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Large Skipper - Favourite Photo 2019

Week 9

So with Advent done the next stage is the tree up…or at least in the building. So sit down in the glow of fairy lights and think about the next set of Favourites.

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

This year I didn't get too many shots of the Large Skipper, they were too quick for me and never seemed to settle for long and my agility on the cliff's in Dover welding a crutch didn't help How ever I did manage a couple of shots on the 24th of July after having a lovely cream tea up there. Goldie

A few pictures illustrating what a long season these guys have. My first LS of the year was a female at Hutchinsons bank on the 21st of May I was still finding freshly emerged ones in July, here's a male from Bookham on the 8th. and it was no surprise to once again find aged ones at Chobham common in August, this one was the last I saw on the 18th and by no means looked to be on it's last legs, they were probably still on the wing into September there!

I probably wouldn't have taken any Large Skipper images had Dark Green Fritillaries been around at Crymlyn Burrows, Swansea, on 9th June.

The DGFs hadn't emerged though, so given that there were a few fresh Large Skippers about I concentrated on them instead, and managed to get both male and female:

Large Skipper

I took my Fave Large Skipper shot on the same day as I took my Fave Lulworth shot but round at Stairhole rather than at the Cove itself. I chose it for several reasons. First off it was a female and I don’t generally find that many female Large Skippers or when I do they’re often not in the best of nick and this one was a peach. Secondly she’s holding her wings in a posture that I’ve not seen before, almost wrapping them around her body and finally because of the sense of achievement that came from getting the shot – one hand on the camera the other holding onto a tuft of grass enabling me to defy gravity.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

Overall, their season on my local patch was not a particularly strong one in 2019, from the first on 20th May to the last on 14th July. My favourite shot, however, has to be this one. Though the other golden skippers also sit with their wings held similarly, they rarely seem to settle as flat on foliage as the Large Skipper does, and I have yet to repeat this kind of shot with any of the other four. I also encountered a somewhat unusual male down at Bookham, with particularly heavily marked sex brands. Dave

In good years Large Skippers appear at my local spots towards the end of May but this year it was well into June before I saw any. Thereafter they were seen at all the usual spots but numbers were not as high as in recent years.
Later in June the pair in cop below was seen in the Heddon Valley sitting surprisingly high up on the tall fern fronds produced by the previous few weeks wet weather.
Cheers,

Neil.