Thanks David. Summer Small Tortoiseshells tend to appear around here in early June although occasionally a few put in an appearance in late May. It would not be unusual to see new Summer ones here with a few old hibernators still hanging around.
Friday 13th May.
Just some more garden stuff for now I’m afraid.
Wednesday (11th) was a horrible day, wet and windy for most of it. No butterflies seen.
Thursday was a bit brighter but still mostly cloudy with a stiff breeze. I took Jane down to Stratford Hospital to see her Mom. Still only one visitor allowed in at a time so I had a wander along the river. No butterflies seen again.
Today (Friday 13th) started off cloudy and breezy again but this afternoon brightened up a bit with some nice sunny spells although that blustery wind was still very much in evidence.
It was nice enough to bring the usual butterflies out although most of them were being blown about a fair bit. This actually worked in my favour, especially with the Holly Blues as it kept them flying lower rather than high up around the shrubs as is their usual habit.
A couple of weeks back I mentioned that I don’t often get the chance to get open wing shots of Holly Blues but since then they have made a liar of me as they have been performing unusually well for me here. In fact, I have taken more Holly Blue photos so far this year than I have of both broods over the past few years.
Today there were at least three different females, two of which were looking a bit worn now.

- Holly Blue female - Coverdale 13.05.2022

- Holly Blue female - Coverdale 13.05.2022
The third one was in better condition and posed really well providing me with some of my best Holly Blue shots to date.
These next few shots are all of this one individual as she shuffled about on an evergreen berberis.

- Holly Blue female - Coverdale 13.05.2022

- Holly Blue female - Coverdale 13.05.2022

- Holly Blue female - Coverdale 13.05.2022

- Holly Blue female - Coverdale 13.05.2022
A couple of males were also about but these were more restless in their search for the females although today their chases were often interrupted by the blustery wind.
Two different female Brimstones passed though, one of which has some damage to her wings which easily identified her from the other one.

- Brimstone female - Coverdale 13.05.2022
A male also came along, usually just after the females had left but on one occasion he caught up with one of them (the better condition one) with the ensuing dance around the shrubs as she tried to avoid him.

- Brimstone pair - Coverdale 13.05.2022

- Brimstone pair - Coverdale 13.05.2022
On one occasion she dropped down into the vegetation and assumed the rejection pose before taking off again.

- Brimstone pair - Coverdale 13.05.2022
The last I saw of them was when she flew off next door with the male still in pursuit.
Curiously, there were no male Speckled Wood on station today but three different females came wandering through, two of which looked like they had taken a battering in the wind and rain earlier in the week. The third one was in better condition, I guess she had found a better hiding place from the weather.

- Speckled Wood female - Coverdale 13.05.2022
One species that I have not seen that many of here this year is Orange-tip with just a few seen passing through the garden and the occasional one or two elsewhere. This afternoon a single female came through and paused just long enough in her wanderings for me to get a couple of photos.

- Orange-tip female - Coverdale 13.05.2022
Things look to be warming up a bit over the weekend and into next week although we have a bit of rain in the forecast for Sunday and Monday…we’ll see.
Bye for now and stay safe,
Neil.