28 Thursday Apr 2022
Posted in insects
The latest butterfly species in my locale to flit up and say ‘Look at me’ is the Dingy skipper and, for all its supposedly dingy appearance, it’s a little cracker, a subtle blending of 50 shades of brown. And it seems to me that all the skipper species have attitude; they punch above their weight in terms of stroppiness, defending their territory with a tenacity that belies their diminutive size. Welcome back, little skippers!
07 Thursday May 2020
Not only did I see my first dragonflies of the year yesterday at Lavernock Nature Reserve but I also spotted my first Dingy skippers (Erynnis tages).
At least four of these inconspicuous little butterflies were feeding on their favourite food plant, Common bird’s-foot trefoil, or basking on the compacted earth of the tracks through the reserve, as is their wont.
Their preferences for bird’s-foot trefoil and patches of bare ground are why these butterflies are often found on chalk and limestone grasslands, on brownfield sites and in disused quarries, amongst sand dunes and along open pathways adjacent to woodland.
Sun, shelter and good food – it’s not much to ask for. But, sadly, the Dingy skipper is one of many declining species of butterfly in Britain, probably due to the way land is managed and to the intensification of agriculture. So, I feel very privileged to be able to observe and enjoy these lovely little skippers so close to home.
30 Tuesday Apr 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, spring
I love it when a plan comes together. I’ve been thinking for a couple of days that it must be getting close to the time that the Dingy skipper butterflies (Erynnis tages) start to appear so, as it was quite warm this morning, I specifically went to Cosmeston, to a sheltered spot where I’ve seen them in the past, to look for my first Dingy of the year. It took a bit of searching, standing and watching for movement, and I was starting to think I wouldn’t find any but then, just like the proverbial buses, two came along at once.
A tip if you’re looking for these – if you see one, don’t take your eyes off it. They are so well camouflaged that they just disappear into the foliage and you can be a foot away and not see them.
13 Saturday May 2017
Tags
Aglais io, Brimstone, British butterflies, British moth, butterflies, butterfly, Common blue, Cyclophora annularia, Dingy Skipper, Erynnis tages, Gonepteryx rhamni, moth, Pararge aegeria, Peacock, Polyommatus icarus, Speckled wood, The Mocha
Blue skies, warm temperatures, wildflowers in bloom – what more could a butterfly want? Not much it seems as they were out in force at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park and I spent several happy hours following them around, trying to get photographs but also just intrigued by their flight patterns, the food plants they were choosing and their general behaviour. The Whites, large and small, eluded my lens, as did several Orange-tips and one Red Admiral but I did manage to snap these six.
The first is a Brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni), not to be confused with the moth of the same name. I saw two flying together, land together and then the male heading purposefully towards the female. Turns out though that her spreading her wings and raising her abdomen in the air was not a ‘come hither’ signal but rather the opposite. She was indicating that she had already mated and was rebuffing the male. I saw several Common blues (Polyommatus icarus), also easily confused with other very similar small blue butterflies. They are so vibrant! And seeing a Peacock (Aglais io) is always a treat, though this one was looking a little battered.
Speckled woods (Pararge aegeria) seem to be the butterflies I see most often wherever I go but I love their pretty dappling of brown and cream. The next was a new one for me and I saw two of them – it’s a Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages), a butterfly whose caterpillars feed on Bird’s-foot trefoil so it’s often found on the short impoverished grasslands of former coal tips, rubbish tips and quarries. I’ve just learnt that it’s called Dingy because ‘it loses scales alarmingly as it get older so looks, well, dingy’ (thanks, Steven). The last is not a butterfly but a moth and rather a special moth, The Mocha (Cyclophora annularia). This moth is nationally scarce but more frequent in the woodlands of southern Britain so I was well pleased with this sighting.
earthstar 
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