Badgerbob

[badgerbob]

02/02/16

At High and Over today, once the rain had stopper and the sun came out, I checked out the Wall Brown larva. 5 seen and were all active with the largest now doubled in size since I first found the first 2 in December being now up to 2 cm. in length. Then in the distance I saw a light butterfly flying amongst the bushes. With the binoculars it was very clearly my first male Brimstone of the year!!

[Goldie M]

Great sight to see Bob the first Butterfly of a new year. Hope there's none out here tomorrow looks like Snow again. Goldie

[David M]

...Then in the distance I saw a light butterfly flying amongst the bushes. With the binoculars it was very clearly my first male Brimstone of the year!!

Wonderful moment for you, Bob. If only the wind and rain would abate then I could check for early emergees round these parts!

[badgerbob]

A stunning day today, out of the breeze so another larva hunt was the order of the day. I was greeted by my first confirmed Peacock making the most of the warmth of the sun. I then found 7 Wall Brown larvae of which at least 3 were new individuals. My find of the day however was my first Speckled Wood larva. A larva I always expected to find but hadn't until today. The Wall Brown larva were up to 3 cm long whereas the Speckled Wood larva was approx 1 cm long. More on my blog http://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.co.uk/

Peacock.

Wall Brown larva

Speckled Wood larva.

[David M]

Great day's work that, Bob. Your talent for finding these larvae is enviable.

[Pauline]

Great find Bob and those shots show the difference incredibly well!

[NickMorgan]

I have just realise that I follow your blog!!!
Great finds and you have inspired me to go and have a look for caterpillars myself now that we have both Wall Brown and Speckled Wood here in East Lothian.

[badgerbob]

Hi David, Pauline and Nick. I should be doing a little movie sequence with Dan Danahar soon showing the hunt for Wall larvae. Hopefully this will inspire other hunters!!
Thanks very much for your comments.

[Wurzel]

Good to see someone's seeing butterflies Bob - it's still all quiet over here in Wiltshire Nice comparison shots - you make the differences really obvious

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[badgerbob]

The difference a day makes. Yesterday I met up with Gary Norman to show him the Wall Brown larvae. With heavy clouds and a cool breeze we found 3 as well as a Speckled Wood larva. Today, with the sun shining I called back up and found the same 3 as well as a couple of new ones. With the sun shining the larvae were higher on the grass feeding up with 4 being just about fully grown. 2 Brimstone, 1 Peacock and several Small Tortoiseshell were good to see as well.

Small Tortoiseshell.

Wall Brown larva feeding. The smallest of todays larva. Approx 60% growth. Grass well nibbled in the area!!

Wall Brown larva. Near fully grown. Resting following feeding.

Wall Brown larva. Also near fully grown. On nibbled grass.

[badgerbob]

I was lucky today to find a smart Green Hairstreak that showed a little of his top-wing. A Small Heath yesterday also performed well for me.

Green Hairstreak.

Small Heath.

[Jamie Burston]

Really stunning Bob! To see the Green Hairstreaks top-wing in such detail is fantastic. I really like the shot on your blog of one sitting on gorse, great bokeh and colours, I enjoy seeing a wider glimpse of it's surroundings. I won't give anything else away from your blog just in case you want to post it her, but I will say, wow! All the best,
Jamie

[Pauline]

I agree with Jamie. Fantastic image of the Green Hairstreak Bob. Lovely specimen and photo to match

[badgerbob]

Thanks Jamie and Pauline. I was really pleased with the Hairstreak on the gorse you mentioned Jamie. The one I found yesterday though really did pose well for me and I managed a few shots of it that I've now put on the blog.

http://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.co.uk

[trevor]

Yes, a top class image of the Green Hairstreak. A difficult Butterfly when it
comes to getting the exposure right.
Judging from the Wall Brown progress, the long trek up to Windover can't be too far off.

All the best,
Trevor.

[David M]

Delightful shot of the Green Hairstreak, Bob. It was posing perfectly anyway but to show part of the upperside just adds to its appeal.

[Gary.N]

Good shot of the Green Hairstreak, but I am going with the Small Heath. Getting a shot of a Small Heath at this time of year with a good backgound and not on grass is almost impossible.

ATB,

Gary

[badgerbob]

A survey for BC today was generally disappointing except for good numbers of woodland Grizzled Skippers. The last one of which was a fine ab. taras. Unfortunately it only settled on horrid areas. However, it was a real beauty.

Grizzled Skipper ab.taras.

[David M]

An absolute stunner, Bob. No doubt about it.

[Butterflysaurus rex]

Great find Bob, I've yet to see an ab. taras even in horrid areas.