August 2021

[Bertl]

Seen my first red admirals of the year. Late for me here in my garden in Aberdeen. With the buddlea in bloom had half a dozen red admirals and tortoiseshell on the wing. Had one peacock but wouldn't stay still for a photo. Still no sightings of painted lady......disappointing but hopeful !!!

[bugboy]

If you live in or around Bristol and see a Camberwell Beauty, don't get too excited, someone's recently posted on Facebook releasing a batch of handreared

[Ian Pratt]

Grayling at Chobham Common last Monday. Richard Lewington describes the grayling as "a master of camouflage", and this is shown in one of the photos particularly.

[Ian Pratt]

A new butterfly site for me in Bedfordshire- Bromham Lake Local Nature Reserve. Wonderful wildflower meadow adjacent to the train mainline from St Pancras. 16 species of butterflies, moths and dragonflies seen including over 30 peacocks and brimstones, and a gorgeous couple of brown hawker dragonflies.

[Medard]

Yesterday 10-08-2021
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com/
In my Garden
1 newly emerged Painted Lady
1 Red Admiral
and
Late evening
1 Small Tortoiseshell
Near the Church of St Mary's , Wedmore
a Jersey Tiger Moth.

[sifenn]

Enjoying reading about other peoples trips and observations, so adding one to the thread.
I was dodging rain showers at Grafton Wood near Worcester earlier this week looking for Brown Hairstreak. Seems that Purple Hairstreak are very partial to Ash, and I was drawing a blank until I happened on this female on some bramble; we spent half an hour of quality time. Add in White Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary, including valezina, Wood White amongst others, and it made for a very agreeable day out.

[bugboy]

Enjoying reading about other peoples trips and observations, so adding one to the thread.
I was dodging rain showers at Grafton Wood near Worcester earlier this week looking for Brown Hairstreak. Seems that Purple Hairstreak are very partial to Ash, and I was drawing a blank until I happened on this female on some bramble; we spent half an hour of quality time. Add in White Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary, including valezina, Wood White amongst others, and it made for a very agreeable day out.
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The most interesting thing here is that the Wood Whites have double brooded. I didn't realise they did that so far north, particularly in a year that we've had.

[Stevieb]

A trip up north to visit relatives enabled me to call in to Smardale Gill for Scotch Argus. Good numbers about despite the overcast weather.

10th August

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[Allan.W.]

Some great shots there Stevie ! A butterfly that i must try to re-aquaint myself with, 40 years since i saw them last ,on a "lads"holiday then ...................didn,t really concentrate on the butterflies !
The Hemp Agrimony is in full flower now in Orlestone forest ,and is a magnet for the local butterfly population ,there were Peacocks and Red Admirals everywhere ! taking full advantage ,also probably the last White Admirals (3) that i,ll see this year ...........pretty tatty now !
Also saw 7 Silver washed Frittilary ,4 females and 3 males plus 3 Comma ,and very pleased to see 4 Small Tortoiseshells ,they seem to be doing pretty good this year locally ,don,t see too many most years in Orlestone .Surprisingly not a single "Blue" of any description ,maybe to late in the afternoon ,
also all 3 Whites ,Brimstone , Gatekeepers ,Meadow Browns, Small Skippers and a single Ringlet .
Regards Allan.W.

[millerd]

A trip up north to visit relatives enabled me to call in to Smardale Gill for Scotch Argus. Good numbers about...

I was there the same day, Stevie - I surely must have seen you at some point. There were indeed very good numbers of Scotch Argus around, and there was more sun in the afternoon too making them very active. The wild raspberries that feature in your shots were a bonus - as was this little chap seen near the car park.

I also spotted only one mating pair of Scotch Argus, which given the numbers of both male and female butterflies around was a bit surprising.

The difference between male and female butterflies is quite marked.

male

female

More details in my PD in a week or two.

Cheers,

Dave

[Padfield]

I know of two colonies of white-letter hairstreak in Woodbridge. One, in the meadow a couple of minutes walk from my house, is on Siberian elm, which flowers and comes into leaf early. I last saw an adult there on 6th August (a female, diving into the top of one of the elms). The other is associated with two other species of elm, including wych elm, by the river Deben. Today, though it was overcast, I spotted a female dive into the top of a wych elm and disappear. Taking random shots of the tree at different zooms, I managed to catch her (or another) in one of the pictures:



All the elms near the river flower and come into leaf later than the Siberian elm.

Yesterday, also under overcast skies, I saw at least three very tatty silver-washed fritillaries in Rendlesham Forest (between Woodbridge and the East Suffolk coast):





Guy

[essexbuzzard]

Second generation Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary at Porthcurno, Cornwall. Plus several Walls.

[essexbuzzard]

Several Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries, second generation, just south of Kynance Cove. Weather: cloudy.

[Stevieb]

I was there the same day, Stevie - I surely must have seen you at some point.

I'm sure you did David. I was there 'till about 11:00 (just before the sun came out!!) and said a passing hello to a few guys with cameras.
Maybe we should get UKB badges so we know we are fellow advocates of this site!

[millerd]

I was there the same day, Stevie - I surely must have seen you at some point.

I'm sure you did David. I was there 'till about 11:00 (just before the sun came out!!) and said a passing hello to a few guys with cameras.
Maybe we should get UKB badges so we know we are fellow advocates of this site!

It's either that or develop a secret handshake... I arrived about 10, but was waylaid by the squirrel so didn't reach the butterflies until the time you'd have been leaving. Still, you missed the brief downpour as well as the sunshine! There was at least one other UKB devotee there as well, as I discovered later.

Cheers,

Dave

[zigzag_wanderer]

Saw my first Clouded Yellow of the year whilst I was tucking into my lunchtime sarnie at work today.

Not too much else to report this week. The adult cinnamon bugs are back (they may never have gone away) and we found a deceased Poplar Hawkmoth that had got itself trapped between two overlapping sheets of plastic mesh. These are held quite tightly together so it must've been a squeeze for it to get in and unfortunately it wasn't able to get out. Never great to see something dead that you don't see alive.

I did spot a very small beetle that from above reminded me a little of Luis Suarez. Any idea on the species would be gratefully received.

[Andy02]

I was there the same day, Stevie - I surely must have seen you at some point.

I'm sure you did David. I was there 'till about 11:00 (just before the sun came out!!) and said a passing hello to a few guys with cameras.
Maybe we should get UKB badges so we know we are fellow advocates of this site!

It's either that or develop a secret handshake... I arrived about 10, but was waylaid by the squirrel so didn't reach the butterflies until the time you'd have been leaving. Still, you missed the brief downpour as well as the sunshine! There was at least one other UKB devotee there as well, as I discovered later.

Cheers,

Dave

Yes. Good to meet you both. You will be pleased to know that by the time I walked back to the car park , I was soaked from head to foot. And not for the first time this year

[David M]

A trip up north to visit relatives enabled me to call in to Smardale Gill for Scotch Argus. Good numbers about despite the overcast weather.

Nice work, Steve. It's a great site, isn't it?

Shows how late the season is when aethiops is as fresh as that going into mid-August

[Stevieb]

Nice work, Steve. It's a great site, isn't it?

It certainly is David (once you've navigated the narrow lanes to get there )

[Trev Sawyer]

I think Zigzag's "Luis Suarez beetle" is in fact one of the Capsid Bugs - Possibly Lygus pratensis - coincidentally, also endowed with strong piercing mouthparts