Thanks Vince, I heard they had got as far as Northumberland now,. so I did think ( just may be) :D Must be the East Coast only Goldie :D we have had (since 2007 iirc) a confirmed site for Essex Skipper in Scotland near Lockerbie (in fact I'm leading a walk there on Sunday). Almost certainly an acci...

One thing to be aware of is that many Painted Ladies are released by nurseries/schools etc. these days which can skew things i.e. are you recording a genuine immigrant or something that was captive bred? I know for a fact that several have been seen around Glasgow this summer albeit they either may ...

When you saw the Large White go into your trap Scott, did it enter in the way moths do like they are caught by a 'tractor beam' and are pulled in on a spiralling path, or was the approach flight 'normal' :?: l It actually landed just above & beside the (Robinson) trap rather than going into the...

Pete Eeles wrote: I was thinking of taking a photo of a colour chart / grey-scale chart and using that as my reference. Hope that makes sense!

GretagMacbeth Colorchecker perhaps?

Following on from that I had this fellow turn up in my Moth Trap. C 2013.07.25 P1140364 Small White Butterfly.jpg He was totally unharmed and sat on my finger for his picture before flying off into the dawn. Text books don't say butterflies are attracted to light and the only other occasion I remem...

Hope that you have a good weekend - just watch out for the midges! re. Mountain Ringlet this may help you get started http://www.southwestscotland-butterflies.org.uk/surveys-2013/mountain-ringlet-surveys-2013.shtml If you can get a reply from Andrew Masterman in time he spends a lot of time in the S...

for those of us on Android there is a free app for Irish bumblebees (18 species) - I imagine that most if not all also occur in the UK.
There is also a similar Irish butterflies app from the same author & both allow for direct reporting of sightings to records centre.

for those of you with a scientific bent
http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications ... ts/593.pdf

Large Heath has already started appearing in W Scotland.
As for Scotch Argus it all depends what kind of weather we get & I've given up speculating on that ...

A new colony of course would be great news but it's been known for a no. of years that there are CS around L.Etive incl. the Northern end so imo it's more an extension of recording of an existing meta population & therefore perhaps not unexpected. There are so few people on the ground in Scotlan...

where exactly in the Trossachs will you be & for how long?
Presumably you have a car?
May I suggest as a starter http://www.southwestscotland-butterflie ... ndex.shtml

Other species that may be on the wing in or around Glasdrum atm. PBF/SPBF/MF Small Heath Small Copper Green Hairstreak Green Veined/Small/Large Whites + Orange Tip Speckled Wood Small Tort/Peacock/Red Admiral/Painted Lady Do watch out for ticks & take precautions. :( Have fun & enjoy the sce...

1st record from Glasdrum this week - that's about a fortnight later than usual.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater#

May I suggest that for Scotch Argus & possibly Large Heath that you are better looking at Northward movement of their Southern limit rather than the Northern limit? Reason being that they basically exist all the way up to the Northern tip of mainland UK (& on at least a few of the Northern i...

from what I understand the UKBMS new online system allows for entry of other non-lepidoptera records?

I've recently also acquired an A77 so I'll be watching your shots with more than usual interest.
All we need now is some sun & butterflies!

Male Holly Blue

for those of you intent on visiting the Highlands to see CS you may find this interesting http://www.highland-butterflies.org.uk/pdf/Chequered%20Skipper%20survey%202012%20results.pdf . They are tweaking the habitat computer model slightly based on last year's results which hopefully will provide som...

For those of us "up North" & elsewhere still suffering from over Winter butterfly withdrawal ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22025537

Anybody been lucky enough to have access to the NHM collection?

it's that time of year again to start thinking about these little blighters & keeping safe when out in the country.
http://www.tickbitepreventionweek.org/