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My God! August already

Hopefully we'll all enjoy a decent month prior to autumn setting in.

August kicked off for me on 1st with a day that was actually dry - and even occasionally bright. The month started as July had ended: firstly with a nice new female Holly Blue on my local patch...However, the more pronounced feelings of deja vu came when I went down to Staines Moor where another Small Copper ab. appeared...I'm beginning to forget what this species should look like, so luckily there were a few reference specimens for comparison purposes!I wonder if this one has a name too...

Cheers,

Dave

Seen both today and yesterday- several wall browns in woodland near Ryde, Isle of Wight. Also silver-washed fritillaries, white admirals, ringlets, very fresh red admirals and peacocks, plus a couple of painted ladies.

Amongst a host of new Red Admirals and Peacocks this morning on my local patch, there were two bright new Painted Ladies. This wild buddleia has been bereft of butterflies until recently, but today at various times was entertaining Painted Ladies, Peacocks, Red Admirals, Commas, Large Whites, Small Whites, Holly Blues, Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns. Great to see...

Dave

Just reminding that I’m in Brittany before I say that I got my first picture yesterday, in a small window of sunshine of a Short-tailed Blue. (Please correct me if I’m wrong). On a Heathland path. A damaged female and I think she’s egg-laying on a tiny gorse shoot? When/if the sun decides to shine again I’ll be going back for another look - and hopefully better pictures!

Large variety of species on the wing this lunchtime with 22 species seen. Beacon Hill, Wiltshire

Small Skipper 2
Large Skipper 1
Brimstone 1
Large White 11
Small White 2
Green-veined White 7
Small Copper 3
Brown Argus 4
Common Blue 5
Chalkhill Blue 11
Red Admiral 5
Painted Lady 2
Small Tortoiseshell 6
Peacock 12
Dark Green Fritillary 4
Speckled Wood 2
Wall Brown 4
Marbled White 8
Gatekeeper 15
Meadow Brown 23
Ringlet 3
Small Heath 8

today=Fermyn Woods

quite a few Purple Hairstreaks but too high up to photograph.

did not see any iris.

i thought these looked nice:

The last species of the year to check-in has appeared in Surrey: Brown Hairstreaks. Several males seen today (3rd) at Bookham Commons. Cheers,

Dave

millerd wrote: ↑Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:01 pm The last species of the year to check-in has appeared in Surrey: Brown Hairstreaks. Several males seen today (3rd) at Bookham Commons.BrH1 030821.JPGBrH4 030821.JPGBrH9 030821.JPGBrH20 030821.JPGBrH13 030821.JPGBrH16 030821.JPG
Cheers,

Dave

Why did he wait til I'd gone to open up!

Quick walk around my local patch this morning produced huge numbers of Gatekeepers. Possibly three figures. Sandridge Common, Wiltshire

today=Sharpenhoe

the Chalkhill Blues were out in force, and keen to open their wings for me

i counted 60 peacocks & a few Red Admirals and that on a patch of this pink flower... is it sedum ?

Looks like Hemp Agrimony ,Charles ,a brilliant butterfly plant........................as you can see !
Regards Allan.W.

Allan.W. wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:12 pm Looks like Hemp Agrimony ,Charles ,a brilliant butterfly plant........................as you can see !
Regards Allan.W.

thanks so much Allan !

the butterflies were mad for it

5th August. I am having to post this from wife's computer as mine won't allow due to something called Mod_Security.
Pete knows about this but hasn't been able to work out what is wrong. So here goes with an unfamilar PC.

Scotch Argus now out in numbers in Highland, a few days later than average date.

Jack

It was very windy today (5th) down at Denbies Hillside, though it was reasonably bright before the rain came down at around three o'clock. Despite far from ideal conditions, in a sheltered spot by the steps which are a hotspot for Green Hairstreaks in spring, I came across an unusual visitor. Unfortunately it had had an encounter with a bird, showing a beak-shaped cutout which had neatly removed its tails - proving their worth of course.This is the first Brown Hairstreak I have ever seen at Denbies in countless August visits over many years.

A brief burst of sunshine sent up clouds of Chalkhll Blues, and among the throng were two Clouded Yellows. The sun didn't last long, and I followed one of the two to what it considered to be a reasonably camouflaged spot. If I hadn't seen it land, it would have worked - I'd never have picked it out from the background.One other point of interest from the day was an aberrant Meadow Brown, which going from an earlier post is ab. alba, completely lacking the orange colour. Full report to follow as ever.

Cheers,

Dave

We went to Cornwall the week before last. Didn't go anywhere specifically looking for butterflies, but there were plenty about, including the classic lone ones flitting across the beaches. Six spot burnets were out in force locally along the coastal paths around the scabious.

Back at work this week.

A colleague said she'd had an unusual visitor to her Burgess Hill garden last weekend and showed me a pic on her phone. It was only a Purple Emperor (sunning itself on some white mesh in her garden) ! She lives in the SE part of the town, so I'm guessing it was a visitor from Ditchling Common. I think she was slightly pleased at my obvious jealousy.

Few pics from this week. Fairly confident on the hoverfly and moths. I was very pleased to see a Wall tussling with the other browns behind greenhouse #5.

The Wall was tussling with this Meadow Brown displaying what I assume to be water damage.

Given that sunny intervals were at a premium between the showers this week that seems highly possible.

Visited 2 Kent sites at the start of August, an found 2 interesting CHB variants.
Images are not cropped, cheers Paul.

I guess this fresh female CHB, could be the most common ab. seen? she showed a nice amount of blue to her hind wings, she certainly stood out amongst the rest of the normal females. I did manage to capture an underwing shot of her, next to a normal female for comparison too. Underwing shot of 2 female CHB's. Female on the left is the female showing blue patches to her hindwings.
At another Kent site, i found a lovely fresh Male CHB, which showed a darker than normal underwing colouration. Unfortunately he flew off out of sight, before i could capture any open wing shots, but chances are his open wing colouration would have been normal. Ive seen many males with a dark underwing, but this male had a "darker" shade than most.

Silver-washed Fritillary (bilateral gynandromorph) seen on 5.8.2021 in East Sussex.

Brightened up a bit at 3pm here today so I nipped out pronto to my local fields.

Glad I did as I managed to snap my 31st species there in the last 2 years- a Chalkhill Blue (fresh-looking female). I've only seen them on the downs before but I know they are sometimes spotted away from the chalk hills.

The improved weather conditions in the late afternoon saw a lot of butterfly activity squeezed into a short time, including my first Brown Hairstreak of the year.

Bittersweet for me as the Site Notice (Reserved Matters Application) for 130 houses has just gone up at the entrance. I will continue making the most of what feels like my personal nature reserve for as long as I have it but the clock is definitely ticking.