Cheers, Bugboy - dead chuffed with how they turned out!

BWs,

William

Catching Up What with one thing and another, it's been a while since I posted on UKB - though not due to any lack of butterflying activity, I hasten to say. Lots of photos from a July trip to the Alps to come! Like most people, my impression has been of a really poor year for butterflies, with the ...

Though I say it myself, I'm getting very good at finding this last butterfly. It's a question of getting into the mindset of the males - I know exactly the kinds of places they like to show off in. I wish I could say the same - excellent pictures Guy - one day! It's interesting what you say about G...

Excellent pictures of warrensis, Guy, glad you got them. I spent the day with Apollos and Silvery Argus - a wonderful part of the world (still no luck with Cynthia!)

BWs,

William

Superb stuff from Daneway Neil, you seem to have a knack with Large Blues in particular! With the size, I've always generally thought of females (in particular) being noticeably larger than the other blues, but as you say, there seems to be a lot of variation (compared to other species), and I did f...

Thanks for the kind comments guys - it's been nice to see some good stuff lately. Wurzel - Heaths emerged about a week ago (a day after I went to look for them!), and seem to be having a good year, someone said they saw c.40 at Haddon Hill, and there seem to be similar counts coming from other sites...

Recent Doings June is such a busy time of year, that it's proved hard to keep on top of things and regularly get out looking for butterflies. Nevertheless, I did manage a brief visit to the legendary Cotley Hill last weekend, the diversity and abundance of butterflies here is really quite astoundin...

Epic, awe-inspiring stuff Pete - the effort and skill...extraordinary!

BWs,

Will

Pete Eeles wrote:Good work, sir! As I often quote: "I pity unlearned men on a rainy day"

Cheers,

- Pete

Cheers Pete - keeps me out of trouble - I was actually glad it was rainy, it meant I wasn't getting distracted by Green Hairstreaks/Dukes. Fascinating stuff!

Cheers Goldie!

Thanks for the kind comments everyone, it's been nice to get out a bit more this year, and see (and photograph) a slightly wider variety of species. Thurlbear On Saturday, despite the heavy rain that fell for most of the morning, and indeed much of the rest of the day, I resolved to make use of a fr...

Thanks Guy and David, a case of quality not quantity, Southern Comma has been on my wish list for a while, after 'our' Comma was the one that started it all for me! Recent Doings After a fairly slow start to the season, things seem now to be well underway in Somerset. Initial impressions are that hi...

That lemony female Small Copper is jaw-dropping, Hoggers - superb stuff

BWs,

William

Great pictures of both the taras and radiata, Bob - very jealous

BWs,

William

Hi Pauline, I agree with the Pug, looks like Brindled to me. I'm not too sure about trapping frequencies, I don't think that it is the case that you should trap every 2 weeks, certainly the official Garden Moth Survey operates on a basis of weekly trapping, and most observers trap several times a we...

Great stuff Pete - the 65mm is proving a deadly weapon in your hands, look forward to seeing more!

BWs,

William

Thanks for all the kind comments everyone (not sure why I never replied)! Recent Doings It's been a rather slow start to the season so far after faffing around with birds over the winter, and like others, I've found hibernators to be in extremely short supply this year, with just the odd Comma, Peac...

I too remember reading something about a Chequered Skipper reintroduction being done a while ago, and subsequently failing - let's hope this one fares better. I think there's a fairly solid argument for re-introducing extinct species like the Chequered Skipper, since they function as flagship specie...

Superb, Neil, and congratulations on that Scarce Tortoiseshell image in Atropos - you kept that one quiet!

BWs,

William

Catching Up August has been a busy month, and it's been difficult to keep on top of photographs with so much happening. The second rescued Brown Hairstreak produced a rather nice pale pupa back in early July, and emerged as a beautiful female in early August - an absolutely stunning butterfly! UKB ...

Cracking Brown Hairstreaks, Pauline! For the moths, the second is Yellow Tail (It has the single brown dot on the otherwise white wing, which Brown Tail lacks), and the third is one which generally goes down as a dagger 'aggregate' - the protocol for species that cannot be told apart with out dissec...