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Lovely Coppers once again Hogger's, I never get tired of seeing them
I can't understand why we've not had Copper's here, the weathers been lovely and we've had lots of other Butterflies, I've been to quite a few places recently where I've seen them before but no luck, my thinking now is the bad weather we had May, June, July up here was to blame, Oh! well, I'll just have to wait until next year. Goldie

Thanks Jenks, I'm glad you enjoy my diary but rather than a Copper King I see myself very much as one of their loyal subjects!

What a shame, Goldie! I'm spoilt of course as I can visit Dungeness and I tend to forget that other enthusiasts like yourself have struggled to find any Coppers at all this year!

Not so nice today, cloudy and windy, but I decided to look in on the male Copper that I've been keeping an eye on over the last 3 weeks.

Here's another view of his territory A south facing sun trap which, as I noticed today, is largely sheltered from the wind.

He perches on pebbles in a shingle patch to the right of the brambles as you look at the above photo There he has good all-round vision and the pebbles hold the warmth of the sun He has held this territory now for at least 20 days! I watched him for 2 hours this morning. He would shift about the patch, changing his pebble perch on a number of occasions. He also would fly on regular trips around his territory on the look out for other Coppers, and always return to the favoured shingle to perch.

In between these reconnaissance flights he did the "Stalk Dance" although for him this was mainly a Tap Dance across the Brambles.

This is the sort of pattern of event:

1049 - Stalk Dance
1057 - Stalk Dance
1101 - Reccy
1104 - Reccy
1108 - Reccy
1111 - Stem Dance

Perching on the shingle in between.

He examined a great many of the plants and leaves on his patchEven bare Bramble stems Quickly tapping his feet against the plant surface.

He flew about 40 feet from his pebble perch to Stem Dance down some grass! And he took an interest in many kinds of plant It is fascinating to watch I recently read that Red Admirals "taste" sugar with their feet so I think Small Coppers must have similar chemical detectors in their feet. But quite what they are testing for I haven't a clue!

I saw 14 Small Coppers today But of them all it is this chap that's my favourite He's rather battered but he has kept hold of his own domain now for at least 20 days and I think that's great!

20 days seems a long time for a Small Copper to hold onto a territory for, if you named him did you chose Arnie ? How long do Coppers usually last?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi! Hogger's the Coppers are looking a bit worn now, they've had a good run down there though.

I did see Copper's in May in the Dunes at Southport, I got some shots, I could kick myself now though I should have gone back there a few times if has you've described they can stay in the same area for so long, I'll remember that for next year Hogger's ,so you've taught me some thing through your posts Goldie

Hi Wurzel and Goldie, it's one of the questions I've tried to answer this year through watching Small Coppers: on average, how long do the males hold a territory?

I do not have access to a University Library and I am sure many other people have looked into this question( I'd love to hear from any of them by the way!) but the only reference I've found is in Frowhawk's "The Complete Book of British Butterflies" 1934 at page 260 where the Great Man writes "I have observed the same marked specimen, which frequented a certain spot for about two weeks and which, when first seen, was somewhat worn, apparently having been on the wing for four or five days".

Now my usual record for a male holding the same territory is 7 days. I recorded one individual that stayed for at least 14 days. But my winner by far is the chap I featured yesterday. I found him on 20th September when he was fresh so had emerged that day (or at most the day before). And he's still there after 20 days!

But I have to point out that all my observations are made at Dungeness where there are broadly speaking two Copper Habitats, namely, Coppers in the Moat and Coppers not in the Moat!

At the peak of the first and second broods you'll easily find 100+ Coppers in the moat. It's like Piccadilly Circus.

But elsewhere, particularly in The Desert ( where my third brood long stayer is ) the number of Coppers is smaller and they are more widely distributed.

So competition for territory for my chap must have been far less intense than for a first or second brood male in the Observatory Moat.

Maybe that's why he has held on for so long, but I like to side with you, Wurzel, and think of him as a really Tough Little Guy!

Hi! Hogger's your Butterfly is definitely tough, has the Red Admiral's are in my garden at present This morning we had a touch of frost and it was cold, has soon as the Sun came out though so did they Goldie

We haven't yet had a frost down here in Kent, Goldie, but the weather has been pretty unpleasant and certainly no good for butterflies.

And today began damp and dull too, but by 11-ish showed signs of brightening up, so I chanced a visit to Dungeness.

At first it was cloudy (although mild and calm) but soon the sun made itself felt and out came the Coppers I was delighted to find five Blue Badgers and also to see that most were in such beautiful condition This female in particular caught my eye Something about the hind wing rays with their blue badges made her particularly memorable Sunshine at first Then it grew cloudy and the Coppers went quiet But watching one that had shut up its wings like this I noticed that it was far from asleep and would gradually shift its position in line with where the sun was hiding behind the clouds until eventually the cloud lightened, the sun became stronger and the butterfly was able to feel the full benefit of it They are clearly highly sensitive to warmth from the sun.

I saw 16 Small Coppers today.

I then made my way across The Desert to the patch where my long staying Small Copper had been living. I fortified myself against what I felt would be the inevitable disappointment of finding him gone but to my amazement he was still there! Today he perched on Bramble leaves and not on the pebbles. I put my hand down on to the pebbles and they were cold, not having had sufficient chance to heat up in the sun today. So he sat on the leaves I can hardly believe that he is 28 days old (at least) and has spent all that time here guarding the same patch What wonderful creatures they are!

NCCFO were a Brown Argus, Red Admiral, Larger White, Small Heaths and a very late Meadow Brown!

Good to see you again, Allan, hope you saw plenty of Coppers!

Given the condition of some of those specimens, Hoggers, I'd say that bar a frost or two you'll still be seeing them in November!

More lovely Coppers Hoggers, especially the blue badgers I missed the third brood this year, hat is if they were even here, I suspect they packed their bags and headed over to Hogger World

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Lovely to keep seeing them, Hoggers, especially as some still seem pretty new. And the veteran, too - I had no idea they could live so long!

Dave

WOW! Hogger's, still seeing some lovely Copper's, keep them coming Goldie

Thanks for your comments, they are much appreciated.

I finished work early today and what with the sun shining I could think of nothing better than to nip down to Dungeness and chase a few Coppers It's interesting: I saw 14 Small Coppers in total today, nine females and five males. All of the females were overall in very good condition indeedand busy nectaring.

One female I found today in exactly the same place as when I first found her two days ago.

Another female was trundling through the Sorrel going through the motions of egg laying (although not actually laying) and I noticed that she was using her antennae literally as feelers, dropping them down and (from what I could see) gently tapping them against the leaf surface This is something I have not noticed before.

As for the males, the situation is not so healthy Of the five I saw only one was in really good nick I went out to find my long staying Copper: he's still alive and kicking and master of his domain I seem to remember reading that Small Coppers live for about 3 weeks. Well, Old Methuselah is at least 30 days old! And I think he looks good enough to go on for some time yet!

As far as Non Copper Coloured Flying Objects are concerned, I saw a Large White, a Red Admiral, a fairly good looking Brown Argus(sorry about the poor photo) and a lovely Clouded Yellow But it's Old Methuselah that impresses me the most: I wonder just how much longer he's going to last?!

Hi! Hogger's you'll be sorry when he's gone I can tell Goldie

Goldie M wrote:Hi! Hogger's you'll be sorry when he's gone I can tell Goldie

But He'll live for eternity in Small Copper mythology

Given the cold,gloomy week we've just had,i'm amazed there are any butterflies still going at all! An astonishing report and great pictures,dare i say it,the cold weather has perhaps helped yor male live longer? As he is not active every day.

Thank you for the interest you have shown in my Small Coppers!

What started with my trying to find out how long a male Copper will (on average) hold a territory, now, by pure chance, has shed some light on the question as to how long they live!

At long last I've found the reference to their longevity that had stuck in my mind: it's in "Looking at Butterflies" by L.Hugh Newman, page 89, where he writes " Length of life: 16 - 21 days".

Old Methuselah has clearly got that beat (and barring accident or a sudden onset of Winter, I think he's got plenty more in the tank! )

I think you've got a point there, EssexB: these cool days may indeed be helping him.

But now I'm wondering if he is exceptional. I've seen many males at the end of the season that look like ghosts of Small Coppers, so worn as to be transparent, and after finding Methuselah I'm asking myself whether they too were over a month old.

At any rate, I will certainly be keeping a keen eye on him!

On another Coppery subject, I've finally found what I believe is a mention of the "Stalk Dance" that I've featured so often in my diary.

Page 106 of Thomas and Lewington has this in relation to male Coppers : "It is sometimes said that he marks his territory with scent.."

There's no explanation of exactly why this is "sometimes said" so I'm guessing, but I can only think it refers to other people having seen the "Stalk Dance".

By the bye, Thomas doesn't agree with the theory saying "I have yet to find any evidence of it".

Anyway, I managed to find a Copper of my own today! Glowing in the gloom in the field where I walk my dogs I managed to snap her with my mobile phone Enough to cheer anyone up on a damp October day!

Let's hope Methusaleh makes it to November, Hoggers.

Great to have so many Small Coppers that you can undertake such research. I doubt I've seen more than two dozen all year.

That's exactly it, David - lots of Small Coppers at Dungeness so I've tried to take advantage of it.

I just wish I had more time to study them!

Best wishes

Hoggers

Five days ago I saw 14 Small Coppers at Dungeness, 9 of them females in fine glossy copper condition.

This morning I was able to find only 4 Small Coppers None in great condition It started off cold but warmed up to about 13C (according to my car dashboard )but even so the Coppers I saw seemed sluggish I walked out to check on Old Methuselah: no sign. The place was empty without him.

But, looking on the positive side, he has left a legacy: he proves that male Small Coppers can live for at least 30 days in the field and that they can keep to the same territory for all that time Remarkable!

I headed down to Dungeness this morning arriving about 1130. It was comfortably warm with hazy sunshine. The first butterfly I came across was a NCCFO Unfortunately he flew off before I could get closer But after a deal of searching I found my first Copper I saw her first last sunday and today she was in exactly the same area And I thought that was going to be it for today as it was very quiet and all the flowers had a deserted look about them but luck was with me and I found this female sunning herself on the Brambles I confess to feeling some surprise at how very quickly the Small Copper population here has declined Only a week ago I had no difficulty in finding them and they were in superb condition (which gave me some hope that I'd be finding them right into November), yet today I managed to find only two Always good to see though