I just caught those pics and gifs of the Hummingbird Hawkmoth. Fantastic, especially the last shot and all the gifs.

Selborne Common - 19th Aug 2018 It brightened up in the afternoon which gave me the chance to get out and I decided upon Selborne Common. Its a climb up the zig-zag path so there is some effort involved but I try to visit at least once a year. P1010104.JPG This time of year usually yields good numbe...

Thanks David and Mike - I always look forward to this time of year at Old Winch. Most of the Adonis looked fresh. One or two had nicks in their wings but on the whole a healthy bunch. They may have started later here than at other locations in the south.

Old Winchester Hill - 17th Aug 2018 The main target today was the 2nd brood Adonis. At this time of year though it is common to find Adonis, Chalkhill, SS Skip and Clouded Yellow all in the same place at the bottom of the hill below the car park and indeed this is just what happened today. I counted...

Broxhead - 15th August 2018 P1000792 (2).JPG In the afternoon it was still mainly overcast but the sun peeped through on occasion. Broxhead Heath was festooned with heather in full bloom, including Bell Heather, plus the Sheep’s Sorrel had sprouted green leaves. If the Small Copper larvae has surviv...

Thanks, Old Wolf. The new camera takes a bit of getting used to. For example I have only just figured out how to force the flash in daylight to front-light a backlit subject. Also the buttons look the same in many ways as my old camera but the functions are switched round in some cases so I am const...

Great bird pics, Phil. I haven't seen a Spoonbill for a good few years now.

I love that shot of the two Chalkhills beside one another on the Carline Thistles, neither bothering to chase off the other.

Aha - so this was the trip to Daneway Banks where you got the Large Blue. Brill pics, especially the egg-laying. I didn't get this when I went this year. Are my eyes deceiving me or does she drop her antennae forward to counterbalance when curling her bottom round?

Noar Hill – 15h Aug 2018 Overcast but warm at 20 degrees with a slight breeze. As the butterfly season winds down at Noar Hill, many of the butterflies are faded, nibbled and tired-looking. Most Common Blues had some kind of wear and a fair number of the Meadow Browns and Whites likewise. I only saw...

Thanks, Callum. You were really lucky to experience that and your pictures of it are pretty good too. I have never seen ANY species of butterfly wing-roll while in-cop and don't remember anyone else saying they had either. Wonderful stuff.

Trevor - Thanks. I'm still trying to improve my focussing ability with this new camera..
Re the Clouded Yellow - yes there is plenty of time left to track them down.

Neil

More great pics of Brown Hairstreaks there - all pretty fresh too.

Absolutely fantastic Brown Hairstreak pics, Trevor - especially the one from above showing off the "tails" but not only that, the wings bulge too giving the whole impression of a false-head. Wonderful stuff.

Lee - You saved a Blue Tit on your birthday, what a treat (or should that be tweet?)

I also scrolled back and didn't realise I had not seen the post before it. Fantastic close-up of the Small Tort wing.

Hi, Callum. Great pics of Adonis. I used to live in Chalford about 20 years ago, a village at the bottom of Minch Common. At the time, butterflies were not on my radar, it was birds and flowers for me, so I had no idea there were Adonis so close to my then house! I shall take a look at that wing-rol...

Noar Hill - 14th August 2018 More experimentation with the new camera today. Not everything I tried worked (well you wouldn’t expect it to) but some things did. Got a nice crop of the regular butterflies... P1000497.JPG P1000580.JPG P1000482.JPG P1000491.JPG P1000534.JPG And a Clouded Yellow passed ...

Thanks, Wurzel. There are so many settings on this new camera it will take some time to suss it all out.

Noar Hill - 13th August 2018 It was a bit overcast when I went out today but I wanted to try out my new camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ72 - getting used to its controls, settings and features. It has the ability to optically zoom by x120 and of course this is novel for me so I keep pushing the ca...

David - I am sure the weather will improve where you are soon. Its still summer - kind-of.