In early Nov 13 I found good number of Clouded Yellow (I/c Helice) & Bath White @ Cadiz, a few butterflies @ Cartagena & two tailed pasha + others I was not allowed time to see!! @ Gibraltar. Have another cruise last 2 wks Nov this year & hoping to see some more. Eric

found this quite fresh Brimstone on August 22nd in Norfolk, wings still slightly crumpled. Eric

Hi again Alan, Anne & Simon Harrap's book on Orchids has illustrations of 6 named varieties, none look like this. A 7th very rare variety ( found in Dorset) is described "Var flavescens", apparently a less extreme version of the pale greenish one with a pale brown lip & a normal bu...

Hi Allan,
I am no expert but I think your wasp is Pimpla rufipies, looks exactly like one I found here last week. One of the many Ichneumon wasp family. Eric

Mating pair Small Heath @ Holme NWT Saturday Sept 12th. 2nd brood I presume. Eric

10b P1810695 Wall M 2 white spots in eyespot 13.8.15.jpg This morning in cloudy windy conditions @ Titchwell I photographed this male Wall with well developed egg shaped eyespot containing 2 white spots. I see from the species album others have found this before but I had not seen it. Is this an ab...

9j P1780802 Purple Emperor male - Apatura iris.jpg I have been away for a few days & missed the start of this thread. My attached photo taken @ Fermyn was at 9.20am & I was on one knee to get it. Therefor I assume the angle of the sun to the lens was somewhere between 90-120 degrees, quite ...

As both my fz150's now have over 75k shutter ops I will probably upgrade to this when price is reasonable & reviews have been positive. The fz200 did not offer enough advantages for me bearing in mind cost, new spare batteries & new tc adapter tube required. Maybe the fz70/72 will also be up...

Thanks Mike for that link, interesting. I now also post this photo with the smaller 2nd white eyespot. Eric

P1780386 Meadow Brown 2 whites in eyespot.jpg Last Thursday in Norfolk I photographed this Meadow Brown with a largish 2nd white spot in the eyespot. Any observations on how often this occurs? Earlier in month I also photographed one with a small 2nd white spot just like the subspecies "cassit...

Sorry must have held my finger on the trigger with that 1st shot!

9a P1760854 Heath Fritillary - Melitaea athalia.jpg 9a P1760854 Heath Fritillary - Melitaea athalia.jpg 9a P1760854 Heath Fritillary - Melitaea athalia.jpg Had to cut my planned 4 day Kent visit to just 2 days. Left Norfolk @ 3.30am Tuesday & was into Kent before 6am so did not have to pay Dart...

P1750511 Well worn June 4th.jpg I photographed this well worn specimen @ Lakenheath Fen Suffolk yesterday 4th almost as an afterthought. Could not get the light right as both side looked the same. Seems late for a hibernator to be about & the abdomen looks "funny" as do the legs. It n...

Just for the record, I saw a Painted Lady in Denge wood Kent on May 15th & another one @ Martin Down (Wilts I think) on Saturday May 23rd. Unfortunately no photo of either. Eric

Small Heath out today @ Holme dunes NWT. I did photograph it but discarded it as blades of grass intruded. Eric

Green Hairstreaks out today on Norfolk coast. On both Holme dunes NWT & saw 2 having a right scrap @ Holme NOA. Eric

Pristine Speckled wood in my garden today in spite of mornings rain. Eric

thankyou all for the reply's Jack I took your monocular suggestion seriously & found the power/weight ratio to be encouraging & will investigate further for a possible larger size to use in winter for birding. Like Neil say's the papilio's are under powered for serious birding although I am ...

3 years ago thanks to a tip on UKB of reduced price on amzn I purchased a pair of Pentax Papilio 6.5 x 21 binos. They are brilliant, I use them for everything on basis if I cannot see a good bird image with those, I cannot get a good bird/insect/butterfly picture with my camera. On average they spen...

Many thanks to you both for the confirmation, glad my research on web was right. Eric