Skippers

[Rebecca]

Hello all.
As I finished work for the summer last Thursday (yes!!) I have had more time to go out and about. On Monday I decided to take the dogs and my camera for a stroll in the woods next to the farm to look for newly emerged peacocks. On the way i stopped by some oak trees and discovered we have a small colony of purple hairstreaks which certainly brightened my day
Anyway I digress. I took several pictures of skippers which I thought were large and small but I'm uncertain. I think one may be an Essex? I thought I was getting good at this identifying malarky but am struggling with the skippers.

[Vince Massimo]

Hi Rebecca,

I don't think any of them are Essex I'm afraid.

The first is a Large Skipper which has pointier wings than the others and you can just see the "window" markings on the undersides.

The other two appear to be Small Skippers judging by the lack of black on the undersides of the antennae. Interestingly however they both look quite fresh. At this time of year Small Skippers are looking quite tatty and worn, while Essex Skippers, which emerge later, should be fresher.

Vince.

[JohnR]

The other two appear to be Small Skippers judging by the lack of black on the undersides of the antennae. Interestingly however they both look quite fresh. At this time of year Small Skippers are looking quite tatty and worn, while Essex Skippers, which emerge later, should be fresher.
Vince.

Went out on my usual patch of S.W. Surrey today to show the county recorder the large numbers of Small Skippers that I have been seeing over recent weeks to find the numbers right down but on one thistle head there was a Small and my first Essex of the season on two adjacent flowers. My camera? left it at home.

[Rebecca]

Thank you for your reply. When i saw them I knew it was a large and small but started to have doubts when i loaded the images onto my pc. Should trust my own judgement better I think! Thank you for the confirmation, its very much appreciated.