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Small Skipper - Favourite Photo 2016

Week 17

Only 4 weeks remaining of this series - and therefore probably only 2-3 weeks until the Hibernators start putting in regular appearances!

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

One of the best spots I regularly visit to see Small Skippers is up at Allerthorpe in Yorkshire. There are no Essex Skippers to confuse them with and there are good numbers in July. Here's one from 23rd.They are around on my local patch as well, but are outnumbered by their Essex cousins here. Dave

These were few and far between in my local haunts down south and I only saw them in any real numbers at Arnside Knott, sharing the flowers with Scotch Argus

'Bout the same as usual for these round my way - though a budding new colony was decimated by some inopportune Local Council/Highways Agency mowing on the approach to the sliproad of the new A46 a short walk from my village.

1. Uppers from a strip of agricultural land left fallow in the Vale of Belvoir in late July
2. Unders from the same location two weeks earlier.

I saw my Small Skipper's at Southport Dunes and HLB on the 6th and 13th July, they were few and far between up here last year so I took very few shots of them. Goldie

The Small Skipper has been present in the Scottish Borders now for a decade and a bit. In that time they have shown an easterly bias.The easterly bias continued as they invaded East Lothian taking advantage of open coastal grasslands and golf course roughs. They have now conquered as far as the city of Edinburgh with Skippers now present on Arthurs Seat. Inland encounters had been seldom until a few years ago when silly numbers bagn turning up in woodland clearings, 50, 60...then 100, 200...So this year I was alerted to a private woodland site near Westruther Berwickshire. I was told that there could be up to 500 Small Skipper present. So I was invited up to see for myself. I counted easily 500, and when considering that the sun had not been shining and it was cool, I think that in such a small and enclosed clearing that there may have been in excess of 1000 Skippers crammed in. They show no signs of slowing down there march north and I would easily see this species beyond Edinburgh in the next few years. This particular Skipper in the photo was one of a dozen in a much smaller community in early July where they have been recorded now for a decade.

I suspect a lot of Small Skippers are photographed in the hope that they may be Essex

In fact, when i was searching through my 2016 photos, the one I initially chose for this post turned out, on closer inspection to be a probable Essex! No doubt about this one, however, which is proudly displaying her 'orange tip' credentials.
Mike

Really high numbers for me in 2016,one of the best areas was around the gravel pits at Lade in Kent (opposite the "listening ears),seeing easily 100+ ,on several occasions,mixed in with a few Essex Skips,posted a male and a female. regards Allan.W.

Along with most of the 'common' grassland species around my patch in 2016, Small Skippers could be found in all the usual spots in good numbers albeit not as numerous as previous years.
Cheers,

Neil

Small Skipper

I didn’t have a very good year with this species – there seemed to be fewer around, I had fewer opportunities to find them and when they were around there was always something else which vied for my attention more successfully.
This shot was taken at Larkhill and is my fave not only because it was my first for the year but also because it was a cracking individual which should have served as a reminder to focus more on them – something I intend to do next year.
Have a goodun

Wurzel