Early Small Blues

Although the sky flirted with cloud cover now and then, the temperature climbed a few notches this week – enough to send butterfly activity soaring once again. It’s a rare treat to spot 14 species on a single transect, but that’s exactly what we recorded. Once again among them was the enigmatic Painted Lady of Fames Rough (surely the title of a Victorian novel!), joined by another appearing next door in Coneyboro Hill.
But the real surprise? A tiny marvel no larger than your thumbnail – the Small Blue. Making a seasonally early appearance, this dainty butterfly is typically seen in ones and twos, hugging the few flowering clumps of its sole food plant, Kidney Vetch, which we've been carefully encouraging in Chipstead Valley, particularly around the Lagoon near Outwood Lane.
So imagine our astonishment when, for the first time ever, seven Small Blues were spotted together in Hill Wood Field (Section 7) – nowhere near any Kidney Vetch, but instead fluttering calmly in a small patch of brambles and long grass beside the path. What drew them to this unexpected hangout? The butterflies aren’t telling, but they did pose obligingly for our photos.

We recorded:
101 Common Blue
31 Dingy Skipper
22 Brimstone
21 Small Heath
13 Green Hairstreak
  7 Small Blue (previously seen
​     early June to July)
  3 Peacock
  2 Holly Blue
  2 Painted Lady
  2 Small White
  1 Brown Argus
  1 Grizzled Skipper
  1 Orange Tip
  1 Speckled Wood
Total: 208 butterflies from 14 species (it’s not often we reach 14 species).

For more info on these species visit butterfly-conservation.org ​

Butterfly of the week

Small Blue (Cupido minimus) – tiny in size, mighty in charm.

• It’s the UK’s smallest resident butterfly, with a wingspan of just 16–27mm  –  easily mistaken for a flying speck of ash.
• Despite its name, the Small Blue is mostly brown-grey on top; the blue is limited to a subtle dusting on the male’s wings.
• It lays its eggs on just one plant: Kidney Vetch, making conservation of this wildflower vital for its survival.

Small Blue, Hill Wood Field - Graham Kenward

Small Blue, Hill Wood Field - Liz North

Survey by Brian G, Graham Harris, Liz North and Graham K submitted to Butterfly Conservation (UKBMS). ​Report by GK & AI.