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Essex Skipper - Favourite Photo of 2018

Week 5

So we’re already in the ‘D’s’ and about a quarter of the way through!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos as then it will be easier to keep track of things? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As in previous years details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Must try harder (like my old school reports ) with Essex Skippers that is !! I always neglect Essex Skippers ,but this season I found a small area
in the local forest (Orlestone ) where every skipper that I checked seemed to be an Essex...….. admit I struggle a bit with the females ,so for
2019 I,ve set myself the challenge of finding a pair in-cop ,something I,ve yet to see. These two males were from that little area ,last week in June and first week of July.

I saw my Essex Skippers on the 13th July at Reculver ( Kent ) it was a dull day but I did manage a few shots Goldie

Once again I was traveling outside their range in search of other species this year so I didn't see much of them, this little chap posed rather nicely at Mill Hill though

Although (as ever) I saw plenty in the French Alps in the first half of July, by the time I arrived back in the UK they were on their last legs!!!

The only one I got an image of was this fading specimen in Abergavenny on 21.07:

I saw hundreds of 'Smessex' Skippers this year, but this is the only photo I took that is definitely an Essex Skipper! Nevertheless, I rather like it, as it allowed me to confirm my first ever record of this species in my current home county of East Yorkshire. On 14th July we specifically headed to North Cave Wetlands (rather than anywhere more exotic) because it was peak Essex season, and I had a hunch that they might have reached NCW this year. I was right!

Managing to successfully rear a batch of 8 eggs through to adulthood was very rewarding, allowing me to capture images of each larval instar. The attached is a slide I'll be using at the Hants & IoW BC branch members' day on Sunday (all welcome! Details at http://www.hantsiow-butterflies.org.uk), showing all 5 instars and the importance of getting good views of the head capsule of the last 3 instars in order to distinguish them. These images are also included in my forthcoming tome
Cheers,

- Pete

I found my first mating pair this year, in my reliable mini-colony at the roadside very close to Heathrow on 21st June (a very early date too). This patch dried up completely soon afterwards in the heat of the summer and I do wonder whether it will have survived. These two butterflies were doing their bit to make it so... Dave

Like a number of high summer species this year, Essex Skippers seemed to come and go rather quickly and I only ended up seeing them on a few occasions.
As usual when I was at a spot where both these and Small Skippers fly together I took a number of head on shots to get positive IDs, including the one below which confirmed their presence in some rough ground by a local park that I only started checking out this year.
Cheers,

Neil.

Essex Skipper

This was taken during the first week of July. Often I choose my favourite because of the type of shot or because of a particular memory but this was one chosen because of the site. It was taken at Work during my lunch break in the ‘Meadow’/wild area and so as I was championing leaving this part of the extensive school fields unmown it featured as one of the poster personalities of my campaign – it helped that Skippers are so darn cute!
Have a goodun

Wurzel

I always find Essex Skipper to be a difficult species to photograph, but this individual was quite obliging.