Re: millerd
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 9:36 pm
29th June: A very warm and sunny evening, so I had a stroll around some of my local patch, with a final detour to the unlikely spot where Essex Skippers fly every year. I found a couple of Commas in one of their usual haunts, restlessly chasing Large Skippers (or was it the other way round?), and in the same area there were several Meadow Browns skulking in and out of the brambles to get out of the heat a bit.
I noticed that a couple of these were bit darker, flew differently and didn't chase the female Meadow Browns - these turned out to be Ringlets, their first appearance here this year. I followed a three-way tussle involving a Comma, a Skipper and something intermediate in size, but also quite orange. The last of these detached itself and tried to hide amongst the brambles. This one was a Gatekeeper - another first for 2015. I ventured into the meadow area near the motorway, and found the heat had sent most butterflies into the shade or semi-shade around the edges. Lots of Meadow Browns and Small Heaths, a handful of Common Blues were involved. I decided to head off now to the Terminal Four roundabout (A3113/A3044) where there is a reliable Essex Skipper colony on the south-east corner. En route I disturbed two Red Admirals from their squabbling along a shady bit of path, and saw at least one of each type of White. Sure enough, once at my target area next to the busy road, there were at least eight or nine Essex Skippers in evidence, plus one more Comma nearby on some brambles. The Skippers were the main attraction and posed nicely - clearly the year-round pollution from the traffic and the airport has little effect on their numbers.
Dave