Hi all, Just spent an enjoyable couple of butterfly-filled days with Jack, 'on tour' here in Sussex. He went away with plenty of Silver-studded Blues, White Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary and the earliest Purple Hairstreak for the county, which we conveniently spotted over an oak, above the pictu...

Hi Guy,
I used to have a cardboard cut-out of Jet from 'Gladiators' in my office. I told my colleagues that she was my secretary, but they didn't believe me.
Neil

Hi Eccles,
It looks like you're running away, having taken some 'inappropriate' shots on that nudist beach behind you!
Neil

Congratulations to the worthy winners and nearly-winners! A very fair critique Roger. I was pleased to get some positive comments about my rather drab Small Heaths, even though I got a big fat 0! Always next month!
Neil

Hi Sezar,
Yes, that's a summer hutchinsoni fresh from the 'shell'. Saw my first one at Littlehampton yesterday. By the end of next week there should be lots about.
Neil

Hi all,
We actually (perhaps surprisingly!) look like quite a normal bunch - although the 'shockers' may yet expose themselves! Fantastic perch Trev! I'm guessing that's a 4 plusser from the Ouse?
Neil

Hi Annie,
Look at his hands! Moisturiser and manicure I reckon. Don't imagine he put up much of a fight. Bet the real Bryan doesn't have a rainbow either!
Neil

Hi Andy,
The Spurge was trapped by Penny and Dave Green on the 9th June - full details on BC Sussex website.
Neil

Hi Bryan,
Just got back from the pub. All the girls were asking "where's Old Winchester Hill?" Can you provide a Grid Ref?
Neil

Hi Martin,
Now that's a serious Kipper. Mine was on mackerel/black bream gear (without wire) though! Any others on here got a fishy tale to tell? Watch out Gruditch, she'll bite yer legs off!
Neil

I got cool shades too! . Here's the Sussex Kipper with a large Sussex Kipper! (he went back very alive). Neil

Hi Martin, What a stunning specimen that is! I think that's the Alice Holt butterfly from last summer? In my books that's close enough to call nigrina . Of course there is a 'scale' of extremity in variations such as obliterae and nigrina . If you look at the 'Cockayne Collection' (Natural History M...

Hi Jack, Guy, Sometimes it's too easy to forget that just because I happen to live in an area that's good for a particular species, it might be rare on another person's 'patch'! Conversely, we don't get many Scotch Argus in sunny Sussex! But there are enough around here for me to see them with some ...

Thanks Denise,
It's my ambition this year to photograph a fully black one (nigrina). I've seen 4 obliterae (almost black but with grey smudges) in my WA hotspot in the last two years, but never the 'Holy Grail'. Mind you, just seeing the normal ones is a treat!
Neil

Hi Jack, You, and others, have I'm sure noticed the very characteristic wing damage suffered by many Brown Hairstreak. P1020418_edited-1.jpg It was only last year that I suddenly 'twigged' why this is! The females have a habit of landing on blackthorn, then slowly reversing down the branch, probing ...

Hi Annie, I believe Pete is away on hols at the moment, but I think he should look into all this on his return. A 'rogues gallery', perhaps with a bit of blurb about oneself (like a scaled down version of the site's 'Contact' section, with mugshots of Pete, Adrian, Guy and Mike), the use of which is...

Hi all, If there's one thing guaranteed to fill my heart with joy, it's the flight of early season White Admirals! Of course they fade and get torn all too soon for my liking, but their flight must be unmatched in terms of ease and grace. How they manage to make those smooth, tight turns in the midd...

Hi Gruditch,
Spot on! And if she can prevent herself from slipping beneath my garden shed workbench before 'the break', I'll have a mystery object for her to try and identify!
Neil

Hi Sezar, When Martin refers to his Comma being early, he is referring to the first of the summer brood. The Comma over-winters as an adult, emerging when the spring weather is warm enough, to produce a new generation. The butterflies you photographed are over-winterers at the end of their life. Fro...

Hi Sheryl,
Go to http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/b ... erfly.html and use the interactive butterfly identifier. Small Tortoiseshell perhaps?
Neil