www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I quite agree, Mike - butterflies are really set off properly by some attractive flowers and it gives a better feel for the memories of the day. (I think your first butterfly is a male Brown Argus, rather than a Common Blue female, by the way. )

Dave

Dave,

Howdy.

Thanks very much. I had wondered about the top picture being a Brown Argus Butterfly but plumped for a female Common Blue; I'm not aware of Brown Arguses being seen on the Erith Marshes which is where I saw the Butterfly, so it would be really super-dooper if it is a Brown Argus.

Please see another picture of the Butterfly:
The Butterfly has a noticeable blue sheen. It also has fairly prominent dark spots in the centre of the forewing which, as I understand it, could suggest Brown Argus, although I have seen pictures of female Common Blue Butterflies that appear to have similar markings.

And I have been looking at the abdomen; which seems quite long compared to the, as I understand it, generally shorter version on the female Common Blue Butterfly.

Kind regards ~ Mike ...

Definitely a Brown Argus - the spotting on the underside, and the fact that it is male, make it so

The "Similar Species" section here might help: http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species. ... %20Species

Cheers,

- Pete

Pete:

Thanks very much. Much appreciated.

Hopefully I'll be more confident in trying to identify them in future.

Kind regards ~ Mike ...

Well; we weren't really expecting to see a Butterfly, let alone photograph one, until probably late-February or early-March.

So it came as a super pleasant surprise whilst walking around the Gardens at Hall Place in Bexley to both see a Butterfly (a Small Tortoiseshell) and after chasing it around for a while, to be able to photograph it when it settled in the Sunshine on a large boulder viz.

HI Mike,
Good to hear from you again. Your Small Tortoiseshell is quite a find for January.
Superb shot too !

All the best,
Trevor .

Trevor,

Thanks.

It was actually quite weird. The Butterfly looked very much like an old dried leaf that had come to life! If anything, it reminded me of a Comma Butterfly.

I chased after it and thankfully it settled for long enough to be photographed.

Kind regards ~ Mike ...

Hi Mike,

A cracking Small Tortoiseshell to kick your season off...that certainly brightened up my evening as I listen to the rain lashing down again outside.

Cheers,

Neil

Neil,

Thanks for noticing this.

So far I'm having great fun with the local birds this year including seeing yesterday, our long-staying Black Redstart, a Rock Pipit and a Mediterranean Gull but I'm really looking forward to getting to grips with the Butterflies again this year.

I can only hope I will be as lucky this year as I was last year.

Kind regards ~ Mike ...

A great find Mike and what a cracking specimen - those margins are in really great nick Good luck for the rest of the year!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Dear Wurzel,

Thanks.

And hoping for the best of luck for you too for the coming year.

Mike ...

Well done with the Butterfly Mike it's lovely, Snow forecast here, UGH! Goldie

Goldie,

Thanks.

I don't like snow. I remember we woke up to some snow one morning a couple of weeks ago but it went pretty quickly. I hope that if you have some it will be gone super-quick.

Kind regards ~ Mike ...

Hi! Mike , glad to say it missed us and we managed a nice day out. Goldie

Goldie: pleased to hear it. Mike ...

We have now seen two Butterflies this year; in addition to a Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly seen during late-January, we came across a Speckled Wood Butterfly yesterday in the Garden at Home viz.
However, although it is nice to see some Butterflies again we worry that some probable cold weather until Spring really gets going, hopefully sooner rather than later, will put paid to them. Perhaps this might not be the case and individual Butterflies are more resilient than we imagine? We can only hope so.

Wow! A Speckled Wood. One hell of a sighting for early March, Mike.

Looks like things are definitely on the move now Mike, great find Goldie

HI Mike,

That's a very early Speckled Wood, well found.
This year your challenge is to better that Peacock duet you captured last year!.

Good to hear from you again,
Trevor.

For David M, Goldie M and Trevor,

Dear all,

Thanks very much for noticing this. You are all very kind.

Trevor ~ Wow; what a memory.

Kind regards ~ Mike ...