I know you are disappointed Otep but try not to lose heart. I don't know where you are based but you have seen more species than I have in Cumbria. I haven't seen Brimstone, Dingy Skipper, GVW, Holly Blue or Speckled Wood yet. It's hard isn't it when some people are enjoying really good numbers of ...

Thank you for the badger information Pauline. I had no idea that there were these categories. I am fortunate to have badgers in my back garden too and my experience of them has concluded that their hearing is extremely good, their much written about keen sense of smell not particularly apparent and ...

My butterfly hobby is still in its infancy, but I have done a bit of travelling and had about 10 occasions so far when I concluded I would have seen more butterflies of the same species had I stayed local to home. I know what you mean Ernie, it can be a bit galling when that happens, though you saw ...

Wow ! I have seen it all now. You even get polar bears in your garden Pauline. Through the narratives and photos on here, I often find myself disappearing down learning rabbit warrens. I have just fallen down one. I typed 'Albino badger' in to the search engine and was reliably informed that there a...

Rubbish day for me, with 10 butterflies in total seen. I drove to Northamptonshire to a site where there are Grizzled Skippers apparently. I didn't see any, which suggests that they are not out there yet. I did see my first Dingy Skippers of the year (3), an Orange Tip, a Small Tortoiseshell and a P...

That is a brilliant Peacock photo David. It is if it wanted to have its photo taken.

There is so much going on in your garden Pauline, it is absolutely incredible. Watching nature in the garden is so much better than watching TV. I really like the badgers with the hedgehog nearby. The Slow Worm too. And the Dukes.

Fantastic Painted Lady photos Goldie. It is an incredibly pristine looking example.

Circa 450 butterflies seen in 2022 and I finally got my first butterfly headbutt of the year yesterday. The previous holders of the much coveted trophy was the Peacock in 2020 and 2021. However, the trophy now heads to the cabinet of the Holly Blue, the winner for 2022. Saturday: 42 - Small Tortoise...

Holly Blue 40-50 Speckled Wood 30-40 Brimstone 20-30 (3f) Green Veined White 15-20 Orange Tip 15 (1f) Peacock 3 Red Admiral 2 Small White 1 Dingy Skipper 1 That is a superb mid April haul David. Great numbers on Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Brimstone and GVW. That's more Holly Blue than I have seen i...

There are lots of them at Grafton Wood, Worcestershire Kev.

Speckled Woods can take a bit of practice to separate the sexes but it become easier with practice. The males have a patch of scales on each forewing that makes up their 'sex gland' but this may not always be obvious in some lights. Other differences are the shorter and fatter abdomen on females pl...

Until 2017, I struggled with this species similar to you, Otep. But I found a little spot of heaven on earth for them and I’ve visited regularly ever since. Even so, females are still tricky to find so it’s not all plain sailing. Thanks David. I thought that I was somehow mysteriously running short...

It was sunny all day in my corner of South Derbyshire yesterday and there is no escaping it, I was a little disappointed in my haul of 34 butterflies seen. I did remind myself in the evening that it is only mid April. - Small Tortoiseshell 10 - Orange Tip 7 - Brimstone 7 - Peacock 7 - Speckled Wood ...

Cracking photos of the GVW on the last page Dave, though all of the photos are extremely good.

Yes, those female Holly Blues are particularly nice David. I don't see many Holly Blues in my area though they are present. I haven't seen many on my travels either. Now that I think about it, I don't think that I have ever seen a female Holly Blue

Sorry to read that your mother in law has had a fall resulting in broken bones and hospitalisation Neil. Looking at your Speckled Wood photo, I was instantly impressed by you being able to identify its gender. I did some research. For that identification, are the genders separated by size and the sl...

I saw 26 butterflies on Sunday, notably 2 of them were Orange Tip, my first of the year.

Excellent news that Grizzled Skippers and Green Hairstreak are out Dave. That cheered me immensely up to read that. Lovely photos too.

Great photos as ever Paul. That smug feeling of outwitting a flighty butterfly really resonated with me. I get like that. I wander off with a smile on my face. Sometimes I even do a fist pump ! :lol: I often wish that I had the same knowledge of butterflies (and moths) that everyone has on the forum...