The False Apollo only looks like the Collins illustration when it is freshly emerged; when we saw the individuals after a few days of rain, most had lost a lot of wing-scales and their forewings were translucent (and often very battered) to some degree..... False_Apollo_2_Greece.jpg Fortunately, the...

Just back from a Greenwings "False Apollo" tour. Great tour, guides (Martin Warren was one) and company, but 4 days out of six were either dull, cool and overcast or just raining! Provided an interesting insight into the country and the agriculture that effects butterfly habitat, in a poor...

Best day of the year so far. A male Brimstone in the garden today and 2 ST in a local park.
My female Brimmie is still waiting - sensible girl!

Thanks; it has to be the smallest Common Blue I've ever seen! But, this year, it is not surprising!

I would welcome members' opinions on this specimen today. It was very small, about 1cm big....

...An early morning visit needed I've tried that, Nick, and it doesn't work!!! I'm sure the bloody things fly at night too! Cool, cloudy conditions with occasional sunny intervals are best. That way, you can watch them flying and see where they alight when the sun disappears. Yes, all the above; bu...

Went to Ella Beck bridge, next to Fen Bog, on NY Moors for Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary. Plenty on display to the right of car-parking, including this female.... SPBF_3_LOW_24_06_2018.jpg The males ….. SPBF_1_LOW_24_06_2018.jpg were interested in any female; this poor Large Skipper had the misfor...

As a Nikonian, I agree with the comments about Nikon bodies - an entry-level Nikon is a bit trickier to get-to-grips-with than the equivalent Canon (I used to flog Canon DSLRs even tho' I was a Nikon user, which caused some ribbing from other reps...!) but I prefer the images from Nikon. It is the l...

Whatever I tick, though, it will represent a compromise. Guy I agree with Guy that, whenever compromise and the environment are mentioned together, it is always the environment that is compromised. So, in some ways, unless we adopt wider, connected landscape-scale management of the natural world, s...

David M wrote:The flowers on mine have all gone. How do you keep yours in such wide bloom so late in the season?

I planted these in Spring and all of them have just continued to flower right through.....I guess if you remove the old heads earlier in the Summer then they will re-flower.

Agree with all that is said about Bowles' Mauve; my planting inspired by comments made here on this forum a few years ago.
Here is one of my local butterflies enjoying nectar a couple of days ago...

Butterflies and eclipses! Have a sensational trip!

1 and 2 are correct
The 3rd looks to me a female Common Blue....

A note from the North: My brother, who is VC61 Recorder, has been monitoring the progress of the Essex Skipper in East Yorkshire over the last few years. It appears that they crossed the river Ouse around Goole about 3 years ago, despite having been recorded previously at Spurn Point from 2003, thou...

In this rather early season, I wonder if that Comma larva is the pale early summer hutchinsoni or the darker autumn form? My guess would be offspring of hutchinsoni . But will it be pale or dark adult? Does a Comma third brood ever occur? Jack According to my brother, hutchinsoni occur when the lar...

I know just how persistent you are, Kip; great shots!
(I remember a Peak White that kept you going for about an hour - in the end we had to drag you away, else we would have probably still been there!)
Keep having fun .....

The only British butterfly I agree with being given ssp status is our Swallowtail (and perhaps the Orme Graylings). ...and even the britannicus shows such variation that, apart from the oval hind-wing spots, the other details are so variable that continental specimens could easily be taken as brita...

Following our trip to Crowle, PhilB pointed out that the Large Heath there are supposed to be ssp. polydama such as this one which we both photographed: LH_3_19_06_2017.jpg However, if we had said that this next one was ssp. davus and taken in Cumbria, not Crowle, we doubt anyone would have had any ...

I had the same thought Wurzel
Very different from our usual greeting....
Well-deserved....

A lot of early things this year; if the heat continues could be very early for my pilgrimage to Fermyn Woods. Having moved up north to a new patch, have been sussing-out sites within striking distance of Hull, not noted for it's lepidoptera. That said, within a 45-mile radius there are plenty of sit...