After a morning meeting in Blackheath I noticed a Small tortoisehell in a garden near the meeting venue as I walked through the village to the heath. I then walked across the heath to the north side to do a butterfly count. The heath resembled a cut cornfield in colour and appearance – the price for this extended hot spell we are experiencing in the UK at the moment.
There were a good number of butterflies in the area near to Greenwich Park including Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Small and Large White and Essex Skipper(a London first for me).
I also photographed a butterfly which I was unable to identify from the photo and have sent to local Butterfly society recorder for help with ID
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
Common Pigeon [sp] (Columba livia)
Eurasian Jay [sp] (Garrulus glandarius)
Western Jackdaw [sp] (Coloeus monedula)
Carrion Crow [sp] (Corvus corone)
Great Tit [sp] (Parus major)
Eurasian Blue Tit [sp] (Cyanistes caeruleus)
Common Blackbird [sp] (Turdus merula)
Large White (Pieris brassicae)
Small White (Artogeia rapae)
Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)
Speckled Wood [sp] (Pararge aegeria)
Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola)
Pete's Favourite Things 
I’d never heard of an Essex Skipper – what a great name
Despite its name Essex Skipper can be found over most of SE England with a few isolated colonies in Devon and Cornwall. It is closely related to the Small Skipper (found across most of England) and the Lulworth Skipper which not as the name implies is only found on the Dorset coast.
Lots of Skippers, then. Thank you, my children and I will look out for it.
For more information on UK butterflies and for an online identification programme go to http://butterfly-conservation.org/
Brilliant. My daughter is very excited about this. Thanks
Hi Pete,
This area, the Dips, is one of my favourite local places for wildlife and is great for summer butterflies. There do seem to be more Essex than Small Skippers here (well, at least this year). Also plenty of nesting birds including Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Song Thrush.
I really like you blog! All the best.
Thanks Joe
Never really had the time before to appreciate how much wildlife we had around the area. It’s been great fun over the last year finding spots like this and there are so many more to still investigate. The more I look the more I find
Cheers
Peter