A beautiful sunny walk yesterday on Portsdown Hill to the north of Portsmouth revealed a handful of Brimstones along with two Peacock and a Small Tortoiseshell - the first time I have ever seen three species in a day in February! I turned up a couple more Brown Hairstreak eggs In a new area for the ...

Few comments: - I'm saying Hampshire based on the number of New Forest, IoW and Pompey (Fort Widley / Portsdown) related stuff. I think the "forts on the hill" for the Wall probably relates to the latter. - The IoW gets quoted a lot and there is specific mention of Culver Down for Dingy S...

Great shots Dave especially the one on the 25th which seems to have especially pronounced white pupils on the hind wing eyespots which are normally absent or very feint 👍🏻 I was fortunate to have a reasonable number of sightings this year especially this one in Alice Holt that Mike Gibbons found. Ve...

As far as I know Woodhouse Copse was purchased a few years ago by a private buyer and used as a bit of a dumping ground. Walters Copse to the west had a number of sightings for a few years and Matthew Oates had a good look for larvae after spotting a female in the locality with no success. I cant fi...

For anyone who is visiting Corfu a number of interested parties have set up Corfu Butterfly Conservation in order to promote recording and conservation of butterflies on the island. They also are aiming to produce a butterfly atlas so all of your records records will be welcome see: https://corfubut...

I think I can see a bit of ab.caeruleopunctata In there too - some blue spots on the hindwings - absolutely fabulous specimen.

I haven’t seen any reports for a few days but they have also been seen at Durlston - at least two I think. Worth keeping an eye on the Portland Bird Observatory and Durlston websites - good up to date information there. https://www.durlston.co.uk/durlston-today.aspx?nid=10ebf345-8cbd-4025-ad59-65dee...

These are a lovely little butterfly. I found a small colony on these potted shrubs, unsure of the species, in central Barcelona last year. in my opinion they would be a welcome addition to the British list.
Kind Regards
Mark

I am fortunate in that I can walk to chalk Downland which is only five minutes from home, Portsdown Hill, and yesterday I was rewarded with my first Green Hairstreak of the year - fresh out of the box. Quite a few holly blues and good numbers of male and female Brimstone too made for a very pleasant...

Brilliant Pete - very informative and welcome respite during these stuck indoors days! It was particularly interesting to see the Chequered Skipper comparisons between Frohawk and your own observations and how similar they were over a hundred years apart. I look forward to more videos. Kind regards ...

I had been following Homero on Twitter for some time and he had been doing a sterling job promoting eco tourism to his site and protecting the unique habitat - it is very distressing to think that this has lead to his, and his colleagues, demise. It brings into sharp relief the hazards of protecting...

Here is mine - not that is a particularly good photo - but that it is a specimen from. Newly introduced colony ( official) on the Hants/Sussex border. I have been helping Sussex BC monitor this site and it’s only 10 minute from home so a real novelty and not far from some of its historic sites in ea...

She is a good dog and I think one or two UKBers will have encountered her in their travels. She always knows when we are going butterflying when the lead comes off and no ball appears - then she just gets on to do her thing never going more than about 30m without coming back to check. She will sit p...

Here is Flossie standing guard over a Purple Emperor and in more playful mood - you have to watch your legs when she finds a giant stick!
Kind Regards
Mark

Congratulations Pete - I am so looking forward to receiving my copy - can’t wait - it will compliment my Frohawk nearly a hundred year after publication. I will look forward what your next instalment - Kind Regards Mark

Well here is something unusual that my wife found in the garden - a Clouded Yellow. It then landed on her and wouldn’t leave so she took these pictures in the kitchen and bizarrely it opened it’s wings - it flew off strongly and revisited the rudbeckia where she found it - quite amazing and a fantas...

Hi Sonomoha, Embarrassingly I had to look up where Mayotte was! However it turns out that I do know a bit about these islands as I also have an interest in Phelsuma - Day Geckos, one or two species of which are found on the Comoros. Looking at the map it seems large areas are set aside as “nature re...

Chiddingfold,Purple Emperors. After the rain a good day.I saw four groundings,and two flying within an hour and a half.This photo is one on rabbit droppings,presumably due to the lack of dog poo and the latter having more fat and minerals.Can anyone tell me the actual minerals the males require and...

Interesting Lee - it looks like yours is another one judging by the wing damage - I think there may be as many as six present at Alice - saw at least two today one could have been the all black nigrina . Attached are some pics, I hope they don’t mind, I was present when some were taken one is mine b...

Hi Ernie
Glad you got your Emperor - well earned!
I think there are possibly four obliterae including yours and Pauline’s and possibly a nigrina- completely black - too which I haven’t managed to catch up with.
Apologies for posting photos on your diary but I thought you might be interested?