Speckled Wood

I had a much more productive afternoon (blipwise) on the Sussex downs.

I went looking for butterflies and wasn't disappointed.
Two blues: unidentified because they didn't stop to be recognised.
One small copper (Lycaena phlaeas).
A lorra lorra small heaths (Coenonympha pamphilus), including a mating pair. Well, more than 20 anyway.
One speckled wood (Pararge aegeria).

Another highlight of the afternoon was to see 4 common lizards (Zootoca vivipara). The first two saw me first and scuttled off, the 3rd disappeared before the camera could focus but I did manage a poor shot of the last one.

I was also aware af masses of ladybirds, many of them mating. The ratio was roughly 3 harlequins to every one British 7-spot. All the mating pairs seen were harlequins.

I have decided to go with the speckled wood butterfly because it seems to be an unusual specimen. It has an extra small 'eye' at the rear of each hindwing and shows the strong orange colour of more southern examples of the cline. I couldn't find a similar one in Google Images.

I leave here after lunch tomorrow and hope to fit in another visit to the downs before I go. The South Downs are only 2 streets away and in fact I can hear skylarks singing away every day from the back garden. Brings back memories of my childhood.