Over the last week there have been a few sunny days and most of the butterfly species seen this year have been out and about including Comma, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Green Veined White, at least one other species of White, a species of Blue and Red Admiral. Species seen earlier in the year but not in the last week include Ringlet, Brimstone, Orange Tip, Small Skipper (probably - see below) and Small Tortoiseshell. All in all a good year for butterflies with some large numbers of some species seen. I struggle a bit with identification of butterflies that need close examination to ID them as I don't like to even capture them for observation let alone kill them. I recently checked the sources on the Small Skipper and found that the almost indistinguishable Essex Skipper has also been found close to here as it is spreading from the South East. The main differences seem to be in the colour of the undersides of the antennae and in the angle of a marking on the male upper wing. I am now re-examining photographs to see if I can confirm which type of skipper we have or indeed if we have both.
