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Small Skipper - Favourite Photo of 2015

Week 17

Another week and another step closer to the season beginning - still no butterflies for me so I will just have to continue to enjoy the offerings from 2015

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As like last year 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.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I've seen so many head-on photos of Essex Skippers, showing the black antenna tips so, for a change, here is a head-on Small Skipper, proudly demonstrating that it's not an Essex
Mike

A mating pair (the first of this species I saw in 2015) at Fermyn Woods on 18th July is the only image I took of Small Skipper last year:

A couple of similar pictures taken two months and several hundred miles apart. A male from Bedfont Lakes C.P. (25th June)...
...and another male seen on the Wolds Way near Millington in Yorkshire on 23rd August I also like this one (a female), rather typically posed, also from Bedfont a few days later than the one above (3rd July) Dave

My photos of the Small Skipper were taken at Warton Craig in July they seem to be every where, one of the nice day's which were few and far between last year in the North except for Sept/Oct when it was great. Goldie

Small Skippers were one of the species that were a bit late turning up around my local spots in 2015 with my first one not seen until late June. When they did eventually emerge in numbers there were loads of them all through July and well into August.

The first one seen on June 27th,
I have never seen much variation in Small Skippers so I was intrigued by the white patches on this one,
A mating pair seen at Gait Barrows when I was up there in late July,
and one from the park by my moms house in August. This shot taken whilst checking for Essex Skippers which seemed to be around in even greater numbers than the Smalls at a some sites.
Cheers,

Neil.

Small skipper from Holmsley Inclosure (New Forest) in late July.

It seemed to be a good year for these at most the places I saw them but it was at Hadleigh Country Park in Essex where I saw them in huge numbers alongside the equally numerous Essex Skippers.

Small Skipper

This had to be my favourite Small Skipper shot of the year due to the unusual pose the butterfly threw. I’d stopped off at Larkhill and unbeknownst to me I’d picked up a hitchhiker. This is normally a euphemism for getting a Tick but this one was much more welcome than the usual blood suckers! After I realised what is was I pulled over but struggled to cajole it out of the car and I didn’t want to lower the electric window for fear of dragging it into the mechanism. Besides it seemed to be pondering its’ own reflection. Eventually it must have gotten bored and made its own way out through the open door. As I drove onto work I wondered if this had happened before and then I remembered that this was similar to the explanation for the expansion of the Essex Skipper – only they are
transported as eggs. Have a goodun

Wurzel