www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Season is winding down now, but there could still be a few surprises.

Lots of Red Admirals (40+) seen on the Swansea coast this afternoon, along with 10 or so Small Whites, 2 Commas and a Painted Lady:

Pristine Holly Blue today near Goodwood took me by surprise!

A remarkable day at a beautiful location and butterflies galore. That was Winspit, Dorset today, a day rivalling any summers day. Red Admirals were everywhere, some appearing to leave out to sea, but not that many. Most were sailing around and others were nectaring on ivy. Great to see a male Clouded Yellow, embarrassingly only my first Clouded Yellow since 25th March which was at Southbourne!

100+ Red Admirals
25 Peacocks, including an individual which I thought was an ab. but I think in may have been stained with punctured body juices, it was alert and healthy though.
2 Painted Ladies
Clouded Yellow a male heading north
Comma
Wall Brown
Small Heath
3 Speckled Woods
Adonis Blue
Up to 10 Common Blues
3 Small Coppers
c.30 Large Whites
c.20 Small Whites

As well as butterflies I saw Wall Lizard, and birds included 2 Raven, 2 Peregrines, Wheatear

Regards
Mike Gibbons

Amazing numbers and variety, Mike.

I reckon that the intensity of the blue colouring makes that Common Blue an Adonis. You may be able to add another species to your list!

Dave

O3rd October
A walk along the Perranuthnoe to Cudden Point Coast Path in West Cornwall produced the following species:-
Clouded Yellow (9, inc 2 f.helice), Red Admiral (19), Large White (12), Small Copper (18), Peacock (1), Small White (3), Wall (4), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Small Heath (1) & Painted Lady (1). 10 species a very pleasing result for October.

Third brood Brown Argus (and others) seen on 2nd October in Middlesex
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Dave

Scott Barron wrote: Clouded Yellow (9, inc 2 f.helice), Red Admiral (19), Large White (12), Small Copper (18), Peacock (1), Small White (3), Wall (4), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Small Heath (1) & Painted Lady (1). 10 species a very pleasing result for October.

That's a mammoth total for this time of year, Scott.

Impressive stuff, and I only wish my part of the country afforded similar late season opportunities!

I think you are right Dave, it is an Adonis Blue. I had never seen one this late before so I presumed it was a bright male Common Blue. I had my suspicions as it contrasted vividly with the Commons, but the penny didn't drop. Checking previous records I see they can be on the wing well into October. I did get another pic of it partially showing the underside along with an ageing male Common Blue. Thanks for upping my October total Dave!

Regards
Mike

A rather worn Speckled Wood seen in Black Poplar Woods at WWT Llanelli yesterday (13/10) and several RAs and Large Whites seen at RSPB Newport the day before (12/10). Although the highlight was a Hobby at Newport and a couple of Curlew Sandpipers at Llanelli.

Kevin.

Third brood Holly Blues still flying here in Middlesex today.
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Dave

Small Whites and Red Admirals still on the wing in Somerset and Oxfordshire this weekend.

Walk along sunny sea front at Walton-on-the-Naze; 2 Large White, 1 Red Admiral and my first Clouded Yellow of the year!

Regards, Nick

Red Admirals at ivy blossom in north Somerset today. This one looked scale-perfect.

I saw a Red Admiral in Epsom yesterday, enjoying the sunshine and ivy blossom. It was around 12 degrees.

Just back from Portugal, not expecting much by way of butterflies but saw the following:
Red admiral
Wall brown
Speckled wood
Large white
Swallowtail
Long -tailed blue
Clouded yellow
Small copper.
Mostly seen at Sintra National Park ,west of Lisbon. Not sure about the photo of the long-tailed blue. Please correct me if it is another species.
The swallowtail was one of two pairs hill-topping at the highest point in the Park. Unfortunately they refused to pose close enough for me to get a decent photograph of the upper side. I was very pleased to see them all.

Hi Ian,

Your Long Tailed Blue is in fact a Geranium Bronze.

I saw these in Greece in the summer and they must be pretty widespread throughout southern Europe! They are normally found near their namesake, the larval host plant.

Smashing photos.

Kind regards

Lee

That looks like a Geranium Bronze to me, Ian. That's a lovely Speckled Wood by the way. I love the continental version. The Swallowtail shots are great, too.

Dave

This afternoon (25th October) was warm and sunny with very little wind so I popped up to Ballard Down near Swanage to see if anything was flying. I was hoping to see Clouded Yellow as they have been reported elsewhere recently, and as soon as I arrived at about 15:30 I saw 2 Clouded Yellow flying up, down and along the hillside. They did not settle to be photographed however. A little later at about 16:15 I was surprised to see what I thought was a Wall Brown but was not close enough to get a positive id. Then a few minutes later it reappeared from about half way up the hill and settled near me to pose and have its photo taken, and I was able to confirm that it was a female Wall Brown. This is quite late in the season for the Wall butterfly so probably it is a 3rd brood?

Thanks for confirmation as to the blue.
I did see a definite long-tailed blue on the Douro in Regua but no decent photo.