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Dingy Skipper - Favourite Photo of 2020

Week 4

Lockdown take 2 So to cheer you up here's the next selection of Favourite Photos

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.

Just a reminder - it might be a good idea to select your Overall Favourite Butterfly Photo of 2020 now so that you’ve got something to post when the series of threads culminates in 20 weeks time…


Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

This is the only Dingy Skipper that I photographed during 2020, a central Lincolnshire female:

Thank god for climate change and the now semi-regular partial second brood! I saw just three this year. One at Hutchinsons bank, one at Denbies and this first at Mill Hill at the end of July.

I saw my Dingy at Temple Ewell on the 23rd of July ,there was quite a lot of them but they all seemed to fly onto the paths slopes which made it awkward when trying to take shots of them Goldie

12th May at Hazelbury Common, Wiltshire.

The notable feature of the 2020 season was the widespread and sometimes quite numerous second brood - both Goldie's and Bugboy's posts refer to this! The spring lockdown certainly restricted seeing them in as many spots as I would have liked in their first brood, though I did catch up with them in the end at Denbies on 17th May.However, the more memorable sightings were second brooders at Mill Hill (where there were several), Noar Hill and Shipton Bellinger. The last of these was a pleasant interlude in the middle of a day full of male Brown Hairstreaks on 20th July, and was found making the most of a large muddy puddle amidst increasingly dry countryside.Its detour onto the toe of my boot provided a reminder of just how small this butterfly is. Dave

It's not usually till the second week of May that I encounter this species, but given this year's warm early spring, I was able to catch up with them before April was out, with a handful being seen on 26th on a reliable patch of waste ground adjacent to my workplace:

Dingy Skipper did well at the few local sites I was actually able to visit. Always a pleasure to see these lovely active skippers, especially freshly emerged.

Unlike many skippers I see in France I can at least identify a Dingy Skipper. https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com

This species does not occur anywhere around my local patch although there are good sites further afield around Warwickshire and way things were looking earlier in the year I thought that this may be one that I was going to miss.
As it happened, the travel restrictions were relaxed in time for me to make it down to Bishops Hill on a sunny day in mid May when I found good numbers flying about including some nice fresh examples.
Cheers,

Neil.

I saw my first Dingy Skipper on 16th April at Magdalen Hill Down. I only saw one second-brood individual there though.

This one was at Pitt Down on 26th April.
This one at Magdalen, the next day.

Dingy Skipper

When it came to choosing my favourite Dingy I had a lot of considering to do. Should I go for those individuals from the spring brood that showed some interesting markings – from tear drops to chocolate coloured bands across the forewings? Then there were those that were brilliantly positioned on stones or chalk paths showing off the subtle beauty of the markings – should I choose one of those or maybe the mating pair I found at Perham Down as they were second brooders and from anew site? Then I realised that there was no choice and I would go for the second brood Dingy that I saw at Shipton mud puddling on an epic day at the end of July. However Dave beat me to it so it was back to the drawing board…and then I remembered the one from Martin Down. It was also a second brooder but wasn’t particularly stunning however it held itself in such a way as to make me do a double take. Instead of the typical Skipper pose – with wings held out open but as an angle this one held its wings closed over its thorax and abdomen in true butterfly style. I’ve only ever seen Dingies adopt this pose a few times and so it became my obvious choice for my 2020 Favourite.
Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

On 15 May, I made my first trip out and visited three sites, seeing four species for the first time in 2020. Included in this list were numerous dingy Skipper at all three sites. I have chosen this pair from Pitstone Quarry.

This is without doubt my favourite Dingy skipper photo of 2020, maybe my best ever. Taken at Shipton Bellinger when hunting with Wurzel and Millerd (and I see Dave has a photo of it up already). So unusual to see a Dingy Skipper mud-puddling I think Phil