Saturday 23-Jun-2018 Summer butterflies are well under way now, so I went down to Therfield Heath, Herts. Almost immediately saw a Dark Green Fritillary bombing past, one of several to be seen during the afternoon. Unfortunately none showed any inclination to stop for a photo, but great to see them...

Thanks for the info. Did you go to (I think it's called) Lady Wood, just off the bottom right corner of your image? That's been a good spot for emperors in the past - wondering if it's been managed also?

One other thing to throw into the mix: there's been a lot of discussion about distracting bird predators, but let's not forget other predators. Crab spiders for example, or mantises, or lizards. Maybe some of those don't need false eyes (eye-spots) or antennae (tails) to be sufficiently confused to ...

I must agree that I do not find the 'distraction' theory very convincing. When I look at my animation of a Green Hairstreak , there seem to be very few features that might deflect a predator! Could it not be inherited behaviour from ancestor species with more prominent antennae-like tails? Especial...

I'm also envious of the Small Coppers - I hardly ever see them over here in Cambs. Such gems!

I had both cameras yesterday so only the first one was with the new one. The others were with my big SLR and 180mm macro (and the birds in particular were heavily cropped). The new camera is good but has very little reach for distant subjects

Thanks David M and bugboy Sat 5th May 2018 I went with my family to the lovely Dunstable Downs in full hot sunshine this afternoon. Nothing very interesting on the butterfly front unfortunately - just a little too early for the Dukes, Grizzzlies and Dingies I think, but the 'sunken path' is looking ...

I was excited for a minute thinking there were Pearls in Cambridgeshire, then realised I was confusing Abbots Wood and Monks Wood. Still, I'm very happy for you

03-May-2018 I recently bought a new (second-hand) camera with the intention of it being small enough to be a carry-everywhere camera. With the addition of a Raynox closeup adapter, I tried it out for butterflying at lunch time today. A half hour visit to Cherry Hinton LNR near Cambridge turned into...

April 2018 Time to start my diary for 2018. After such a late start, it seems all of Spring has happened in a week. I didn't see my first butterfly until Saturday 13th April - a Brimstone in my South Cambs garden, closely followed by a Small Tortoiseshell Wednesday 18th brought my first Holly Blue,...

A Red Admiral in the sun, air temp around 8 C.

Red Admiral, 17-Nov-2017, Cherry Hinton Hall park, Cambs

Thanks Wurzel. I was pleased to confirm Essex Skippers on my doorstep while walking the dog this morning, and was happy with this phone picture:


Essex Skipper mating pair, Cambs, 7-Jul-2017

Sunday 2nd July 2017 A trip to Therfield Heath to get my fix of Summer butterflies didn't disappoint: Marbled White, a few Chalkhill Blues, a handful of Dark Green Fritillaries, plus Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Small Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell. h...

Thanks Trevor and Wurzel.

Saturday 10th June 2017 I've not been able to do much butterflying so far this year due to having a new puppy taking up all our time. But yesterday I managed to get time to make a trip to Monk's Wood to look for Black Hairstreaks. As has been reported elsewhere, they're having a good year at this s...

For those old enough to remember, Shivering Peacocks! sounds like something Captain Pugwash would have said. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Pugwash#Pugwashisms

09-Mar-2017

Just to record my first sightings of the year: a Brimstone (possibly several), a Comma and a Small Tortoiseshell in Cherry Hinton nature reserve, Cambs at lunchtime in the sun, around 13 degC

Hi Simon, I've sent you a PM, although it seems to be sitting in my outbox at the moment for some reason. Hopefully it will get to you and you find it useful

No 2 is an Apollo (Parnassius Apollo), I'd say

I went down to a local chalk pit reserve (Cherry Hinton East Pit) in the heat yesterday, hoping for a Clouded Yellow as they've turned up there before. No luck on that front, but I was pleased to see good numbers of Common Blues, which have been noticeably few and far between this year. Several acti...