This year has been so busy with both my son's getting married, as well as hunting dragonflies and the Bulgaria tour I feel I have been neglecting the local butterflies. However, I have still managed several local walks to look for them, and there have been some very nice surprises along the way.
It was only 3 years ago that I had one of the top locations for the stunning Silver-spotted Skippers just a short walk away from home. Then in 2024 there was a big crash in numbers that was extremely worrying. The following year saw a tiny improvement, but still a long way from where it used to be. Fortunately 2026 has seen a big step back to where they should be. It has been lovely walking along the valley and seeing these little beauties buzzing around at breakneck speed.
Silver-spotted Skipper.
I also found another site that had improved numbers this year. On a day looking for, and failing to find any Grayling, I came across this newly emerged individual. The proboscis is actually still split towards the end. This is normal for a newly emerged individuals and will soon join up which will enable the insect to nectar. It is quite unusual to see these skippers well off the ground like this, but with the temperature being around 33 degrees centigrade several butterflies were well off the ground to help keep them cool
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Newly emerged Silver-spotted Skipper.
My wild patch in the lawn has really been good this year, especially for Common Blue and Brown Argus. I'm sure I have had several of these butterflies actually emerge in the garden, which is very rewarding. This female Common Blue was one of many that roosted overnight.
Roosting female Common Blue.
In my local meadow I spotted an Adonis Blue. There is very little Horseshoe Vetch in the meadow so an Adonis Blue is quite a scarce sight there. Meanwhile, the Common Blue have been seen there in very high numbers.
Male Adonis Blue.
I did get very lucky with a Green-veined White that I saw nectaring on an overgrown footpath. The butterfly was actually in the shade of a tree, and with sunshine showing just behind the butterfly, the lighting effect was quite interesting.
Green-veined White.
I actually came across the Green-veined while I was looking for Brown Hairstreak. Until last year I would never have wasted my time looking for this species as it simply wasn't there. However, last year I stumbled across 3 different Brown Hairstreak on my patch, and this year numbers have increased much further with 13 seen. Until last year there had only been one record on my patch. It has certainly added a lot of excitement to any late summer butterfly hunt in the area. One day Lisa and I were near High and Over, and I wanted to check out some Hemp Agrimony in the hope that a Brown Hairstreak might be feeding on the flower. Amazingly, from some distance I spotted a female on top of the plant. In trying to get a little closer the butterfly took flight but quickly re-settled on a leaf where I quickly took a couple of shots. As Lisa had decided to travel light that day, she borrowed my camera, but the butterfly took off and vanished before she had the chance to photograph her.
Female Brown Hairstreak.
The day after I had seen my first 3rd brood Wall Brown of the year, I was doing a butterfly survey in Friston Forest when I found a very fresh male 3rd brood Wall Brown that was also nectaring on Hemp Agrimony. Wall Brown are notoriously difficult to photograph, but this one was so busy feeding he didn't fly off as soon as the lens was pointing at him. A very pleasing image showing the fabulous patterning of the under-wing.
Male Wall Brown on Hemp Agrimony.
A very close relative of the Wall Brown is the Speckled Wood. This species is a lot less flighty and also a lot commoner. However, once the season gets going it can be tricky finding one in good condition. However, twice recently I have come across a fresh male Speckled Wood that posed reasonably well.
Male Speckled Woods.
Along the bottom of the valley I was hoping to find some fresh Brown Argus. There were several that showed quite well, but I also got lucky with an extremely fresh Small Copper.
Small Copper.
Brown Argus.
Then, on a very memorable day for Lisa and myself in late August, we were walking along the patch when I saw a very fresh male Holly Blue. As it settled on a bramble leaf the sun went in, and it stayed put as the temperature dropped quickly. After taking a few closed wing shots Lisa was ready to move on, but as I could see that the sun was about to appear I said we should hold on as the butterfly was probably going to give us a rare opportunity to photograph it with open wings as it tried to warm back up again. It was well worth the wait as he did just that as the sun appeared again.
Male Holly Blue resting.
Male Holly Blue.
Further on the same walk a magnificent Clouded Yellow performed well for me. We first had it go to roost, similar in a way to the Holly Blue. Once again, the sun came out after a while and it quickly went to feeding mode, taking advantage of the Knapweed flowers.
Clouded Yellow on Knapweed.
However, what made the walk and day so memorable was a very bizarre moment. Having found a fresh female Queen of Spain Fritillary on my Sussex Butterfly tour a couple of weeks earlier, which had made Lisa extremely envious as she had never seen this rare migrant species before. We had just entered a cultivated section of land, and I said to her that she should look out for a Queen of Spain as the area looked really good for them. The main purpose however of going to that area was for Brown Argus. I pointed out an Argus to her and as she finished photographing it an orange butterfly flew past her and settled on the track just in front of her. Amazingly it was a Queen of Spain Fritillary. It was a surreal moment as only a minute before I had mentioned it was possible there.
It was a bit tatty, but all the same it was her first Queen of Spain. It vanished a couple of times, but eventually it did reappear and give us both a chance to photograph it.
Male Queen of Spain Fritillary.
I tried a couple more times over the following week and eventually three more were seen. All of them were males and still a bit aged. Three more were also seen by others in the area. It seems we had stumbled across a small colony, although no females were seen by anyone.
Male Queen of Spain Fritillary on Alfafa.
We have tried several more times but without seeing any more. They were already a little aged, so its not really surprising that they have now gone.
My 3rd visit however, did give us both our best sighting, with a slightly better conditioned butterfly. After watching and enjoying it for some time the weather deteriated and we saw it go to roost. This gave us the chance to photograph it showing the silver windows of the underwing. It was fantastic finding our own little colony, on this year that has seen unprecedented numbers of this butterfly migrating over from the continent. Hopefully more will be seen before the butterfly season grinds to a halt!!
The best of the Queen of Spain Fritillaries.
Male Queen of Spain Fritillary at roost.