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11th May, 12 noon - 1 pm, Noar Hill, cloud variable, 15 degrees, light breeze

3 H Blue (2m, 1f), Brim (3m, 2f), >10 Dukes, 5 Dingies, 1 Red Ad, 2 Small White (m), 3 OTip (2m, 1f)
1 Green carpet moth.
A female OTip on an Early Purple Orchid. A "grab" shot as it was only there fleetingly but nice moment.

Lovely stained glass Duke Ernie I know what you mean about the female OTs I've seen plenty but only gotten two images of them they have been on a mission this year more so then in others it seems Great close-up of the Small Heath - close ups for me always reveal more of the (anthropomorphosised) character of the butterfly - in this case a slightly grumpy, bearded old codger

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Good that you're still seeing Holly Blues, ernie. Mine ran out today; mind you, they've had a good innings....5 solid weeks.

That Green Carpet moth is most attractive. Not sure I've ever seen one in my area.

Wurzel - That Small Heath is a bit like me - a slightly grumpy codger - but without the beard!

David - That was only my second ever Green Carpet Moth, so they can't be too common round here either.

12th May 2019, 11-12 noon, Noar Hill, mostly sunny, 14-16 degrees

In the bottom pit alone there was Peacock, Sp Wood, H Blue, GV White, Brim, OTip, Duke and 4 Greenstreaks - I think all male as they were in two sparring pairs.
Nearby there was Dingy Skip and S Heath.

Plus my first ever Ashy Mining Bee.

Hi! ernie, I looked for Dingy Skippers today but couldn't find any, love the Green Hair Streak on the Buttercup Goldie

That's an impressively marked male Green Veined White, ernie. The ones I'm seeing have scarcely any at all; you have to take a close look to make sure they're not Small Whites.

Oh, Goldie - I hope you find a Dingy soon. They are all over the place down here. I'm not boasting. Honest!
David - I agree. I was pleasantly surprised by this ones veining too.

13th May 2019, 10.45 - 12.15, Full Sun, 13-16 degrees

I saw my first Common Blue of the year today. Hooray! Then a moment later, another one. Then another, and another, and another....
Until there were 17 in all.

They were a bit too skittish in the warm sun for an ultra-close mug shot though.
This one seemed to have a mutated forewing and other oddities.
But even more remarkable than that I counted 35 Brown Argus. That for me is a day/location record.

This one was rather fine, nectaring from a Milkwort.
Also 2 H Blue (1 wing rolling), 1 Small Copper (also wing-rolling very strongly), 1 Greenstreak, 2 S White, >10 Brims, >10 Dingies, 1 Grizzlie, 1 Peacock, 3 S Heath, 1 Burnet Companion and 1 Mint Moth.

Plus my first Clouded Yellow of the year. Only a fly-by though so no pics.

Not a bad roll-call for mid-May

This pony seemed to want to pose against the skyline for me. No-one told him they had branded LOL on his arse though (and that did make me laugh out loud!)
Because I had such luck with numbers of species I thought I'd stop off for half an hour at Noar Hill.

I additionally got OTip and Duke there, so thats a count of 14 species today. Normal for summer, but exceptional for me for May.

Not only that I got two more Greenstreaks here today bringing my reserve count for this species at this reserve to 13. Nowhere near my max for Beacon Hill a few years back but not a bad count by any means.

Sounds like a blinder of a day Ernie That Common Blue is interesting to see, the fringes are pretty worn but that wouldn't explain missing half a fore wing - perhaps the wings didn't inflate properly? That Horse had my daughter chuckling as well when I showed her the picture

Have a goodun

Wurzel

ernie f wrote:..Plus my first Clouded Yellow of the year.

Excellent sighting, ernie. They don't turn up too often prior to August.

Nice to see Common Blues finally emerging round your way.

Great numbers Ernie. I've seen a few of those bee's flying low over the ground, good to put a name to them.

Cheers

Wurzel, David, Andrew - Thanks guys. Things are starting to "take-off" around here now. I was surprised I hadn't seen a Common Blue yet but it seems they were just biding their time.

15th May 2019, 10 am - 12 noon, St Catherine's Hill (Valley), Full Sun, 13-18 degrees

1 OTip, 2 H Blue, 2 Peacock, 1 Sp Wood, 3 Grizzlies, 5 Brim, 20 C Blue, 6 Sm Heath, 5 Dingies, 1 Sm Copper, 13 Brown Argus

Plus remember recently I posted I had seen my second ever Green Carpet Moth? Well today I saw my third! Two in a week while only ever having seen three makes me suggest they must be coming along well around here.

I got 3 fair "mug shots" today.
Then the underside of a Grizzlie...
... and my first ever Brown Argus pair in-cop. First the conventional way round.
And then some experimentation. Ooh-er, missus!

Crickey Ernie it looks like the pair of Brown Argus are Masters of the Butterfly Karma Sutra - that's a very advanced position

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Blimey. We have Wurzel discussing the Butterfly Karma Sutra and Pauline saying she watched a pair of Dukes in-cop for 1 hour and 10 minutes. What would Mary Whitehouse have made of this ? And to quote the sports commentator Barry Davies "Frankly, who cares". Butterflies giving it their all to try and ensure the species survives among relentless pressure on the environment from humankind.

Jenks.

Nice work with the Brown Argus pair, ernie. I don't recall ever seeing this species in cop myself so it's clearly not something you come across every day.

David, Wurzel - Yes, I was very pleased with the Brown Argus pair. My first in-cop as I said. Also, they were in a part of the reserve that used to be fenced off but the fences have now all been removed so I was doubly lucky.

16h May 2019, 9.45-11.45PM, Oaken Wood, Mostly Sunny, sporadic breeze, 17 degrees

I don't visit this reserve every year because its a devil of a job to get to from where I live. Narrow roads most of the way and I have to fight to get through Godalming (or is it God-awful-ming?).

Nevertheless, its the only place near me to get a Wood White fix, so here I was today getting just that. 6 in total which for me is a site record (although I was reliably informed that if I had bothered to scour the whole reserve I would have got 20).
And I was even able to get mug-shots when the sun went behind a cloud.
Also, 6 Brim, 2 Small Heath, 5 Sp Wood, 3 OTip.

Loads of Speckled Yellow moth and a single 4-Spt Chaser.

The male OTips kept getting confused chasing the lady Wood Whites.

And a Broad-bodied Bee Hawkmoth. My first ever definite sighting. I got a pic but its far too fuzzy to show here and embarass myself.

You got a good range of shots there Ernie - like the back lit one and the close ups in particular but the second to last is a corker, I love the way it's holding the antennae I hope they last long enough as I might be able to make a run to see them in a week and half

Have a goodun

Wurzel