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Gatekeeper - Favourite Photo of 2020

Week 5

Another dismal weekend weather wise; all the tall trees round my way are now denuded and even the smaller, more sheltered ones are starting to get their kit off now as well it looks like the season is finally drawing to a close But it's not all doom and gloom - here come the next selection 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.

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

I didn't take many shots of the Gate Keeper this year but one shot I did like the best, even if some grass got in the way, was this shot taken in my Daughter's garden in Kent on the 23rd of July. Goldie

I saw a lot but didn't photograph that many Gatekeepers this year. This is a garden inhabitant from July.

I came across this mating pair ready posed and at head height in an East Sussex wood. Nice not to have to crouch down on wonky knees!



http://eastsussexwanderer.blogspot.co.uk

I couldn't choose between either a rather extreme ab lugens or a freshly minted female

For a few weeks in late July, Gatekeeper were by far the most numerous species in the meadow area of my garden. They made frequent visits to the flowers near the house and were particularly fond of the Eryngium.

My first Gatekeepers this year were seen at my local site Blythe Valley Park on 10th July when I found a good emergence of fresh males.

The male below stood out for me with a particularly attractive golden suffusion forward of the sex brands on his forewings
A couple of days later there were plenty flying at my local spot at Castle Hills where this female attracted my attention with smaller than usual orange patches on her hindwings.
And later in the month I spotted this male excessa at the local park by my Mom's house.
Cheers,

Neil.

Gatekeeper

Unfortunately I was unable to visit the Out-laws in Wales this year during the summer – originally things weren’t looking good due to the tight Welsh restrictions banning people from travelling into or out of Wales. When these rules were lifted however we still couldn’t visit for fear of passing on any infection to my Outlaws both of whom are now in the 80s and so many more times vulnerable. This meant that I wasn’t able to walk the hedgerows along The Lane picking up unusual looking Hedge Browns that often feature as my Favourite Gatekeeper…

Luckily a trip to Alners Gorse provided me with something a bit unusual in a year when almost all of the Gatekeepers that I saw were ‘Normal’. I chose this one as I’d been hoping to see a ‘single spot’ Gatekeeper for number of years now and on this fantastic day with Purple Hairstreaks and Valesinas I finally got one!
Have a goodun

Wurzel

Another good year for this species on my local patch, though they were perhaps not quite as numerous as in 2019. They started very early, with my first sighting taking me by surprise on 19th June.Numbers peaked around the middle of July, with daily counts of up to 100 individuals on a few days. However, the extremely hot spell in early August then took its toll and numbers rapidly declined until my last sighting here on 17th of that month. Here are a couple of standout fresh individuals from July. Dave

Due to being away in France in early July, I didn't see this species until quite late, 19 July to be exact. I then decamped to Spain on 30 July and by the time I returned and quarantined for 14 days, they were well on the wane, so I took precious few photo. Here's the first one I saw, however, at the High Brown site near Bridgend: