Hoggers

[Allan.W.]

Hi ,Hoggers,
Just browsing the internet,and came across,a site you may be interested in,its the "Natural history museum" ....."The Cockayne Collection" and go on specimen search,it shows the majority of Small Copper abberations (named and some unnamed), it,s pretty good!
regards Allan.W.

[Hoggers]

That's very kind of you Allan, I will take a look,

Much appreciated,

Hoggers

[Hoggers]

Dungeness this morning was very sunny but very windy too which made butterflying rather difficult. Unsurprisingly my first find of the day wasn't a butterfly at all

A handsome Wheatear passing through on its journey south.

And nor was my second sighting a butterfly

Dodder.

Good numbers still of Common Blues

and Small Heaths too.

But at last I saw what I'd come for

Most are now rather knocked about

Not all so badly

But I found this poor one

It was still able to fly but clearly had suffered some trauma when emerging.

My Copper of the Day was this chap

It looks like the one found by Allan a week or so ago

Latin Name : Quarter Schmidtii

I counted fewer Coppers here today than previously. Most, like this one, keeping low out of the wind

But I saw around 20 nonetheless

[Allan.W.]

Hi,Hoggers,
Nice one! I,m chuffed that you managed to re find ,my white hindwing beastie! I had a quick look yesterday ,but didn,t see any ,particularly unusual Coppers, mind you I did manage an even more tatty Copper than yours,not a great shot ,but it,s on the September sightings page,how it managed to fly I don,t know? You don,t reckon that worn specimen you took ,this time, is the same insect you took a while back with the pale right hand forewing do you,did you see the whitewing in the moat? The only thing I saw of interest was the Red ad with extra spots. regards Allan.

[Hoggers]

Hi Allan, that Copper could very well have been the same insect that I saw a week beforehand as they look so alike (although clearly a lot had happened in between!)

Conditions were glorious at Dungeness today, warm, sunny and calm. Copper numbers were down on last week, however; I saw only 11. Nevertheless, there was plenty to see!

Many showed signs of the rough and tumble lives they lead

Old Soldiers never die

But one of the first that I found was this beauty

A glorious Blue Badge Holder

And others too were in fine form

My Copper of the Day was this chap

He'd set up his patch by a ragwort and when this Peacock flew in to re-fuel he wasn't having it

He harassed the much bigger Nymphalid following it closely where ever it went

And when these polite requests to leave went ignored he got physical

The Winner!

And before today I had no idea that Small Coppers do the Hokey Cokey

"Knees bent, arms stretched, ra ra ra"!

I also saw Small Heaths

Common Blues, Large and Small Whites, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral and five Clouded Yellows

A warm day in September and Small Coppers glowing in the sun

Marvellous!

[Allan.W.]

Hi ,Hoggers,
Like yourself we had a quick look at Dungeness today ,and we found them well down in numbers as well,I only managed 5,as you say most are pretty battle worn now , no fresh looking specimens amongst the 5 we did see. Also visited another ,Small Copper site near Brookland ,judging by the beautiful condition of some of them , (8 in all) I would think that they are still emerging on this site ,also at least 3 possibly up to 5, Clouded yellow.
We had to pass by the Orlestone Forest on the way home ,tried in hope more than anything else ,for a 2nd brood White Admiral ,which seem to be turning up all over,but no joy ,just a single Comma,and one of our old friends!( a Small Copper)
Regards Allan.

[Wurzel]

Some particularly fine looking Coppers there Hoggers and I especially love the Copper Hokey Cokey

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

I agree with Wurzal, photo's at last that made me laugh, Goldie

[Hoggers]

Hi guys, thanks for your comments: there's certainly something comical about Small Coppers toddling along in a line after a female!

Allan, if that site near Brookland is open to the public could you let me know how to find it please?

I had the day off work today and a free morning before having to attend to household chores, so I teamed up with Brother Hoggles and went down to see what's about at Dungeness.

Glorious day : sunny, hot and calm. We started finding Small Coppers right from getting out of the car

Certainly not in the same numbers as in early September

And more widely distrubuted

We counted 14 today

And there are still several fresh-looking individuals

A few Common Blues

Small Heaths too, 6 Red Admirals, 2 Small Tortoiseshells and 3 Clouded Yellows

We had only a couple of hours to spend there but on such a glorious day it was well worth it

[Allan.W.]

Hi,Hoggers,
Nice pics,from Dunge:! The Brookland site is opposite the"Woolpack" car park,adjacent to the corner off of the main drag, walk along to the chained gate,which lifts up ,and to your left you.ll see a raised bund, it carries on for 3-400 m then turns sharp right,and on through another gate,I,ve found fair numbers of Coppers either side of the bund,+ small heath,small tort,Clouded yellow,as I said previously,I wonder if they,re still emerging here? You,ll notice the reedbeds as well,excellent roosting sites for numbers of Marsh Harrier,and later Hen Harrier,saw good numbers of Bearded tits when we were there last week,and heard several song snatches from Cetti,s Warbler, good hunting ,you,ll need it this weekend!! Regards Allan.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Hoggers,

Great Small Coppers again, particularly the Hokey Kokey shots , although I am not sure if it shouldn't be a 'Copper Conga'

Great stuff,

Neil.

[Goldie M]

Another series of great shots, i'm still laughing at the previous Copper shots Goldie

[Hoggers]

Neil, I think we may both be wrong: I hear that Line Dancing is pretty popular these days....!

Cheers Goldie. Small Coppers are great fun to watch, they always seem to be up to something!

Allan, the moment you mentioned Hen Harriers I knew exactly where you mean. Many years ago a friend took me there to watch Hen Harriers fly in to roost on a Winter's evening just before sun set. An unforgettable sight.

I woke this morning to the first frost of the Autumn. As the morning progressed it grew steadily warmer with wall to wall sunshine, although the air remained cooler than of late.

I got to the Brookland site at around 930 when it was perhaps still rather too cool to see a great deal of butterfly activity but I quickly came upon a few Small Coppers

What surprised me most was to see no less than 6 Clouded Yellows

They were flying up and down the embankment

and settling occasionally

Not bad for October! I will certainly be going back there

Then on to Dungeness where instead of following my usual route to the Observatory I ventured across "The Desert". Here I saw more Small Coppers. Some looking like discarded fag butts

Others in finer trim

I saw another Clouded Yellow, a Red Admiral and a Small Tortoiseshell

My star butterfly of the day was this Common Blue

I couldn't believe the condition it was in

It must have emerged this morning! What a lovely surprise.

So there's still plenty to see out there

Best wishes,

Hoggers.

[Allan.W.]

Hi Hoggers,
great little site eh ,Hoggers ,we were at Brookland just after 1pm,almost the first butterfly we saw ,at distance was what appeared to be a "pale"(in colour)looking
cy, it soon disappeared,and we thought no more of it ,incredibly we counted 30 cys, my best ever count by far,I think there were probably nearer 50 about ,including a freshly emerged female which was continually hassled by two males! we actually had 6 in view on a couple of occasions,also 4or 5 Small copper,5 Small heath ,a couple of male Common blue,+Small tort,peacock,red ad,+= small white, we headed back to the car,seeing many cys,as we went, as we approached the reservoir ,I spotted our"pale" cy again,it allowed fairly close approach,but I could have done with your photographic skills, time I,d got it in the viewfinder it had gone,a cracking "Helice" cy,a quick look at Dunge, not to much happening.(apart from nice views of the Cattle Egret,at Boulderwall. regards Allan W.

[Wurzel]

More great Coppers Hoggers And the Common Blue is a great find - is that a really late 3rd brood or has there not been one yet? I've been finding it a bit difficult to keep up

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Looks like things are still going strong down there Hoggers, much better than here in the midlands, great report and photos

Cheers,

Neil

[Goldie M]

I love the Clouded Yellow in flight Hogger's, nothing up here these last few days Goldie

[Hoggers]

Last year I saw a Small Copper on 17th November and so I thought I'd be in with a chance of seeing some today.

Brother Hoggles and I got to Dungeness at around 1030. It was overcast and damp with a rather cool breeze coming in off the sea. We found no butterflies at all for about 45 minutes when by chance I came upon a roosting female Common Blue

We continued searching all the usual haunts but with no result. Conditions were just too cool, damp and dull for butterflies.

At around 1130 the sun made an effort for us and managed to weakly filter through the clouds. It warmed up rapidly. I felt that if any Small Coppers were still about we should see one.

"There's one!" called out Brother Hoggles

Thank Heavens! A Small Copper at last!

The temperature remained pleasantly warm for a precious 10 - 15 minutes and in that time we saw two more Small Coppers

But after those few minutes the cloud had grown thicker, blocking out the sun once more.

So not a high count today but after a week without butterflies (for me at least) it was a heartwarming thrill to see any at all

[Wurzel]

Lovely shots Hoggers and the Common Blue is very fresh looking I've only seen the odd fly-by white over the last week so I know how you would have felt at the start of the day

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Hoggers]

I just saw a Holly Blue in my garden!!!