Saturday 31 August 2013

An early evening visit to Mill Hill to look for roosting butterflies didn't disappoint with lots of Common Blue roosting in the tall grasses on the lower slope. Supporting cast included Chalkhill Blue, Brown Argus, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Large White, and my target, Adonis Blue. Although unfortunately I didn't see any myself another chap had seen good numbers of Clouded Yellow around the site. The light at this time was just beautiful. A photo above and also here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48896022@N08/. (Leigh Prevost)

This morning we went for a walk around East Side, Newhaven along the beach to see what we could find. We were rewarded with the usual whites and blues but were pleasantly surprised to see quite a number of Clouded Yellow. We then went onto Windover Hill in search of that mystical beast, the Swallowtail. Alas we could no locate this beauty. But were were rewarded with Grayling, Silver-spotted Skipper, Clouded Yellow, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Small Heath Wall and Adonis Blue. We then ventured onto the Sussex Ox for some light refreshment with discussions on the Swallowtail's whereabouts etc. (Nick Linazasoro & Drew Easton)
Editors note: I believe the red mites on the Gatekeeper and Grayling in Nick's photos are the larvae of a species of mite - Trombidium breei - that parasitises a number of butterfly species but seemingly with little detriment to the affected butterflies.

It's been a good week for butterflies for me which started with a Clouded Yellow along the banks of the Ouse in Lewes on Wednesday 28th. Then on Thursday I came across a pair of Silver-washed Fritillaries in Abbots Wood including one that looked quite fresh. On Friday I had a walk on Malling Down after work and found good numbers of Adonis Blues along with lots of Common Blues and Meadow Browns. I also stumbled across a Small Copper. And then today, Saturday, I stopped off at Steyning Rifle Range after a run and big thanks go to Neil, who happened to be there and helped me to get my eye in with a few Brown Hairstreaks. After several visits over the past 3 years it was nice to finally get a good look at this elusive butterfly! (Chris Hooker)

Friday 30 August 2013

Today I visited the Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve at Malling Down with BC Sussex Chair Nigel Symington. Crispin Holloway, who has walked the transect here for many years, had alerted me to the exceptional number of second brood Adonis Blue currently flying in the deep coombes above Lewes, and we were not to be disappointed! We saw many hundreds, representing a small proportion of the total population. Conditions for photography were very difficult and the strong wind whisked away many desirable specimens, including a stunning female with huge, blood-red lunules along her rear wing margins. The steep slopes of Malling Down have never been easily accessible, but at the moment a visit is highly recommended. (Neil Hulme)

A wonderful Brown Hairstreak landed in my garden for a few seconds today in Barns Green. Later we went to Warnham Mill ponds were we saw a particulary large Silver-washed Fritillary in the Butterfly ride. It looked in a poor state, lacking colour and could barely get off the ground. (John Coxon)

News for Wednesday 28 August: About 5.30pm on Wednesday my wife had a brief but close view of a male Silver-washed Fritillary, on Verbena bonariensis just outside our kitchen window. It looked quite bedraggled, so probably a different individual from the one I saw on Sunday (she is a moth-er, so looks at insects with an expert eye). (Richard Holmes, Udimore, Rye - TQ880184)

Thursday 29 August 2013

By far my latest ever Silver-washed Fritillary was seen in Stanmer Park, Brighton today. It was so worn and bleached that it looked practically white, feeding on a Buddleia and allowing quite a close approach. Nice one to see as always, there was also a Clouded Yellow here but fairly quiet otherwise. (Liam Curson)

Wednesday 28 August 2013

With the recent discovery of Silver-spotted Skippers lining the A27 from Waterhall - Mill Hill Crispin Holloway and I decided we'd visit a few of the areas between these new discoveries and previous colonies to fill in a few blanks on our Sussex Butterfly Atlas. At Anchor Bottom and Room Bottom there was plenty of habitat which looks perfect for Silver-spotted Skipper but we just couldn't find any. We then moved further east to the area around the Southwick Tunnel but could not find any in the valleys here either. It is interesting that in their journey to Mill Hill, Benfield and Waterhall it seems they have certainly lived up to their name and skipped some potentially good sites. Despite no skippers it's certainly an amazing year for Wall - they were everywhere, as were Clouded Yellows. This little expedition took me to a few great sites in Sussex which I've never visited before but I'll certainly be visiting again. (Michael Blencowe & Crispin Holloway)

Amongst the many Small Tortoiseshells and Commas and Whites there was a rather faded Silver-washed Fritillary on the buddleia in the garden where I work north of Shoreham TQ196063. I also saw a couple of Clouded Yellows fly by. (Tessa Pawsey)

Today I returned to Steyning Rifle Range for another go at finding the Brown Hairstreak. Things took a little while to get going but our patience was rewarded when several females came down to pose for photos and lay some eggs.
I think it's probably safe to say that a great time was had by all, and what a great bunch of people to spend the day with, I hope to see you all again next year.
A couple of the BHS were still in remarkably good condition and hung around long enough for us to get some decent photos. (James Arnott)

Another B.C. member, Trevor Rapley, and I visited the Rifle Range near Steyning today in the hope of sighting Brown Hairstreaks. It was our fourth visit there this year; however we were a little apprehensive this time as we were aware that fellow B.C. members had visited the location on the previous day without sightings, despite the weather being ideal.
We arrived the main habitat at about 11.00 hrs. and were joined shortly afterwards by others including B.C. members Katrina, Nigel, Neil, Clare and James. As there had been no sightings at the main location for a while, Nigel and I decided to check another know Brown Hairstreak habitat about 500 metres to the west. Soon after arriving there we sighted a single female, which may have laid an egg or two while we were observing it. Fortunately, it stayed at low level for about twenty minutes enabling us to take many photographs. This specimen (left-hand image above) was in reasonable condition and was judged by Neil to be 8.5/10 on his condition scale.
After about 45-minutes we retuned to the main habitat and were informed that there had been three or four sightings there at low-level enabling photographs to be taken. A further sighting of a near perfect (9.9/10) B.H. (right-hand image above) occurred at about 14.15 hrs. which stayed at low-level for a while enabling photographs to be taken.
Those present appeared to be having an enjoyable day in fine weather, with sightings of the target species and with a congenial group of fellow enthusiasts. (Douglas Neve)

At Pulborough Brooks RSPB today 17 Clouded Yellows, 4 Small Tortoiseshells, 3 Brimstones, Peacock, Red Admiral, Comma, and numerous Small & Large Whites, Meadow Browns, Speckled Woods, Common Blues. (Malcolm Le Grys)

Whilst cutting some grass at Buchan Hill, Pease Pottage a small butterfly went past me and settled, on closer inspection it was a worn Purple Hairstreak. (Chris Prince)

Tuesday 27 August 2013

Today I counted 8 Small Tortoiseshell in my Hollingbury garden. Yesterday (26th August) I saw 2 Clouded Yellow, 1 Small Heath and 11 Chalkhill Blue, some very large in size at Hollingbury Hill Fort, Brighton - TQ322078. (Jamie Burston)

There were several Brown Argus and Common Blue (pictured) roosting in the late evening sun at Worms Wood near Middleton-on-Sea (SU969010). (Paul Cox)

For the third consecutive day there was a Clouded Yellow in our Storrington garden. Mary watched it nectaring on Buddleia. Perhaps of more interest (because of its location) was 1-2 Clouded Yellow seen in Hailsham today. I was visiting my mother (who lives in bungalow suburbia) and whilst out in the back garden a male Common Blue flew past (in itself a bit unusual) and for some reason it got into an altercation with a Clouded Yellow. A couple of hours later as I was packing up the car a Clouded Yellow fluttered around me before alighting on Choisya. It was amazingly well camouflaged. I called my daughter over to have a look at it and despite the fact that it was only two feet away I struggled to re-locate it. I have seen something similar for Brimstone and Euonymus. I wonder just how many Clouded Yellow have located our towns and villages? I suspect rather a lot. (Martin and Mary Kalaher)

A female Wall Brown seen egg laying along the West Sussex Literary Trail north west of Lavant at SU856095. In the five years that I have lived in West Sussex the nearest sighting I have had to this of a Wall Brown was a singleton in Rewell Wood 4 years ago. (Alan Wingrove via Tom Dunbar)

A trip to Steyning Rifle Range at 16.00 on Tuesday had a single battered female Brown Hairstreak come down. It settled in some grass and then attempted to probe any substrate it could with its proboscis. Shortly after it returned to the canopy, above the Blackthorn. (Dan Danahar)

At Ditchling Beacon 13 Clouded Yellows seen during half-mile walk west of the car park. (Malcolm Le Grys)

Some friends who are active in the Sussex Moth Group, came over to see us from Hastings, mentioning 4 butterflies they had never seen. So we started at Malling Down, Lewes, where we saw hundreds of Adonis Blue, and plenty of Silver-spotted Skippers. Then to High-and-Over where we found Wall Brown and more Silver-spotted Skippers. Then on to Windover Hill, hoping we might be lucky in finding a Grayling. Last week I had found one after 30 minutes walking around, this time we had success after only a few minutes, half way up the chalk track to the reservoir. This obliging beast settled on my trouser leg, then hopped into my gaping pocket, leading to some amusing comments "here's one I prepared earlier, just in case ...". A great day and all four target species found. (Mike Kerry)

Elephant Hawk-moth larvae in Steyning garden, found on ground whilst weeding TQ174105. (Mike Warren)

Recent news: I enjoyed seeing the European Swallowtail on Saturday afternoon when the damp weather held it in place on Windover Hill (photos: http://bit.ly/17gtXQl). The Clouded Yellows are now past their best but it is still wonderful to see them flying at Kithurst Hill. It was a thrill to find Richard Knights aberrant Chalkhill Blue at Kithurst 19 days after he took his photos. I have seen many Brimstones, especially in the meadow just south of Whiteways car park (TQ000107) where I watched five nectaring within two square metres. (Colin Knight www.seapic.com)

More recent news: 23rd August: my transect at the Butterfly Haven turned up a couple of nice suprises. In addition to: Large Whites 3, Small Whites 3, Small Copper 1, Common Blue 63, Small Tortoiseshell 3, Peacock 1 and Meadow Brown 25, I also encountered a female Clouded Yellow and a male Chalkhill Blue. I recorded a Chalkhill four times as i walked the transect route but I believe that it was actually the same male frantically trying to find a mate and thus flying all over the reserve.
On Sunday Libby & I visited Kithurst Hill, here we saw Chalkhill Blues, Common Blues, Large & Small Whites, Meadow Browns, a Small Copper, a single Small Heath, a Silver-washed Fritillary and about 4 or 5 Clouded Yellows, all of which were male. (Dan Danahar)

News for Sunday 25 August: A lovely Brown Hairstreak at Pulborough Brooks. Easy to see by the nature trail where it is crossed by the public footpath behind Fatingate. Clouded yellow here too. (The Corrigans)

More news for Sunday 25 August: One individual Argynnis paphia (Silver-washed Fritillary) seen briefly, feeding on buddleia in our garden, 13.00hrs on Sunday. (Richard Holmes, Udimore, Rye. TQ880184)

News for Friday 23 August: Last Friday morning I was carrying out my butterfly transect in Rudgwick and I was lucky enough to find a female Brown Hairstreak in an area where I had found eggs in the last two winters. Sadly, the landowner had been in and flailed the Blackthorn edge along its entire length, vastly reducing the egg-laying potential this year. This ill-timed piece of countryside-damaging is not the only event of this kind to have befallen my route since April and I calculate that, out of the ten sections, five have been adversely affected by this kind of work either along the route, or in land adjacent to them. (Robin Bassett)

Monday 26 August 2013

Amazingly I had yet another Clouded Yellow in my garden today. It alighted just in front of me but by the time I had sorted out my camera it had flown off. However, I was more than pleased to have a female Brown Hairstreak land a few feet from me. Unfortunately I was wedged between the Hawthorn hedge and the Blackthorn, so in effect I was too close for a quality photograph (and I was in charge of my grandson!). Anyway a half decent photo. Currently 25 garden species this year. (Martin Kalaher, Storrington)

Wanted to let you know I spotted a Brown Hairstreak in my garden this morning. Grid reference TQ1451331097. I understand you have had discussions in the past with WSCC Highways concerning the cutting of the hedge bordering the A264 Broadbridge Heath bypass, however the hedge has still been cut quite severely every year. It wasn't, however, cut last winter due to the wet weather and this is now the first time I have seen one of these butterflies! (Kirsty Lloyd)

Argynnis paphia f. valesina (Silver-washed Fritillary), meadow on top of The Downs, managed by Graffham Down Trust. (Margaret Hibbard)

On a short walk at Bevendean Down this afternoon I was pleased to see good numbers of 2nd brood Adonis amongst the many Chalkhill and Common Blues also seen was a Brown Argus and a Wall Brown, several Clouded Yellows and a few Meadow Browns. (Geoff Stevens)

We headed out this afternoon to check some of the 'blank' atlas squares for blue butterflies and Silver-spotted Skipper. At Pangdean we hiked to an isolated bit of downland which is being sheep grazed. It certainly looked ideal for our downland blues (and the skipper) but we couldn't find any. Nice spot for Wall though and the surrounding scrub was alive with redstarts, warblers and flycatchers. Down at Waterhall (just north of Brighton) the sheep-grazed banks were rich with nectar and alive with butterflies. I don't think I've ever seen so many Brown Argus in one small area and over 20 Clouded Yellows too. Here, nectaring on Field Scabious, we found a lovely Silver-spotted Skipper. A new square for the atlas for this species and, with recent Downland sightings at Benfield and Mill Hill, more proof that this butterfly has had a huge range expansion in 2013 (Michael & Clare Blencowe)

I took a walk around Cissbury this p.m.and saw 9 Clouded Yellow and one late Dark Green Fritillary. Also saw 30+ Small Tortoiseshells (all fresh-looking) - mainly nectaring on 3 Buddleia bushes. Another 17 species were seen. (Mike Snelling)

Sunday 25 August 2013

31 of us attended the BC Sussex and Steyning Downland Scheme walk around the Rifle Range, all hoping that the cloud would lift sufficiently to encourage the elusive Brown Hairstreak down from the canopy. This year, despite some brighter spells which were sufficient to activate most other species, we were beaten by the weather. However, we did see Wall Brown, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood (a good number of freshly emerged specimens), Small Copper, Large White, Small White and Meadow Brown. Geoff Eaton and Lee Slater made their visit from Surrey more than worthwhile, by staying on to enjoy some afternoon sunshine and recording Clouded Yellow (including the pale form helice) and... Brown Hairstreak! (pictured). Thanks to all who attended, particularly our guests from as far afield as Kent and Surrey. (Neil Hulme - Images by Geoff Eaton)

This morning I was greeted by a rather weak slow flying Clouded Yellow passing me in the garden. Luckily she alighted on a hedge so I could take some pics and she sat there for about half an hr. I am pretty sure it's a female and secondly as she was absolutely pristine perhaps a U.K. bred individual. I have lots of clover in the garden and in the near vicinity. She later joined the throng of butterflies on the other side of the hedge nectaring on Fleabane, alongside a female Small Copper. I did notice amongst the crowd a midget sized Small White, well half normal size anyway. Near Small Dole on the downs I visited an Adonis Blue colony I know and saw at least 20 second brood individuals males and plenty of females. Not to be out done there were hundreds of Common Blues especially on large patches of Hemp Agrimony, loads of Brown Argus, both of these have bounced back from poor previous years and every buddleia was covered in Small Tortoiseshells another species which appears to have suddenly seen a far better season. In addition I saw at least 20 Walls, a few Peacocks, one Red Admiral, female Brimstone (you don't see many of those amongst all the recent males) Large and Small Whites about 5 Chalkhills, reasonable numbers of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers a couple of newly emerged Speckled Woods and at long last about five Small Heaths some of which were newly emerged. I then popped down to the buddleias on the Downs link at Shoreham to see Large, Small and Green-veined Whites, Small Tortoiseshells, Peacocks, a pristine Red Admiral, a Painted Lady and two very smart Holly Blues on Hemp Agrimony. A male Brimstone tussling with a Clouded Yellow and more Clouded Yellows and Common Blues at Shoreham Cement Works. Great afternoon. (Richard Roebuck)

Can it get any better? After seeing reports of a European Swallowtail in East Sussex (Windover Hill) on Friday and Saturday, and with the heavy rain and cold temperatures seemingly set in, I thought I'd chance my luck and see if it was still present Sunday am. Arriving at just before 7, Gary and I trudged up the very steep chalk path to the site. An hour later and completely shattered after a seemingly fruitless search hiking up and down the slopes in the pouring rain, I'd all but given up. But luckily there were others searching and they eventually found it, just to the side of the main path. Oh how easy it could have been! It was seemingly in the same spot as it had been on Friday and Saturday, and wasn't moving fast! Maybe a tad worn but I never thought I'd see a Swallowtail in Sussex so well chuffed :-) Photo below and here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48896022@N08/. (Leigh Prevost)

On the shores of Ardingly Reservoir today, in square TQ3329, a Clouded Yellow, Meadow Browns, Large and Small Whites and Common Blues. (Helen Crabtree)

It is three years since I last had a new species for the garden so I was delighted today to have not one but two sightings of Clouded Yellow. The first, a male was at 2.30pm and then another male at 5.0pm. I was fairly sure the latter was a different butterfly as it appeared smaller with less distinct black margins to the wings. The garden list now stands at 30, with 24 butterfly species seen so far this year.
I shall be interested to see how we do this year for Brown Hairstreak. I have surveyed 700 metres of hedgerow in Storrington for the past three years with egg counts of 110 (2010/11), 103 (2011/12) but only 5 (2012/13). In 2011/12 I had 31 eggs in my garden alone, but just one egg last winter (and that was predated, presumably by a bird). If the Storrington situation is anyway representative there may not be many adults around this summer? (Martin Kalaher, Storrington)

Saturday 24 August 2013

My thanks to Michael for alerting me to the Swallowtail near Wilmington. Unfortunately I was unable to join Michael, Neil, Clare and the butterfly finder David Bradford on Friday night but fortunately the poor weather meant it was still there on Saturday when I was able to get there. It even had the decency to open its wings!! (Bob Eade)

Friday 23 August 2013

While driving back from work Clare and I were debating what to do this evening. Oddly enough 'running as fast as I can to the top of the Downs' was not one of the options but, after receiving a phone call from David Bradford, that was exactly what I found myself doing. David had discovered a Swallowtail that had settled and appeared to be getting ready to roost - so with light fading - we raced across to join him. Despite almost having a mild heart attack after running for 30 minutes up a chalk slope the reward was worth it - the first Swallowtail I've seen in the UK since I was 12. Beautiful! (Michael Blencowe)

Today's sightings at Ladies Mile NR, Brighton - Clouded Yellow 1, Small White 3, Large White 7, Small Copper 2, Brown Argus 1, Common Blue 30+, Chalkhill Blue 2, Holly Blue 4, Small Tortoiseshell 3, Peacock 1, Comma 1, Speckled Wood 12, Marbled White 1, Meadow Brown 27 and Gatekeeper 1. (Jamie Burston)

At the north-west corner of Frampton's Field, Old Shoreham, it was possible to fight my way through the Brambles on the route of the old footpath to Mill Hill on to an area which I have named Mill Cutting (SW) where in an area of about twenty square metres of bare chalk bank covered with clumps of Horseshoe Vetch, Cotoneaster and the leaves of Mouse-eared Hawkweed, there was a fabulous showing of too many Chalkhill Blues to count accurately as I lost count at thirty, but estimated to be forty including ten females (I gave up counting these at seven) plus occasional Common Blues of both genders to confuse the count. This count extrapolates to 800 Chalkhill Blues per acre which is the maximum density expected in a good year (and not seen on Mill Hill since 2003). Most of the Chalkhill Blues were rather worn and tattered with a few with just minor damage. The pairs were courting and the females were laying eggs. There were also frequent Silver Y Moths.
PS: I thought I saw a Silver-spotted Skipper ten days earlier, but I was not sure. (Andy Horton)

Crawley Down  a Hummingbird Hawk-moth feeding on buddleia in the very early morning sun, a rare visitor here. Sadly it did not return.
Large numbers of Small Tortoiseshells in the garden this year, but this is offset by a remarkable absence of Red Admirals. (Jonathan Ruff)

Walked along & near the Downslink path today, from north of Shoreham to south of Upper Beeding, which we've done many times before. Only 15 different species compared to 24 on our much longer walk in East Sussex on 21/8, but this was pretty good as it wasnt sunny most of the time. Nice to see a Clouded Yellow, a Painted Lady and a good sprinkling of Small Tortoiseshells, but the 2 Wall butterflies were the stars, as I can't recall seeing any on this stretch of the walk in previous years. Otherwise blues predominated - plenty of Common Blues, a few very smart Brown Arguses (should that be argi?) and more than 10 Holly Blues. Also seen  Large, Small and Green-Veined Whites, Commas, Red Admirals, Speckled Woods, Meadow Browns and a Gatekeeper. (John & Val Heys)

In 2012 I didn't record a single Common Blue on my Rowland Wood and Park Corner Heat transect, worse still, I didn't actually see a Common Blue at all in 2012! I am glad to be able to say this year I have been a little more fortunate. My first Sussex Common Blue since 2011 was back in June at Park Corner Heath (hooray!) and since then things have just got better. Today I counted 15 in one section of the transect (there were plenty more in the vicinity but only 15 could be counted in the transect). I had a bit of trouble sorting out the females from Brown Argus of which I made a certain identification of 4 in total. Two of these were in one of the newly opened-up parts of the wood, a once dark and gloomy junction between two rides that in previous years might just have yielded a Speckled Wood. I also counted 3 Wall, each in a different section as wall as Clouded Yellows, Large, Small and Green-veined Whites, Brimstones, Chalkhill Blues, Small Coppers, Painted Ladies, Small Tortoiseshells, a Peacock 3 Silver-washed Fritillaries, Small Heaths and lots of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers. A thoroughly enjoyable few hours on our lovely reserve. (Bob Foreman)

The photographs above show a very tatty blue butterfly in my meadow near Pulborough (TQ0618B) today. I have only seen Common Blues in the meadow this summer and am wondering if this could be an Adonis Blue, in which case it would be a new sighting for me here? Unfortunately the edging to the wings, where the identification between the Common Blue and the Adonis Blue can usually be made is missing, but the underneath of the wings has more of a brownish background (like the Adonis Blue) than the grey background of the Common Blue. Thanks for any suggestions.
The other photograph is another Clouded Yellow seen feeding on dandelion in the meadow. (Chris Page)

Thursday 22 August 2013

A mating pair of Wall Brown at High and Over today as well as an egg layer. All this time trying to find a Wall ova and then I get 2 together!!!! (Bob Eade)

Male Brimstone disturbed from flower bed at Buchanan Hill, Pease pottage. (Chris Prince)

After my anguished appeal for Small Tortoiseshell sightings locally, I found not one but two on their favourite foodplant, buddleia growin just by my washing line around the corner from the lavender bushes in Ringmer Road yesterday afternoon. The lavender seems to attract cabbage whites in droves, but have only seen one Vanessid, a Painted Lady on them in the last few days. Is it just impossible for other species to reach the nectar in lavender flowers?
Last week had my second encounter by day with an Elephant Hawk-moth, this time a fully-grown caterpillar which was seemningly intent on committing suicide by heading for a building site in Broad Street North in Seaford across the pavement to pupate. Managed to divert it into loose soil nearby. Earlier in the Summer a Small Elephant Hawk-moth, newly emerged I should imagine, managed to crawl up the sleeve of my jacket as I sunbathed just outside the new Southease YH, after an eye operation for cataracts. This hostel should be a good base for entomology studying in this area, there are extensive beds of nettles, blackberries and other foodplants nearby. And cheap too, only \A320 for B and B as a member! (Bob Brown)

News for Wednesday 21 August: Apologies to Michael and Francesca, but the Silver-spotted Skipper at the Benfield Valley reserve could well be the same one we reported 2 days earlier! We did more walks on 21/8 which included 3 Silver-spotted Skippers at High and Over, another on the Lullington Heath and 3 Clouded Yellows in that area. What surprised us most was the large number of Brimstones especially in Friston Forest  at one clearing alone there must have been between 30 and 40 in the vegetation fluttering from one flower to another. Sadly they were just too mobile to catch in focus on our little camera. (John & Val Heys)

Wednesday 21 August 2013

I started and finished my tour of local sites at Mill Hill, where I hoped to photograph the second brood Adonis Blues. My brief morning visit was an instant success; only 10 metres from the car park I found a beautiful female opening her wings wide to the morning sun for the very first time. When I returned in the evening the patches of longer grass and herbs along the lower slopes of Mill Hill were crammed with roosting butterflies. Large communal roosts of Adonis, Chalkhill and Common Blues were a joy to sift through in the calm conditions. The biggest and most welcome surprise of the day came just as I started to descend the steep scree slope at Mill Hill. At 6.10 pm most of the butterflies were already at roost ... but not the Silver-spotted Skipper which landed at my feet! County Recorder Colin Pratt can find no historic records of the species here, and it has certainly been absent since at least the 1930s. I was delighted, as this is the third new site for Silver-spotted Skipper I've found in the last few weeks. (Neil Hulme)

I went to Steyning rifle range today (21.08.13) to look for Brown Hairstreaks. There was a good atmosphere there with many people there doing the same thing. I saw five in total before stopping for lunch. (Katrina Watson)

2 Clouded Yellows at Sidlesham SZ858965 and SZ858970 a.m. 1 Clouded Yellow at Bignor Roman Villa SU988146 p.m. (Colin Shields - visiting from W Yorks)

Surprised to see a very fresh looking Marbled White today in Lewes (Michael Blencowe)

Today in 1-km square TQ2423, Meadow Brown, Large and Small Whites, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Peacock (1), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Common Blue (2) and Clouded Yellow (1). (Helen Crabtree)

Great excitement this morning with the appearance of a Silver-washed Fritillary nectaring on buddleia then common myrtle in our Bracklesham garden. Shortly after seeing the Silver-washed we had a second "new for garden" with the arrival of a Clouded Yellow which kindly remained long enough for me to dash indoors and grab my camera. (Derek Lee)

Last chance for Mill Hill as the numbers are fading fast.
Hundreds of butterflies of eighteen species were out in the sunshine on Mill Hill. They were everywhere but the numbers were less than half that of a week earlier. Adonis Blues (74 per acre) now exceeded the Chalkhill Blues (58) and Common Blues (Est 55) on the lower slopes.
Two Clouded Yellows flew continuously over the lower slopes and I never saw either of them settle, not even once. There were frequent female Common Blues, but I could not find a Brown Argus.
It is the ninth successive year that Chalkhill Blue numbers have been very disappointing for reasons unknown. Adonis Blues numbers have held up every year though. Numbers are always hour counts per transect acre. More reports with pictures: Adur Butterfly & Large Moth List.
20 August 2013: I made a rare visit to Lancing Ring Nature Reserve where there were white butterflies, Speckled Woods in the shade and over a hundred butterflies in the meadows. Wall Browns were widespread with 25+ seen in an hour. Brown Argus were not identified by the colon spots. All seen were female Common Blues which was the most frequently seen butterfly. (Andy Horton)

Following Douglas Neve's report of Tuesday, I spent 2 hours at Rowland Wood today, and clocked 14 butterfly species, mostly on the Fleabane (Brimstone, Clouded Yellow, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell (very fresh), Small Skipper, Common Blue, Adonis Blue, Painted Lady, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Wall Brown, but also Speckled Wood, Small Heath and an elderly Silver-washed Fritillary nearby. (Mike Kerry)

News for Tuesday 20 August: The best butterfly year since the last century!
A total of 1613 butterfly sightings & 17 species recorded Tuesday 20th August on the transect at Malling Down, Sussex Wildlife Trust Reserve, Lewes making it the highest single count since 1 August 1999. Almost every species is having a very good or best ever year.
Here is what was recorded on Tues 20th:
1 Essex Skipper (ovipositing),
140 Silver-spotted Skippers (The most ever recorded. Majority around the spoil mounds in Green Pit and on the Snout),
2 Brimstone,
10 Large White,
47 Small White,
2 Green-veined White,
8 Small Copper (doing well after a poor start to the year),
27 Brown Argus,
316 Common Blue (total for year so far 661, possibly the best year since before the transect started in 1984),
74 Chalkhill Blue,
83 Adonis Blue (yet to peak, probably many more around in the next week),
7 Small Tortoiseshell (total of 32 to date, best year since 2004),
2 Speckled Wood,
6 Wall (looks like it will be the best year since 2002),
27 Gatekeeper,
857 Meadow Brown (the most recorded on a single count since 1st Aug 1999),
5 Small Heath.
It is very possible Malling Down has the largest population of Silver-spotted Skippers in the the county, if not the largest one of the largest. That is amazing considering they only recolonized Malling Down in 1999.
A total of 32 species of butterfly have been recorded on the Malling Down transect this year. (Crispin Holloway)

More news for Tuesday 20 August: A photograph of a Silver Y moth seen in my garden near Pulborough (TQ0618). (Chris Page)

News for Sunday 18 August: Small Tortoiseshell (ab. alba) seen near Lewes. Any yellow/amber pigment has been replaced by white. (Nigel Kemp)

Tuesday 20 August 2013

As part of our South Downs Blues Festival targeting Adonis, Chalkhill and Small Blues for our atlas I visited some sites yesterday including quite a few chalk embankments along the A27. The target blues were found at a number of sites - as well as the omnipresent Clouded Yellows. While we were at Benfield Hill nature reserve near Hangleton we found a Silver-spotted Skipper zipping across the sheep-grazed turf. This is the first record for the site and congratulations go to the volunteers of the Benfield Wildlife and Conservation Group who work hard to ensure that this lovely downland nature reserve is managed well for butterflies and other wildlife. There's not many places in Sussex where you can find Silver-spotted Skipper and Brown Hairstreak sharing the same site! Read more about the reserve at www.benfieldwildlifeandconservationgroup.wordpress.com
This Silver-spotted Skipper represents another great leap for skipper-kind, it's almost 3.5km to the nearest known colony at Devil's Dyke (Michael Blencowe & Francesca Petts)

3 Clouded Yellows, 1 Adonis Blue, 3 Wall Brown, 5 Small Tortoiseshell, 5 Brimstone etc. How can I get off work and do more of this, rather than rush around for a few minutes at lunchtime? (Lindsay Morris)

For the 2nd time in a fortnight I've been lucky to get a Jersey Tiger in the moth trap. This one even left some eggs in the pot. In the afternoon I did my Wall Brown count again on my standard route and beat my record again with an amazing 105. (Bob Eade)

Early am at Kithurst Hill again; lots of Chalkhill and Common Blues. The Chalkhills were all fairly worn, including this one, which I think looks like a good candidate for ab. parallela? Good numbers of Brown Argus, in good condition too, plus Small Tortoiseshell, Small Copper, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Large White, Small White, Small Skipper, and my target for the day 3 Clouded Yellows. Later in the afternoon, another 6 separate sightings of Clouded Yellow at Pulborough Brooks, plus Peacock, Speckled Wood, and Brimstone to add to the day's tally. Will post some photos here also: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48896022@N08/. (Leigh Prevost)

A fellow B.C. member, Trevor Rapley, and me visited Roland Wood this afternoon in near perfect weather conditions. On the Fleabane to the north of the recently cleared area we had sightings of about 30 Brimstones, all in pristine condition, 15 Clouded Yellows and nine other species of butterflies. Attached is an image of the large caterpillar found by Trevor on the ground, which we believe may be the larva of the Privet Hawk-moth. (Douglas Neve)

At least 30 Small Tortoiseshell nectaring on buddleia in our garden in East Dean (TV562984) at 10am this morning.
We have lived here for over 12 years and our yearly total of this species has not reached 30 before! More like the Nineties in the Chilterns. (Carole & David Jode)

Yesterday (19/8) we walked up Benfield Valley (Hove). The best butterfly bits were in the field just north of the bypass footbridge  plenty of Common Blues etc with a highlight of one Silver-spotted Skipper. Today (20/8) we went further afield to the downs west of Jevington. Plenty of butterflies to see again, including two Silver-spotted Skippers (one above Folkington and the other above Willmington). We had resigned ourselves to not finding a Grayling which was what we really wanted to see. We were on our way back down to Jevington and the South Downs Way was about to be swallowed up by trees and shade, when we went back a few paces to check a butterfly attracted to a neat pile of dung. Hey-presto it was what we'd been looking for - I even managed to get a picture which missed out the dung. Like others we've noticed far more Small Tortoiseshells around than usual - we counted 18 on one buddleia in Jevington and there were plenty in evidence on the seafront in Eastbourne. (John & Val Heys)

News for Sunday 18 August: On Sunday afternoon, a Clouded Yellow beside the Adur at TQ199177. (Helen Crabtree)

Monday 19 August 2013

At Widewater today, a Monarch lazily flapped northwards over the coastal path at c1000hrs and was soon lost to sight over the lagoon.
Also there were 2 Clouded Yellows. Another Clouded Yellow on the Downs Link at Beeding and a Silver-washed Fritillary. (Dave Sadler)

On our way back from WWT Arundel - we stopped off for a cuppa at Whiteways Roundabout (TQ001109). Whilst there, we were delighted to see a Swallowtail floating round the car park. (Fran & Martin Ellis)

14 Small Tortoiseshells on buddleia in my Keymer garden today, by far the largest number for many, many years - a single first appeared on 4 August, and numbers have increased daily. (Malcolm Le Grys)

A nice start to the day with a garden record of 15 Small Tortoiseshell, all on Buddleia. Walked over to Chantry Hill and had a Clouded Yellow on the way, feeding on thistle. Tramped around Chantry Hill for 3 hours. It is very good value right now. There is Marjoram everywhere and the butterflies just love it! Species seen with approximate numbers: Small Skipper (10), Silver-spotted Skipper (12), Clouded Yellow (6), Brimstone (12), Large White (30), Small White (50), Small Copper (3), Brown Argus (125), Common Blue (150), Chalkhill Blue (90), Painted Lady (1), Small Tortoiseshell (35), Peacock (11), Comma (1), Speckled Wood (2), Wall (4m), Marbled White (4), Gatekeeper (15), Meadow Brown (800), Small Heath (120). There were Common Blues and Brown Argus everywhere. The Wall Brown were nice to see (I still haven't seen a female at this location).
Got home and Mary told me she had more than 20 Small Tortoiseshell on a small Buddleia next to the Catholic Church in Storrington. Between us we had 70+ for the day! (Martin Kalaher, Storrington)

Female Brimstone seen today in Domewood, Copthorne. (Chris Prince)

A trip to Hayling Island gave me two male and one female Clouded Yellows and a micfromoth, Cochylis molliculana. A brief walk on Thorney Island showed one Clouded Yellow. (Colin Knight www.seapic.com)

Sunday 18 August 2013

Nice female Wall Brown at Cradle Valley but too windy for many butterflies today. The moth trap has been going well with the probable migrant Four-spotted Footman male and female. More pictures etc. at http://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.com/. (Bob Eade)

Started off today at home showing a friend two Clouded Yellows and lots of Small Tortoiseshells at home in Ashington. A short stop at the Rifle Range Steyning accounted for numerous Small Tortoiseshells, Lots of Common Blues and my first Wall of the year and 5 Wasp Spiders on the south facing bank and a no show for Brown Hairstreaks as it clouded over. A quick lunch at Washington where I spotted a mint, very large Red Underwing moth high on an eave of a house. An improvised sock throwing exercise only resorted in it moving further round the eve of the building. Headed for Shoreham Cement Works where there are lots of flowering Everlasting Pea and strangely lots of Common Blues attempting to nectar on the flowers and one Brown Argus, a long shot for a Long-tailed Blue perhaps. Then went to Shoreham Beach just to see if anything interesting was about. First sighting a very worn Essex Skipper, a new sighting for this site, lots of Large Whites including several mating pairs and lots of eggs on Sea Kale and 5 Clouded Yellows. I Spotted a European Wall Lizard sat next to a last instar Garden Tiger moth caterpillar (woolly bear) so couldn't resist an unusual pic. Slightly further on, a pristine newly emerged female Garden Tiger moth sat on a wall, absolutely stunning. It was very windy and could only spot a few Silver Y moths and Common Blues and between the fort and Bognor Pier I reckon there were 100 Kite surfers making a spectacular addition to this front. (Richard Roebuck)

Went on a flower course today on the downs behind Goodwood but got distracted looking at butterflies.
A good showing which included
Brown Argus
Adonis Blue
Chalkhill Blue
Common Blue
Silver-washed fritillary
Small White
Meadow Brown
Gatekeeper
Small Tortoiseshell
Clouded Yellow
All at SU870109. (Nigel Symington)

This afternoon we did a circular walk mostly on the north facing slopes of Fulking Escarpment seeing 13 different species of butterfly. There were many Chalkhill Blues in varying degrees of newness, whereas the 18 Walls and 6 Small Tortoiseshells were all very fresh. The 3 Dark Green Fritillaries were very battered. Despite this, the first one I took a picture of was quick to fly up and challenge anything which invaded its space. The third one was higher up the slope in a more exposed position. Usually the dark greens are off like a shot when I get anywhere near them but I was able to tempt this one onto my hand to warm up for five minutes or so. At the end of the walk we came across a large caterpillar  is it a Fox Moth? Looks good to me. ed. (John & Val Heys)

Went for a walk this afternoon on the Downs around Folkington and Windover Hill. Plenty of butterflies as usual with good numbers of Wall Brown, Small Tortoiseshell, Chalkhill Blue, Common Blue, Brown Argus and Silver-spotted Skipper along with the usual array of browns and whites. Also counted 24 Grayling behind Windover Hill which is the most I've seen there. A freshly emerged Brimstone greeted me as I made my way back down the Downs to Folkington towards the end of my walk. Another enjoyable afternoon! (Chris Hooker)

Saturday 17 August 2013

Another Swallowtail was reported and photographed near Eastbourne on Thursday afternoon. There seems to be another wave of good weather heading up to us from the south - anything could happen in the next 5 days. With the county saturated with Clouded Yellows (and a few Swallowtails and Long-tailed Blues) it's worth checking gardens and local buddleias over the next week as you never know what else may turn up. (Michael Blencowe)

Talking of which...

Graeme Rolf, of Brighton & Hove City Council sent this photograph (of a Swallowtail) taken by Andy Jeavons at Berwick Church on Thursday 15. (Dan Danahar)

Long-tailed Blues in Newhaven garden this morning, putting paid to planned strim of Everlasting Pea... (Dave Harris)

This afternoon I led a walk on Cissbury Ring for the Worthing Downlanders, an organisation "dedicated to supporting and defending the ownership and control of all Worthing Council's existing downland estate, and supporting the management of this downland estate for public purposes, free of built development", see www.worthingdownlanders.org.uk. Fourteen of us braved the dull, windy and ultimately wet conditions in an attempt to see a few butterflies. When faced with such a negative weather forecast I always do my best to prepare in advance, which entails spending an hour or two looking for roosting butterflies and marking their position. Undoubtedly the best find was a Silver-spotted Skipper, a species which has only just colonised the site. The fact that this specimen appeared to be a freshly emerged female augers well for the establishment of a population here. (Neil Hulme)

A good look around the recently cleared area at Rowland Wood produced these species Small Tortoiseshell, Clouded Yellow, Small Skipper, Small Copper, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Common Blue, Chalkhill Blue, Small White, Silver-washed Fritillary and Speckled Wood. (Arthur Greenslade)

I am based in Hove and have just seen a Gatekeeper land very close to me. I am not a regular observer so I identified it through markings recorded on butterfly sites. It is probably no coincidence that we have blackberry bushes in flower! (Ken Pearson)

Thursday 15 August 2013

I've had a lovely butterfly day in the garden where I work just north of Shoreham Airport, Peacocks, Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshells, Commas, Small/Large Whites, Meadow Browns, a male Brimstone, two male and one female Wall and a Common Blue laying eggs on the medick in the lawn. Gardening is a great job. TQ196063. (Tessa Pawsey)

A fabulous female Common Blue and an egg laying Clouded Yellow at Castle Hill, Newhaven today. (Bob Eade)

On the section of my transect that runs across the northern side of the newly created clearfell block near the entrance of Rowland Wood, Clouded Yellows were the most abundant species of butterfly today, I recorded 18 in total (including 2 helice). In the same section I also counted 7 Chalkhill Blues (5 male, 2 female), 6 Small Tortoiseshells and a few Common Blues, neither of the latter two were seen last week. It would appear that time is nearly up for Rowland Wood's Silver-washed Fritillaries with only one, rather tatty female seen, I didn't see a single White Admiral today. The species count for the past two weeks was raised to 24 with the addition of 3 Purple Hairstreaks (all at low level) and a solitary Comma. Finally, if anybody happens to know the species responsible for the small, vacated cocoon that was encountered on a birch leaf, I'd be very interested to hear from them. I believe it is an Ichneumon but the closest matches I can find are all from the United States. (Bob Foreman)

I went for a long walk in this afternoon's sunshine starting from Folkington and doing a circular via Butts Brow, Friston Forest and Windover Hill and there were butterflies aplenty! Wall Browns were showing pretty much along the whole of my route as were Chalkhill and Common Blues. However, the real action started when I reached Friston Gallops. Here I found a late and tatty Small Blue, 4 Painted Ladies and 6 Clouded Yellows (my first for 15 years!). There was also a Marbled White. I would have been more than content with that but towards the end of my walk I came across a pristine Grayling enjoying the afternoon sun on the Downs near Folkington. There were also several Silver-spotted Skippers here. A great afternoon! (Chris Hooker)

Recent News - 14 August: I visited Ladies Mile near Brighton. I saw 19 species on my walk, 3 Small Skipper, 1 Essex Skipper, 1 male Brimstone, 4 Large White, 1 Small White, 3 Brown Argus, 17 male and 2 female Common Blue, 6 Holly Blue, 2 Red Admiral, 1 Painted Lady and now just the one caterpillar seen, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Peacock, 1 Comma, 2 Speckled Wood, 2 Marbled White, 8 Meadow Brown and 5 Gatekeeper. What interested me was I also saw 5 Small Coppers, they seem to be having a great year as including these and at other local sites I have seen 12 (summer brood). Also 3 Male Chalkhill Blues, as far as I'm aware this is a first for the site, again having the best year yet as just across at Hollingbury Hill Fort the best count was 27, as previously posted (6th August), in previous years the best you could see is 3 if you were lucky.
11 August: I visited Ladies Mile near Brighton. I had a idea of what I might see, it then came true as I saw 2 Clouded Yellows, other butterflies of note were a single Large Skipper, 7 Common Blue and 3 Marbled White, these seem to be holding on longer then previous years which is nice to see locally. Out of 6 Painted Lady eggs I saw a female lay back on the 18th July, I managed to find two caterpillars, both in tents they constructed on Creeping Thistle, it was interesting to see that they were different sizes, and yet laid on the same day. (Jamie Burston)

News for Sunday 11 August 2013: Since discovering the Silver-spotted Skipper on Cissbury Ring (3rd August) I've spent many hours searching for the species across other potential sites in the area, without much success. I had already drawn a blank at Washington Pits (4th August), so I was doubly pleased when determination paid dividends during a return visit on 11th August. I only found a couple of specimens, but one was a male, which suggests to me that the butterflies emerged here this August. I'm fairly sure these are the progeny of a pioneering female which visited the site in 2012; I suspect that it's only the females which head off in search of pastures new, unlike for instance the Chalkhill Blue (why do the males do that?). This location (TQ128119) is 4 Km from the nearest known established colony at Chantry Hill, and almost precisely the same distance from the Cissbury Ring find. My thanks to Martin Kalaher for helping with the local SSSk search. (Neil Hulme)

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Saw this Silver-washed Fritillary outside the office today in Riverside industrial Estate in Littlehampton, GR:TQ01800244. (Celia Curtis)

Brown Hairstreaks seen today on the ash tree by the turning to Nettley's hide (per Gary Trew). The fleabane on the trail from the visitor centre continues to be utterly irresistible to many Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells, Commas, Common Blues, Gatekeepers, Painted Ladies, Small Coppers, Brimstones, Whites etc and the occasional Clouded Yellow. Best for me today however was a Vestal on the heath. (Pete Hughes)

Today in 1-km square TQ2524 I saw Meadow Browns (4), Small Whites (3), Gatekeepers (2) and another Clouded Yellow. In TQ2525 I saw Meadow Browns (11), Small Whites (10), Gatekeepers (9), Common Blues (3), A Small Tortoiseshell (1), Peacocks (2) and amazingly more Clouded Yellows - two more together!!
What is going on with Clouded Yellows at the moment? Is this an explosion or an irruption or an invasion or what? Does anybody know?? (Helen Crabtree)

Abbots Woods: I spent a couple hours wandering around the woods and the most common butterflies were Large and Small Whites, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers. Also saw 5 Silver-washed Fritillaries (I think), 5 Common Blues, 1 White Admiral, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Wall, 1 Speckled Wood. (Susan Suleski)

Brown Argus trio and Silver-spotted Skippers at High and Over/Frog Firle. (Mike Kerry)

Tuesday 13 August 2013

I am not usually involved in these things, but for the first time in the 25 years I have lived in this house, I have just seen a Purple Emperor (female) in my back garden which is bordered by alder and willow woodland. I thought you might like to add this to your records! TQ393394. (Chris Payne)

A quick visit after work to see my son in Broadfield, Crawley this afternoon produced a very unexpected and unusual sighting. While watching him working on changing a car engine he then commented that a Butterfly had settled on his box of sockets. I was somewhat taken aback when on closer inspection this turned out to be a Purple Emperor, certainly not what I was expecting but a welcome bonus nonetheless. (Robert Horne)

Seem to be seeing Clouded Yellows everywhere at the moment. On Sunday at Saddlescombe (TQ269118) there were maybe 6 just in a small area either side of the road. One was the pale helice form, a blurred top shot confirmed this. In Burgess Hill (TQ292194) on Tuesday there were 3 Clouded Yellows, a worn Silver-Washed Fritillary and just as I was going home, a battle worn Brown Hairstreak sitting on a thistle. (Mark Cadey)

Regular visitors to this website will no doubt be fed up reading about Silver-washed Fritillaries in my Storrington garden but it has been the most amazing year. To re-cap, previously we have only seen one at that was approximately 4 years ago. This year there have been 8-9 sightings. Two days ago there were two on Buddleia, both on the same flowering stem. They knocked into each other and then went spiralling up and over the house and far as I could tell went far away. I went round the house and there was another feeding on a different buddleia. I have managed four photos so far and the four images show four different individuals. The nearest colony is about 1 mile away but I don't think it is a large colony (I don't see many SSF at Chantry Hill or Kithurst Hill).
Yesterday I checked downland just to the west of Kithurst Hill for Silver-spotted Skipper but didn't find any. I did have very close views of two female Clouded Yellow. Both seemed to me to be rather large individuals. One was the usual colour form but the other was 'helices', which I have to say was rather stunning.
In the early part of the year I didn't connect much with Small Tortoiseshell. I am pleased to say that in the past few days there have been plenty, with 7 in the garden 2 days ago and several seen on my downland walk yesterday. I returned to Sullington Hill today for two reasons. The first was to make sure I hadn't missed any Silver-spotted Skippers when I visited a few days ago. None seen. The second was to see if there were any more Wall butterflies. The other day there was just one but today 2-3 males. No females seen.
Also 7 Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady and a fair variety of other species. (Martin Kalaher, Storrington)

Since August 2nd I have been visiting Kithurst Hill to see Clouded Yellows which have been showing there most days. On 8th I saw a male, female and helice form in the meadow. The Large and Small Whites and Silver Ys have been present in large numbers and plenty of Painted Ladies have been present. My Mill Hill transects for the past 2 weeks have shown increases in Wall and Common Blue and the emergence of second brood Adonis Blue today. A Clouded Yellow flew across my car as I drove up the hill this morning and I found a male and female flying at the bottom of the hill. Mill Hill Transect results (previous week in brackets): Adonis Blue 4(0), Brimstone 1(0), Brown Argus 4(3), Chalkhill Blue 49(50), Comma 0(2), Clouded Yellow 2(0), Common Blue 69(40), Gatekeeper 8(46), Large White 7(5), Meadow Brown 294(224), Painted Lady 6(3), Peacock 5(8), Red Admiral 2(2), Small Heath 6(6), Small Tortoiseshell 8(6), Small White 11(7), Speckled Wood 0(1), Wall 3(1), other whites 1(4). (Colin Knight www.seapic.com)

Another B.C. member, Trevor Rapley, and me visited Beckley Wood between 10.30 and 15.30 hrs. today, following the successful field event held on Saturday. We were fortunate to sight a total of 17 species of butterfly. These included at least 100 Peacocks, many Silver-washed Fritillaries, Painted Ladies and Green-veined Whites. We also saw 6 Clouded Yellows, 5 Brimstones, 2 White Admirals, Small & Large Whites, Gatekeepers, Small Tortoiseshells and single specimens of Small Skipper, Purple Hairstreak, Small Copper and Speckled Wood. Trevor managed to photograph the Purple Hairstreak, however this turned out to be very worn. As we were leaving we met a couple who showed us images of two Purple Hairstreaks taken at low level near the oak trees at the site entrance. (Douglas Neve)

Today I saw another Clouded Yellow in my garden near Pulborough (TQ0618). This one gave me an opportunity to photograph it as it briefly landed on a late flowering red clover in our wild flower meadow.
Our buddlia bushes are now in full bloom attracting many butterflies daily. Other flowers we are growing also attract the butterflies but the buddlia is by far the most popular. Yesterday, we had a Silver Y moth on one of the bushes, in addition to Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Brimstone, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady, Comma, Meadown Brown and Gatekeeper.
I have commented previously about the encouraging larger number of Small Tortoiseshells seen in the garden this year, but disappointingly I have seen much fewer Red Admirals this year. Is this illustrative across Sussex or just here near Pulborough? Regards (Chris Page)

Here's an odd one...Hellingly Village: I am afraid I do not have a photo but have seen a really large Fritillary, possibly 160 mm in my garden, I have looked on several sites to see if anyone else has seen/reported it. A friend has also seen large butterflies at Abbots Wood, not far from me. Have you had any reports, I assumed that some had escaped from a butterfly farm? (Gill Riches)

News for Sunday 11 August: Grid reference: TQ350260: Silver-washed Fritillary seen in garden on the northern boundary of Lindfield Conservation Area, first recording of this butterfly in the garden since 2006. (Terry Oliver)

More news for Sunday 11 August: We went for a walk on Sunday in Tottington/Longlands Wood at Small Dole. One of the first butterflies we saw was a Purple Emperor  flying briefly round and then settling with wings open on a shady part of an oak tree. This was near the pond close to the open area by the industrial estate, not where we'd expected to see one although then we noticed lots of bushes of the willow family so it made more sense. We went on to the increasingly overgrown ride in the woods where we didn't see any more Emperors but there were at least 3 White Admirals. Other sightings:- a Clouded Yellow, a Small Copper, plenty of Meadow Browns, a few Gatekeepers, a Ringlet, a Small or Essex Skipper, all three types of White, Common Blues, a Holly Blue, a Peacock, a couple of Speckled Woods, half a dozen Commas and quite a lot of Silver-washed Fritillaries some so pecked they almost looked like Commas. As we went back past the pond & open area a Purple Emperor made a brief but spectacular appearance above our heads to round things off nicely. (John and val Heys)

Not sure we should allow this, but as it's making a wider point, I guess it's ok...
News for Saturday 10 August: At last this Summer I saw a fresh Small Tortoiseshell, but sadly it was whilst walking from Goudhurst in Kent through a hop-field. It was on the ground at the base of a hop-plant. I beileve Tortoiseshells do eat hop which is of the nettle family. There was only one though seen imn about 6 miles of hiking. (Bob Brown)

Monday 12 August 2013

It's a good start to a day of butterfly surveying when you open your front door and there's a Wall flying around your front garden. Yesterday we surveyed some squares in the west of the county for the atlas trying to fill a few gaps on the Chalkhill Blue map. We found a small colony of Chalkhills still present on The Trundle near Goodwood but could not locate any at Cocking Quarry. Whilst leading a walk at Iping Common we found one late Silver-studded Blue. At all three sites Clouded Yellows were present - my first since 2011. (Michael & Clare Blencowe)

I received an interesting record yesterday from Tony Moore who found a male Silver-washed Fritillary on his buddleia in Selsey. For many of us this species may be regularly encountered elsewhere in Sussex but it is almost unheard of on the Manhood Peninsula south of Chichester. Looking at our atlas data the nearest record we have to Tony's Selsey garden is 14km away. This could well be the first ever record for Selsey. (Michael Blencowe)

The first Silver-washed Fritillary of the year that I saw on 9 August in my garden near Pulborough (TQ0618), came back to one of our buddlia bushes today (at least I think it was the same one!). This time it gave me a chance to photograph it.
So far this year I have seen 22 different species in my garden compared with 20 for the whole of 2012, thus suggesting this is a better year for butterflies than 2012 - no doubt mostly due to the better weather. I have been particularly encouraged this year by the large number of Small Tortoiseshells, especially in the last couple of weeks, after reading they have been in decline in recent years. (Chris Page)

I saw a Clouded Yellow today at TQ245192. This butterfly was flying south at some speed, but nectaring in a hedgerow at the same location I also saw a Brown Hairstreak, and there was a Brimstone at TQ249195. (Helen Crabtree)

I spotted another Clouded Yellow today, this time at Woods Mill (TQ219133) during a short lunchtime stroll, also spotted were a couple of Common Blues, Small and Large Whites, 2 Silver-washed Fritillaries, a White Admiral, a Red Admiral, a Painted Lady, 5 Small Tortoiseshells, a Peacock and lots of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers. (Bob Foreman)

News for Sunday 11 August: Bracklesham: 2 freshly emerged Holly Blues nectaring on Tansy in the garden here, and a Jersey Tiger which had been nectaring on Buddleia. (Derek Lee)

Sunday 11 August 2013

A walk back home to Ringmer from Glynde this afternoon turned up several Wall Browns on Mill Hill [close to the Glyndebourne wind turbine], a Holly Blue in Chamberlaines Lane [Ringmer], and a few Chalkhills on the track up to the Caburn ridge from Home Farm, Glynde. Also several Commas, Small Tortoiseshells, etc. (Steve Diserens)

It only took a brief stop (primarily for an ice cream) at Gills Lap on Ashdown Forest (TQ467317) this afternoon to see one of Sussex's seemingly ubiquitous Clouded Yellows, also seen were 7 or 8 Gatekeepers a similar number of Meadow Browns 3 or 4 Small White and a Common Blue. When we got home we saw yet another Clouded Yellow in the garden in Lindfield (TQ348248). (Bob Foreman)

Beckley Wood Event, Saturday 10 August 2013: Well the day threatened to be overcast as we assembled at our meeting point in Beckley Woods, near Rye, in East Sussex. We got off to a good start with some beautiful fresh Peacocks and majestic Silver-washed Fritillaries nectaring on the hemp-agrimony adjacent to our assembly point. It was not long until the first Large White and Small White butterflies were seen too.
Beckley Wood is not conducive to walking a circuit so we walked out along the rides from our central base and back again. However the location mattered little as there were butterflies in abundance. We soon had Gatekeeper, Small Skipper and Painted Lady to add to our observed species list.
Meadow Browns, Ringlets and a Small Tortoiseshell were then observed followed by a Clouded Yellow. I missed the Clouded Yellow on the first occasion as I had remained back by the cars in case of late arrivals.
As with most other woodland this week the numbers of Peacocks were very high. Easily over fifty were seen, and almost ubiquitously where nectar sources were available. What pleased me greatly was the same could almost be said for the Silver-washed Fritillaries. One male Silver-washed Fritillary with a damaged wing followed me down the ride like a pet dog.
On the second leg out from base camp I finally got to see the Clouded Yellow, my first this year. A Common Blue was then spotted by Richard. Along a section of ride-way that was cleared by Steve Wheatley and his volunteer party four years ago we saw another good crop of Peacocks and a veritable host of Green-veined Whites. However the zenith of the walk was a White Admiral sunning itself on a plant stem. It was totally unperturbed by our presence and posed for many pictures. Stuart managed to get a picture with his phone, and this was tweeted with in seconds to his butterfly fan base in Massachusetts in the United States of America; technology hey!
I was particularly pleased to see so many butterflies in Beckley Wood as this marks the fruition of the monumental conservation effort by Butterfly Conservation in this woodland four years ago.
Another cheerful aspect to this walk was the large number of Bumblebees seen and migrant Hawker Dragonflies are having a bumper year too.
So many thanks to Stuart Cooper for leading the walk, the Forestry Commission for allowing us parking access and to Georgina, Richard, Ed, Rod, Heather and Doug who participated in this walk. A special thanks also to Doug Neeve who took the photographs for our use and who remained behind after the walk was over to record some of the species we did not see earlier, namely Red Admiral, Comma and Speckled Wood. (Jim Barrett: Rother Guardians)

More news for Saturday 10 August: Very early am at Kithurst Hill, West Sussex. The meadow was full of roosting butterflies, mainly Chalkhill and Common Blue, plus a good number of b>Brown Argus. Supporting cast included: Marbled White, Large, Small, and Green-veined White, Meadow Brown, Small Skipper, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, and a single Silver-washed Fritillary. Alas no Clouded Yellow but looking for a single roosting butterfly in a 1 hectare field is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. More photos here as I process them: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48896022@N08/. (Leigh Prevost)

News for Friday 9 August: I spotted a Clouded Yellow in Bexhill at 4pm on Friday. Also seven Painted Ladies on one Buddleia bush on the same day at the same time. (John Gent)

Saturday 10 August 2013

On my normal circuit around The Comp and Frog Firle 81 Wall Brown counted today despite the weather not being 100% ideal. Some fresh Small Tortoiseshell also seen. (Bob Eade)

Female Purple Emperor Tottington Wood just south of footpath crossroads near Small Dole. (David Plummer)

Today I went into the garden because my Mum said she saw the little brown Butterfly again, as I went to the top of the garden my Dad shouted out that it was on the first Buddleia I had passed, I went back and had a look, and found a skipper, I thought nothing of it until I realised, I was actually looking at a Silver-Spotted Skipper (nearest known site over two miles away). After a few minutes it flew off so I went to the other Buddleia, my Mum was right after all as I soon spotted the White-Letter Hairstreak, it turns out it's not a one off visit, I have a feeling I'll see it again soon, I think this will make for a unusual Big Butterfly Count, as this is what I was doing at the time. (Jamie Burston)

News for Friday 9 August: I saw 4 Brimstone butterflies, 2 male and 2 female in my garden today (TQ219384). (Sue Matthewson)

News for Thursday 8 August: Was working in Arundel on Thursday and around 3.45pm I noticed a blue I didn't first recognise. I only got a brief view before it flew and checking my app I identified it as a female Long-tailed Blue. Panic set in before it flew back and I took some record shots on my iPhone. I had to leave it at 4pm but returned at 5.15 with 3 friends. Unfortunately the 2 bushes of sweet pea were now in shade. All day Friday, every time the sun shone I checked the bushes but no further sign. (Chris Glanfield)

Friday 9 August 2013

Things are getting a little extraordinary 'round these parts... Long-tailed Blues at Pett, Swallowtails in Steyning and Chalkhill Blues in Rowland Wood - whatever next!!!??

An ovipositing female Long-tailed Blue was found and photographed in a back garden in Pett village, nr Rye today. The butterfly did not stick around but did manage to lay eggs on Broad-leaved Everlasting Pea in the garden. A search on the same foodplant further along the road turned up another egg. (Trevor Buttle & Ralph Hobbs)

Today was my first opportunity to get to Rowland Wood since returning from holiday. I had been itching to get over there having read all the exciting reports from the past couple of weeks. I have to confess I hadn't noticed the report of a Chalkhill Blue from Douglas Neve so I found myself in a state of complete incredulity when, while walking the transect a rather worn female Chalkhill Blue landed on a Common Fleabane flower right next to me. A few seconds later, my wife, Jo and son, Lucas called to me that there were two unusual looking blues on the track ahead, these turned out to be two male Chalkhill Blues. I was completely astonished. I had already recorded a pristine Wall and Brown Argus, a rather tatty Dark Green Fritillary, half a dozen Clouded Yellow (including 2 helice) and a couple of Painted Lady so I would have been more than content to have left it at that but Chalkhill Blues... The first three were found on the northeastern side of the large clearfell area near the entrance to the wood, later on the transect I recorded another, much better condition female Chalkhill Blue in one of the rides on the opposite side of this area. Other species recorded: Small and Large Skipper, Large, Small and Green-veined White, Brimstone, Small Copper, White Admiral, Peacock, Red Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet, 20 species in total - not bad. (Bob Foreman)

A short trip to Old Lodge resulted in many butterflies in the car park nectaring on the fleabane. These included 2 Silver-washed Fritillaries, a fresh Peacock and a bright Painted Lady as well as the many Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns. More can be seen at my new blog http://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.com/ if you have a few minutes to waste!! (Bob Eade)

Do Butterflies have their own Calendar? In 2012 I saw my first Brimstone and my first Silver-washed Fritillary of the year on 9 August in my garden near Pulborough (TQ0618).
Today, I saw my first Brimstone and my first Silver-washed Fritillary of 2013 in my garden! A coincidence or what? I also saw Common Blue, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Painted Lady, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Large White and Small White in the garden.
Meanwhile the Large White caterpillars are growing fast on the radishes which have now been completely taken over by them. I have planted another row of seeds with a cloth over them so we will have some for ourselves! (Chris Page)

In my Storrington garden yet another Silver-washed Fritillary on Buddleia. I have photographed three out of the five seen so far and these three have all been different individuals. Also four Common Blue, including a mating pair.
Sullington Hill and hoping for Silver-spotted Skippers but no joy there, even though the habitat is very suitable. However, there was a male Wall 'on territory', and I'm not sure if Wall has been recorded there in recent years? No doubt someone will enlighten me. Also 17 Common Blue, so I didn't have to worry too much about this species. Yet another Clouded Yellow.
Two Small Copper at Rackham Hill (yesterday) and another two today at Sullington Hill. All in very nice shape, so maybe a few more to come. I haven't yet seen one at home this year which is very unusual (22 species so far this year but time is running out!).
New garden record for Peacock, now 14. Correction for my posting a few days ago when I mentioned Clouded Yellow feeding avidly on Field Scabious at Kithurst Hill; it was Small Scabious (only a small detail, but worth getting right!). (Martin Kalaher, Storrington)

Thursday 8 August 2013

This is my first sight of a Swallowtail in my 77 years . I presume it must be a migrant. I watched it for half an hour today 8th aug. in my garden in Steyning. I would be interested to know of other sightings. (Lawrie Smalley)

Kithurst Hill Nature Reserve: About noon Thursday this Chalkhill Blue was active at the reserve meadow. It was pointed out to me by Clive Griffin who was uncertain what butterfly it was. I managed a few images with a Canon compact camera. The insect is presumably female and I wonder whether the aberration is nameable. (Richard Knight, Ditchling)

On the 6th I was out in the garden looking at a Comma, when a pristine Brimstone flew past followed by a Holly Blue and then a female Purple Emperor glided over the garden. This was extra special as it was also my Birthday, what more could you want... However on Thursday, all sort of things happened. Firstly in a break from work I had close encounters with pristine male Brimstones and yet another Clouded Yellow in the field at the rear of my garden, not to mention Small Coppers, Large Whites etc. However I had made a plan to visit Wolstonbury Hill on Thursday with Jamie Burston to check how the Silver-spotted Skippers were doing. We clocked up around 20 in difficult windy conditions and a few more species, helice Clouded Yellow 1, Silver-spotted Skipper 20+ including cow pat sitting individuals, Small Skipper 2, Chalkhill Blue male around 100, Chalkhill Blue female 30 plus, Common Blue male 20 plus, Common Blue female 4, Small Blue second generation 1!!!!!, Brown Argus 1, Painted Lady 3 including a courting pair, Speckled Wood 3, Peacock 1, Small Tortoiseshell 2, Meadow Brown numerous, Dark Green Fritillary all worn 7, Large White 2, Small White 1. Additionally, several moths, chalk downland specialists including an amazing sight of lots of male and female Pyrausta aurata, leading to mating pairs in the early evening, an interesting sight. Butterflying at its best. (Richard Roebuck - photos by Richard & Jamie)

In Ringmer Road Seaford only 200m or so from the beach is a patch of lavender outside a small terraced house which faces South-East. In the afternoon it is partly-shaded but two days ago about 5.30 I passed it and was amazed to see it covered in bumble-bees, probably well over 150 but impossible to count individually! There were no butterflies though, but this morning on the way to the library in full sunshine there were art least a dozen Large White butterflies and one Painted Lady.
Given that although this is residential there a very few areas to grow vegetables, my suspicion is that this is a watering-hole for those flying in. Would be interesting if they could be "painted" in some way to track them. Has this been attempted? Would have thought a small spray of colour on a wing wouldn't do much harm.
Tinkers Park bus/rail ralley last Saturday produced a few Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers but nothing notable - the steam and smoke from the traction engines must have discouraged them! (Bob Brown)

A male White Admiral today in a garden along Effingham Road, Copthorne today. (Tom Simon)

Today I had a garden first as a Small Skipper visit Buddleia.
7th August - I had a garden first with a female Silver-washed Fritillary that visited Buddleia, I managed a record shot before she moved on. later I visited Hollingbury Industrial Estate Reserve and saw a single Small Blue.
6th August - White-letter Hairstreak landed on my garden Buddleia (as previously posted, record shot above)
1st August - I found a Emperor Moth caterpillar near Carden School, Hollingbury. Link to Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHvc_6vPjL8. (Jamie Burston)

Hundreds of butterflies fluttered around the parched lower slopes of Mill Hill. Sixteen species were seen on a sunny day, all but two on the downs. Chalkhill Blues were out in force with over two hundred seen. Both Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns were everywhere with estimated numbers at about a hundred an acre for each. However, the highlight of the day was a Dark Green Fritillary restlessly patrolling over the lower slopes by the bottom wayward hedge. It was joined by a bright Clouded Yellow. The first of a handful of male second brood Adonis Blues were also spotted.
Butterflies were courting and three species were seen in mating sequences: Common Blues, Meadow Browns and Chalkhill Blues. About ten Marbled Whites were still in flight. Bright colour was also provided by fresh specimens of a Painted Lady, a Peacock Butterfly and a Red Admiral. The other species were Speckled Woods, the three common Whites, Small Heaths. (Andy Horton)

Crawley Down : Silver-washed Fritillaries are a far more frequent visitor to the garden buddleia than in previous years, with visits almost every day, but they are getting a bit worn now. Also on Worth Way in mid July this skipper was seen which is not the normal type seen round here. Perhaps a silver spotted? - I think this is actually a very well marked female Large Skipper, ed. (Jonathan Ruff)

I counted 140 Clouded Yellows in a lucerne field yesterday at Thorney Island. Today there was still in excess of 100+ on the Island plus 1000's of Silver Y and 3 male Oak Eggar on the wing. (Barry Collins)

News for Wednesday 7 August: As you can see, despite the Garden Tiger declining over much of the UK, this species seems to be doing well in North Portslade. A total of 8 in trap on 7th August. (Darryl Perry)

News for Tuesday 6 August: Two Clouded Yellows seen at Rowland Wood one appears to have a white upper wing maybe "helice" type. (Arthur Greenslade)

More news for Tuesday 6 August: A rewarding visit to the new clear felled area in Rowland Wood this morning. Clouded Yellows flying all over the site. Difficult to estimate numbers, but I twice had three in sight at one time, also saw one helice specimen, so would guess there were low double figures. The Fleabane is attracting swarms of butterflies, notably many Gatekeepers, arn't they doing well this year, also Female Silver-washed still in good condition, one each of Painted Lady, Common Blue Female, Small Copper, and Small Heath. (Graham Parris, Isfield)

Wednesday 7 August 2013

As the Purple Emperor score keeps rising Neil Hulme has prematurely sent in his 2013 survey records (and some he has received from others) to add to our total. Neil's been doing a lot of work out there in the field monitoring the Emperor during this bumper purple year. We can now add a further 5 new tetrads to our tally from areas on the Knepp Estate, in Houghton Forest and on Bignor Hill. This takes us to an impressive 99 tetrads for Purple Emperor so far on our 2010-14 atlas survey. Just one more for the century! (Michael Blencowe, with thanks to Neil Hulme, Matthew Oates, Alison Skelling and Rob Thurlow)

This afternoon I needed to relieve the boredom of the office and paperwork so, despite the grey cloud cover, I headed back up to Chantry Hill near Storrington. In some of the more sheltered spots almost every flower and seed-head supported a roosting butterfly. No Swallowtail, Pale Clouded Yellow or Long-tailed Blue just yet (keep your eyes peeled), but I was more than happy to track down a few more Silver-spotted Skipper. Congratulations to all on reaching the Purple Emperor Sussex century. (Neil Hulme)

Above is an image of a white butterfly observed nectaring on Ragwort near Steyning this afternoon. It was much smaller than a Small White and probably about the size of a Chalkhill Blue. It has been suggest that it may be an aberration of a Green-veined White. Any help on identifying this butterfly would be appreciated. (Douglas Neve)

Having missed the Grayling walk , I decided to go to Windover Hill looking for my first Grayling sighting. I saw more butterflies flying than I have seen before - mainly Chalkhill Blues. I also saw many Gatekeepers, some Meadow Browns, one Large White and one Wall. Finally I found a single Grayling which posed for photos then flew onto my Rucksack. (Katrina Watson)

Yesterday in Hove we saw a Clouded Yellow on the seafront near the King Alfred and 3 Holly Blues dancing round each other in our back garden. Throughout central Hove we had fleeting glimpses of Holly Blues and less easily identifiable butterflies/moths  much more to look out for than usual. In the afternoon, on Ditchling Common Val spotted an Elephant Hawk-moth caterpillar on rosebay willow herb (picture attached) and I found a Clouded Yellow in the more open part of the common (west side of the main road). Most of the likely butterfly types (except hairstreaks) were around, including a couple of Silver-washed Fritillaries and many Peacocks. The bracken was very high and all enveloping in many places, making some of the walks virtually impassable. Today despite the lack of sun in our garden there have been a few Whites, a Holly Blue and the first Speckled Wood since 12 August last year. (John & Val Heys)

News for Tuesday 6 August: The weather for the Ashcombe Bottom Adventure was perfect, warm but not too hot and 100% sun. A phenomenal 28 species of butterfly were recorded on the long but gentle walk. Up the Warningore Bostal to the top of Blackcap and down through Ashcome Bottom. I dont think there have been many occasions when I have seen so many species in one day. Unfortunately we didn't see Small Tortoiseshell or a Wall, too early for Adonis and we were never able to confirm any Essex Skipper sightings. It was really great to have Lee Walther, National Trust ranger, who joined us for the first part of the walk up the top of bostal sharing his knowledge and speaking about the management of such a superb site. The bostal banks were alive with chalk grassland butterflies. Loads of Chalkhill Blue and Marbled Whites, Small Skippers (possibly some Essex as well), several Small Blue, Clouded Yellows, Painted Ladies and Silver-spotted Skippers. Then in the woods of Ashcombe Bottom. Every few yards the spectacular Silver-washed Fritillary, Comma, White Admiral, many Brimstones and a Purple Hairstreak. There is potential habitat for Purple Emperor, it would be worth checking again next year. At the bottom of Ashcombe Bottom we were back into grassland with Silver-spotted Skippers, Brown Argus and Common Blue. Then at the end of our return through Ashcombe Bottom a pair of Silver-washed Fritillary flew in a courtship dance. The female flying in a straight line and the male following her closely, repeatedly looping under and over her.
Here's a video by Louise Holloway of Silver-washed Fritillary at Ashcombe Bottom 3 August 2013: http://youtu.be/g0k-YdlVwEI.
Nigel Symington kept a list of species seen on Tuesdays walk:
Small Skipper,
Large Skipper,
Silver-spotted Skipper,
Clouded Yellow,
Large White,
Small White,
Green-veined White,
Brimstone,
Purple hairstreak,
Small Copper,
Brown Argus,
Common Blue,
Chalkhill Blue,
Small Blue,
Holly Blue,
Dark-green Fritillary,
Silver-washed Fritillary,
Red Admiral,
White Admiral,
Peacock,
Painted Lady,
Comma,
Marbled White,
Speckled Wood,
Meadow Brown,
Small Heath,
Gatekeeper,
Ringlet.
28 species is fairly impressive, there were also several moths including many Silver Y, Six-spot Burnet, Purple and Gold (Pyrausta) family along with birds such as Turtled Dove and Buzzards. Crispin Holloway)

More news for Tuesday 6 August: On Tuesday at Steyning, I was fortunate enough to see my first Brown Hairstreak of the year, and my first in a few years. It appeared to be a freshly emerged female so was in pristine condition, despite a few missing scales on one of its forewings (see photo). Other butterflies seen included Ringlet, Silver-washed Fritillary, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Speckled Wood, Comma, Green-veined White, and Marbled White. We also had a Grass Snake just inside (and later outside) the reserve. (Leigh Prevost)

Tuesday 6 August 2013

First off I would just like to say a big thank you to Crispin Holloway for letting me gate crash his Ashcombe Bottom Adventure where I learnt a lot more about Silver-spotted Skippers then I knew before. After lunch I had to go to Ditchling Down and while I was litter picking the 'wild' camp sites (not official) I saw the following species; Chalkhill Blue in the low hundreds, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Large and Small White, Peacock, Red Admiral and Painted Lady, Clouded Yellow 1, Small, Essex, Large and following Crispins advice of where to look Silver-spotted Skipper 1, Marbled White, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Ringlet, Comma, Brimstone and possibly a Small Blue but I could not positively id it. (Lee Walther)

Peacocks in Paradise: Today in Barnes Wood I recorded fifty-four Peacocks in a four km square tetrad. This far exceeds my previous best of fifteen or so in my first summer recording butterflies in 2009. If Peacocks were the top-billing today, then Painted Ladies were the support act with eleven counted in total. Also present were beautiful fresh Commas, Brimstones, Common Blues, Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns and Whites galore. One Small Copper, one White Admiral and eight of the UKs most majestic butterfly, the Silver-washed Fritillary, completed a memorable afternoon of Butterfly recording. (Jim Barrett)

This morning I returned to Steyning Rifle Range, knowing that a few more Brown Hairstreaks would have emerged (I saw two females here on 4th August). It didn't take long to find the first, but she didn't hang around for a photo shoot. The second was more co-operative and I even had time to 'phone a couple of friends to let them know of its location, both arriving in time to get a few pictures. Sadly, the upper surface was blemished, detracting from one of the beautiful orange wing flashes. No complaints about the underside! At 2pm, when I considered it unlikely that more would appear, I headed to Chantry Hill. It's a joy to be out on the Downs at the moment, with flowers and butterflies at their best. Although it was primarily the Silver-spotted Skipper I'd come to survey (c.25 seen), it was the beautiful, freshly emerged Common Blues I spent most time photographing. (Neil Hulme)

This is a tale in two parts. I checked the garden before hiking off to Chantry Hill and was delighted to see yet another Silver-washed Fritillary nectaring on Hemp Agrimony. This is the fourth sighting of this species in the garden in the past week, involving at least two different individuals. I managed to photograph two out of the four sightings. Unfortunately it was in a mild skirmish with a Painted Lady and decided to leave me, allowing just 30 seconds or so for a quick photo. On my return from Chantry Hill I had Marbled White nectaring on Buddleia. I think this is the latest date I have had this species in the garden and in previous years the MW have disappeared before Buddleia flowers.
Chantry Hill was very good value. Species and approximate numbers as follows: Small Skipper (50), Essex Skipper (2), Silver-spotted Skipper (6) - including a female ovipositing, Large Skipper (8), Clouded Yellow (1), Brimstone (7), Large White (15), Small White (20), Small Copper (3), Brown Argus (5), Common Blue (20), Chalkhill Blue (100), Painted Lady (5), Peacock (4), Dark Green Fritillary (12), Wall (2m), Marbled White (20), Gatekeeper (200), Meadow Brown (500), Ringlet (4), Small Heath (6). The Wall pleased me as I managed to miss the first brood at this site. A couple of Silver-spotted Skippers were nectaring on Marjoram, which I haven't seen before. It has seemed to me that Common Blue was having another very bad year so today's tally was very welcome. The same goes for Small Copper and the three I saw were all pristine, so maybe there are more to come.
Also at home Red Admiral and Holly Blue, making 24 species for the day. (Martin Kalaher, Storrington)

Sightings at Tide Mills, Seaford: Small White (scores), Common Blue (30), Meadow Brown (20), Gatekeeper (12), Small Heath (4), Essex Skipper (4), Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Copper, Clouded Yellow. (Mike Kerry)

On the outskirts of Burgess Hill I followed a female Clouded Yellow feeding on Fleabane for 15 minutes before she flew off over a hedge. There were quite a few Painted Ladies too, as well as Common Blues and Purple Hairstreaks staying just out of camera range. TQ292194 Also I have included a picture of a Grayling egg from one of my visits to Windover Hill over the last 2 weeks. (Mark Cadey)

Today I went out looking locally for Butterflies generally around the Hollingbury Golf course area and its Hill Fort and around Wild park including the dew pond, I initially went out to look for Wall Brown and Brown Hairstreak in suitable habitat I found earlier this year but failed on both counts, I meet a friend, Gordon and I ended up on a Five hour walk. I was extremely pleased to see the following - Large White 50+, Small White 20+, Small Skipper 19, Essex Skipper 3, Meadow Brown 30+, Gatekeeper Male 50+ and Female 3, Marbled White 16, Speckled Wood 3, Common Blue Male 7 and Female 2, Chalkhill Blue Male 24 and Female 3, Comma 2, Peacock 4, Red Admiral 5, Painted Lady 2, Small Copper 5, Brown Argus 1, Dark Green Fritillary Female 1, Purple Hairstreak 3, Brimstone Male 1, Ringlet 1 and Silver-Y Moth 11.
Once I got home I went straight into the back garden and saw the following - Meadow Brown 6, Gatekeeper Male 3 and Female 2, Large White 20+, Small White 15+, Painted Lady 1, Red Admiral 1 and a single Comma, this wasn't near off being Fritillary size and 2 Comma caterpillars that I found on the hops I planted two years ago. I then saw a Butterfly come into the garden and I recognised it's flight, I got excited when it came to land on one of the purple Buddleias, it was none other than a White-letter Hairstreak, it settled for about a minute and I managed a record shot just before it flew off (photo will follow soon) . 10 minutes later I saw it again hovering in the middle of the garden before it flew off next door, the nearest Elm Tree is between 15 and 20 meters away, this individual was particularly mobile as at one point it flew over the roof of the house, seeing one in the garden made my day. (Jamie Burston)

In my garden in Bevendean I noticed this pair of Green-veined Whites and was struck by the contrast of colour, am I the only one who is mystified why all the books illustrate the underside of the whites as bright yellow where as most I see are certainly not. (Geoff Stevens)

Butterflies were very common (over 500 in 90 minutes) for the first time this year on Mill Hill around the middle of the day. Sixteen species were seen on the downs. Meadow Browns led the way with over an estimated 270 actually seen, followed by a count of 135 Chalkhill Blues, and nearly a hundred Gatekeepers making up the bulk of the total. There were frequent Large Whites, Marbled Whites, Brimstones, Common Blues and Red Admirals, with occasional Peacocks, Painted Ladies and Small Whites. The lower slopes were evenly distributed with butterflies, but the middle slopes had a special attractive Buddliea tree almost inaccessible by Brambles and Stinging Nettles and covered in Red Admirals and other butterflies including a Comma.
The frequent clumps of Marjoram on the middle slopes proved to be attractive to most of the butterflies. In the shade there were a few Speckled Woods and a solitary Ringlet. A handful of Small Heaths were spotted in the short vegetation. In the meadows there were frequent Silver Y Moths and the Six-spot Burnet Moths were still to be found on the Knapweeds. Small (or Essex) Skippers and Green-veined Whites were few. It was only a passage journey and if I waited around I could have added to the list. Full Butterfly Report: http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Butterfly-list2013.html#6August2013. (Andy Horton)