A close encounter with a White Letter today. I was leaving Norton Green near Stevenage (looking for Brown Hairstreaks) at about noon when I spotted a very worn White Letter Hairstreak on my car front windscreen. It accompanied me all the way home about a mile away.

Peter

Thank you, Neil. I was hoping you would say 'never' rather than 'occasionally' but I understand the reasoning.

HI Mike - good to know and encouraging.

Peter

OK - thanks David.

Where I go searching there are dozens of rows of blackthorn but none strictly facing south (as far as I know ) so would females generally prefer to lay eggs on blackthorn thickets facing east rather than west?

Peter

Thank you very much Neil - that helps a lot. Of course the weather conditions probably play a part too but at least there will hopefully be fewer fruitless hours searching for it this year

Regards

Peter

Now that the Brown Hairstreak season is upon us I am wondering if there is a preferred time during the day to see it low down feeding or females egg-laying. I have never knowingly seen a Brownie low enough for a photo opportunity. Curiously, some text books state that the best time to see them fly i...

Hi Neil, I remember seeing Silver-spotted Skippers when I was a wee boy in the mid 60s on rough grassland as it was then near the Greyhound Stadium at Hove. Duke of Burgundy also found here. Also during this period Findon Cricket Ground was a magical place for butterflies. Those were the days ... Pe...

Congratulations, Trev and super photos too. So what is your next challenge now you've completed the set?

Peter

HarrassedDad: They 'd [Purple Emperors] have to have remained undiscovered for a very long time. They did precisely that [remained undetected] in the Stevenage/Broxbourne area of Hertfordshire. Then Liz Goodyear and Andrew Middleton searched systematically and found that PEs are in fact quite wides...

I have a similar problem too, Jason. I have seen White Letters high over the elm tops but none low enough for a photo opportunity. Maybe after males have mated they and females will start descending to lower levels to feed from nectar sources like thistles.

Peter

Thank you, David. I may well give it a go this weekend.

Peter

Has anyone see a PE at Salcey Forest this year yet? I understand that a PE was found there for the first time in 2011 for over 50 years. I believe there is a tree-top walk so wouldn't it be wonderful if one can view iris from such a position

Peter

Hi Neil, Excellent! My patience begins to wear thin by around 2pm if I am out searching for PEs in the morning hence probably missing out on some fantastic opportunities late in the day :) . Peter PS I used to live in Hove and when I started 'collecting' butterflies. Before my mother passed away in ...

And fabulous photos too Neil :) . Interesting observation you make about PEs not descending low until mid afternoon after emerging earlier on the same day. I wouldn't have thought it would take them that long to dry out their wings and master the basics of flight. Maybe I'll have a better chance of ...

Thank you Mike. I have just installed the GIMP software. Now the learning bit

Peter

Ah, I remember those black and white days, Jack :) but nice photos anyway. Does anyone use free photo-editing software to 'fix' their images? I use PIXLR Express which seems good but I wonder if there are better free ones available. Please forgive me if these sort of questions have been raised alrea...

Again, I agree with dilettante - I usually use aperture priority mode and then check that the shutter speed is reasonable - faster than 1/100s. Reviews of your lens suggest that it is none too sharp, wide open,and that f/8 is the optimum aperture. See http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/PanasonicDMCG2/...

I am very odd (no follow up comments needed :P ) in that a great deal of the pleasure I get out of photography is playing with settings: ISO, Aperture, shutter speed, etc. I started taking photographs over 60 years ago and had to understand all those things (nothing automated in the 1950s). The mod...

Thank you for your useful comments, dilenttante and Mike. I have a 14-42mm lens attached and I usually zoom it to maximum for butterfly photos (i.e. 42mm) so i assume that shutter speed should not be set to about less 1/100th? A lot of trial and error at the moment and what I am currently playing wi...

I have a Lumix DMC-G10 camera and quite overwhelmed by what I can do! I have been so impressed with images of butterflies posted on the website here so I have some catching up to do :) . I don't want to use the automatic feature although it works quite well but I have not been able to get really sha...

Hi Brian, A few years ago, a large number of WLH were nectaring on thistle at Bedford Purleius - I counted more than 100 individuals along one particular ride and I've got a photo somewhere of 12 individuals on one thistle plant. I'm pretty sure that it was due to a spell of very wet weather which ...