I suppose my favourite butterfly photo of 2023 is the Cryptic Wood White. I made a special trip to Northern Ireland last June to see the final resident butterfly on my UK list, long overdue! They were nearing the end of their flight period around the Craigavon Lakes, this was taken on the 15th June....

On 26th January 2024 I was walking with a small group of transect walkers at Southbourne Undercliff, Bournemouth, we were doing a reccy for a new 2024 transect. Along the route we were stopping and noting various plants to complement the survey information. Suddenly a rather tatty but bright Painted...

I have just been sent a couple of photographs from Andy Martin of a stunning Clouded Yellow Colias croceus aberration at Warren Edge, Southbourne, Bournemouth. This Clouded Yellow was recorded on the 15th September 2022 in the car park area. I believe the original photos were sent to the Dorset webs...

There have been lots of Marsh Fritillary releases over the years both recent and historical. I sometimes get sent records for Hampshire from sites where the species suddenly appears. They normally do well for a short period then die out for various reasons. We also used to have Glanville Fritillary ...

Difficult to say. The quote was from a well known birder who has many contacts. I just saw the tweet. Black-veined White seems to be easily available online,(egg to pupa) so the whole event seems clouded. I was rather excited by the Kent and Hants sightings at first but perhaps am a bit more suspici...

Lulworth Skippers are well out at Durlston Country Park. I was there on 30th May and saw at least 9. They were particularly easy to observe late afternoon, especially when roosting on long grass. They were on the wing until at least 19.30. The sunny weather helped!

Mike Gibbons

Quote from Twitter - Butterflies galore being released over the Chiltern Hills at the moment - over 50 Marsh Fritillaries at Yoesden Bank (where never recorded before), almost 35 Black-veined Whites at numerous sites and many Marbled Fritillaries. Really getting ridiculous.

Will you be running this trip in 2024? Would love to photograph Spanish Fritillary and Aetherie Fritillary. I tried last year without success. Also is there a chance of Chapman's Green Hairstreak? I was going to try an independent trip in May but was rather put off by the extreme temperatures affect...

A first visit to Aish Tor in June 2022 was successful in seeing High Brown Fritillary. It took a while to find my way around the site but once I had explored a bit I saw increasing numbers of High Browns and Dark Greens. It was interesting to note that as the day went on more and more were on the wi...

Clouded Yellow taking off. Southbourne Undercliff, September 2022.

Mazarine Blues mating at Font Roja, Valencia, Spain.

It has been a very good autumn period at Southbourne Undercliff for Clouded Yellows peaking in September with around 40 seen, with quite a few helice females recorded. Although there has been a lot of activity, I have not found any mating pairs yet but it is very likely that eggs could have been lai...

I have travelled with Greenwings, Naturetrek, Greentours, British Bulgarian Friendship Society, Wild Echo and with an indpendent guide to Poland. I've had a mixture of experiences from the good to the bad. Best guide I have been with was Tristan Lafranchis and the worst was a guide who took us to th...

I saw Two-tailed Pasha in Gibraltar in the botanical gardens. However, the first two I saw were from the car whilst queuing to cross over from mainland Spain to Gibraltar. They just sailed slowly over the car in the warm sunshine showing well in flight. This was in late July a few years ago. Regards...

I have just received a report of a male Large Tortoiseshell seen and photographed at Church Ope Cove, Portland on 4.3.22. Just the one observer who is familiar with this species. Regards Mike Hi Mike - is this recorded anywhere on the web (other than here) so that I can point to the photo? Thanks! ...

I have just received a report of a male Large Tortoiseshell seen and photographed at Church Ope Cove, Portland on 4.3.22. Just the one observer who is familiar with this species.

Regards
Mike

I am always amazed at the variety of Marsh Fritillaries within a colony. I visited a site on Salisbury Plain this year where numbers were teeming and noticed a particularly dark individual which stood out and contrasted with the more typical Marsh Fritillaries. It was very mobile and only landed for...

Seeing this post prompted me to look again at this Peacock photo from a few years ago taken at Cotley Hill, Wiltshire. I was wondering if it was within normal variation or an ab. The eye markings look a bit extreme as the white circles on the hindwings look rather large.

Large Blues were well on the wing at Green Down, Somerset on 25th June. Had to be patient to find one opening it's wings though.
Mike Gibbons

My entry for the Photo competition is of a Chequered Skipper taken in June 2021 at Glasdrum.