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Northern Brown Argus - Favourite Photo 2016

Week 11

Week 11 and time to wish everyone a Merry Solstice and then a Happy Christmas!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos - just to make it easier to organise and keep everything on track so that we can enjoy this throughout the winter months? 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 had been hoping to find Northern Brown Argus ssp. salmacis in the Arnside area on my way back from Scotland around 9th/10th June but was surprised to find them already on the wing at Warton Crag when I stopped off there on 3rd June on my way to Arnside during my extended trip up north this year. I subsequently also found them also flying at Arnside Knot and Gait Barrows over the next couple of days, their emergence no doubt prompted by the decent spell of weather they had enjoyed in that part of the world in the previous couple of weeks.
Cheers,

Neil.

Am I allowed to load both Scottish & English race/ saw both 1st week in July. Burnmouth Scotland & Bishop Middleham quarry England

EricY wrote:Am I allowed to load both Scottish & English race

Nice to see both versions Eric

Not the very best season for Northern Brown Argus in the Scottish Borders especially on the coast though inland they fared only a little better. Too many overcast and cool days inland, and on the coast Spring warmth was hampered by east winds. The photos here are from several sites. The first from the Whiteadder banks at Foulden in the agricultural heartland of East Berwickshire on the steep grassland banks that still retain Rockrose. There is nothing stranger than finding this species at this site surrounded by a desert of Wheat and Barley. This small but very successful colony were very numerous the day I visited which was nice to see. The second photo is from the Partanhall, Burnmouth site. This site has suffered from Rabbit grazing this past few years, and although the Rockrose remains intact, the longer sward that the adults need for roosting and perching is now non existent. More importantly grass tussocks create micro climates amongst Rockrose that females can lay eggs..so the females have struggled to find decent spots and have tended to overload plants underneath scrub by the tracks where the Rabbits cant get to. The third photo is from the higher altitudes of the Lammermuir hills taken during a field trip to Abbey St Bathans in July. This was the first time I had seen this site and was greatly surprised to see so many despite the kind of season it had been. In warm overcast conditions there were plenty flying around a small dean with a number of other species including the ever expanding Small Skipper. The upland Deans are very important refuges now for the Butterfly however many of them are falling victim to tree planting schemes to encourage wildlife ironically.

That penultimate specimen makes me drool, Iain. What a beauty!