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Essex Skipper - Favourite Photo 2019

Week 5

At this time of year it always feels like I’m counting down; 3 weeks until the Social (bit of a plug there) and Advent, 6 and a bit weeks until Christmas and far too many weeks it feels like until the 2020 season starts in earnest. Luckily the Favourites thread can keep us going and stave off any moments of SAD or even that even worse condition LOBD.

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

A nice crisp female from College Lake near Tring

Saw a handful of these in Abergavenny in late July. They're not the most photogenic of species, but they DO provide some interesting displays:

Essex Skipper

When the Essex finally arrive each year I usually have to revert to the term ‘Smessex’ for the majority of brief encounters of those butterflies that don’t sit still long enough for a photo or those that do but are female and hide their antennae. This one from Five Rivers was my favourite as it was the most obliging Essex; I didn’t even have to kneel down and crick my neck to get the shot of the ‘ink dabs’.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

Though the species was frequent enough on the main part of my local patch, unfortunately they seemed to have disappeared from the precarious colony next to the Heathrow perimeter. I put this down to the heat for the 2018 summer, which reduced the grass there to a handful of grey-brown straw which didn't seem to recover at all in 2019. My favourite therefore is one of the first I saw, appropriately enough down in Essex at Hadleigh Country Park when looking at the White-letter Hairstreaks. Dave