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Hello Wurzel! I look forward to your Small Coppers! I'm intrigued to see if you saw any on your holiday!

After reading your comment David, I decided that when I went out today I would count the Small Tortoiseshells (in addition to the Coppers , of course!) and I saw 10 in the Dungeness area, so I think you are spot on ( as usual!)

I first visited Dengemarsh Road where despite often cloudy and rather cool conditions I managed to find 9 Small Coppers Positively glowing in the gloom!

And a fine Blue Badger too I seem to find more Blue Badgers in the later broods Good numbers of Common Blues down there too The cloud broke up amd it became very warm so I headed for Dungeness itself. I counted 8 Painted Ladies, 2 Hummingbird Hawk Moths and 29 Small Coppers I'm very interested in how Small Coppers behave and today I was treated to a fine display of how the mated females deal with undesirable males This male obviously hadn't read the manual on how to behave and ignored her display of protest You can see him still trying to bend round his abdomen towards her, but he eventually got the message and left her alone.

What tough lives these little creatures live! The Brambles take a toll.

But they never fail to delight Such energy and character! I wish the Summer would never end!

Lovely Small Coppers as always, Hoggers hope that they become more widespread again in 2016.

Thanks Maximus for your kind comment and I echo your hope for next year: so many on this forum have had a poor 2015 for Coppers so they deserve a better 2016!

Well, this is the last day of my break.

I very nearly didn't go out today: firstly, I had to take the Basset Hound to have his nails done at the vets (don't ask..!)and secondly it was cold and cloudy to begin with.

But around 1130 the sun was peeping through so I decided to nip down to Dungeness in the hope that it would stay sunny enough for me to find a Copper or two.

And although there was a great deal of cloud about when I reached Dungeness there were blue patches too and I soon began seeing Small Coppers I sat down by some Ragwort to watch a couple of fresh Coppers nectar When a rather tatty Copper joined them. I took a closer look and to my astonishment discovered that it was a radiata This is now the third radiata that I've been fortunate enough to find at Dungeness So in addition to its many other rarities it seem that Dungeness can also boast of having a radiata gene in its Small Copper population As I took my photos the radiata surprised me by flitting up and alighting on my right index finger, where it perched for at least 2 minutes.

Such a privilege!

I now consider myself to be an Honorary Small Copper!

Alas, my weather window had closed. Heavy black cloud rolled in and it suddenly grew dark and cold. The radiata went to roost And I headed for home feeling very glad indeed that I'd chosen to go out butterflying amongst the Small Coppers

Lovely butterflies once more Hogger's, I'm like you I love the Small Copper's, no sign of them here, they weren't even at Southport in the Dunes where I thought I might see them. Goldie

Brother Hoggles is very much interested in old busses and coaches and so we went along today to the Vintage Bus and Coach Rally at the New Romney station of the RH&DR The destination of this bus caught my eye So leaving my brother to his diesel engines and open toppers I took a bone rattling ride to Small Copper Central This boldly marked male took my eye While some are now faded(though always feisty!) many are in fine condition I watched a female deal with an unwanted male And during this failed courtship i saw him quickly extrude something from the tip of his abdomen before just as quickly replacing it I'm far to bashful to enquire exactly what he was up to and the female was unimpressed too, as you can see from this bad photo she adopted the "Cold Shoulder" posture whilst fluttering her hindwings I had however noticed that she was in possession of a magnificent set of blue badges and so after having got rid of one attentive male she quickly gained another, me, trying to get a photo! Whilst in the observatory moat I had the pleasure of bumping into AllanW and his wife both of whom were on a Copper Hunt.It was great to meet you both and to talk "all things Copper"! Happy hunting and do stay in touch.

Both Allan and I are of the opinion that blue badgers show more in the latter Copper generations Quite why this is so we don't know!

It was good to out in some sunshine with the Small Coppers and their admirers Although next time I'll take my car (I don't think my spine could take another jolting ride on one of those vintage contraptions..!)

Hi,Hoggers
Likewise Hoggers it was very nice to meet you today as well, we managed 25 Coppers today,but unfortunately not the Radiata or that superb "blue badge" individual,what a cracker !! but we did see about 4 other lesser individuals ,saw a couple in Birchett later on and surprisingly a Clouded yellow as well ,but the best was an abberrant Speckled wood . Regards Allan.W.

After an early finish at work and with the sun shining brightly I went straight down to Dungeness to do a Copper Head Count Females are particularly noticeable at this stage in the brood And here's the best photo I've yet managed to take of a female adopting the "Turkey Strut" posture to ward off a lusty male I've noticed how resting females react when they sense other butterflies close-by: she may be sitting quietly in the sun with wings open but the moment another butterfly passes over her head she will close her wings whilst sitting very still. When all's clear she will resume sunbathing.

I saw several males posing and duellingand chasing about I spent nearly two hours out in The Desert. Here there be Coppers (though more thinly spread than in the moat) And I sat and watched them in the sunshine More Small Coppers around the RH&DR Station. Just as "Winston Churchill" rolled up to the platform I was snapping butterflies My total Copper Count for today was 55 And overall they're in good condition. Not bad for September.

Hi Hoggers, I just wanted to say how incredible your observations are, your insight into the Small Coppers lives is truly remarkable. I thoroughly enjoy every update as I continue to gain a greater sense of the species. The "Turkey Strut" photo is brilliant I take my butterfly hat off to you All the best, Jamie

I'm constantly amazed by how some Coppers seem faded yet others look fresh. It's almost as if there are two broods overlapping at every time just like Speckled Woods.

Perhaps the milder coastal climate plays tricks with this species' life-cycle?

HI Hoggers,
Your brother shows remarkably good taste posing on the top deck of that ex Portsmouth Corporation Leyland
open topper, a very fine way to have your bones shaken !. Also some very fine ' blue badges ' too.

TREVOR.

Another splendid selection of Small Coppers, and the latest Blue Badge holder is a corker. There seems to be no real break in their season down there, just a gentle waxing and waning. What an amazing place to have within reach.

Dave

Hi! Hogger's that Blue Badge is great, I think you've got all the Copper's down there, lovely shots of them Goldie

I'm very grateful to all of you for posting such supportive comments, you are very kind indeed.

Jamie, I started this year knowing nothing about Small Coppers and have worked my way up from there. Now I at least know something of how they lead their lives and I'm so glad that you have enjoyed following my learning curve. I must say that the hours I've spent with the Small Coppers of Dungeness have provided me with my best ever experience with the natural world.

After work today I visited the common land that lies between the entrance to the Dungeness estate and Denge Quarry. I've not yet looked here for Small Coppers and I was delighted to come upon them almost from the word go I counted 16 in all You can imagine how sad I felt to come upon this poor female When she saw me she made an attempt to hide which brought a tear to my eye The wind buffeted her into movement and I could see just how badly deformed her wings were I felt bad walking away from her.

To cheer myself up I located a male holding territory. Here he is And his patch is the roughly circular area in this photo I watched him for about an hour. He left this patch only twice and then only briefly. He flew up to investigate a Hoverfly and a Small White. But most of the time he nectaredfavouring these small blue flowers Now and again he'd make quick flights of inspection around his patch And he certainly needed his strength because I saw him engage in lengthy aerial displays with two other Coppers Very exciting to watch!

Hi! Hogger's, master of all he surveyed that one Sorry about the one with deformed wings, it's so upsetting when you can't help them . Glad you keep finding them, lovely shots, Goldie

He certainly was, Goldie! Great fun to watch too!

It was upsetting to see that poor female: she'll never fly!
And when she tried to hide from me my heart went out to her!

Best wishes

Hoggers

Always sad when you see a butterfly destined never to take to the air.

She may well have a productive future though. Males will undoubtedly find her and her lack of airborne powers won't stop her laying fertile eggs!

He's thinking "You're not back here again, are you Hoggers?"

I'm afraid so It's that stage in the brood when it's the females that you notice This stunning lady is like so many other females at this time of year in having gorgeous blue badges. I may be going mad but I really do think that blue badgers are far more frequent in the latter brood at Dungeness and particularly amongst the females.

And David, your last comment came to mind when I had the enormous pleasure today of watching a female lay an egg I'd been following her as she trundled through the vegetation. She practised egg laying on several occasions before producing the one you see in the photos (I need glasses for reading and the egg was so small I had huge problems seeing it!)

Although there are fresh males aboutthis next picture gives a rough comparison of the respective conditions of males(on the right) and females now (I think he's saying "You're not coming up here unless you give me a kiss" )

I watched one male with no less than four females all on bramble flowers. None were interested in him. He pursued one in particular. She gave him the brush off in the usual way and he desisted. However, only 30 seconds later she ventured close to him again and he went after her but very quickly broke off. I thought that he must have remembered her and knew she wasn't receptive. But only a minute or so later she again came close to him and he then pursued her with great persistence. She only got away from him by crawling deep into the brambles where he did not follow.

I noticed one female at the start of my walk and she was still on exactly the same bush when I returned 2 hours later I rarely come upon the same Small Copper on my return visits. Although some males will hold a territory for days on end ( my best record is 7 days ) I get the feeling that at this site they're a bit like tea leaves swirling about in a tea pot. So when today I re-found the obliterata (first seen 28th August) I wasn't surprised that it was in a totally different part of the site And when I swapped notes with Allan last Sunday it became clear that the radiata I found last year had travelled a considerable distance (within the site) in the days that past before he came across it. So they do shift about.

Today I found 55 Small Coppers Jewels amongst the Blackberries As active as ever In Coming!

And always stunning I also saw a Clouded Yellow

Lovely in-flight image of the Copper, Hoggers.

I'm not so jealous of your Clouded Yellow now as I saw my first UK specimen today. Maybe the recent south-easterlies have brought a few over?

This Ragwort in the moat at Dungeness was the centre of Small Copper activities today At one point this morning I watched 6 Coppers on and around the flowers Four were males and I'd watch them joust for nectaring rights. A male ignored a Small White but jumped up to intercept two Meadow Browns!

A female appeared at a time when the Ragwort was quiet and she began nectaring One of the males returned. He seemed not to have noticed her and immediately began to nectar. She, however, instantly reacted to his arrival by snapping shut her wings and freezing After a little time, when she had not been molested at all, she opened up her wings and began to nectar again Her behaviour was in keeping with other (mated) females that I've seen:they have a definite instinct to conceal themselves and keep a low profile.

But it wasn't long before she was noticed There then began a prolonged pursuit that it seemed no amount of "Turkey Strutting" on her part could put to an end Here she is deep in the bush It was only when she crawled deep into the dark recesses of the brambles that the male gave up, not liking the dark, and came out leaving her alone.

The chase began at 10.01. The male left the brambles at 10.08. It was not until 10.17 that the female emerged from there.

Next I came upon a mating pair I watched as the female began pushing at the male with both her back legs whilst at the same time heaving herself forwards As if she wanted to free herself from him But that didn't happen. I first saw them coupled at 1101am and they remained joined until 11.22.

But at 1111am this fellow appeared And he soon homed in on the Coppers I was desperately worried that he would attack them ( it was a jumping spider) so I intervened and frightened him off!

At 1122 and for no apparent reason the pair flew off and I lost them Another fascinating day among the Small Coppers

Hi Hoggers,
Some nice images as usual,the in flight closed wing shot is brilliant,as is the egg picture,and yet another pair ! I.m envious ,never been lucky enough to find a pair, depending on the weather I can see a trip to the shingle is on for this weekend,i'd really like to find a nicely marked " Blue Badge" before the seasons up.Was the Obliterata
any where near the triangle where I saw it,you did well to re-find that one !!, some really interesting observations as well !! Regards Allan.W.
ps; its just come to me where I recognize your Brother from,did he used to work in the toolshop in the High street ??