Hi Pauline, apologies for the delayed response, I have been away for a few days and missed your comment before I went. Female Hawk moths do attract males with pheromones and it is not unusual for them to sit tight when the weather is a bit iffy. As far as I know pheromones don't become 'exhausted' and are produced as long as she requires them.
Cheers Wurzel, I know what you mean about the Vapourer Moths Brown Hairstreak impressions...same size and colour in flight, same habit of flying high up around trees. I am convinced that a lot of spurious sightings at this time of year are down to this species.
Anyway, some catching up to do again.
Arnside/Silverdale - July 30th to August 1st part 1.
At this time of year over the past few years we have often spent a few days up in the Arnside & Silverdale area, primarily to see Scotch Argus on Arnside Knott but also to visit a few other sites in the area to see what is about.
So it was that on Sunday 31st July we set off around mid-morning for the drive up the M6. Just over three hours later we were pulling into the car park at Wharton Crag which is a site we have often stopped off at first in the area. On the way up, the weather had been quite reasonable with plenty of blue sky and white clouds dotted about with the temperature on the car display drifting between 18 to 20 degrees. As we got closer to our destination, the clouds thickened up and turned grey and the temperature had dropped to 16 degrees by the time we reached Warton Crag. Getting out of the car it immediately became evident that a cool breeze was also blowing so Jane decided to stop with the car and read her kindle whilst I had a walk up the crag. Higher up the crag, the breeze that could be felt in the car park was a blustery wind blowing straight in off Morecambe Bay which made it feel quite nippy up there. A search of some sheltered spots turned up a few Meadow Browns and Small Skippers but that was all that was braving the conditions and they were soon whipped away in the wind if they ventured out of shelter. A single Red Admiral was also spotted and a couple of Speckled Wood were along the path through the trees to the car park.
We then decided to carry on into Arnside to grab a coffee and with a couple of hours spare before checking into our B&B, go up to Arnside Knott for a look...
Scotch Argus.
It was still mostly overcast and windy as we carried on up to The Knott, plus there was a bit of occasional drizzle in the air, but nevertheless I felt confident that I would be able to find some Scotch Argus tucked away in some of the sheltered spots where they can usually be found. I have often read that this is a species that requires full sun to fly but my own previous experience here has shown me that as long as the air temperature is reasonable - around 16c or more - then they can often be found flying, although admittedly not in the same numbers as on a sunny day.
From the car park I made my way around to one of the sheltered lower slopes on the higher part of the knot (if that makes sense) where the air temperature felt a bit warmer and sure enough within minutes spotted the distinctive, almost black, shape of a male Scotch Argus lazily flapping about above the grass. This first individual soon settled and I got a couple of underside shots before he was up and away again and I lost him over a large patch of brambles.
- Scotch Argus male - Arnside Knott 30.07.2017
After this first one, I soon spotted a few more and during the course of the next hour or so that I spent around this spot, I reckon I saw between 20 to 25 in total, both males and females in all sorts of conditions.
- Scotch Argus female - Arnside Knott 30.07.2017
- Scotch Argus male - Arnside Knott 30.07.2017
- Scotch Argus male & female - Arnside Knott 30.07.2017
- Scotch Argus male - Arnside Knott 30.07.2017
- Scotch Argus female - Arnside Knott 30.07.2017
- Scotch Argus female - Arnside Knott 30.07.2017
We then carried on to check into our B&B.
After some heavy overnight rain, the following day (Monday July 31st) started off cloudy and windy again so we spent the morning at RSPB Leighton Moss. By late morning, the cloud had started to break up a bit and although it was still breezy, with some nice sunny spells developing I decided to go back up the Knott for another visit.
This time I checked out some of the other spots where I have previously seen Scotch Argus as well as the lower clearings where High Brown Fritillaries can usually be found (more on these to come). Whilst looking around one of these lower clearings I was surprised to see a male Scotch Argus, never having previously seen one in these lower meadows before. Quite possibly he had been caught up in the wind and been blown down here.
- Scotch Argus male seen in the lower clearing - Arnside Knott 31.07.2017
Moving back up to the higher part of the knot and with a few decent sunny spells, more Scotch Argus were on the wing and they were far more active than the previous day.
- Scotch Argus female - Arnside Knott 31.07.2017
- Scotch Argus male - Arnside Knott 31.07.2017
- Scotch Argus female - Arnside Knott 31.07.2017
- Scotch Argus female - Arnside Knott 31.07.2017
- Scotch Argus 3 males - Arnside Knott 31.07.2017
- Scotch Argus male - Arnside Knott 31.07.2017
My final visit to The Knott was late on the morning of Tuesday ( August 1st), again to take advantage of a spell of reasonable weather. This time I was mostly on the lookout for Graylings which I had not yet seen here this time, but of course I also kept an eye out for Scotch Argus.
- Scotch Argus female - Arnside Knott 01.08.2017
- Scotch Argus female - Arnside Knott 01.08.2017
- Scotch Argus male - Arnside Knott 01.08.2017
As well as similar numbers to the previous days I also spotted a mating pair which flushed from the grass right next one of the paths as I was walking past. I watched as they fluttered a short distance and came to land on a bramble leaf with the male just hanging there, which gave me a good opportunity for a couple of photos before the female must have decided she didn't like being on view and flew off again dragging the male behind her.
- Scotch Argus pair - Arnside Knott 01.08.2017
I find Scotch Argus can be a tricky butterfly to take photos of. They are easily found at Arnside Knott, especially when it is sunny, but in these conditions the males especially never seem to stop flying. Also, the combination of bright sunlight and rich dark brown butterfly can be tricky to get right and this is one species that I find looks much better in cloudy conditions and softer light.
As well as the Scotch Argus I saw another 15 species of butterfly in the area. More details and photos of these to come when I have sorted through them.
Bye for now,
Neil.
The Large Skippers are note worthy as well as they are all bu got round my way 
).
I agree that the season seems very mixed up at the moment. Small Tortoiseshells have disappeared again near me, but there have been lots of larval nests (at least before the strimming and mowing armies ripped several to shreds), so I expect another brood to appear any time soon.
