I also visited Collard Hill on Sunday June 20th. The gods must have been smiling on me that day, because within 5 minutes of arriving on site, I was taking my first photograph of an open-winged Large Blue! All together I must have seen about 15 - 20, together with Marbled Whites and Common Blues. I ...

I took this shot of interacting Wood Whites at Botany Bay earlier this year. Has anyone else seen Wood Whites interacting in this way? Is it part of their courtship ritual?

Yes fantastic photos! I have the same camera but alas not the same results

There will indeed be a book, but I certainly wouldn't attempt a re-run of e.g. Thomas & Lewington! It will lack any systematics and will be neither an identification reference nor a site guide - these are well catered for. It will simply be a celebration of our butterflies. Neil I think that's ...

Hi, thanks for all the tips. I visited a site today near Ham Home Wood that SteveC told me about. I arrived about 2.15, in warm sunshine. I soon met a local enthusiast (called Chris I think) who was pointing out the good bushes etc - then 1/2 an hour later it completely clouded over, started to spit...

Hi, can anyone recommend a good Black Hairstreak site for a visitor from Brighton? Monks Wood is quite a distance so I am looking for something a bit closer (Bucks or Oxfordshire). SteveC mentioned Ham Home Wood - is this a good site? Any other suggestions welcome!

I too noticed all of the Silver Studded Blues at Iping common doing this a once the day really hotted up on Saturday. They would close wings, and face straight into the sun so they caught as little sun as possible thus making them incredibly difficult to see. Where were you John W?! I saw the sun f...

It may seem contrary, but what you need for them to open up is warm bright overcast - definitely not hot sunshine. I noticed a similar pattern with Silver-studded Blues on Iping Common today - when it was sunny they would only settle with their wings up but when it became cloudier they were more pr...

Hi everyone, does anyone know when might be a good time to visit Cumbria and see the High Brown Fritillary at Arnside Knott and the Large Heath at Meathop Moss. I'm thinking maybe first or second week in July? Might even see the Mountain Ringlet too if I can drag myself up the fellside?

Cheers
John

Pete Eeles wrote: And a side-by-side shot, since they're on the undersides of neighbouring Sallow leaves.

Amazing camouflage!

Hello to John who started the thread on Wrecclesham. Thanks for the information posted here and good to meet you at the site. Hi Paul, nice to meet you too - I presume you were the chap with the tripod and other serious photographic equipment. When you said you'd been to Goring I thought you meant ...

I finally got to see the Glanvilles at Wrecclesham today. I must admit it felt a bit like cheating, and I didn't get as much of the "wow" factor as I would have done seeing them in their natural habitat. But it was nice to see them all the same, and I don't have a problem with re-introduci...

Pete Eeles wrote: And who should I meet when leaving the site, but the very chap responsible for the introduction - we had a good old natter!

Hi Pete. Do you know whether the colony founder was surprised or unsurprised / pleased or displeased with the little flurry of visitors this week?

Cheers
John

As my friend & I will be passing within a few miles on our way down the M3 next wednesday on our way to the delights of W Sussex/Hamps/east Dorset for 4 days, we would be foolish not to call in for a look. I looked at the Bing maps ariel view & parking possibilities seem to be up a track of...

millerd wrote:Let's hope they continue to do well. I wonder if there are any other similar bits of habitat nearby that they might naturally spread to?

I think that's a key question. It would be a shame if they are doomed to exist only in a tiny colony for ever.

I bought a secondhand FZ38 this year and am very happy with it. I also recently bought the close-up lens as well (Panasonic DMW-LC55E Close Up Lens + Panasonic DMW-LA3E Lens Adapter). I would say that's a bit of a mixed blessing - on the plus side, the butterfly looks bigger (i.e. occupies more of t...

Pete Eeles wrote:I have it on good authority that this is a release from a well-known Farnham-based breeder.

Do we know when they were released, i.e. how long the colony has been in existence? Presumably at least a year, unless the breeder released 100's of larvae or adults?

I just read this report on the Sussex Butterfly conservation web site: I had intended to travel to the Isle of Wight this week to catch up with the Glanville Fritillary but I had been tipped off that I could see them much closer to home in Surrey. In anticipation I travelled over the Hog's Back to a...

Thanks. It's the old story, as long as you can spot the butterflies in the first place, it's easier to take pictures when its cloudy. Great picture. When I tried to photograph them there on a sunny day a few weeks back, they didn't seem to want to settle for more than a second and I only managed a q...

wood-whites.jpg Thanks. I did indeed visit Botany Bay today, and found a couple of Wood Whites only yards from the car park, obligingly posing for this image. The question is, are they a courting couple or just good friends?! After a while they fluttered off on their separate ways and so I didn't a...