Over the last 2 days my spare time has been short but yesterday afternoon a trip to Hope Gap was in order. A Crimson Speckled Footman moth had been seen over the weekend and I would love to see another one of these very rare moths. There were quite a few butterflies flying in the warm late afternoon sunshine including several Small Copper and also some Clouded Yellow. I was lucky to see this Clouded Yellow settle. It was actually a helise with very pale upper wings.
Today I decided to visit my home patch. It was really relaxing after all the chasing of Long-tailed Blues recently. 11 species were seen, a very good number for October with another Clouded Yellow seen. Lots of Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown. More usual Autumn butterflies included this smart Comma.
Then, just when I was least expecting it another male Long-tailed Blue appeared, well away from the other sites where they have been seen and some distance from the coast in the middle of the Downs.
