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Post by shirl100 on Jul 28, 2015 17:10:05 GMT
My first Small Copper of the year with the blue spot aberration (caeruleopunctata), hopefully I will spot more of these next month
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Post by aeshna5 on Jul 28, 2015 18:24:47 GMT
My first Small Copper of the year with the blue spot aberration (caeruleopunctata), hopefully I will spot more of these next month Nice one Shirl- not an aberration I've seen. Haven't seen many Small Coppers this year. Been fairly cool today so not seen many butterflies- a couple of Small Whites, a Large White + my BOTD- a Red Admiral.
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Post by shirl100 on Jul 29, 2015 10:58:55 GMT
Hardly any Small Coppers near me at the moment but usually a good number of them have the aberration, looking forward to the sunshine bringing them out. This morning 9C on my dog walk, but managed some Meadow Browns and a Gatekeeper, maybe better later.
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Post by retrieverman on Jul 29, 2015 13:38:41 GMT
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Post by shirl100 on Jul 31, 2015 16:28:33 GMT
My butterfly today has to be White Letter Hairstreak, my first ever sighting of one so I am so happy! Shirl WLH_NSC by Shirley Freeman, on Flickr
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Post by aeshna5 on Jul 31, 2015 18:02:50 GMT
Lovely photo Shirl. Most of the time I just seem them fluttering around the elm tops though I did get next to one sitting on Ragwort a couple of weeks ago.
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Post by aeshna5 on Aug 1, 2015 18:57:18 GMT
A little while before we eventually saw my target species at Chobham. We walked into an area of small heather + bare ground when I spotted 2 butterflies chasing each other over the heath. I was pretty sure they were my target- Grayling + then one of them perched in front of us giving a fine view of its closed underwing-so beautifully intricate.
In total we eventually saw 6 or 7 but the real highlight was watching a female Grayling beside the path which my partner realised was laying an egg on a fine grass. I then saw her lay a second white egg on a nearby piece of grass- wonderful to observe.BOTD for sure!
Surprised to still see a faded female Silver-studded Blue, a couple of male Large Skippers too + singletons of Ringlet + Small Heath. Most numerous was Gatekeeper + good to see fresh Brimstone too.
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Post by petecollins on Aug 2, 2015 15:19:12 GMT
Small Copper, Studham Common Small Copper, Studham Common My Botd are my first Small Coppers of the year, which I saw at Studham Common this afternoon. I made the 3-mile trip there specifically to look for them as it's a fairly reliable site for them (though I didn't see any about three weeks ago when I went on a cooler and cloudier day). As it happens, my mother thinks she saw one in our back garden just before I went to Studham! Anyway it was a very good day for butterflies in the garden - Gatekeepers, Large White, Comma, Peacock, Brimstone, Meadow Brown and two rare visitors, a Common Blue and a very fresh-looking Painted Lady. Common Blue, Kensworth I also went for a stroll round the Ivinghoe Hills this morning and saw a few Chalkhill Blues and a Marbled White.
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Post by aeshna5 on Aug 2, 2015 17:36:25 GMT
My BOTD was Brown Argus- second generation.Had about 6 locally + also some fresh Common Blues.
Other highlights were a couple of Small Coppers + several newly emerged Peacocks feeding up.
Around the garden the most Large (also plenty of Small) whites around the garden.
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Post by htcdude on Aug 3, 2015 13:43:52 GMT
Gatekeeper seen around the garden again yesterday was a highlight.
Nige
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Post by Tringa on Aug 6, 2015 8:41:28 GMT
Nothing uncommon (just as well or I would not have recognised them) but Large Whites, Red Admirals and Peacocks at Beneden in Kent yesterday. The 'Butterfly Bush' they were on really lived up to its name.
Dave
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Post by aeshna5 on Aug 6, 2015 18:18:12 GMT
Seems to be a really good year for Large Whites. The last couple of years have been poor for them here so as a non-cabbage grower I really love watching these large butterflies.
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Post by shirl100 on Aug 8, 2015 15:09:16 GMT
My firs Holly Blue sighting of the year this afternoon
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Post by aeshna5 on Aug 8, 2015 18:14:19 GMT
One of my top butterfly days of the year on a trip to Denbies today. We had 22 species with:
Large White 4 Green-veined white 2+ Small White 6+ Brimstone 10 Clouded Yellow 1 male (year 1st) Painted Lady 1 Comma 2 Peacock 1 Dark Green Fritillary 1 Silver-washed Fritillary 1 Small Copper 2 Chalkhill Blue 1000+ (1st for year) Common Blue 10+ Holly Blue 3 Brown Argus 2 Meadow Brown c50 Gatekeeper c40 Speckled Wood 3 Marbled White 2 Small Heath 1 Small Skipper 6 Silver-spotted Skipper 7 (1st for year)
Wonderful to see the abundance of Chalkhill Blues though not quite the clouds of them of 2 +3 years ago.
Highlights included a fresh Painted Lady on Marjoram below me, finally tracking down Silver-spotted Skippers before seeing several, a settled Dark Green Fritillary (highlight for my partner) + having just said I probably won't see a Clouded Yellow as few have been reported, I looked round + there was one looking superb + settled on Scabious, even sharing it with a Silver-spotted Skipper. Butterfly heaven!
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Post by htcdude on Aug 8, 2015 21:43:31 GMT
Still a great number of them! I remember that 'cloud', one of my most memorable wildlife moments My BotD my first Holly Blue for a while. Nige
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