Hi Adrian,

I was just wondering if the Chalkhill Blue sighting you mentioned was from Therfield Heath?

ATB

Peter

Well done, Janet. You certainly had an eventful trip to Scotland .

Congrats on your 40th by the way.

ATB

Peter

What a spectacle, Trevor. I posted on here the two (we now know it's two :) ) male PEs which were seen in Hatfield Forest on Wednesday. Someone suggested that these individuals were attracted by dog pee partly because they were about a foot above the ground on the post and on the pine tree. Does any...

Thanks Bertie. I thought that would be the case not having found any sightings of it at the site on the Cambs & Essex branch website in the last year or so.

Good to know that there was a strong first brood at Canvay Wick - I'll consider going there for the second generation.

ATB

Peter

Hi everyone.

As anyone been to Broaks Wood recently? I am hoping to find the Wall before the season is over. Is there anywhere else in the county away from the coast where I might find it?

Many thanks

Peter

Purple Emperors for me too but in the most unexpected places. Bob and I went over to Hatfield Forest this morning targeting the PE on the oak tops but nothing until around 12:30 when a male was spotted taking resin from a post about a foot off the ground. Half an hour later we saw another one (or is...

Simon, 7 lifers in one year is good going ! Good luck in your quest to photograph all the UK species before you reach 50. I had to make this point, however. You have given me a mental picture of Black Sabbath`s Ozzie Osborne out looking for butterflies ! An image that I`m having difficulty in shaki...

After last week's success with the WLHs on my local site I thought I'd try again this morning. I got there at 7:45 am and amazingly I saw around 20 individuals in ten minutes on the eastern side of the elm clump flitting in between the 'gaps' in the middle third (in height terms) and just a few (3 o...

Well done, Nick. It is an Essex Skipper.

ATB

Peter

Fantastic images, Neil.

I bet you would love to have the Large Blue in your neck of the woods - is it possible or feasible to introduce it in Sussex? The larval foodplant, Wild Thyme, as you no doubt know, grows in the county but I know it is a lot more complicated than that.

ATB

Peter

Well done and well deserved, Neil.

Keep up the excellent work (if you call it that ).

ATB

Peter

It looks like White letters might have a good year judging from Pauline's and Neil's recent reports (great images by the way, you two). I visited a known colony at Six Hills Common on Wednesday morning between 0905 and 0925 hours and found at least 8 individuals mostly of clashing pairs in the elm c...

Thanks Martin. A friend and I were thinking of going (we're both from Hertfordshire so not a million miles away) but with so few specimens seen this year perhaps it won't be worth the risk. There's always next year or the IOW of course.

ATB

Peter

Saturday 27th Glanville Fritillary in the Big Scrape at Hutchinsons Bank, just emerged and still floppy. The numbers are still low at the moment, but they seem to be hatching a few each day now. DSC02614c.JPG DSC02618c.JPG will let people know when its worth a trip from afar. Has anyone seen any Gl...

Saturday 27th Glanville Fritillary in the Big Scrape at Hutchinsons Bank, just emerged and still floppy. The numbers are still low at the moment, but they seem to be hatching a few each day now. DSC02614c.JPG DSC02618c.JPG will let people know when its worth a trip from afar. Has anyone seen any Gl...

Well done to Neil and the team. Terrific effort and good to see that the SPbF is doing well. One day I will get down there and see for myself

ATB

Peter

Trevor, good luck with the tuna brine experiment :) I was given a very large tin (1.26 kg drained weight) of Princes Tuna Chunks in Brine as a birthday present from my nephews in 2014 - I am crazy on tuna and lettuce sandwiches :) . As it is still unopened and obviously not now safe to eat I will di...

Only had half an hour to spare at Brampton Wood to find the rare Black Hairstreak. As some of you may know there are two sites to find it, namely Site 1 and Site 2. A few minutes in Site 1 yielded nothing. When I approached Site 2, I saw about half a dozen people standing around in an open area and ...

In the cloud and wind I spent an hour and half mainly looking for eggs and larvae at Norton Green. I didn't find any Orange-tip larvae on the Garlic Mustard where I saw quite a few some weeks ago - let's hope they pupated successfully. I was not expecting to see any butterflies at all until a rather...

A Small Tortoiseshell larva and adult today at Norton Green. The adult was very fresh, most probably second generation and found about 20 yards from the large nettle bed where three larvae, all dispersed, were discovered.

ATB

Peter