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Brown Argus - Favourite Photo of 2018

Week 2

Has it already been a week? Where did the time go? Things look to be getting a bit cooler and then very much so next weekend, fingers crossed they get it as wrong as usual

Anyway back to business here is round two of the Favourite photo thread. Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos as then it will be easier to keep track of things? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As in previous years 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 saw loads of Brown Argus this year but my favourite Has got to be the one I saw at Sea Salter Kent on the 18th of July.Goldie

Hi Goldie.

Goldie M wrote:I saw loads of Brown Argus this year but my favourite Has got to be the one I saw at Sea Salter Kent on the 18th of July.

I'm afraid that's a Common Blue.

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

There was a dearth of Brown Argus in Wales this year so it has been pleasing to see additional brood individuals from the south and south east lately.

The late spring played havoc with my timetable and I was unable to record any fresh specimens during the late May period.

This slightly shopsoiled individual crossed my path on 10th June after I'd returned from the French Pyrenees and I was very grateful to encounter it:

I rarely set out with the aim of seeing a Brown Argus but it is always a pleasure when one turns up. They often surprise me with their small-ness and the contrast between the pearl grey underside and the rich chocolate of their upper-side wings. This one was at Aston Rowant on a day when my 'target' was Adonis Blue but this was still a welcome find.
Mike

At millerd's recommendation, I have made several visits this year to Calley Heath, a small but diverse Yorkshire Wildlife Trust on my commute home. There is one tiny patch of rock-rose, strangely in what appears to be a fairly damp corner of the mostly dry and sandy reserve. I have found this patch to be fairly reliable for Brown Argus, and it creates the slightly strange opportunity to observe this species of dry grassland basking on the stems of rushes and sedges!

This particular photo I took in the evening sunshine on 6th September, having stopped on my way home from work. I believe it shows the snelleni aberration. I fully expected it to be my last record of Brown Argus for the year, until a surprise 3rd generation individual showed up on Walmgate Stray!

Thanks for that Mark, I'm a bit at six and sevens these days Here's a real Brown Argus 18th July Temple Ewell Goldie

Here's a Suffolk brown argus, photographed near Woodbridge after my return from Switzerland this year:



Guy

That's sublime, Guy. I just love the contrast between the brown ground colour and the orange lunules.

A nice fresh male on the Gatwick Airport transect.
Vince

I did have a nice one lined up until last Saturday, when this female appeared at Mill Hill and trumped everything else with her combination of near scale perfection and being so late in the season, possibly even a 4th brood?

Brown Argus seemed to have a good year around the country, at least for me they popped up regularly at most places that I visited. I often struggle to pick a favourite but this one qualifies as being from my local spot at Castle Hills near Solihull, simply for being the first one I have ever seen at this site.
I often see comments about individuals with small white spots on their forewings which is something that I seem to come across in most years as evidenced by these two below. These remind me of the salmacis NBA that I have seen around Arnside & Silverdale when I have visited that area and where examples with similar spots can often be seen, although they are nowhere near as pronounced as the 'proper' NBAs from north of the border which have white spots minus the black pupils.
Cheers,

Neil.

Brown Argus

This was taken in mid-June on the failed trip Philzoid and I made to Daneways for Large Blues. Whilst most of the day was a wash out (not literally but almost) there were a few highlight speckling amid the dull and drear. This Brown Argus was, for me, the main memorable sighting as it opened up despite the weather while precariously perched atop an Orchid. As well as being my favourite it also fell nicely into my ‘Butterfly vs Orchid’ collection, one of the latest additions, strangely enough, was a Large Blue from the very same site.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

Brown Argus had their best season in Somerset for some time, being particularly in evidence in July. This one was photographed in the flower-beds at Lytes Cary Manor.

I do a transect at Woodwalton Farm, Cambs. I had recorded a few Brown Argus and these are from an early evening visit 1st August. I don't take my camera along on transects, I'm easily distracted, it would take ages to get round

Here is a male Brown Argus from the south of France on Sticky Fleabane in mid October.
It was persistently courting a Lang's Short-tailed Blue .
Ah ..... those romantic Mediterranean BAs. Chris

The Brown Argus is a favourite of mine, i rarely capture any decent images of these little swines though!
I saw good numbers throughout the season, but it wasnt until October(3rd brood) that i really got lucky, an found a fresh female,
that was basking in the late afternoon. She just posed for me, on a perfect perch, low sun behind me, everthing kinda fell into place.
There was a bit of wind, an at times i did cast a shadow over her(because i was trying to achieve focus on all four wings etc).
So all in all, i managed to capture (for me) my best Brown Argus images to date. I think it will be sometime, before i get this species
to behave so well again!

Brown Argus (f) 3rd brood, Bredhurst, Kent. 10/10/18. Image is not cropped.

A male ,a female , and an underside .The male and underside were from the Orlestone forest in the first brood. Until recently
Brown Argus were pretty scarce in the forest ,with generally just a couple reported each season , but over the past 5 seasons ,more are being seen
each year ,and I had a count of 20 on one occasion this year.
The female is from Dungeness in mid- October ,and my last of 2018.

That final specimen is to die for, Allan.