Thank you everyone for your replies. I hadn't appreciated how much the colour and markings of the Dingy Skipper varied so much. I had even wondered if was possibly a migrant Large Chequered Skipper!

I made my second ever visit to Boniface Down on the Isle of Wight last week, in the hopes of seeing Glanville Fritillaries, and again my mission failed. However, this Skipper landed right at my feet. At the time I thought it was probably a Dingy Skipper, but after checking I don't think it is. It do...

My first post for a year or so. Apologies! So far this year, in my back garden, I have seen about a dozen Holly Blues and one Small or Green-Veined White. This was in one afternoon. Other members of the family have seen one Peacock and a Brimstone, and also quite a few Holly Blues. I'm working too m...

Technically this is a July sighting, as I took the photo on July 30th, but I thought you might like to see this photo of a Peacock considering an alternative method of transport to reach the centre of town! Location: Ashlawn Cutting, Rugby. Second photo is a Marbled White from June at the same locat...

Hi. Introducing Sam the Small Tortoiseshell. Despite 2013 being an amazing year for butterflies I wasn't aware that any had made their way into the house, so imagine my surprise when a couple of weeks ago when Sam began fluttering around the sash window in my office/study where I'm typing right now....

Another sighting of a male Clouded Yellow at Southbourne today. It was flying very strongly over the undercliff. It landed briefly on bare earth again before continuing the patrol of it's favoured area. As the weather looks settled I am hoping to see this male (or another) on the next sunny Decembe...

Hmmm, at this resolution the photo doesn't look too crap, actually. Apologies!

I think I described on here back in August a remarkable day at Ashlawn Cutting in Rugby. I saw a Silver-Washed Fritillary (my first ever) and a White-Letter Hairstreak (again my first ever). Unfortunately the spot where I saw the SWF was so gloomy my DSLR's auto-focus couldn't focus in time before i...

If anyone in the Midlands has yet to see many Small Tortoiseshells this year, they could have done a lot worse than visit Tamworth railway station last Sunday. There are numerous buddleia bushes adjacent to Platform 2 and there were dozens fluttering about, even outnumbering the whites by about 4:1....

The '17' I refer to in the buddleia picture is Peacock butterflies. There's also a White visible somewhere!

Here in Rugby, Warwickshire, we seem to be having the best year for butterflies since at least 2009. About a week ago I was beginning to wonder if another infestation of Painted Ladies was on the cards after seeing four in one day in my back garden, having not seen one anywhere since 2009. I also sa...

After a family gathering for my mum’s birthday, the men’s Wimbledon final was becoming too painful to watch (or so I thought at the time) and so decided to drive out to Ashlawn Bridge and spend an hour or so at Ashlawn Cutting. Summer appears to have finally arrived here in Rugby in the last week, w...

Went for my second walk of the season along Great Central Walk / Ashlawn Cutting in Rugby on Tuesday (first being an uneventful walk six days earlier) and saw three Peacocks and three Small Tortoiseshells! Woo-hoo! Reason for my excitement being that last year I saw no Small Tortoiseshells ANYWHERE....

I found a Red Admiral fluttering about by Hillmorton Locks in Rugby on Friday 4th November. That was the first time I have ever seen any species of butterfly in the wild during November of any year! In the Rugby area it has undoubtedly been the year of the RA.

Max.

I've not been out and about much during August, but last Sunday got a pleasant surprise when a Brown Argus landed on the geraniums in my urban back garden. It's always a special moment when I see a species in the garden that I've not seen there before. Unfortunately it flew off before I could get my...

It definitely wasn't Sawfly larvae - they tend to be much smaller and greener in colour. This caterpillar was at least an inch long, maybe longer. But thank you to everyone who has responded so far!

Max.

Hi. Not had much time to visit the site lately - I've been spending much of my free time out photographing butterflies! July 24th was a great day in my back garden - I saw more species in an hour or so than in the whole of 2010. Red Admirals seem to be astonishingly high in number this year! Anyhow,...

I'm not really an expert, but I believe that is the caterpillar of the Cinnabar moth. I've only ever seen it on ragwort, but I don't think that's ragwort in your photo.

Despite the amount of cloud in the sky early afternoon I decided to head back to Ashlawn Cutting on yesterday on the off chance of seeing some butterflies. At first I there seemed to be nothing but Orange Tips about. But as I was still seeking a decent photo of one this might be a good thing, I thou...

Hi. Here's a few of my photos from Ashlawn Cutting (Great Central Walk) taken during 2011, which I attempted to post yesterday!

Max.