Not taken in the UK but this beautifully marked female was my favourite of the year. Kefalonia

As everyone knows, the true harbinger of spring. I always see my first one in the garden and this year was no exception. Unfortunately it wasn't a particularly good year on my patch so any sightings were gratefully received and any photo opportunities happily taken. Orange Tip 18 Ap.jpg Orange Tip 6...

An excellent year for this species on the hill. Plenty of photographic opportunities.
The two below were my favourites out of many.

Beacon Hill, Wiltshire.

Not really wanting to make the long trip to Worthing I make do with the ones I see overseas. I found plenty in Cyprus and Spain this year, but my favourite is the one below from La Pineda, Cataluna in September.

A good year here for Marsh Fritillaries. My favourite photo being this one from Beacon Hill, Wiltshire

Jack Harrison wrote: ↑Fri Dec 16, 2022 5:47 am Not only are the subjects stunning but the quality of the photography is superb (both image contributors).

Jack

Thank you Jack

Wonderful stuff! I haven't had time to check your IDs :D but they all look reasonable and I don't doubt them! It is fun getting out the books and learning new tricks though, so I probably will go through them when time permits ... Thanks for the thread! Guy Thank you Guy. I look forward to your inp...

Charles Nicol wrote: ↑Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:05 pm thanks for this entertaining and informative thread !

so many butterflies i have never heard of before

Thank you Charles. I'm really pleased you enjoyed it.

Some great wildlife you've picked up there, Steve. Not bad for a cruise trip!! :mrgreen: A few of those birds are real show-stoppers, particularly the Orange Oriole and Yucatan Jay. Thanks David. The amount of decent birds I've had whilst on a cruise is unbelievable. The prerequisite I have with Cl...

Fantastic stuff Steve! Really enjoyed that, and it is notable that there is a lot of cross-over between the species that you saw, and those that we found in Costa Rica recently. Like David - I am completely in awe of your Fine-lined Stripe-streak. What an absolute belter of a butterfly :mrgreen: :m...

David M wrote: ↑Mon Dec 12, 2022 5:32 pm That Fine-lined Stripe-streak is indeed superb, Steve. No wonder it was top of your hit-list.

Absolutely David, fairly common and tame to boot

10th December Everglades A pre-flight visit to the Everglade, to while away a few hours before our 6pm departure produced three unexpected additional species to my holiday list. My first Monarch Danaus plexippus of the holiday flitted around a few flowering shrubs at the entrance to the airboat rid...

Along with all the fine butterfly species there were some excellent birds to be seen. I’ve added a few of the more colourful species to help finish off this report Black-cowled Oriole..JPG Orange Oriole.JPG Tropical Kingbird.JPG Yucatan Jay.JPG Green Jay..JPG Costa Maya was our last port of call bef...

A particular patch of scrubby forest edge was proving very productive, and I returned to this patch four or five times, during my wanderings, to see what was present. DSC01985.JPG Each visit provided something new, and I managed to see Common Lemmark Juditha caucana and Pale-banded Crescent Phyciode...

Various large Sulphurs would fly through at a great speed of knots only stopping to nectar for a second or so. Although challenging I did manage to get a couple of record shots of both Apricot Sulphur Phoebis argante and Orange-barred Sulphur Phoebis philea . I also came across a single Barred Yello...

With Skippers being absent on Cozumel, good numbers of various species were readily seen on Costa Maya including Turk’s-cap White-Skipper Heliopetes macaira and Guatemalan Checkered-Skipper Pyrgus adepta. Others included Julia’s Skipper Nastra julia , Sachem Atalopedes campestris , Fiery Skipper Hyl...

7th December. Roatan, Honduras Strong winds and strong currents prevented us from landing. Bummer….. I had high hopes for some decent butterflies on Roatan, having visited before as a birder and noting the odd species flying around, but alas it was not to be. I had to be content with watching Red-f...

Retracing my steps, and heading back to the park, I came across a superb Fine-lined Stripe-streak Arawacus sito nectoring on flowers by the road edge. This was top of my ‘most wanted’ list for Cozumel and it didn’t disappoint, being totally fine with me getting down on my hands and knees to catch it...

Leaving the park, I decided to wander along where the forest met the roadside scrub. This proved ideal habitat for quite a few species, especially in the many sunny clearings. First up was the diminutive Cloaked Scintillant Detritivor barnesi , a metalmark that gives our Small Blue a run for its mon...

4th December. Off the coast of Cuba A day at sea but there are worse places to see England breeze through to the quarter finals of the World Cup. A couple of wandering Magnificent Frigatebirds, overhead, added to the enjoyment. England.JPG Mag.JPG 5th December Cozumel, Mexico. The island of Cozumel...