Cheers, Wurzel - you're absolutely right about regular local walks. You can tell from this diary that I cover my patch several times a week during the season, which can last from February to November these days and may involve as many as 130 or so outings. It's very rare for there to be nothing at all of interest, and most years throw up an "extra" species or two on top of the regulars.
Wednesday 4th September had to follow the previous day's unusual find, and though there was no repeat it was a worthwhile local excursion again (still no car...
). It was reasonably warm and and calm, and I went out fairly early again to make the best of the forecast sunshine. I had another go at counting, and arrived at a total of 106 butterflies from 13 species:
Small Heath 37
GVW 14
Meadow Brown 11
Common Blue 8
Large White 7
Brown Argus 6
Comma 6
Small White 5
Speckled Wood 5
Small Copper 3
Holly Blue 2
Red Admiral 1
Painted Lady 1
The encouraging numbers of Small Heath continued. There was one somewhat unusually marked individual...
...which I then tried to photograph backlit by the early morning sun.
I then tried something similar with a nearby Brown Argus.
This is a different one.
Though rather overshadowed by the success of the Small Heaths, Green-veined Whites have also been doing really well in their third appearance of the season - without any assistance from continental relatives like their Small and Large cousins.
There were some of those as well.
Three different Small Coppers appeared today in the local revival of the species.
I managed to persuade one of the few remaining Meadow Browns to open its wings - eventually. One or two are still fairly fresh.
Speckled Woods seem to be able to conjure new individuals almost any time from March onwards, and today was no exception.
That left Commas. One was brand new, but just displayed its underside. A telltale drop of pupal meconium can be seen on the leaf behind the butterfly.
Another new one looked a little odd as it was asymmetrical, with the patterns of right and left wings not matching. Some wing distortion from its stay in the chrysalis might have been the cause.
Finally came the most unusual one of all. I spotted it first when it was chasing Specklies and white butterflies - not the behaviour of a pre-hibernation butterfly. The reason became clear when it settled: this was an amazingly well-preserved
hutchinsoni variant, a full two months after the main emergence of that brood.
One wonders how it interacts with the current new brood...
Dave