Rather than fill up Paulines diary I thought I would start a new thread firstly WOW what a great set of photos and thanks for posting :D and I am more than happy to stand corrected about pairing :oops: I wasn't suggesting that a living could be made from collecting wild larvae - I too have sought th...

Great shots Niel and good company I must say :D . We certainly seemed to have done better than most on Tuesday? Matthew Oates seemed to be of the opinion that sometimes when you experience a 'super purple' day like Monday when males fly into the evening the next day can be quieter. It was certainly ...

Hi Pauline - I too have bumped into this gent on a couple of occasions and he always has the same story about just wanting to collect a couple of females to boost his breeding stock. He normally visits midweek. He is indeed doing something illegal if he does not have the permission of the landowner ...

Hi Wurzel - glad you got one in the end - reward for all your hard work. Looks good for a female PE to me - the most notable difference in the field is the size - the female appears noticeably bigger. However the white bands are also somewhat wider in the female and the wings have a general more rou...

Mmmmmm I seem to be getting a bit of a reputation for being immersed in foliage - very similar to the shot Pauline took at Alice Holt? The Emperors were out in some numbers earlier in the morning and nfreem ( neil) and I saw at least sixteen individuals with probably a dozen groundings including two...

Count me in please - Mark

Hi Pauline nice to bump in to you again today great shots. Glad you managed to crop out my toes from the 'foot' shot :D I have attached the photo I took whilst you were picturing me immersed head high in bracken and nettles. What people won't see is that I had shorts on - and my legs are still throb...

Well done CJB great shot on your mobile :D I can assure you it will be a moment that will stay with you for along time - it has for me and the beauty of this creature has me waiting all year for that flash of purple. None on the ground for me this year, yet. BUT had two fly around me at Alice Holt t...

Spent nearly nine hours in the various woods at Alice Holt today. Drove there in a monsoon and had to slow to thirty mph as the windscreen wipers couldn't cope! Needless to say I nearly turned back. Whilst the gloom was stilL present I took the opportunity to explore some areas that I haven't been t...

Great photos - they just get better

Hi all I have just returned from spending the afternoon at Alice Holt and for a change the weather was quite pleasant. The first port of call was goose green car park where unsurprisingly I bumped into Matthew Oates who had just seen his first Emperor of the year. Within fifteen minutes or so it bri...

Hi All As you will have seen I popped out in a rare spell of good weather to see WLH with Philzoid. As it turned out it was quite successful and we saw at least 14 individuals with several coming down to thistles to be photographed.. The nice thing about  this site is that the suckering elms that th...

Managed to actually get out in some sun today so checked a couple of local sites. I visited a section of Portsdown hill just below fort widley that has been grazed deliberately for several years to remove scrub helped by the city council - but they still massacre the verges around the city :evil: . ...

Spent a very nice couple of hours in the company of Wurzel and philzoid at wrecclesham this morning. It is the first time I have been to this site and I have to say it has a great variety of habitat and the sides of the quarry are very reminiscent of the Glanville habitat on the isle of wight and it...

Hi All - I too have noticed that nearly all the CB females to date have been very blue. Got quite excited about the first one but to date I have only seen a couple of brown ones over quite a large number of sites and good numbers of females. Following the May comments about the lack of Speckled wood...

Hi Pauline - your photos are getting better and better - keep up the good work. Glad you found the easy route into Rake bottom - did you spot the family of foxes in the farmers field opposite the metal gate? There were four cubs there the other evening. I popped up there last week in the evening and...

Hi Pauline - I sorry I missed your post about hand rearing birds. Have raised many myself including a brood of Goldies Lorikeets that I had to take to work every day to hand feed every two hours - kept them in a cupboard behind my desk and they created a right racket every time I opened the door! Ha...

I also took advantage of the warm conditions this evening and took a trip to Rake Bottom at Butser hill. The weather was very thundery but quite still. I wasn't disappointed recording a good number of species including large numbers of common blues and a couple of Dukes. Also tracked down a few Duke...

I think you are being modest Neil you have obviously put a lot of effort into being in the right place at the right time - an absolutelyl stunning set of photos - especially the scenic ones which really set the scene - the weather looked fantastic Mark

Hi Pauline - some cracking shots as usual. I liked the Bronze Winged Pionus - I used to breed Blue Headed until someone stole my female :twisted: Have checked out Fort Purbrook most days but no Wall yet :( My little colony of Small Blues is coming on nicely with four spotted yesterday and I found se...