Long tailed Blues in Kent

[Paul Harfield]

Given the weather we've had recently, and the forecast, does anyone think there is a possibility the Long Tailed Blues will survive and re-appear at the end of the month?

Lets hope so I have saved a days holiday just in case

I would not have thought the weather should have affected them too much as larvae or pupae. It has been wet and windy but mostly not too cold, but I am no expert of course. What do others think

[essexbuzzard]

Temperatures have been stuck at 13-15C most of this week in East Anglia and the South-east. It's not been cold-it's been very cold.
More like early winter than early autumn. The average is 19-20C!

Almost zero sunshine.

[Neil Hulme]

British Long-tailed Blues now emerging. See viewtopic.php?t=4065&start=10000
BWs, Neil

[David M]

Excellent.....and just in time for the warm spell that's forecast!

[lee3764]

Hi Neil,
Nice speaking with you when you visited Cornwall recently.........I am grateful that you have given other folk an opportunity to see the Long-tailed Blues at Kingsdown Leas. On the strength of our telephone conversation and this posting I am considering undertaking the 350 odd mile journey from Cornwall in a week or twos time. I will keep a daily watch on this site and your postings and others to sort out my plans bearing in mind I have 2 young children (8 & 10) to take with me.........and a wife! My 10 year old son, Robert Slaughter is on 49 different species (as I am) this year alone in England (not visited Scotland or Northern England this year) and a L.Tailed Blue would hit the magical 50 in one year! He is already on 52 different British species in Britain in his lifetime too!!
Keep up the great reporting folks & Neil too!
All the best & hoping too for Long-Tailed Blues to emerge in plenty,
Lee Slaughter (Cornwall).
Joint founder member of Butterfly Conservation (Cornwall Branch) in 1993 and butterfly fieldtrip organiser for 20 years.

[Marc Heath]

I made a visit today back to Kingsdown Leas to see the Long tailed Blues. I spent a few hours there and saw 4 LONG TAILED BLUE, 3 males and 1 female. I suggest if you want to go you go in the next week or so weather permitting. Little stunners. I have attached a couple of shots but lots more can be viewed on my Blog: http://www.marcheath.blogspot.com.

Marc Heath

[Neil Hulme]

Great stuff Marc. Lovely shots.
BWs, Neil

[Pete Eeles]

Very nice indeed Marc!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Pete Eeles]

Anyone reading this thread might be interested in these articles:

"Lampides boeticus in Surrey" (1952)
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item ... 4/mode/1up

"Lampides boetius L. (Lep.: Lycaenidae) the first recorded breeding in Britain" (1976)
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item ... 1/mode/1up

Cheers,

- Pete

[Trev Sawyer]

A promise from the BBC weather forecaster that the fog would clear this morning encouraged me to make the trip to Kingsdown Leas today, although it was apparently a bit quieter than yesterday for butterflies.
Good to see Matthew Oates, Neil Hulme, Dave Brown and Pauline amongst others.
I did see at least 2 male LTBs, but no females. Only one chance to get close enough for a photograph of a fresh-looking individual - this snatched shot was the result. Before I could get into a better position a large fly crash-landed beside this insect and caused it to vanish - never to return

NB: If anyone intends visiting this area over the next couple of weeks, be aware that there are various roadworks/bridge repairs going on in Dover itself and the A2 was closed today near the A20 junction. I did think about trying to come off the M20 earlier and skirt around it, but in fact the diversion signs were pretty clear and the diversion itself was merely a short loop around the town centre - pretty easy to follow (even for me )

[Neil Hulme]

Great to catch up with you again today Trev - it's been a while! Glad you managed to get a few shots too. Happy days.
BWs, Neil

[essexbuzzard]

Today (wednesday) the Long-tailed Blues at Kingsdown had a stream of visitors,including ukbers Rosalyn,PhiliB,Ian Leach,great to see you guys! and myself. Between us, we managed to find at least 5 Long-tailed Blues, 4 males and one female. All bar one were at the southern end of the site,toward St Margrets. The female,in particular,was very fresh,and obliging for the photographers.

Weather was near perfect,with light winds and warm,hazy sunshine.

Also present were Small Whites,one Large White, Small Coppers,Common Blues,Chalkhill Blues,Adonis Blues, Red Admiral and Speckled woods.

A super day! Photo below,more to come on my diary.

[Neil Hulme]

Well done Mark, boetiful!
BWs, Neil

[PhiliB]

A super day!

It certainly was, Mark, and it was great to bump into you at long last.

Compared to Tuesday we seem to have struck lucky with photo opportunities, finding an accommodating newly emerged male in the morning and a similarly obliging female in the afternoon.

Male

Female

Female

[Neil Hulme]

Fantastic images Phil. Looks like you guys nailed them pretty thoroughly. I'm really pleased that you, Rosalyn, Mark, Iain and others had such a great day with them. Memories for a lifetime!
BWs, Neil

[Pete Eeles]

Indeed - some very nice shots there! I'd appreciate it if they could be added to the species-specific album - the Long-tailed Blue page will never be the same once we've updated it! What a year!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Trev Sawyer]

Wow, that side shot of the female is lush Phil - she truly is a cracker!
Neil is going to get very drunk on all the pints he's owed.
I wish I lived closer to the South coast as I'd definitely be scouring any suitable areas of coastline which has everlasting pea or similar plants growing at the moment

Trev

[IainLeach]

We were definitely lucky with them yesterday, showing well off and on and mostly in good condition and good weather. Many thanks again to Neil for all the updates which helped get the timing of the visit right. Rather a lot of photos to sort through now

[PhiliB]

Many thanks for your kind comments Neil, Pete & Trev.

Our top spotter of the day, Rosalyn, found this very small male at around 11.30am. It also had very short tails which, due to the symmetry and otherwise good condition of the insect, don't appear to be shortened through wear and tear.

A Short-tailed Long-tailed Blue perhaps!

All the recent commotion at Kingsdown Leas brought out this bemused spectator.

[Paul Wetton]

Some great shots of the LTBs from everyone visiting the area.

The little furry fellow has one white paw and one brown on its front legs, an ab maybe. It also appears to have a couple of large ticks on its head.

I'm hoping to visit the area for the LTBs on Saturday as the weather forecast is for a little sunshine although fairly windy. Anyone else visiting this weekend.