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Large Skipper - Favourite Photo of 2024

Week 9

A week of advent has passed us by already! I can just see the supermarkets setting up their Easter egg stands already . Why not take a break from wrapping pressies and prepping the sprouts to select this weeks Favourites. There are four this week…well it’s Christmas time after all…

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos as then it will be easier to keep track of things? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As in previous years details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

22nd June, on one of my local commons on the Gower:

Large Skipper did not seem to suffer from the inclement weather. I was fortunate to come across numerous within the wet woodlands of North Essex. They formed a high percentage of one of the profiles of the rides at Hatfield Forest where their numbers were healthy. I haven chosen a good-looking male from Friday Wood, near Colchester taken during the afternoon of the 11th of July:
And a female from late in the season at Hatfield Forest:

For me this is always a hard butterfly to find locally. The best area has been around the field behind our cottage.
This one taken on the 26th June Julian

Butterfly_Julian wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2024 4:57 pm For me this is always a hard butterfly to find locally. The best area has been around the field behind our cottage.
This one taken on the 26th June
DSCF9644.JPG

Julian

Very interesting that you find it hard to find them Julian. The Large Skipper did very well this year near me, astonishing numbers of individuals! Was even lucky to spot one of the first ones to emerge in Essex. Cracking shot btw!

Zayed

I agree with Zayed, lovely image Julian. It is always a surprise to me how few Large Skipper I find at Great Holland Pits, near you, but they are there. They didn’t seem to benefit from the damp conditions unlike at Hatfield Forest, and Friday Wood.

Large Skipper

Until this year I’d not realised how long the flight period of Large Skippers was. When I came to selecting my Faves I started in the last week or so of May and finished in mid-August, almost three months of Large Skippers. Finding them over such a long time frame obviously made choosing one tricky and so I ended up with two. The first came from a trip with Dave where we saw a good range of butterflies, just not in any great numbers (Common Blues aside). After the cool and blowy grey at the top of Sidbury Hill this Large Skipper, one of two in the same area, was a real cracker of a butterfly and I was happy with the way the hairs stand out in sharp focus.
The second came from the end of their flight, in fact I think it was the last UK one that I saw. It was the day of the Eras tour and after sampling the delights of one side of Ashton Rowant with Dave I’d ventured to the other side of the reserve and then returned back to where I’d started. I’d just broached the small wood and was looking out across the side of the hill trying to work how to pick my way down when a movement on my right stopped me in my tracks. Having spent most of the day with Silver Spots I immediately though it was one of those. But it was flying around in the Bramble. Luckily it came in a bit closer and then I could clearly see, to my surprise, that it was in fact a Large Skipper.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

A poor year for Large Skipper around my local patch. Numbers did not really take of and they often showed up in just single figures of around half a dozen at best.

Their best showing was at Castle Hills near Solihull when I saw around a dozen or so, well down on what this site should produce.
Cheers,

Neil.

Not a good year for them but at least what was around was busy making sure there'll be some next year!

Not a good year for this species on my local patch, and to be honest they didn't seem as numerous as usual in any of the woodlands I visited elsewhere. Here is a local one in a typical pose from 17th June. Dave

Not many of these to be found locally in 2024. A few miles up the road at KingsWood, Heath N Reach, I had my largest daily count of 53 on the 28th June.