2nd brood Dingy Skipper seen on Thursday 10th at Spaunton Quarry, N. Yorkshire. This is quite a rare event for us oop north!

Dingy Skipper 7939b by Dave O'B, on Flickr

Dave

I was at Smardale Gill earlier this week where I spotted two people netting Scotch Argus. I went across and politely asked why they were netting them. It was a postgrad student and her assistant carrying out a mark-release-recapture project as part of her Masters degree, "Population ecology &am...

Thanks Ron, isn''t it a fantastic site?

Dave

Hi, I'm planning to visit this site tomorrow for the Marsh Frits (over 100 on the wing last Thursday looking on BC Cumbria website). How easy is it to find the butterflies at this site? Which areas should I look at?

Thanks in advance,

Dave

Thanks for that info Vince. I guess that would also explain the "floppy" appearance of the hind wings in the first photo.

Cheers,

Dave

Hi all, this aberration was found at one of the private N. Yorkshire sites. It was first seen on Saturday by a friend of mine, and these photos were taken this morning by me. Is it a named ab.? There's a similar one in the gallery of aberrations. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4175/34829470105_51395e...

I made the trip across country to Arnside Knott yesterday, my first visit to this wonderful little site. As expected, there were plenty of Scotch Argus about, ranging from worn specimens to some that looked quite fresh. Cloudy conditions in the morning meant that they settled and posed quite nicely,...

I spent yesterday at a couple of the N.Yorkshire Duke of Burgundy sites, counting 10 at one site and 2 at the second site. The Duke's presence at the second site is sporadic, and possibly entirely dependent on individuals flying the couple of hundred metres from the first site. My sightings included...

Scorch Argus in abundance at Smardale Gill today - my first visit to this fantastic site, and a nice try-out for my new Sigma 150mm OS Macro lens!

Dave

I spent a couple of hours on Wednesday morning (27th) at one of the N. Yorks PBF sites. A combination of sunshine & clouds (mainly clouds as the morning progressed!) meant that they were quite easy to photograph, settling for long periods when the sun went in. I counted 8, and only 1 other butte...

I made my first visit of the year to one of the N. Yorks Duke sites this morning. I saw 3 individuals, one of which settled long enough for some photos. Better still, it was on a part of the site where the Duke hadn't been seen for at least 4 years.

I visited 2 of the N. Yorks PBF sites on the 14th, and the weather was perfect for photographing them - they would bask when it was sunny, but stay in the same pose when it clouded over, allowing a close approach. The following day I visited one of the Duke sites (on private land - I had permission ...

This is my favourite shot of 2013, because I spent about 2 hours of wandering in circles, in a bog, on a cold drizzly morning, getting eaten alive by midges, before I found this little beauty posing perfectly!

I've no idea what the butterfly is, but the same picture has been posted on the Talk Photography Forum, here:http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums ... p?t=438984
The poster's location is Brisbane, Australia, so that should narrow things down!

Dave

Hi, that's a Broom Moth caterpillar.

Cheers,

Dave

Yep, that's a Painted Lady - about the tattiest I've seen!

Dave

Hi, I think I know the site you are referring to, which is becoming quite well visited. Duke is quite a threatened species up here - I'm part of a group of volunteers who monitor sites on a private estate (after receiving permission from the estate owners), and each year, fewer sites seem to be occu...

Hi Paul, thanks for that.

Cheers,

Dave

Hi Fellas, these are excellent sightings. I look forward to getting your records.

Cheers,

Dave

There are a good number of Papilio Machaon ssp Gorganus in the County of Durham and also Cleveland area. You will also see a good number of Nymphalis Antiopa. There are other sightings of other species but most people do not bother reporting them. The records for the country will show species that ...