Where is the Gatekeeper?

This morning I went out on a walk to find some butterflies and other insects. But I wondered why I hadn’t seen any Gatekeepers (Pyronia Tithonus) so far. because in my memory those were the only Browns (Satyridae) I always found. And indeed today there weren’t any to be seen. As always, internet gave me the solution…as did my picture archive (the picture on top is one of those): they fly from July onwards after the caterpillar has survived the winter in a half-grown state. So this blog is about everything else I saw in the last couple of weeks.

The very delicate Skippers (Hespiriidae) can only be seen when you look carefully, because they are very small. Thankfully I managed to find both the Large Skipper (Ochlodes Sylvanus) as the Small Skipper (Thymelicus Sylvestris).

The first time I saw a Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum Cancellatum) was in the Green Heart of The Netherlands and I did not expect to see it here as well. So it was quite a surprise to see a mating couple of these dragonflies at Ruislip Lido.

And after this sighting I have seen some more near the water. Because the males will hold a vigil near the warm water edge until his significant other arrives.

Originally, I thought they were Broad-bodied Chasers (Libellula Depressa), but the golden edge on the wings show their true identity.

 

 

Whilst there are no Gatekeepers yet, there are plenty of Ringlets (Aphantopus Hyperantus) around. They can be found on green leaves which makes their colours  stand out even better.

A very pretty butterfly indeed! I will finish this blog with a surprise. I did take some pictures of Small Tortoiseshells (Aglais Urticae), but when I looked at home at this particular picture, there were actually two on the same leaf!