Silver-spotted Skipper

A short visit to Newtimber Hill, on the border between East and West Sussex and usually home to many Silver-spotted Skippers. A good excuse to get out and about and to get a year tick in the bag. The weather forecast for the early part of the week was not too good so we took advantage of the dry start to the day. When we arrived the weak sunshine had all but disappeared and it was a tad cooler than previous. Nonetheless, it wasn't long before we found a specimen perched up on a flower head and it was duly recorded. I had thought that this would be the first of many but they remained elusive - well hidden in the grass due to the lack of sunshine.

 

Several nice specimens of Chalk Hill Blue provided some material for the camera.

 

 

The Marbled Whites are just about over, this specimen looking tired and somewhat overwhelmed by the red mite Trombidium breei. This parasite has been particularly common at this site over the past three years.

The temperature dropped even further and fewer butterflies were on the wing, even the Meadow Browns struggled to get airborne - so it was time to call it a day.