The only one I saw around these parts this year was in my garden, a fresh-looking male enjoying the chives on June 11th... https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DYfady6lsDw/W1OyDltFz3I/AAAAAAAAA7E/_QiXPbFB-xYyGneNhcEU7QaA9fKv-u6jwCLcBGAs/s640/Dark%2BGreen%2BFritillary.jpg https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0_QBUjlwtEs...

Possibly the most common Vanessid around these parts this year, but my best shot was from Ranscombe Farm, Cuxton, on 23rd June...

A fresh-looking male, Merralls Shaw, Cuxton, 10th May...

From Rochester Forest, Halling, July 13th.

From Ranscombe Farm in Kent, June 26th. It was a good year for Marbled Whites at Ranscombe

I have seen very few STs in my bit of North Kent since May - except for the five that settled in my garden shed in June, apparently to hibernate!? I moved them to a netted clay pot to keep them away from spiders and they still seem just fine, with no inclination to fly off at all during the summer. ...

I’d never really noticed this behaviour until I read about it here. Having now watched Common Blues, Chalkhill Blues and Brown Argusisisus all gently “wing rolling”, I get the impression that they do just because they like it. Sun, shade, male or female, the behaviour is the same, and nearly all ind...

I was surprised to find another as well, but there are definitely more than one of these variants flying around here, as I saw two “spotless” individuals about 50 yards apart, one with much less orange on the underside than the other. I wonder if the heat has something to do with the occurrence of v...

I finally got a decent picture of this today, which seems to be a Meadow Brown var. anommata , where the usually diagnostic black spots on the forewing are completely absent. Got an upper side shot too, but horribly out-of-focus... https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ncxyQgfPJNs/W04rRebrCXI/AAAAAAAAA4M/5ukut...

I have never seen so many whites, mostly Large Whites - they are laying on Garlic Mustard around here. There have been literally hundreds flying around a small field next to my local pub. They all look fresh but could well be migrants as you suggest.

Sorry, the photo is a bit of a waste of time, as it doesn’t show the missing front wing spot and absence of orange colour. :oops: I guess it probably is a colour variant as everything else looks just like a standard Meadow Brown, as you say... If only these creatures would behave on a photo-shoot....

Was at Ranscombe Farm at Cuxton, Rochester this Saturday just gone. Marbled Whites, Ringlets, Comma, Small torts, Red Admirals and Small Heaths were all in great abundance, along with the odd White Admiral and Silver Washed Fritillary. In amongst this sudden explosion of insect life, I saw this... h...

Lots of garden butterflies about today. Saw my first Silver-Washed Fritillary of 2018 (feeding on a Philadelphus) though he was rather camera-shy. Ditto a Painted Lady. Also saw my first Red Admiral since the cold snap at the start of April, which I think really knocked them back. Both small and lar...

As Guy said, JPEG is inherently "lossy". I tend to save my astrophotos as TIFs to minimise loss of detail - might be worth using that format if you can, though the file sizes are a bit bigger.

Excellent, uplifting image, Keith! We have all got this species to look forward to next week. Of that I am sure! Thanks, David. The image doesn’t match some of the truly splendid compositions featured on this forum, but every now and then my little pocket-sized (and ancient) Sony Cybershot grabs so...

Sunshine (at last!) in the garden yesterday. This brought out my first Orange Tip of the year, checking out the primroses... https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PSk6f9UZdSM/WtOIigdHdHI/AAAAAAAAArs/9Cz1s3b7_wEdtTbaSI18n52Sqwz5F7AHwCLcBGAs/s640/Orange%2BTip%2B14-04-18.jpg A female followed on, along with my fi...

Finally, a decent day's sunshine. Saw my first Small Tortoiseshell of 2018 today in Cuxton, Rochester... https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LyGH5_vY8nM/WsaL64geHLI/AAAAAAAAAp8/GDIJpdUgUYo-gyW87uneUucCdo2poQ8uQCLcBGAs/s640/Dsc03114.jpg Dozens of Brimstones were on the wing as well. Lost count of the males, o...

There are some wonderful images here but some of the colours look a bit lurid. I’m viewing them on an i-pad I know, but I do wonder if some of these are a bit over-processed? It’s so easy in a lot of image processing programs to boost contrast and clarity, and thereby introduce tonal artefacts. Just...

I wonder if it airborne pollen from nearby flowering buckthorn tainting leaves of other nearby plants and confusing the brimstones? I have found one or two Brimstone eggs on both honeysuckle and privet in my garden, quite near a flowering purging buckthorn. The eggs hatch but the larvae do not seem ...

Saw my first butterfly of 2018 yesterday, a Red Admiral, at Lower Bush nr. Rochester in Kent, 12 degrees and sunny. This was a pristine individual, looked to be fresh out the pupa. Shows how mild southern winters are these days, when Red Admirals can make it through and are nearly always the first b...