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I'm hoping that picture 1 is an Essex Skipper, a first for our garden.
The second picture from the previous day I'm less sure about; the view of the antennae is not so clear. Can anyone help?
Any opinions much appreciated, I'm contributing data to the Garden Butterfly Survey, so I want to get it right!

Alright James? The first is a definite Essex as you can see where it's been 'fingerprinted' on the antennae, you got the angle just right on that one I reckon the second is also an Essex as the antennae are drumstick shaped and doesn't have the little flicks at the tips and the dark 'pads' are in the correct place. Also to my eyes Essex look a little more yellow than Small Skipper which is more orange A nice addition to the garden list

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks for that, Wurzel.

I was lucky with the definite Essex which perched quite high up on a flower stalk, so I could angle the camera better. I''ll keep an eye out for colour differences, and antennae shapes in future too …

Cheers,

James