Thanks for sharing Callum. Nice report. I am impressed by your cottonmouth snake, it is so well camouflaged amongst the leaves. One would not want to step on it. Well spotted. I also like your red headed woodpecker, your Steller's jay (aren't they great?) and your cardinal. Some nice species of butt...

Whiteford Burrows (Gower Peninsula) 26th August:

Brimstone x1 in mint condition
Marbled White x1
Meadow brown x10
Brown argus x5
Painted lady x5-10
Small copper x2
Tortoiseshell x1
Common blue x5
Small heath x3

Sylvie

Horton (South Gower) Saturday 17th August:
Painted ladies (10+) especially fond of Golden samphire.
Red Admiral (3)
Small Tortoiseshell (1)
Small white (2)
Meadow brown (2)
And this beautiful Humming bird hawkmoth in the village itself.

I noticed that the number of Painted ladies is increasing day by day. There were 6 on my buddleia on Wednesday and 12 yesterday, some in a good condition, some very damaged.. Cycling to the train station this morning in Swansea, I saw 3 fluttering about in the city centre. I think there could be a m...

Hi Guy,

Thank you for your help. This makes sense that they all are SSB. The female (pictures 3 and 4 ) are the same specimen and taken at the same site as specimens of pictures 1 and 2.
Thanks a lot again,
Kind regards,
Sylvie

I need some help with the identification of the following butterflies, photographed in the Savoie in end of May and early June. After many years of photographing Blues, I still find it difficult to differentiate between certain species... The first 2 but could be SSB....Not the same specimen but sam...

I think this may be an Olive Skipper but not sure.... Can one of the expert confirm? All pictures are from the same specimen.
It was found in the Chartreuse at about 1600m.
Thanks for your help.
Sylvie

Hi David,

Fantastic views ! I am looking forward for more pictures and the full report. I hope you were not too affected by the heat although I would expect it to be cooler in the mountains.
Sylvie

Hi David, I was at Whiteford on Sunday 14th, was there also early, I am surprised we did not bump into one another (then again Whiteford is a big place). I saw one Gatekeeper in a very good condition (my first of the year) and 2 humming bird hawkmoths searching over bedstraw (they could have been eg...

Thanks Allan for your comments. According to Delforges, the fen orchid found in the UK is a subspecies of the fen orchid found on the continent. It is Liparis loeselii ss. Ovata which has rounder leaves than its European counterpart. So definitively worth seeing at least once in a life time. CallumM...

Good day at Kenfig Nature Reserve on Saturday 29th June: Dark green fritillary (x10) Common blues (x5) Speckled wood (x1) Painted lady (x2) Small heath (x5) Ringlet (x2) Meadow brown (x5) I noticed the reduction of the food plant of the small blue (kidney vetch) in an area of the reserve where the b...

Hi Allan, Nice one ! You have found a very strange specimen of the Spotted orchid and I have never heard, seen or read of such an anomaly before. Well done also for finding the Frog orchid, it is a master of camouflage and very hard to find just like the frogs (you don't see them until they jump out...

Hi David, Excellent report so far and I look forward to some more pictures. Likewise I saw many Dukes of burgundy in the Savoie (on the other side of the border) 3 weeks ago. I am not sure at which altitudes you were at the Piedmont but it looks a lot more advance there than it was in the Savoie. In...

Hi David,
Plenty of orchids and butterflies too I hope ! I look forward to reading your trip report.
Sylvie

Hi David, The Ophris group is a difficult group. The thing that drew my attention were the petals which are usually green in a bee orchid (ophris apifera), whereas on your picture the specimens have pink petals. I was caught myself in the Savoie where I started to photograph some orchids which I had...

Thanks David. I heard the news a few days ago. It is fantastic news and hope this wonderful decision will not be overturned again in the future !
Sylvie

Hi David, Wonderful report and nice species from the Pyrenees. I believe that your 'bee orchid' is Ophrys scopolax (Woodcock orchid). This time of year is excellent for orchids in France, I just came back from the Savoie region and it was full of orchids, the highlight being the Lady's Slipper orchi...

Hi Keith, Nice observations ! Maybe if the supply of food is plentiful there is no reason why the caterpillars would eat one another.... Last year I found caterpillars of the Mullein moth on Verbascum. There was nothing left of the plant and one of the caterpillars was eating the remains of another ...

Kenfig dunes on 12th May:

Small blue, Small heath, Dingy Skipper, Wall brown, Brimstone, Large white, Orange tip, Treble bar moth and Cinnabar moth.

Sylvie

Pant-y-Sais Nature reserve (Glamorgan) - Saturday 4th May: Orange tip (5) Peacock (2 in poor condition) Small copper (5-10) Brimstone (2) Treble bar moth (1) Despite the cold weather, butterflies were flying some being blown by the wind but some finding time to feed when the sun came out. The Small ...