www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Common Blue - Favourite Photo of 2022

Week 4

Last week I wondered how many butterflies would still be on the wing – possibly not as many as there could have been after the series of deluges we’ve had…still on a lighter note the Shops have already started selling Christmas goods!

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.
Here we got then!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Pleased to report that Common Blue seemed to make a good recovery in East Anglia, after a very poor year in 2021. My favourite, was one photographed on 6 October and as I suspected at the time it was my last sighting of the year.

This mint fresh male photographed on 16th September was a rare thing in south Wales - a third brooder!

25th September and looking pass their best

Common Blues were well down in numbers compared to the last couple of seasons .Orlestone forest was particularly poor,but that said ,i did find an area in the forest which i haven,t visited for some years ,and pleased to say that i stumbled across quite a few Common Blues there...........a new area to explore for next season !
One thing that i did find in this "new" area was an interesting pairing . I,d been keeping an eye on a worn female with fairly frayed wings for a while when she was approached by an even tattier male ,he immediately made his intentions obvious and within seconds they,d paired .I thought that this was odd and assumed that this must be at least a second mating ................thought they only generally paired once. This female is from my "new" area
Allan.W.

Visited my favourite common blue haunt at Fallin Bing nr Stirling in early June and i wasn't disappointed with lots of fresh specimen on the wing.

Common Blues did very well on my local patch this year - at least in the first and third broods (I missed the peak of the second, but from what I saw of them they were doing OK). Choosing favourites is always extremely difficult because of the huge variety displayed by the female of the species, so of necessity, here is a (relatively small!) selection from the May collection. Dave

I shouldn't be allowed a second bite of the cherry, but I had completely overlooked a trip to Mill Hill in Sussex on 18th May, when there was a large emergence of males along the top path. This shot emerged as a favourite (but once again there were many more).This male with black marginal spots was notable too. Dave

I saw my Common Blue at Temple Ewell on the 27th of May and the Female on the 20th of August also at Temple Ewell, I was surprised in May to find the so few flowers there and the Common Blues few in Numbers, in August the hot weather had also taken it's toll on the vegetation . Goldie

Not the best year for Common Blue in my neck of the woods with very low numbers on Beacon Hill, although the small numbers did manage a third brood with my last sighting on 6th October.

This fresh male was on 8th June.

Can't make my mind up over these two - both female with lovely markings, and both taken in our Lincolnshire butterfly garden. The natural variety of the female Common Blue is stunning.

I can't compete with millerd's fabulous array of blue females, but here are a couple of my favourite images from France:

A mating pair which had the decency to both be fresh and be in the same plane And a female underside, beautifully boldly marked Roger

We get a few Common Blues in the garden most years. I've been seeding the garden with the foodplant, and am hoping they stick around to breed. This one was photographed on 5 August.

Roger Gibbons wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 11:14 pm...And a female underside, beautifully boldly marked..

Amazing individual! Never seen one remotely like that, Roger.

Common Blue

Looking at Roger's shots and then mine is a case of from one extreme to the other...

This was taken one evening during our family holiday to North Wales. We were staying in a converted barn on what had been a hill farm. We’d visit various places during the day and then in the evening we’d have our meal and then relax. This was taken after a nice G&T in a break from beating the girls at table football, or as the French call it, Babyfoot. This was one of the reasons that I chose it; the fact that it reminded me of such a lovely time, but also because it looked somewhat different. When it flew between perches it seemed to be an ordinary Common Blue. However when it landed it was anything but. Gone where the bold markings and not a trace of orange could be seen around the lunules. For a moment I wondered if there was a rouge breeder releasing exotic European species in the hills around Llangollen? I’ve seen ab.flavescens before but not to this extreme so I was wondering if it was ab.suffescens – whatever it was it was fantastic to see, so much so that I enjoyed another G&T in celebration.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

I'd forgotten about the mint fresh Common Blue I saw on 18th October on Lower Kilvey Hill in Swansea. That day I saw four of this species, including a female, but this male was the most eye-catching:

David M wrote: ↑Fri Nov 11, 2022 7:40 pm

Roger Gibbons wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 11:14 pm...And a female underside, beautifully boldly marked..

Amazing individual! Never seen one remotely like that, Roger.

Neither had I, David. I saw it in central France when it was in a Lucerne field, one of maybe 50 Common Blues none of which looked like this.

My (and Guy's) Dutch friend Peter Groenendijk has an excellent website http://www.anythingbutcommon.nl/

Roger

I am not at all sure how Common Blues really did around my patch this year, I didn't see that many but that may well be down to the constraints I had on actually getting out and looking during their spring and summer flight periods. As far as I am aware, there are still only two broods around here, I have certainly never seen a definite third brood example around here.
Consequently I don't have that many photos to pick from and my favourite shot of a male is probably this one taken at Warton Crag when we stopped off on our way to spending a few days in the Arnside & Silverdale area.
My favourite female is this blue example seen at Old Winchester Hill in early June when I visited there whilst we spent a few days visiting our daughter down in Emsworth.
I also like this more traditional looking brown summer brood female seen at my local spot at Blythe Valley in late July.
Cheers,

Valley

A particularly fine looking blue female, taken during the LTB extravaganza on the south coast is a standout butterfly for me

Visitors to my garden, a selection of Common blues, they seemed to more numerous than in previous years.

https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com