Hello and many thanks for your kind comments. 211 is very high day count for the first brood - I had to cover a lot of ground to reach it! I've looked back at my notebooks and I've certainly never seen more first brood Coppers in a day since 2012. I've a sneaking suspicion that 2010 was better but s...

There was a real mix of weather at Dungeness today : One minute it was dull and chilly, then the next it was very warm and sunny. I had left Pip, my irrepressible Springer Spaniel, at home with his mum and so I could concentrate on Small Coppers rather than trying to keep track of him! And Coppers t...

AllanW wrote

I have done a short report but somehow managed to put it on DavidM's diary!

Allan, you didn't stop off at "The Pilot" to celebrate your radiata by any chance, did you?

Hoggers

The first brood of Small Coppers is well and truly out at Dungeness IMG_9786.JPG IMG_9715.JPG I had the distinct feeling they were emerging around me IMG_9769.JPG Certainly, they were getting straight down to business IMG_9754.JPG (And I was lucky enough to later find a second mating pair out on the...

Hello again ! My 2019 Small Copper season began today with three at Dungeness. I hadn't expected to see any because it was rather cold and dull when I set out this morning, so I didn't take my camera, but by the time I'd got there it was sunny enough to get the Coppers going despite a chilly breeze....

Hi Allan and David, I looked at the Dungeness Observatory website this morning and most tantalisingly the report for yesterday was "very fresh Small Coppers were seen " ! So maybe my prediction wasn't as bad as I thought! But as you say David, the Coppers better get on with business becaus...

Hi David, they've made a better job forecasting the weather than I have of predicting a fourth brood of Coppers! We/ve had generally fine sunny days of late with today being the absolute best of them : It was gorgeous at Dungeness this morning, bright sunshine, about 16C and not a puff of wind. Unfo...

Hi Maximus, I'm lucky enough to see varying degrees of extensa Coppers quite often at Dungeness, they are very eye catching. Hi David, being of a hopeful disposition and what with the outstanding weather we've been having of late, I'd have put money on there being a fourth brood this year. Unfortuna...

That made for fascinating reading- Thanks Vince.

I counted 12 coming into my bathroom this afternoon!

Here's a few! Hoggers

Over the past week I've noticed quite a lot of Ladybirds coming in to my house, mainly via the bedroom and bathroom windows. Yesterday, for example, I counted 4 coming in the bathroom window and 2 more in my bedroom. Last week they were particularly noticeable and I had about 10 come inside. I imagi...

Warm sunshine and just a gentle breeze this afternoon,much better than yesterday, so I headed down to Dungeness for a Copper Hunt. Not many left of the third brood IMG_9561.JPG IMG_9592.JPG IMG_9557.JPG But still a few attractive ones IMG_9583.JPG IMG_9573.JPG My total for today was 12 IMG_9598.JPG ...

Hello Allan, the weather was just amazing yesterday, so warm, sunny and calm - being stuck inside all day was torture! But not so good today, alas. Fortunately we did get some sunshine and it brought out the butterflies. At the moment my visits to Dungeness are more dog walk than Copper Hunt so I di...

Yesterday was absolutely glorious down here in Kent and every minute of it I was stuck at work wishing I was at Dungeness. Today when I did get down there it was dull and damp, so not promising for butterflies. I've trained Pip to point out Ornithologists P1070341.JPG We occupied ourselves with that...

Hi Ernie, at the moment I'd say young Pip is less of an asset to Copper Hunting and more of a hindrance but I've so quickly got used to him being with me that I can't imagine going to Copperness without him! Hopefully he'll calm down somewhat as time goes by ( i.e., in the next 12 years!! ) As for t...

Last Saturday was cold and dull so Pip and I saw only one Small Copper when we visited Dungeness. Today was much better Warm and sunny and Coppers on display IMG_9489.JPG IMG_9487.JPG Pip's Copper Hunting skills are still at the basic stage : I see things go flying up out of the grass as he capers a...

Thanks David, he's certainly very keen although I'm not sure yet whether it's Coppers he's after or bird watchers : he introduced himself to quite a few of the latter who I got the impression would rather have met him another time and not when they were looking for an elusive Wryneck! He's a friendl...

Hi Goldie and David, I get the impression that more people are spotting Small Coppers this September than at any time for many years and I can only think the long hot summer has done it. Today started off dull and rather cool with thick grey cloud cover. I had little hope of doing any Coppering at D...

It was very warm and bright when I got home from work today. I went straight back out, this time with Pip in tow, and headed to my newly discovered local Small Copper site. Sure enough I found Small Coppers in exactly the same place as before IMG_9352.JPG Today I counted 5 IMG_9336.JPG IMG_9340.JPG ...

Hi Wurzel, I'd never have though of that in a million years! What an imaginative and insightful suggestion! I've often wondered how Small Coppers look to other Small Coppers, but never thought to consider how Small Coppers look to hungry birds! We normally see more Blue Badgers in the second and thi...

Hi Goldie, I'm just catching up on your diary and delighted to see your Small Coppers!

Looks like you hit the Copper Jack Pot!

All the best

Hoggers