Cheers, Wurzel - the Emperors and White Admirals did me proud that day - especially the latter, which I largely had to myself while everyone else's attention was elsewhere. :) I'm a bit egalitarian with butterfly species - they all deserve their day in the spotlight! :) So, on Sunday 30th June it wa...

I recorded the highest count of butterflies on my local patch so far this year today, with over 400 individuals of 16 species seen. Highlights included 14 Commas... Comma1 130724.JPG ...17 brand new Peacocks... PK1 130724.JPG ...and this immaculate Holly Blue. HB2 130724.JPG HB1 130724.JPG Looking b...

29th June , Chiddingfold part four: Purple Emperors The first imperial arrival was between nine and half past, and the butterfly spent a while on the ground... PE11 290624.JPG ...before heading into a nearby bit of foliage. Here it set about imbibing sugars from the copious amounts of honeydew coat...

Cheers, Wurzel - more (and maybe even better) Purple coming shortly... :) However, there were some White Admirals to show off before that. When the Emperors are in full swing and all eyes are watching for them, White Admirals can get overlooked, especially as finding any that haven't been scarred by...

A splendid selection of roosting Glanvilles, Wurzel, with their stunning undersides: they look freshly enamelled! :) :mrgreen: It does sound a pity that the site gets overpopulated with visitors - I'd like to see it sometime, but that would mean a very early start to the day to be ahead of the masse...

Some nice Marbled Whites and White Admirals in your recent posts, Goldie. Those bits of woodland near Canterbury are certainly great for butterflies. Good luck on your hunt for Tortoiseshells - it would be funny if you saw a Large one before seeing any Smalls!

Cheers,

Dave

That's a bizarre Heath Fritillary, Mark. :) :mrgreen: I suppose with so many around, one or two are bound to be a little different... You deserve another :mrgreen: for the Painted Lady as well - I've only seen a handful, and they were all back in mid-May. Very few and far between this year. I rememb...

29th June , Chiddingfold - part two Having the previous day seen the sorry sight of a deceased Wood White in the clutches of a crab spider, I wondered if I'd see any more of the first brood - or even the vanguard of the second. In the end a few of the former made an appearance, wafting their way al...

Saturday 29th June had much more sunshine, though it was a bit cooler than the previous days. I headed down to Chiddingfold again, at the same time as on Thursday and Friday, and it took half as long to get there. As it was early, there weren't many other Emperor aficionados in the woods yet - some...

You appear to have made the most of your time on the Orme, Paul. It's a great place to visit even without the indigenous subspecies of butterflies - trams and a cable-car, and some terrific views. However, those Silver-studs are amazing, and appear to be thriving there as well. :) And a Grayling as ...

I was up at Aston Rowant this morning: The most numerous butterfly by far was the Marbled White, followed by Small Skipper, Meadow Brown, Dark Green Fritillary and Ringlet. No other species were seen at all, and I was surprised how few Meadow Browns there were compared to my local patch where every ...

On Friday 28th June , I went back to Chiddingfold again, hopeful of a similar day or better. It was sunny to start with, Trevor was already in position when I arrived, and one or two others arrived as the morning went on. Emperors were not slow to appear - but for the most part they stayed around th...

Cheers, Trevor, Paul and Wurzel! :) The butterfly I had to myself was a bit of a looker, certainly. :) After the excellent morning and then dealing with the chores that had dragged me away early, I went out on my local patch again in late afternoon. Having mentioned whilst chatting earlier that I ha...

Today (9th) it rained all day - from brightness with warm drizzle to proper showers. In the middle of the day, when the hidden sun would likely be strongest, I went out damply to one of the nearer parts of my local patch to see if anything was attempting to fly. Five species gave it a go - Meadow Br...

8th July : New GVW still emerging locally, with over 20 seen yesterday in some morning brightness. GVW3 080624.JPG GVW4 080624.JPG GVW5 080624.JPG One fresh female was a beautiful strong lemon-yellow underneath. GVW1 080624.JPG GVW2 080624.JPG 13 species seen again today, but not quite the same 13 ...

If (like many butterflies) just prior to emergence the wings are visible through the pupal casing, you may be able to spot the forewing sex mark that male Green Hairstreak butterflies have. If this is clearly present on one side and not the other, the butterfly is almost certainly a bilateral gynand...

Thanks, Paul - I didn't recognise it in midair... :) Thursday 27th June . I had the car back, the forecast was reasonably favourable, and reports of imperial activity in Chiddingfold were encouraging. The improvement works at J10 of the M25 held things up somewhat, so the trip down there took twice ...

Wednesday 26th June was just as hot and even sunnier. I restricted my local outing accordingly, and it was noticeable that the butterflies were much more subdued in the heat, even the Meadow Browns hiding in the grass in the shade at the field edges. One female ventured out to nectar. MB1 260624.JP...

Hi Dave. An impressive tally but I am quite surprised to see no Ringlets amongst them, they have done better than Meadow Browns up here but that will no doubt change with the latter species longer flight period. Cheers, Neil. A bit of a mystery, this, Neil. :) I saw the last Ringlet on my local pat...

Cheers, Wurzel - that Marbled White shot was a bit different, but that's how the butterfly presented itself... Still, it's hard to tire of shots of fresh Marbled Whites. I agree with you about the year, though - it seems to be running away before it's even got going. :? :) 25th June was a hot one - ...