Seven Barrows

8 June - sunny and hot. A successful hour at Seven Barrows near Lambourn at lunchtime. 2+ Small Blues seen (photo 1), also 3+ Brown Argus (photo 2). A late Green Hairstreak was a surprise (photo 3) also seen were 10+ Small Heaths.

Wall Brown (no Fritillaries) - and some Dragonflies

7 June - sunny - no Fritillaries seen at either Sand Point or Haddon Hill - 5 Wall Browns seen (photo) at Sand Point. A Golden-ringed Dragonfly (photo) seen at Haddon Hill, and Black-tailed Skimmer (photo) at CWP95 later, also Demoiselles and Damselflies.

Chequered Skipper!

24 May - a visit to Allt Mhuic reserve near Spean Bridge, in sunny but windy weather. After a search, 3 Chequered Skippers seen feeding and flying very actively low over the moor. I managed a few quick photos. My first sighting of this very localised species in the UK, being only found in the West Highlands west of Fort William.

Marsh Fritillaries at Seven Barrows

22 May - a visit to Seven Barrows reserve in bright weather with sunny intervals. When the sun was out, butterflies were much more active - at least 11 fresh Marsh Fritillaries (upper), also a Green Hairstreak (lower) and 3 Dingy Skippers, and one Small Heath.

Butterfly season 2008 starts

10 May - the first dedicated butterfly trip of the year and not particularly successful! A couple of Grizzled Skippers seen briefly at Aston Upthorpe but no Green Hairstreaks found. Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock also seen. Also a Red Kite over and a couple from the A34/M4 as well.

Gibraltar

17 September - Two-tailed Pashas seen (photo) at Gibraltar Botanic Gardens, also presumed Lang's short-tailed Blue - has 2 eye spots but no post-discal stripe. A Swallowtail seen at the top cable car station.

Silver-spotted Skippers and Chalkhill Blues

9/11 Aug - A couple of trips to Linkey Down and Stockbridge Down, good numbers of Chalkhill Blues at both sites and 10 Silver-spotted Skippers at Linkey Down, and 4 at Stockbridge. Fine sunny weather continues. Brown Argus also seen on the 9 Aug trip. Skipper photos, 1 from each site - Chalkhill Blue and Brown Argus taken at Linkey Down.