OK, well for starters Yellow Meadow Ants aren't black!!!
Passing the baton onwards...who's gonna tackle the butterflies?

Yep, a superb meal with good beer. Oh, and some butterfly enthusiasts too! :D Finally made it back into Epsom via Clapham Junction 2hrs 40mins after leaving the pub. Would've been home a lot earlier but the local taxis don't start until after 8pm (we'd left ourselves insufficient time for the walk b...

Sam and I shall be rolling in on the 1146 from Clapham, e.t.a. Shawford is 1255. See you in the pub shortly after that folks!

Gibster.

No Golden Orioles there nowadays, Jack. You'll need to find some other ammo to throw at them, I'm afraid!

All the best,

Gibster.

PS And if there was you'd be contravening Pete's updated Rules. It's not just potential butterfly collectors viewing this website.

Today I saw & photographed (not processed it yet) a Caddis fly. Looking in the book I think it can only be Limnephilus lunatus that is said to fly in november. "Lunatus" is probably right name for an insect that flies in Nov! Eric Hi Eric, be warned - there are several caddis that reg...

Hello from Surrey, Jack! Interesting that the 21st Jan has been suggested as a possible get-together date - it just so happens to be my 40th Birthday!!! :D :D :D Not sure what The Plan entails yet, but if I do know that I won't be going to work that particular weekend, lol. May see some of you somew...

So how long until these GWEs start to breed down at Rommey/on the Dungeness peninsular, I wonder????

Wurzel wrote:Indeed it was a charming and feisty little butterfly and I was surprised at the size, more akin to a blue than a fritillary.

Or even a Metalmark, lol


Catchya Saturday Wurzel!

Gibster.

Also, this may have the same answer, which species occupies the smallest total area of habitat? Surely Heath Frit and Large Blue are contenders? Oh hang on though...Marbled Frits have existed in a certain wood for some years I believe. So perhaps that's the correct answer. Or Large Tortoiseshell on...

Yep, places at the table for Sami and my good self, please!

We'll be arriving by train, I haven't checked timetables yet, but we'll be there in good time for the feast - er, I mean lunch.

Gibster the Glutton.

Morning Jack, I think it's all too easy to become condescending/magnaminous/elitist from the safety of a computer keyboard in a dim understairs cupboard. What if that Black-throated Diver was a Pacific Diver? So often newbies are scoffed at, but it was a newbie that found our only record of Long-bil...

Yet in the field, I am finding (unlike 10 years ago when there was a dreadfully elitist culture) almost all the birders I have met recently are only too willing to help or to admit that they just don't know. It has to be said that birds can be very much more difficult than butterflies. Hello Jack, ...

Hi Guy,

looks to me to be the brown morph of Tylosis liliifolia, the Lily Bush-cricket.
Have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylopsis_lilifolia

Cheers,

Gibster.

PS - and it's definitely a boy!!!

Keeping up with The Jones's...I too had a Red Admiral in warm afternoon sunlight, flitting around rooftop guttering. My friend had a Speckled Wood today at nearby Malden Rushett. This evening, sometime shortly after dusk, I had 2 (possibly 3) Woodcocks flying from the cover of Epsom Common onto adja...

Clever little cuttlefish

The other highlight of the day was the mass arrival of Blackbirds. Although we did not see them all the obs counted well over 1,200 around the recording area. An impressive sight indeed. Hiya Dave, seeing some 1200 Blackbirds "chukking" away in The Desert must have been almost as rare as ...

Yep, you can definitely put me and Sami on the list. We've both managed to get out of work so we'll see you all there! Coolness

Gibster.

This is lifted from the Portland Bird Observatory website for 6th November: "There was a noticeable movement of many dozens of Red Admiral butterflies taking place into the wind (north-eastwards) throughout the island." I take it that autumn 2011 is abnormal for late Red Admiral activity a...

David M wrote:Are they rare?

They are over here in London!!! Not so rare in your neck of the woods, particularly with post-breeding/pre-winter movements which often take them down from the hills towards the coasts. Cracking birds!

Gibster

That really is a pretty (unintendedly) impressive piece of footage. Pity the guy doesn't know his Himalayan Griffon Vultures from his "eagles" lol. Damn good to see the bird get away clean too.

Gibster.