Poor quality journalism, but can you expect anything else? It must be difficult writing articles about a topic in which you have little or no knowledge. I saw a BBC article recently about the Curlew, complete with a photograph of a Curlew-sandpiper. Written by a journalist and not a naturalist, obvi...

There is very little habitat which looks suitable for this butterfly in the Malvern area in my eyes. The last place I heard of sightings was on the slope by the obelisk which bears almost no resemblence to the places I've seen them in either Devon or Lancashire. Yes there's lots of bracken but it wa...

David M wrote:That's interesting. If Peacocks do this, I'm sure the other adult hibernators must do likewise.

Possibly, although I've never this in other butterflies, just Peacocks.

Today I went for a walk at the Weaver bend near Frodsham. I was delighted to see a pristine Peacock butterfly sunning its self on a bare patch of a grassy bank. I watched for about 15 minutes before it flew down a disused rabbit burrow. That's a comment worthy of note. Do Peacocks hibernate undergr...

A nymphalid (prob Red Admiral) flying strongly out over the Bristol Channel in light drizzle today from Porthkerry, Glamorgan.

Hi Ed,

Adonis Blues require chalk grassland with warm soil - the steep sides of the common should be best. When you are there, think about which direction the wind is blowing and have a look in the most sheltered, but sunny positions.

Good luck!

Alexander

27th August 2011: Broadmark Beach, Rustington: I had a look for Clouded Yellows in a spot where I have found them before... as I was about to leave I got lucky and found this individual nectaring on Red Valerian and resting on the shingle. Clouded Yellow sm.JPG Clouded Yellow on coastal flowers Clou...

21st August 2011 : Astwood Bank, Worcestershire: Went out to look for Brown Hairstreaks . At SP030610 I found an assembly ash which was occupied by by a number of butterflies, both male and female. This tree is towards the north of this 100m square. At the extreme southern end of this square was an...

7th August 2011 : Arnside Knott: Got onto the Knott at 10am in sunshine. Climbing up I firstly saw a Meadow Brown at Heathwaite which was sign that today would be much better than yesterday! Towards the top I came across a small clearing which contained lots of Scotch Argus . This was a new species...

6th August 2011 : Arnside Knott: Having spent the last week at work in the North West, I decided to spend the weekend in Arnside. The weather today was pretty grim and it began to rain as I got off the train. There was no sign of any lepidoptera on the Knott, save for a few micros and cinnabar larv...

24th July 2011 : Sutton Park A short walk around my local national nature reserve revealed a number of common butterflies and an impressive moth - the Drinker . This is the female and is around 45mm long - pretty obvious in the middle of a marsh, despite the criptic line across the wings! The Drink...

Thank you Chris and thanks David. The reason I met with moderate success this time was that the conditions were perfect. The light coming down down the hill was soft and even and the butterflies are defending a very small territory (see photo) so they keep coming back to the same area. The wind also...

14th July 2011 : North Hill, Malvern, Worcestershire: A superb evening walk, with some of the most fiesty butterfly fighting I have seen. Two Graylings put in an appearance, although the stars were the Nymphalids. Each rocky outcrop along the east side of the hill had its own attendent males, each ...

3rd July 2011 : Woodlands of West Sussex: I spent the day butterfly watching in the lovely and hot woods of Sussex today. Despite getting through lots of bait, no Purple Emperors turned up, although there were good numbers of Purple Hairstreaks in the Oaks. In a small woodland clearing a pair of Wh...

Back from an excellent week-long stay in Scotland. The wildlife was fantastic; the highlights included: Golden Eagle, Ptarmigan, Snow Bunting and many highland wild flowers that were new me. In terms of butterflies, the highlight for a southern observer was the Chequered Skipper as one might expect....

I thought the BBC did a really good job with this. Three of my (non butterfly watching) friends commented on the article, and all learnt something about the Large Blue. The presenters took an interest in it, in complete contrast to that Adrian fool who used to present the One Show, who commented &qu...

I was lucky enough to be able to spend a week in the Highlands this year. It certainly seems to me that given the wild nature of this area, there's no need to go to a nature reserve to enjoy seeing Chequered Skippers.... find a good habitat and then wait for the rain to stop and the sun to come out!...

Hi Tim, The butterflies you describe sound like Small Heath to me too. At this time of year the open moors should have lots about - I remember walking from Ivybridge over to Princetown and most of the way I was accompanied by Small Heaths in abundance. The any blues in the area would be likely to be...

15th May 2011 : Woolhope Dome, Herefordshire. The Woolhope Dome is a rich area which contains a mosaic of woodland and limestone grassland. Despite the weather I had a good time with a few butterflies seen. Haugh Wood is at the centre of the dome and is a decent example of how woodland management c...

14th May 2011 : In the afternoon I went for a quick stroll around Rodborough Common. The conditions were far below that of earlier in the day and so there were not many butterflies flying. A handful of Small Heaths were about, and on the more sheltered eastern side single male Common and Adonis Blu...