Bugboy:

God knows what casual site browsers are thinking when they see these pictures pop up on main sites front page 'recently added images' panel

Refer them to me for starting the thread!

Jack

Can't get those ones Bugboy.

Inspired my Pete's excellent new book, some more from me.

Two should be easy enough.

Jack

It must be simple if I COULD DO IT.

Cartoons by Night Cafe: https://creator.nightcafe.studio/

Jack

The first one Guy is easy ..... a word that featured in a Kenny Rogers song:-)

But the second is clearly a thinker. Initials A.C?

Jack

Come on the rest of you - imagination needed. Dukes. Scotch, Marbled, Blue (sad), Monarch, Yellow (cowardly).....

Cartoons by Night Cafe: https://creator.nightcafe.studio/

Jack

You will notice that one of the cartoons has a very 'modern' slant.

Jack

Probably this wood where I found PBF all those years ago but maybe one of the others nearby.

Somebody might be able to check in 2024. The entire area, especially that disused quarry, looks very promising

Jack

A few years ago, somebody on ukb kindly sent me the Children's Encyclopaedia butterfly plates. That was all I had as a 7-year-old. Still, they helped inspire me to find out more. Ah, yes, those Orange Tip pupae in the fridge. My (somewhat younger) wife has strict instructions what to do if I'm not s...

I, Jack, was born December 1938 Gorleston, Great Yarmouth on the coast of east Norfolk. Mum caught a Peacock late summer 1945. That started things off. 1946 (aged seven) was my first full year. All was wonderfully new. I had no decent guide books – just a few illustrations in a Children’s Encyclopae...

In Easter Ross, there is the small town of Dornoch .  In a café I asked the waitress if the residents were known as Doorknochers .  Poor girl near spilt my coffee as she collapsed in laughter.   A little further south from Dornoch on the Cromarty Firth is an industrial area - rig and other marine se...

Pete's 'Rarities' is due to arrive in the next couple of days.  Meanwhile, I have been looking at the species list on ukb. This struck me as having the most racist, and sexist name imaginable. https://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=antalus As a matter of urgency, it needs to be renamed ...

Badger Bob is

now up to 4

My sum total remains at precisely one. East Norfolk. (in those days the country boundary put it in Suffolk)
I even know the date - football cup final day 1948 (that's how I remember the date) - 24th April.

Jack

Foolishly - and now with regrets - I never kept diaries so can't look at changes of dates, etc. But memory does offer a few clues. I lived in the relatively warm East Anglia. Back in the late 1940s / early 1950s, it was unusual to see Orange Tips before early May. One year soon (if not already) ther...

I started in 1945 so that is 78 complete season and one (the first) partial.

And yes I'm keeping warm but my Orange Tip pupae (as per long standing practice) are keeping cool in the fridge.

Jack

Parasitised Brown Hairstreak egg - Crawley, Sussex 22-Nov-2028

With that date, I'm sure it must have been attacked by Mr.Enistein.

Jack

I am revisiting my copy of South "The Butterflies of the British Isles" which I won way back in 1947 as a school prize, an era when children were encouraged to be competitive. The Black Hairstreak entry intrigues: "Larvae have been recorded from Surrey.  These were beaten from sloe i...

Matthew's book has been updated. Here is a wonderful extract to give a flavour.
Click on image for easier reading.
As far as I know, Matthew is retired so must need every penny he can get from sales of his writings

Jack

I lived on Mull 2012-15 and I always thought that Chequered Skipper must occur on the island.   I was reasonably familiar with CS habitat requirements, having seen it in several places on the mainland, but never had any luck on Mull. Now a Google search reveals that CS has indeed been seen on Mull a...

salmon into the treetops I think it does but haven't got that far yet in the re-reading. I have got past the "Emperors' Breakfast" though. I'm keeping warm enough but as far as showering is concerned, I am effectively in "Astronaut Mode" with a wipe down. Apparently a proper sho...

I have been thoroughly miserable and very cold.  We took up an offer of discount on heating oil if we ordered early - which we did ten weeks ago.  It has now run so low that the heating system has shut down into 'safety mode'.  We do have electric heaters and a wood burning stove, but no hot water -...