Just warming up, I think ...

Tony M.

Hope I haven't raised too many hopes, there's not much more to come :oops: We had a day in the High Atlas hoping to find deserticola , but I think we were too far west. On the walk up to an open mountainside there were several perfect Cleopatras swooping about and a sad little Glanville Frit. I also...

Re: Wasp. A wasp had built a similar nest - which appeared to be empty - on the sun curtain of our room in Morocco. 03-DSC08858_edited-1.jpg . It was there every day for a week, occasionally roosting on the combs, but no sign of any other activity. It sometimes seemed to have trouble re-locating the...

Once again, many thanks Guy, for your expertise. My book on Moroccan butterflies (Les Papillons de jour du Maroc) gives celina as a subspecies of icarus . Has it be reassigned as a distinct species in its own right? I hoped the skip might be False Mallow, but my book excludes all Hesperiidae (not th...

Can anyone help with these three from Morocco? All were seen in the vicinity of Olive Groves south of Marrakech. Sorry about the poor quality of the 'Skipper' pic. I only saw two skips during my week, neither with open wings. I think the first 'Blue' may be melanops , it was too far south for alexis...

Just back from a week in Morocco, staying in an olive growing area about 50 km south of the capital. Clouds of whites and Clouded Yellows along the roadsides - great to see such numbers - reminded me of childhood. :mrgreen: . Most were Small Whites with the occasional LW (these were enormous by UK s...

A bit off message, but our bad Spring/Summers coincide with poor wine vintages, particularly in Bordeaux. . So, no butterflies - stay off the Claret...

Tony M. (hic!)

A bit late by UKB standards, but this OT in my garden was very welcome today
Tony M.

Things are looking promising in Stafford - after the disaster that was last year :( . First Holly Blue and Orange Tip + a male GVW, six Peacocks and many Small Torts. I was interested to watch the courting behaviour of several male Torts. As I'm sure we've all seen, they approach the female from beh...

Spring has finally come to Stafford. A walk around the castle produced five Small Torts, two Peacocks, a very battered Red Admiral and a Green-veined White. I had hoped that this last was my first Orange Tip, but no such luck. There is the best showing of secondary flowering Elm that we have had for...

if you can escape for a little butterflying

I know the feeling...

Tony M.

Pleased to see that this story made most of the national press. Now the courts need to batten the bugger for a few weeks to make him think about it!

Tony M.

And thanks from me too. I greatly enjoyed the location one week later thanks to intelligence from David.
Tony M.

My favourite photo was of three Zephyr Blues up to some naughtiness. S.W.Bulgaria 2016.

Tony M.

GGGrrrrrrr!! .

Tony M.

Ho-ho-ho! Pandora's Box opens again

Tony M.

It's all a bit ''God Squad'' for my taste, and there's much better photography elsewhere.

Tony Curmudgeon.

Hi Pete, I'm sure you are right - I was very surprised to find some insects with clear white spots and assumed that they were artaxerxes , without really knowing anything about it :oops: . It's still a terrific little site and a good place for Wall Brown too. There's so much to learn... :mrgreen: . ...

artaxerxes can be found at Bishop Middleham Quarry - a tiny site near Sedgefield, Durham. There is some overlap there between the two subspecies. It's a terrific little site, if a bit difficult to find and has some rare orchids as well. Definitely worth a visit.

Tony M.

Couldn't resist posting this photo of Anteros formosus, taken by a colleague in Costa Rica. No wonder they are called 'metalmarks'. Hope it brightens a few winter days.
Tony M.