this season
and only found a handful in the first brood ,but i,m now staring to find good numbers ,i found another bluish female ,and saw several fresh ,mint
males ,including the one pictured AB;Nigromaculata (row of small black dots ,lower edge ,hindwing ) ,and another pair in cop (no 6 ) On the same site the Coppers are still emerging ,and i,m seeing many different fresh individuals on every visit ,sadly very little variation amongst
them ,not even Blue spotteds . The last picture is another wasp spider ,the same one i found ,a few posts back ,i,ve been watching her ,when i last saw her ,she had a full web ,with
the very characteristic "ladder" just below centre ,i noticed that the ladder ...............and the female had vanished , but further inspection ,showed
that she was building another form of web ,behind the original ..................i left her too it ,when i returned the following day ,i noticed that she
had shrunk in size ,and also the new web contained a large egg cocoon ,a wonderful structure ........................i,ll keep my eyes on it.! Regards Allan.W.

Those are unusual looking Common Blues, Allan. Every year there seem to be more of them. The females have gone to almost completely brown to generally rather blue during my lifetime!

Still plenty of colour on the hill today. Beacon Hill

Another late morning visit to a Kent coastal site ,paid dividends ,and on the point of heading back to the car ,we,along with 3 other enthusiasts found a few Long tailed blues, they were very active ,and only settling momentarily ,4 in all ,probably 3 males and one probable
female ,they were centred around a large bramble bush with a few small clumps of Pea ,unfortunately couldn,t stay too long ,but my guess is
that as the heat diminishes they may settle more often .
Also pleased to find 3 Adonis Blues (inc; a fresh female ) ,numerous Common Blues ,3 Wall ,2 Speckled Wood ,4 Small Coppers and plenty
of Whites ,but dissapointingly no Clouded Yellows.

And I thought it was all over!  Three Scotch Argus today in two different locations.  Both places were at highish altitude (over 500 feet) where presumably they fly later.

And in the garden. A Peacock landed on my pyjamas but presumably didn't like the smell so quickly flew off again.  My sister impudently asked, was I wearing them at the time.  She's eight years younger than me and still hasn't learnt her place.

Jack