Long-tailed blue - Okere Falls

[Tim Barnard]

Hi
I had a Long-tailed blue in the garden today ... don't get many in and around Rotorua - usually more common on the coastal plain.
Nice to see.
Cheers
Tim

[Tim Barnard]

Like waiting for buses - not seen one for ages ... then they come in two's ... another one today.

[Olwen]

Beautiful. Thanks for posting.

[sav]

Hi Tim, and all,

I had one, and probably 2, male Long-tailed Blues in my Havelock North garden this morning. I have never knowingly seen one before, and though I may not pay as much attention to blue butterflies as I might, it was so distinctive that I'm not sure I've missed many.

How common are they in NZ? I'm finding it hard to work that out, though I see that they are quite widespread.

cheers

[Tim Barnard]

Hey Sav,
I think we are all going to get to know our local areas and garden wildlife pretty well through the lockdown. Moth trap is coming out tonight!
I suspect this is a butterfly that will expand its range with climate change. I don't know much about national distribution these days - from what I've read they are NI and upper SI but that might have changed. Given they are gorse feeders, there is plenty of the food plant about. Would be good to know. It's worth putting your obs here https://inaturalist.nz/ would be good to build up more data. I have a backlog of things to add - maybe a task for the month ahead.

I haven't seen one in the garden this year (so far). Butterflies around here did get knocked back by some quite cold conditions in the late spring and early summer. Even the Monarch's were thin on the ground till about a month ago.

All the best ...

Tim

[Tim Barnard]

One Long-tailed blue around the garden yesterday. Nice to see.
All the best
Tim

[sav]

I just had one in my garden. Not quite a year after the initial sightings.

cheers

[David Riddell]

Couldn't add many birds to the national wader survey today, covering the Kawhia ocean beach and north head, but did have a long-tailed blue land on us, first one I've seen in years.