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Dingy Skipper - Favourite Photo of 2018

Week 4

Another week passes and still the butterflies fly…just in some cases. Still only another 20 weeks or so and we’ll be back in the butterflies. In the mean time…

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

Yet again, fresh examples of this species keep eluding me.

It's not uncommon near to where I live but my late May trip to the Pyrenees always seems to coincide with its emergence.

Here's a tatty one I saw when I returned from France in early June, on Fairwood Common, Gower, where the Marsh Fritillary colonies are to be found:

Mells Yard, Somerset. The first time I have seen one of my favourite butterflies here for a fair few years. Welcome back!

A very photogenic butterfly, I always find.

This one was taken in June at my Asian fritillary site:



Guy

I saw plenty of Dingy Skippers in May, whilst looking for Dukes at a quarry in Bedfordshire. However, my favorite photograph was taken in Dorset on 2 August, whilst walking up the cliff path back from the beach. Unfortunately, the butterfly was some distance above the path and it was not possible to get a better photograph without risking life and limb. This was the first time I have encountered second brood Dingy Skipper in UK which is why I have chosen it.

This fresh female Dingy was the only one I photographed this year. It was at Chambers Farm Wood, Lincolnshire, in late May, and to be honest, this species was largely being overlooked, as the main attention was on the huge numbers of Marsh Fritillaries on the wing, following a population explosion.

My first ever second brood gets my vote, I like the shape of the wings from this angle

My long distance Lens was out of service when I took my shots of the Dingy, so I'd to make do with with a close up lens trouble was the Butterfly never close enough but at least I saw it 26th May Gait Barrow Goldie

I spent a happy afternoon on 20th May taking hundreds of pictures of a large Dingy Skipper emergence at my local patch, Kiplingcotes Chalk Pit. My favourite was this, which really illustrates the diminuitive size of the species!

This one was taken during a Spring walk amongst the Bluebells at the BBOWT Warburg reserve near Henley on Thames. Despite the distractions from a Grand-child, I grabbed this shot of a Dingy Skipper, looking very strongly marked in the bright sunshine:
Mike

I didn't have much luck with this species in 2017, so I was pleased to get a couple of decent shots this year, one basking on a glorious sunny evening, and the other still at roost on a cool and misty morning.
Mill Hill, 8th May 2018, 6.25pm
Kithurst flower meadow, 12th May 2018, 11.27am

They will look much better if you click on them!

Cheers
John W

I only saw Dingy Skippers a few times this year and am going for this example seen at Bishops Hill in Warwickshire where they were flying in good numbers when I went in mid-May.
Cheers,

Neil.

My two pics are from Samphire Ho ! near Dover ,a pair the first I,ve seen ,so I was very pleased to see them ,a small isolated colony
at the foot of the cliffs at Lydden Spout ,accessible from Samphire Ho! and right on the beach .
The singleton was from a small site near Crundale ,Kent …..a site where they seem to be in decline,i used to find twenty/thirty most visits .but in recent times ,you,re lucky to see two or three .

My choice is from their surprise appearance (for me at least!) at Banks Common, Bookham on 22nd May. There were several flying and it will be interesting to see how they fare in 2019, as I had no idea they were here at all. Dave

Dingy Skipper

2018 was a good year for me with Dingy Skippers as I saw several second brood individuals at two sites. My favourite however came from the first brood in the second week of May from Martin Down. The day before had been dreadful but somehow I managed to wangle an extra trip back there the following day. Not only was a treated to a plethora of spring butterflies but also this cracking shot of a Dingy on a Common Purple Orchid, a nice addition to one of my many collections and not the last entry to this particular one...
Have a goodun

Wurzel