mating Adonis Blues and a Common White Wave

Adonis Blues mating, Polyommatus bellargus, male on left

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

Thursday morning was transect day at Mill Hill. I didn't see any butterflies until I arrived at the bottom of the hill where Adonis Blues rushed around. Results: Adonis Blue 12, Brimstone 1, Brown Argus 1, Common Blue 2, Dingy Skipper 8, Green Hairstreak 1, Green-veined White 1, Peacock 2. I met Jan Charteris and Andy Horton and we shared sightings. A highlight was a pair of Adonis Blues mating. A cuckoo called. Moths: Cinnabar, Lesser Treble-bar, Treble-bar, Silver Y, Burnet Companion.

  Early evening I visited Fairmile Bottom and found a new moth, a beautiful Common White Wave which roosted and posed for me. Other moths found: Dark Strawberry Tortrix, Green Carpet, Meadow Grey, Red Piercer, Speckled Yellow, Thistle Bell and an unidentified Plume. This site never disappoints a moth hunter.

Mill Hill:

male Adonis Blue

Brown Argus, Aricia agestis

Burnet Companion, Euclidia glyphica

Cinnabar, Tyria jacobaeae

Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus

Fairy Flax, Linum catharticum

female False Oil Beetle, Oedemera nobilis

Green Hairstreak, Callophrys rubi
like me, qualifies for concessions

Leaf beetle, Cryptocephalus species

carpet of Horseshoe Vetch, Hippocrepis comosa

Peacock, Inachis io
qualifies for double concessions

Small Heath, Coenonympha pamphilus

Fairmile Bottom:

Blackbird egg, Turdus merula

Columbine, Aquilegia vulgaris

Common White Wave, Cabera pusaria

Common White Wave

with mite

underside of Common White Wave

Dark Strawberry Tortrix, Celypha lacunana

Early Purple Orchid, Orchis mascula

Early Purple Orchid

Green Carpet, Colostygia pectinataria

Kentish Snail, Monacha cantiana

Meadow Grey, Scoparia pyralella

Meadow Grey

Meadow Grey

Plume moth

Red Piercer, Lathronympha strigana

Red-headed Cardinal Beetle, Pyrochroa serraticornis

Speckled Yellow, Pseudopanthera macularia

Thistle Bell, Epiblema scutulana