Just to add to the Pearl-bordered Fritillary bonanza - belated pics of Pearl-bordered Fritillaries at Cwm Soden (Pembrokeshire) from Bank-holiday Monday. My first real "trip" of 2015's butterfly season...next up...bring on the Dukes! http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e119/jasonbirder/Pearl...

A few Pearl-Bordered Fritillary on the wing at Cwm Soden this morning. Nice to see the National Trust Managing the habitat carefully for them.
Away at the moment....photo's on my return!

An early Large White caused me some confusion today - my first of 2015 and seen before both Small and Green-veined White
Nottinghamshire - Bingham Linear park

Somewhat cynically i'm tempted to say...just release them...as every other b*gger seems to!

If I saw this in a months time...I'd assume straight away it was a Large White ...as it seems to have all the requisite features... (Its obviously a male) Dark tips (suffused with grey) extending down wing, no central black spot, no obvious veination But it does seem a very early date (I've only see...

Plenty of Dukes on the wing last year at Bison Hill - easily spotted on the path from the Car park

I have met a number of collectors over the years, and by and large they have been highly knowledgeable people (ie, much more so than me) Egg Collectors are frequently incredibly knowledgeable about the breeding habits of the category one species they target...I'm not sure it excuses their behaviour...

Wasn't there a documented incident of Long-tailed Blues being collected back in 2013?

Great pics...and must be unusual to catch Adder and Slow Worm in the same shot?

I am a collector. Do I not have a place in society ? How does that square with the sites aims...which is to encourage membership of Butterfly Conservation whose code of conduct states collecting of Lepidoptera from the wild for recreational purposes, for example to assemble a...personal collection,...

Whilst its Dragonflies - not Butterflies...it's a recent incident and i think this example gives everyone an insight into the true mindset of the collector... Southern Migrant hawker is an exceptionally rare vagrant to the UK...and up till a small influx in 2010 had only been recorded on 4 occasions...

walpolec The Isle of Scilly Speckled Wood is a quite distinctive form with orange pale patches instead of the normal cream...
It's only found on the Scillies

Just acquired an FZ150 on Ebay for the 2015 season...so just getting to grips with it... JPG not RAW processed in Photoshop CS5 Cropped & resized, then Clipped the zero areas of the histogram off in IMG>adjustments>Levels and then just used the Sharpen tool with the default settings Thanks for t...

Up and running for 2015 now... Lots of the Nymphalid hibernators about over the last few days... Hoping for another good year in 2015! http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e119/jasonbirder/SmallTort02.jpg http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e119/jasonbirder/Peacock01.jpg http://i38.photobucket.com/albums...

Comma and Small Tortoiseshell there and at Millbrook Proving Grounds

Been for the Lady Amhursts by any chance

the impact of collecting small numbers of the commoner species by a small number of people is likely to be negligible

That's why no-one minds me shooting a few of the Chaffinches and Blackbirds that come to my bird table...
I think they look great in my dining room when they're properly set up...

My favourite...because of its companion...not because of the quality of the photo!

My favourite was this cold and sluggish Pearl-bordered Fritillary that was only too keen to climb on my hand for a warm back in early May 2014...

Try and see all 59 in 2015 - no wimping out on getting the ferry for Real's Wood White!
And catch up with something rare...after last years pathetic efforts

If I posted a photo of Wood White...who'd know