North Wales - Silver-studded Blue and Brown Argus

First day of a 'well looked forward to' trip to North Wales and Anglesey. To break the 'short' journey, and due to the warm, still weather we stopped off on the south slopes of the Great Orme for butterflies.

First seen were Small and Large White, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper on the first climb. Next was the first of many Grayling - on the higher slopes they were the default Butterfly, with dozens more seen.

The two main targets were Silver-studded Blue and Brown Argus. We knew that a) the Great Orme subspecies of SS Blue was very small, and b) that it was towards the end of their season. Soon though the first of many 'tiny' blue butterflies appeared. Slightly darker upper wing with a black border meant our first target was bagged. They were all very worn, but it stood out how small they were - especially when compared with a few Common Blue also seen. In total we saw c30 Silver-studded Blues, numbers increasing as we climbed.

The next target was Brown Argus. After a male flew through quickly, again as we climbed further Butterfly numbers increased. Similar in size to Common Blue, the males were straightforward with the Black Spot on the forewings...

It was also good to get some good underwing pattern as well, but they were variable. The first picture below is a classic Brown Argus Underwing...

The 'figure of eight' in the top/middle of the hindwing, and the missing lower spot on the forewing (compared to Common Blue). The next picture shows a Brown Argus with part of the 'figure of eight' very faint...

And for comparison, here is a Common Blue underwing showing the lower additional spot on the forewing...

Additionally seen were 2 Dark Green Fritillary, which zoomed through, and Green-veined White. 

Next stop was Penmon Point on Anglesey. Sandwich and Little Tern, Cormorant and Shah, Guillemot and Razorbill, and dozens of Gannet were on or over the sea. Several Small Copper showed off here, as well as several Oak/Northern Eggar moths...

Final stop of the day was Newborough Forest for a short walk while we waited for our cottage to be ready. Another Oak/Northern Eggar moth flew through rapidly, while Speckled Wood and Gatekeeper seemed to be everywhere. The Gatekeepers showed off here very nicely 😀