Chalkhill Blue Butterfly in Suffolk

Chalk Hill Blue

Butterfly in Suffolk

by Jean Garrod

On Thursday August 8th, Will Brame a fellow birder and keen general naturalist had seen 14 Clouded Yellows including a var. helice at Peewit Hill, Felixstowe. The next day Ken and I were preparing to travel and see them for ourselves when the phone rang. It was Will again but this rime telling us that the site had now turned up a male Chalk Hill Blue and could we come down with a camera. We met up oq the rough ground behind 'Mcdonalds' on what had become a lovely summer's day with butterflies abounding everywhere. We soon foimd the male Chalk Hill Blue nectaring on common fleabane and Ken was able co capture it with our instamatic camera! We noted that it had a nick in the edge of its left forewing otherwise, it was in excellent condition and very active flying from the flowers ro nearby ; bramble and back again. We watched it for 20 minutes or more · keeping a careful watch whilst awaiting the arrival of other enthusiasts who Will had • contacted. U nfortunacely, before che first person had arrived the butterfly had • disappeared and despite a thorough search , we were unable to relocate it. We had no ' trouble seeing Common Blue, Small Copper, Painted Lady or Silver Y's not to mention the Clouded Yellows which flew back and forth! More people arrived and joined in the search but to no avail. On Bank Holiday Monday, August 26th, we heard from Will again. Incredibly, he had found yet another Chalk Hill Blue at the same site. le was not the same insect since it did not have a nick in it's left forewing and was in perfect condition. When Paul Gilson and I arrived there were already several keen individuals scouring the area in brilliant sunshine. Will had only seen this second butterfly for a short time before it flew towards and over a fairly high bank of rough grass bordering Peewic Hill Caravan Site. Although we all searched the area for quite some time the Chalk Hill Blue was not seen again. When Steve Piotrowski saw our photograph he kindly arranged to have a portion of it enlarged to show the butterfly feeding on the common fleabane. We are delighted with the result. Thank you very much Steve. We also owe our thanks as ever, to Will Brame for passing on the news of his ,,, sightings.