Sunday 2 August 2020

Smash and Grab Skippers! 2nd August 2020



A proper bloglet this evening as I had just a short while this morning at Queendown Warren to see if I could snaffle a Silver Spotted Skipper or two.

Silver Spotted Skipper - my 40th species this year and all bar the Glanville Frit have been in Kent




I was not to be disappointed and found several zipping around at hyper speed, occasionally stopping to feed on the prolific Marjoram blooms.  They are always such engaging furry little butterflies and are feisty to boot, often chasing off Blues and browns from their patch.

The lilac dots of Small Scabious

Chalk Hills and Common Blues predominated although I did see a couple of Adonis in my brief foray as well as Brown Argus and loads of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers.  It was good to hear the dulcet tomes to John Ferguson and Chris Barnes and have a quick catch up after all these months.

Common Blue

Brown Argus

Chalk Hill dwarfing Adonis Blue

Chalk Hill

Chalk Hill

Adonis Blue - dazzling in flight but reluctant to open the wings

I suspect I shall be back here on Tuesday, weather permitting.

Back home my own garden was alive with the same two Browns but also Holly and Common Blue, several Whites and twirling Speckled Woods while Jersey Tigers on dazzling orange wings erupted from cover and I seem to have a large number of frantic Gypsy Moths with their crazy Long-eared Bat-like antenna careering around in the search of the paler females trying not to collide with the odd male Oak Eggar on the same mission.

Jersey Tiger

Gypsy Moth
Migrant Hawkers are now patrolling and a delightful Protocalliphora azurea added itself to the garden list after dropping into the Howard Sweaty Leg Bar for a lunchtime salty libation...

Protocalliphora azurea

Protocalliphora azurea


 
The new pot shelving is doing the job very nicely


And my parent plant Marsh Sow Thistle is flowering once again and is already topping 8 feet

Oh and dug up my ailing (too dark and shady) Potatoes, picked a few Runner Beans and my two remaining Broad Beans to go with Salmon for my dinner!



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