Another Long-tailed Blue experience

male Long-tailed Blue, Lampides boeticus

to  view  a  Slideshow,  click  here

Yesterday morning I was privileged to observe Mark Colvin releasing two male Long-tailed Blues into the wild. They had been reared from wild-born British larvae and were released back into the area where they had originally been found. The full story will be published in the next BC Sussex Annual Report. The first to be released was a week old specimen. It walked onto the pea flower and then nectared and walked over the plant until it decided to fly away 13 minutes later. The second was a fresh specimen and it flew around and  landed back on the Everlasting Pea several times. It flew away 5 minutes after it was released and a few minutes later soared over a fence and landed on the ground 15 yards away.

I then revisited Newhaven Tide Mills hoping for more action. The area was soon alive with Butterfly Conservation members combing the area for a Long-tailed Blue! I watched a Small Copper chase a Small Tortoiseshell all over a patch for several minutes.

release 1

release 2

farewell

Tide Mills:

Restharrow, Ononis repens

Chestnut moth, Conistra vaccinii

grasshopper, Chorthippus species?

Comma, Polygonia c-album

Garden Spider, Araneus diadematus

Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas

Small Tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae