The brown blue

07 Saturday Aug 2021

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British butterflies, Brown argus, butterfly, butterflying, mud-puddling, puddling, the brown blue butterfly

According to my Life Cycles of British & Irish Butterflies, William Lewin named this butterfly the ‘Brown blue’ in his 1795 publication The Papilios of Great Britain, but its current name comes from the earlier 1702 work Gazophylacium naturae et artis by James Pettiver, who gave it the name the ‘edg’d brown Argus’. The argus part of the Brown argus’s name comes from ‘the many-eyed shepherd of Greek mythology, which is a reference to the numerous spots on the butterfly’s underside’.

210807 brown argus (1)

The beauties in my photos are from this year’s second generation of Brown argus, seen in two locations earlier this week. I only saw three of the first generation back in June as, like many local butterflies, their numbers were well down after a very wet spring. I’m hoping this second brood fares better.

210807 brown argus (2)

I was interested, and just a little revolted, when I watched one of these Brown argus butterflies stocking up on nutrients, probably salts and amino acids, by slurping at a damp mixture of mud and horse pooh, an activity known as puddling or mud-puddling. Don’t try this at home!

210807 brown argus (3)

274/366 Another extra brood

30 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects

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Aricia agestis, British butterflies, Brown argus, butterfly, butterflying, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Lavernock Nature Reserve, second brood Brown argus

This year I saw my first Brown argus butterfly (Aricia agestis) on 11 July and thought I’d seen my last on 26 August, a short but very sweet season of sightings. Then, to my astonishment and absolute delight, I discovered two more on the same day, 16 September, one at Lavernock Nature Reserve and the other at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.

200930 brown argus (1)

These had to be the product of the first brood of butterflies breeding and so were a second brood, not something I’d seen before with this butterfly. As the local populations of Dingy skippers have also produced a second brood and the Small coppers a third brood this year and nothing has changed in their environments, I can only assume this has been caused by the warmer climate.

200930 brown argus (2)

I haven’t managed to find the Lavernock Brown argus again but the Cosmeston butterfly was still in the same spot last week. A late summer-early Autumn treat!

225/366 Battered & bird-pecked

12 Wednesday Aug 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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battered butterflies, bird-pecked butterflies, British butterflies, Brown argus, Comma, Essex skipper, Gatekeeper, Painted Lady, Peacock, Ringlet, Small copper

Though second-brood butterflies are still looking pristine, many of the others are now well past their best, as life is tough for such fragile creatures. Some butterflies are so battered that I’m amazed they’re able to fly at all, yet this Gatekeeper and Ringlet were still moving from plant to plant.

Birds looking for an easy snack often attack butterflies and it’s easy to see the tell-tale signs of bird pecks on butterflies’ wings, like those on these: a Ringlet, Comma, Small copper and Peacock, and another Gatekeeper.

200812 birdpecked ringlet

200812 birdpecked gatekeeper

Is it the blazing sun that has caused this Essex skipper’s orange to fade so dramatically or has it lost most of its wing scales?

200812 faded essex skipper

I’m 99% sure this is the same Brown argus, seen first on 1 August and again on 10 August. It already had some bird pecks when I first saw it but, nine days later, it was looking rather faded and more than a little ragged around the edges.

This Painted lady is looking battered, bird-pecked, faded and jaded, perhaps the affects of a long migration journey, or simply a tough life well survived.

200812 jaded painted lady

205/366 Sightings at Slade Wood

23 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds, insects, nature

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Tags

British birds, British butterflies, Brown argus, Gatekeeper, juvenile Spotted flycatcher, mating Gatekeepers, Minnetts Field, Peacock butterfly, Siskin, Slade Wood, Spotted flycatcher

On Wednesday I ventured on to public transport for the first time in four months – suitably masked, of course – for a visit to Slade Wood, near Rogiet. This was a site where I’d seen Silver-washed fritillaries and White admiral butterflies last summer so I was hoping for more of those but, unfortunately, huge areas of the woodland have been felled over the winter months, which has destroyed a lot of the butterflies’ habitat.

200723 1 peacock 200723 2 gatekeepers

I did still see a lot of butterflies on the Buddleja bushes – in fact, probably more Peacocks than I’ve seen in one day before, and I got some pics of a pair of Gatekeepers mating – but only spotted one Silver-washed fritillary (and didn’t manage a photo) and no White admirals. There was also a butterfly consolation prize in the form of a Brown argus, a butterfly that’s not common locally, which was in Minnett’s Field, a nearby meadow managed by Gwent Wildlife Trust.

200723 3 brown argus

Though the butterflies were a little disappointing, the birds were a huge bonus as I managed to find a family of Spotted flycatchers, with two adults and a couple of juveniles (below left), which I’d not seen before.

And the flycatchers were joined at their watering hole, a couple of muddy puddles, by two beautiful bright Siskin.

200723 6 siskin and spot fly 200723 7 siskin

I may not have seen what I was expecting and I was saddened to see how many trees had been felled but I still had a wonderful day out. The sense of freedom was exhilarating, and Nature certainly didn’t disappoint!

196/366 First Brown argus of 2020

14 Tuesday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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British butterflies, Brown argus, butterfly, butterflying, Grangemoor Park

By this date last year, I had managed to find Brown argus butterflies at two different local sites (and one of those was the first Cardiff record in eight years). This year I only spotted my first Brown argus last Saturday, almost two months later than last year. The Polyommatinae family (that’s the blues and arguses) are not faring well in my part of south Wales this year, which is a great shame, as they are all gorgeous little butterflies.

200714 brown argus (1)

If you’re having trouble telling a Brown argus from a Common blue female, my blog Flying on the wings of Confusion, July 2018, has ID pointers and photos that should help.

200714 brown argus (2)

151/365 Leptastic

31 Friday May 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, British butterflies, British moths, Brown argus, butterflies, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Grangemoor Park, Large skipper, Latticed heath, Mother Shipton, moths

I’ve had a lucky week with my Lepidoptera sightings – that’s moths and butterflies, for those who didn’t know – and the week’s not over yet. As well as the Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth on Monday and the Burnet Companions on Tuesday, yesterday I found my first (three) Large Skipper butterflies for the year at Cosmeston.

190531 large skipper (1) 190531 large skipper (2)

And, today, my wander around Grangemoor Park was something of a Lep-fest, with the first (five) Mother Shipton moths I’ve seen in 2019.

190531 mother shipton (1) 190531 mother shipton (2)

And I spotted a nice Latticed Heath moth trying to hide in the grass.

190531 latticed heath

And, then, just as I was about to head for home, I noticed something small flitting about along a side path, went to investigate and found two Brown Argus butterflies, which I have seen already this year but not in Wales. You can see why I named this blog ‘leptastic’!

190531 brown argus (1) 190531 brown argus (2)

133/365 Birding on Salisbury Plain

13 Monday May 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, British butterflies, Brown argus, butterflies, Corn bunting, Great bustard, Marsh fritillary, Salisbury Plain, Small blue butterfly, White Horse

Yesterday’s Glamorgan Bird Club trip to Salisbury Plain, RSPB Winterbourne Downs and Martin Down National Nature Reserve was amazing. The weather was stunning, the bird sightings were brilliant, as were the butterflies, and, as always, the company was wonderful.

190513 Salisbury (1)

The views from high on Salisbury Plain were lovely – we even had a distant view of the White Horse, though it was a little disconcerting being so close to the military impact area and to have the serenading of the plentiful skylarks occasionally shattered by the booms of exploding shells. The joy-riding trailbikers and off-roaders weren’t exactly peaceful either.

190513 great bustard

Still, we saw some amazing birds – I managed to spot the only Great bustard of the day (you’ll just have to believe me when I say that the head in the centre of the dip in the vegetation in the photo above is definitely a Great bustard!) and we had splendid ’scope sightings of Stone curlews and chicks at Winterbourne – both bird sightings were lifers for me. My best bird photo of the day was the Corn bunting shown below – captured out of the car window as we drove by.

190513 corn bunting

We also enjoyed some superb butterfly sightings – my first Small blues and Brown Argus for the year, and, finishing on a high, my first ever (two) Marsh fritillaries at Martin Down.

190513 marsh fritillary

Flying on the wings of confusion

26 Thursday Jul 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Tags

Aricia agestis, British butterflies, Brown argus, butterflies, Common blue, Common blue butterfly, confusing butterflies, Polyommatus icarus

In yesterday’s blog I mentioned my confusion in identifying the Brown argus butterfly. Here’s why, plus some tips on how to defuse that confusion.

One of these butterflies is a Brown argus (Aricia agestis), the other five are female Common blues (Polyommatus icarus). Can you spot the odd one out?

180726 confusing butterflies underwings (1)

180726 confusing butterflies underwings (2)

180726 confusing butterflies underwings (3)

180726 confusing butterflies underwings (4)

180726 confusing butterflies underwings (5)

180726 confusing butterflies underwings (6)

If you have keen eyes, you will have noticed a difference in the patterns of spots of the butterfly in the last photo, which is the Brown argus. The Common blues all have an extra spot on their forewings (below right) and, on their hind wings, the two spots on the leading edge are more spaced out than those of the Brown argus – its two spots have been described as being close to a ‘figure of eight’ shape (below left).

180726 underwing patterns

Now, let’s look at the open wing patterns, which I find even trickier. Two of these butterflies are Brown argus, four are Common blue females. Which are which?

180726 confusing butterflies open wings (1)

180726 confusing butterflies open wings (2)

180726 confusing butterflies open wings (3)

180726 confusing butterflies open wings (4)

180726 confusing butterflies open wings (5)

180726 confusing butterflies open wings (6)

Firstly, as you can no doubt see, the amount of blue on Common blue females is very variable and that alone cannot help you identify them, as the Brown argus can also have a slight blue sheen to its wings sometimes. What I have found is that there is much less, sometimes no white colouration below the orange markings on the lower wings of the Brown argus (below left) and, though the Common blue can show a slight dark spot in the middle of its forewings (below right), that spot is much less obvious than the Brown argus’s spot.

180726 open wing patterns

So, did you work out which was which in the open wing photos? The middle butterfly in each row (photos two and five) are the Brown argus butterflies. Top marks if you spotted them!

Brown argus

25 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Aricia agestis, British butterflies, Brown argus, butterflies, confusing species of butterflies, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Cuckmere Valley, RSPB Dungeness

When I spotted this little Brown argus butterfly (Aricia agestis) in the RSPB reserve at Dungeness in Kent, I thought it was a first for me, but I was wrong.

180724 Brown argus Dungeness

It turns out I had actually seen one two days earlier during a walk along ancient footpaths in the Cuckmere Valley in East Sussex, but I hadn’t realised until I’d had a really good look at my photos.

180724 Brown argus CuckmereValley

And then, when I got home and rechecked the photos on my computer of another very similar butterfly, it turned out that I had actually seen my very first Brown argus at Cosmeston, my local country park, back in August 2017.

180724 Brown argus Cosmeston