Beautiful Butterflies 2018

Sorry Sarah. I forgot to ask how your lovely dog Bramble is getting on. And, I believe you've got another dog (Toby?) now.

I went to Warburg which is a local(ish) Wildlife Trust reserve up in the glorious Chilterns. Hoping to see Green Hairstreak butterflies as mentioned above. Sadly, nothing doing and it was fairly quiet but after some searching I managed to locate some cooperative species.

I'll kick off with an unremarkable Speckled Wood

A Meadow Brown (Revised ID) Small Heath

I don't think I've ever seen Dingy Skipper in the UK before so I was quite pleased. to find them. 

I came across one location where Common Blue butterflies were really active. It was mostly males fighting each other and they rarely settled but I got a few shots. Stunning blue colour in the sunshine

And, the underwing of the male

Now, this is where I need some help. At first I assumed this was a female Common Blue and it may well be.

However, I did wonder whether it might be a Brown Argus which look very similar. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the base of the upper wing to see if there was any hint of blue or violet. Apparently, a Common Blue has a wing spot on the underside of the forewing in the area shown below which the Brown Argus doesn't.

What do you experts think - female Common Blue or Brown Argus?

fabulous photos Sarah and Tony and such pretty species, thanks for sharing these beauties.

Great pictures Tony, some species I've never seen before.

Fabulous shots Tony. I love the speckled woods. I've yet to see the common blue in person. WE are developing a wildflower meadow and are hoping to get a good range of butterflies.

Sadly Bramble passed away last summer aged 14yrs. She was a fantastic little dog and is much missed.

My daughter who works for the National Trust has Toby and he's almost 3 now. We now have Jack who's 16 months old and is quite the character. He did overlap with Bramble for a few months.

Sorry to hear about Bramble's passing, Sarah. She made it to a good age and no doubt enjoyed the Devon countryside after living in west London. I remember how worried you were when she got very ill after a walk in Black Park(?) but made a good recovery. Jack looks absolutely gorgeous and that's a great shot of him framed by the flowers.

I forgot to add this photo of a Grizzled Skipper which I saw at Warburg. I'd initially mistaken it for another Dingy Skipper. First one I've seen in the UK

I didn't see anything new today at a different BBOWT  reserve.(Chimney Meadows). In fact I didn't see much at all despite walking for miles.

Nice photo TJ. We get them here but also quite a few close relations so unless you cut them up, they stay nameless, which mine always are! Sorry you had a blank day, it's goes that way sometimes, no reason, just not a lot about!

I didn't know I had Green Hairstreaks practically round the corner, but got this on the edge of West Pennine Moors

I don't see the variety that you folks get further south but of the ones I do see these are my favourites.

Small Copper

They're one of my favs as well, although I've not seen one yet this year.