Long-tailed Blue?

[riswey]

could this possibly be a long-tailed blue? Not visible in the picture but the tails caught my interest. Seen in garden today 14/8/2015 in Sevenoaks, Kent (apologies for quality of photo)

[NickMorgan]

Yes, definitely a Long-tailed Blue. Fantastic!

[riswey]

still pinching myself! Can't believe it! Thanks for the confirmation.

[David M]

Excellent sighting!! I wonder if the recent southerly winds have brought them over?

[Chris Jackson]

Looks good to me.
I see them every lunchtime in the South of France. Very common.
I appreciate your excitement. How lucky you are.
Chris

[riswey]

Ya extreme surprisal value up here!!! Most unexpected! Had casually assumed it was just an energetic one of our holly blues... POW!

[selbypaul]

Brilliant stuff, well spotted!

[Pieter Vantieghem]

In Belgium there is an influx of long-tailed blues the last few weeks. There has been sightings at some 25 to 30 locations involving some 35 butterflies. This is more than with the influx of 2 years ago when there were sightings at some 15 locations (with some 35 sightings in total prior to 2013 in Belgium).
http://waarnemingen.be/soort/view/748

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks for the news Pieter. Please keep us updated on Long-tailed Blue activity on your patch. I know that this species has been seen in unusually high numbers in Normandy over the same period.

If it had not been for the collapse of the late summer weather, I suspect we would have seen an invasion of the UK to rank with 2013. A few have made it over The Channel, and probably a lot more than we realise, but I suspect (sadly ) that the impetus has been largely lost. However, given a couple of warm, sunny days and favourable winds, we could be in luck.

You will hopefully start seeing beautiful, fresh, home-grown boeticus in late September.

BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Now confirmed as flying in Sussex. See http://www.sussex-butterflies.org.uk/sightings.html
BWs, Neil

[Pieter Vantieghem]

Hi Neil, thanks for the update. However, on the link you post I read:

Unprecedented numbers (200+) have been seen in Belgium during August,

This is not true, most probably those numbers came from the website I posted earlier (http://www.waarnemingen.be) where people can post their observations and the numbers are a sum of all observations. Some of the long-tailed blues are however being twitched widely so the website I posted holds a lot of double sightings. For example In Ghent, just outside my work, there is a location with up to 6 long-tailed blues that have already been loaded up 60+ times to the website. The real numbers are however as posted previously, some 30 locations with some 40 butterflies since early july, most of the sightings were indeed in august. However this is still unprecedented as before the 2013 invasion Belgium only had some 35 sightings. During the 2013 invasion there were sightings at some 15 locations.

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks for the clarification Pieter. Some of the detail has literally been lost in translation! Yes, I took those numbers straight from that website you linked to, not realising that it contains so many repeat sightings. However, your adjusted figure is still impressive.

The good news is that boeticus has apparently still forged northwards, despite the awful weather we have experienced here through much of August, and against unfavourable winds. We are now getting a few records of adult females at work in Sussex (and further afield) and there is some evidence that they have arrived across a wide front. I myself have seen 2 'probables' in rapid flight, but not quite firm enough to be recorded.

I'm very optimistic about seeing fresh, UKB-born 'tails' in the second half of September. I'm sure that diligent searching of some of the 2013 UK hotspots would be rewarded. I reckon the best is yet to come.

BWs, Neil

[Vince Massimo]

The August tally is summarised here:

viewtopic.php?f=110&t=8520#p102857

Vince

[selbypaul]

Thanks for the clarification Pieter. Some of the detail has literally been lost in translation! Yes, I took those numbers straight from that website you linked to, not realising that it contains so many repeat sightings. However, your adjusted figure is still impressive.

The good news is that boeticus has apparently still forged northwards, despite the awful weather we have experienced here through much of August, and against unfavourable winds. We are now getting a few records of adult females at work in Sussex (and further afield) and there is some evidence that they have arrived across a wide front. I myself have seen 2 'probables' in rapid flight, but not quite firm enough to be recorded.

I'm very optimistic about seeing fresh, UKB-born 'tails' in the second half of September. I'm sure that diligent searching of some of the 2013 UK hotspots would be rewarded. I reckon the best is yet to come.

BWs, Neil

Fingers crossed for some decent late September weather to help them along. The forecast for this week and next week is very mixed

[David M]

The current northerly winds won't help them. A nice south-easterly would be good!

[bugboy]

I think we might be getting some southerly winds at the start of next week with this high pressure drifting over the UK