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Emperors were trickier than usual for me too this year, Wurzel - there was that one, some more rather poor grounded shots at Chiddingfold and some tree-top blurs at Bookham.

I spent the rest of the day back on my local patch, with the highpoint seeing 14 Commas and 14 Red Admirals. Quite why they should all appear on this particular afternoon (warm, mix of sun and cloud), I know not. Lots of subtle variety amongst the Commas......and amazing how relatively camouflaged a Red Admiral can be, either sitting on the path or sitting on a bramble.Quite the opposite when opening up and basking...A relative rarity here this year was a Large White - even more unusual to find it at ground level.Among the skippers, I found an unusually marked Essex, with the male sex-brand extended back across the forewing in a zigzag pattern.The butterfly continued to pose rather well... I decided to take a few shots of the carpet of flowers that currently flourished across a large part of my local patch. Maybe I had a premonition that the immediate future held lengthy spells of very hot dry weather that would turn this landscape first yellow then brown then grey. Certainly this was probably when it was at its floral peak.One sign that high summer was early was this fully ripe blackberry - 26th June is probably the earliest I have ever picked a handful of ripe berries (surprisingly I managed to do so again yesterday... ). Dave

A cooler day on 27th June, but I managed to see 16 species locally again, including my first Gatekeeper of 2022 (it didn't want to be photographed). As tends to happen here, Essex Skippers started to noticeably outnumber their Small cousins today - and aside from the strong Meadow Brown contingent, everything else as well. Overall, definitely a day of variety rather than quantity though.

Of note was a Ringlet - generally a common species, but only ever seen in ones and twos here for some reason, so a welcome sighting.Also noteworthy was a newly hatched Peacock, which seemed quite early for the new brood to be emerging.Also new, and quite possibly a second brood individual overlapping with the first, was a fresh male Common Blue.This male Large White was also fresh.I found a couple of contrasting male GVW too.Strangely, only Comma undersides seemed to be on offer today......and I couldn't completely ignore the Essex Skippers. Dave

Some nice reminders of warmer days in your recent reports Dave, it has been dull and grey and quite cold up here in recent days.

Cheers,

Neil.

Cheers, Neil - I've seen butterflies locally nearly every day this month, but generally not very many - a couple of trips rather further have been very rewarding though! I think autumn arrives at least a fortnight earlier up your way.

Unsurprisingly, as this diary is still in a "look back three months" mode, a memory gap caused me to leave out a relatively minor visit - on 25th June I popped up to Aston Rowant. From what I recall, conditions were largely cloudy and breezy, and aside from several DGF, Small Skippers and Marbled Whites there was not a great deal to see - no Chalkhills as yet. Dave

Moving back to the original timeline, I now found myself on 28th June back down at Chiddingfold. The weather seemed right, and the presence of Trevor also boded well for sightings of that annual midsummer goal - a grounded Purple Emperor. Curiously, there were very few other enthusiasts around, making it strangely quiet for this time of year.

For a while we had to content ourselves with sightings of some of the other seasonal favourites of this bit of woodland, though even the White Admirals were not playing ball today.Finally, after much hopeful plodding the various rides, I spotted something down on the track, flitting between patches of semi-shade and finally choosing one to rest in. I managed a few shots, hampered by the constantly-changing light conditions, and them managed to attract Trevor's attention. We were both then able to take a few more photos - though for my part these were definitely not the best I've managed.One last action shot... Dave

(I realise now that my memories of the previous visit here on 26th were not entirely accurate, so I will need to amend that post a wee bit... Apologies to Katrina for the missing part of the story! )

not the best photos you've managed you say. A full purple emperor multiple shots ..... ???
Seem pretty pretty to me.
And great vista shot with the track and the one with Trevor in the background!

A fine shot there of Trevor in his natural habitat

Agreed - what a super final shot! The others are really very good as well Dave - certainly better than my efforts this year.

Thank you, Katrina - maybe I was being a bit picky, but those shots don't stand being enlarged much (they aren't as sharp as efforts in previous years!). Good amounts of purple, though...

I was however quite pleased with the context shots, including the portrait of Trevor - which seems to have rated highly with you all! From where I had positioned myself directly opposite the subject it was just the natural thing to do...

On 29th June, it was back to my local patch, and another warm day with close to 250 butterflies of 16 species.

These included a new male Gatekeeper just as they just began to emerge for the year......the first fresh second brood Brown Argus......and one or two other apparently newly emerged butterflies.Among the many dozens of Meadow Browns I found a mating pair. There must have been many others around, but they seem to tuck themselves down in the grass and well out of sight.Essex Skippers now outnumbered the Small Skippers 2 to 1. Dave

The gatekeeper photo is a welcome sight, beautiful warm colours

Thank you again, Katrina - fresh Gatekeepers have a wonderful depth of colour: rich orange and chocolate set off by the crinkly pale fringes. Essentially the same colour scheme as a Brown Hairstreak when you think about it.

Later on 29th June, I visited Staines Moor for the first time in a while. The walk down and back, largely in shade, produced a whole series of Speckled Woods - typical habitat and a guaranteed location for them when they have yet to emerge elsewhere.The relatively dry conditions over the winter (I don't think the Moor was under water at all during the winter) meant that the carpet of sheep's sorrel seen in previous years was largely absent and as a consequence Small Coppers have been much harder to find in 2022. I did manage a couple today, of which this was one.Almost all the remaining butterflies seen were Small Skippers - dozens of them - but as hard as I looked I could not find a single Essex Skipper. Quite a contrast to the situation back on my local patch just a few kilometres to the north.Amongst the Skippers were a few Small Heaths, Meadow Browns and a couple of very flighty new Peacocks.

Dave

A slightly cooler day again on the last day of June (30th). I stayed local again - always worth it at this time of year as there is never a shortage of things to see. Even if it's quite dull, the sun is strong through the clouds particularly in the middle of the day and many species will fly or at least bask. I counted around 200 butterflies of 15 species in about 90 minutes this afternoon.

After the ubiquitous (but really difficult to photograph) Meadow Browns, Commas and Essex Skippers were the most frequently seen species, with Small Skippers after that.A rather more worn male Large Skipper also posed rather nicely in an apparent attempt to compete in the cuteness stakes.I spotted a female Ringlet in the same area as I had previously seen a couple of males, so with luck this precarious tiny colony will endure.Two Gatekeepers made an appearance - no doubt within a week, there will be many more. The first one had only one pupil in its eyespot instead of two - no doubt there is a name for this variety.A Red Admiral in classic pose on a buddleia completed the ensemble for the day. Dave

Unsurprisingly your Gatekeeper has been christened ab unipupillata

Hope to be thrashed gently, but I've only just seen your Chiddingfold Purple Emperor.
I well remember that day, and the fairly long audience we were granted.
Certainly I didn't see a better one this year despite many visits.
You managed some nice open wing shots, your prize for spotting it!

That was a great day!
Trevor.

Well it took me an age to read through all of reports Dave (my own fault for letting work get in the way) but it was definitely worth it At this end of the season seeing all that variety in terms of shapes and sizes and colours is like a breath of fresh air it's all gone a bit grey now and getting double figures of species on a visit can be tricky If I'd gotten Emperor shots as good as yours Dave I'd have been well happy as they really messed me about this year Of all the shots the one with Trevor in it just pips the unusual Hedgie to the fave spot, a high accolade indeed

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you for that ID, Paul - I could probably have guessed at that one!

Cheers, Trevor! It was a good day, and the hours we put in were rewarded in the end. It still seems odd that it was just you and me there that day (though I believe a week later it became busier both with people and Emperors...). I suppose with a whole crowd, I'd never have had the chance at that iconic shot of the master at his craft!

I've been banging out the reports lately, Wurzel, just to catch you and Bugboy up - so don't worry about not keeping up... Into July now, and not long before everything went a bit awry and there will be substantial gaps in proceedings.

1st July - halfway through the year already. Having finally seen a Purple Emperor close up for the year, the pressure was off a bit so I thought I'd see if any would be obliging down at Bookham.

Well, I certainly saw one or two, but as always for me at this location they were up in the treetops. It was quite breezy up there by the look of things, which made the blurry zoomed long-distance shots I got even more fuzzy.However, no sign of anything on the ground...

The White Admirals were now looking very worn - they were out well in advance of the SWF this year so there was a bit of a contrast as the latter still seemed in decent nick.I also looked for Purple Hairstreaks low down, but only caught a few glimpses of the species higher up. The first Gatekeepers were emerging here now though......and I was surprised to see that there were still fresh Large Skippers, as those on my local patch were all very worn.Finally, I came across a fresh Painted Lady. Dave

2nd July represented the zenith of the season as far as my local patch was concerned. Though I missed the last half of July and most of August, I think the hot weather (and a mowing of most of the area) put paid to the chance of any higher number than I saw today.

Counting the butterflies was not a very accurate pursuit because of the sheer numbers of certain species (Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and Skippers), but the tally was well over 300, and comprised a respectable 18 species. Considering four species not seen today were around in the days before and after the 2nd (Painted Lady, Large Skipper, Small Copper and Purple Hairstreak), 22 species could have been achieved.

The 18 species that were seen were:

Small Skipper
Essex Skipper
Large White
Small White
Green-veined White
Brown Argus
Common Blue
Holly Blue
Red Admiral
Small Tortoiseshell
Peacock
Comma
Speckled Wood
Marbled White
Ringlet
Small Heath
Gatekeeper
Meadow Brown

One problem is that of these 18, I managed photos of 13, and for some of these many multiple examples. Picking notable examples is going to be tricky.

I think I'll skip the Skippers - I have taken a lot of shots of both Small and Essex this year, and they have tended to monopolise the diary a bit recently.

A few firsts, though. Amongst the new Gatekeepers were the first of the females.The fresh males were good value too.Male second brood Common Blues were now out too.This Small Tortoiseshell was new too......as were these two Commas.However, pride of place for the day went to the two freshly emerged Brown Argus. Both of them qualified as ab. snelleni: the first was just a mild example of the ab......but the other was the most extreme example I've seen, with hints of white spots in the centre of the hindwings as well as the prominent ones on the forewings. A striking insect.The underside was entirely normal.Finally, a somewhat worn Small Heath caught my eye - it just posed rather nicely......and a view to finish on. Dave

Lovely looking looking bit of river that Dave ....................makes me want to get the rods out ,and do a bit of stalking................... looks very "Chubby " !! Cracking Brown Argus shot too AB;Snelleni i think ..............best i,ve seen !

Cracking Brown Argus (whatever the plural ending is?) Dave I've not seen such a well marked ab.snelleni as the second one before plus the extra white dots on the hind wing - lush And a nice set of 'normal' Hedgies I miss those

Have a goodun

Wurzel

wow, 22 species on your local patch is pretty darn impressive I second everyone else, Those Brown Argi (this seems like a good idea for the plural - Octopus-Octopi, Cactus-Cacti, Argus-Argi, it might catch on ) are something special. Great job on getting such great shots of both sides