Thanks
B'rex &
Maximus, I had a great time with those Hairstreaks and I've certainly falling on my feet with my holiday, can't believe a week ago we had snow, British weather at its crazy best!
Thanks
Wurzel, I'm sure your Pearls will be out soon, looking forward to visiting your neck of the woods when the Small Pearls start to appear, I have the first week of June cleared and ready for them
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
. Hope that fits in with their normal emergence time there.
Thanks
Pauline, more luck than skill in the case of the Brimstone. Just happened to be in the right place at the right time. It seems when they're in egg laying mode very little disturbs them so its just a case of point, shoot and hope for the best. The fact that she just hung around for several minutes meant I was able to check the first few snaps and adjust settings accordingly
6th May, Hadleigh Country Park
Another day off, another day out chasing butterflies, this week is getting quite exhausting. Who’d have thought being a butterfly twitcher doubled up as a way of keeping fit! The main target today was Orange-tips and hopefully a female having had only the one fleeting glimpse of one so far. With no icy arctic wind whistling off the North Sea like last week I figured I’d see a bit more OT action and I wasn’t wrong either. It took about 10 minutes to see my first and then appearances grew until it was pretty nonstop OT action! I was early enough to catch them still having breakfast and staking out a small patch of Bluebell it wasn’t long before a passing diner stopped off and sat whilst I clicked away.
Little did I know my behaviour had attracted some attention whilst lurking and awaiting my quarry....
It warmed up pretty quickly after that which inevitably meant normal Orange-tip behaviour resumed and for the rest of the day it was constant fly bys. Green-veined Whites were also about in equal numbers and were somewhat easier to approach, especially the females who for obvious reasons, spend the day skulking around avoiding unnecessary attention.
Both Small and Large Whites were about in smaller numbers and I found just the one Specklie where there were several last week.
Since everything was rather active I decided to explore further afield, coming across a Small Tortoiseshell, a few flighty Peacock as well as several more GVW and OT.
A male kestrel seemed to be following me around. At one point I rounded a corner to find him grounded, apparently with lunch but when he flew off his talons were empty, perhaps it was small enough to eat there and then, I couldn’t find anything after he’d gone.
Small Whites were more numerous in the open fields where a cultivated crucifer had self-seeded and was blanketing the ground, only one stopped to have a break from the relentless search for a mate.
Back at the Orange-tip hotspot, they were still as active as ever, all males and checking the Garlic Mustard I found no eggs, looks like the females have yet to start emerging here. Whilst walking the paths, hoping in vein that one would stop conveniently for my benefit a small Blue butterfly flew up from my feet. He settled down quickly, obviously intoxicated by something less than pleasant to our sensibility’s, but being in the grass I only managed a few record snaps.
Moving on after he vanished over the hedge I immediately put up yet another pair of mating Green-veined Whites, based on my personal experiences they are going to be at plague proportions in a few months’ time!
A second Speckled Wood turned up, this time an egg laying female and after some chasing I just about managed a picture of her doing the deed.
Another very successful day. To finish here's a closeup of a well behaved GVW and Bee Fly