Pauline

[bugboy]

Great recent set of posts, just wish I didn't live so far away from Bentley Wood, that ab is spectacular! Looks like you had a good time in South London as well, I'm going there again tomorrow afternoon before a run of 6 days at work

[Pauline]

Thank you Martin - you know how long I have spent watching these pupa If mine EVER emerge (and you will be the first to know) I shall know which is which

You're very kind Susie. It was good to see you again and I'm pleased to see you got some really good shots

Thing is Mike, I just couldn't risk being chased by a helicopter again!! Yes, it was a smashing ab but my shots weren't a patch on the ones Dave posted Hope to catch up with you soon

Thank you Buggy. You may have missed out on the Bentley ab but I hope you're keeping your eyes open for the Glanville ab which eluded me sadly.

(ps. I think the moth I saw on the the last visit to Noar Hill was a Plum Tortrix - an interesting looking moth and surprisingly my book has it down as a micro!! Perhaps I'm getting into the micros after all ).

Today I have spent even more hours watching paint dry, ie, pupa. Through desperation (and boredom) I now have over 700 shots of a pupa I decided it was time to check on the BH cats. The salvaged eggs were all tied to the same plant and I thought they had all hatched at about the same time (but I could be wrong on that). I found 3 of them quite quickly and what surprised me was the difference in size from really quite small to a fair bit bigger - and something in between. It is a pity I couldn't get a shot of them all lined up together but here they are individually:

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline, I just love the Glanvilles...and the Dukes...and that superb PBF ab. I am not in the slightest bit jealous

All the best,

Neil.

[Pauline]

Thank you so much Neil, but y'know, I could say exactly the same about your diary! You've been getting some smashing moths recently - a lot of the ones I hoped to see, the Muslin Moth for example. I seem to be a couple of weeks behind you so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Last night I had a fair few moths but I shall only post a few shots of my favourites. They are not good photos I normally take my moth shots quite early or quite late (and can therefore blame the poor light ). Given that it has been teeming most of the day I took advantage of a brief sunny spell to record them with the camera. Never again!! 20 seconds later they had all taken off up into the trees - and for those first 20 seconds they sat with quivering wings preparing for take-off! Anyway, I think this first is a Great Prominent which I haven't had before:

I've had both Lesser Swallow Prominent and Swallow Prominent but I'm still not quite sure which this is - the former I think but they are both gorgeous:

... and another couple of those gorgeous Pine Beauties altho' one looked like she had traveled down from your area

Yesterday I returned my female Emperor Moth to the area where I found her as a tiny cat:

Almost immediately she re-positioned herself and I wondered if this odd and uncomfortable posture is associated with 'calling' for a male:

I hung around the area for about 90 minutes amusing myself with the Dingy and Grizzled Skippers, various cats and loads of micro moths. When I returned she was still alone

It was warm and still so I left her but today, given the incessant rain, I became concerned about her and decided I would try to find her and bring her back until the weather abated. I looked for about 30 minutes getting totally drenched in the process but I couldn't find her .

[Pauline]

Getting a little impatient waiting for the Glanville pupas to actually do something, so took a brief break to watch Green Hairstreaks egg-laying at Noar Hill. 2 females in the same area along with a female Holly Blue who, although in the distance, also seemed to be alternating egg-laying with sun-bathing - and then of course there was the Dukes who were also egg-laying. The slightly blurred wing might be a result of the strong breeze but more likely because I was a little unsteady on my feet - no, it's not an age thing; one foot was on an ant hill and the other half way down a slippery slope Can't decide which shots I like best so y'know what, I'm just going to stick them all up:

[Neil Freeman]

Thank you so much Neil, but y'know, I could say exactly the same about your diary! You've been getting some smashing moths recently - a lot of the ones I hoped to see, the Muslin Moth for example. I seem to be a couple of weeks behind you so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Last night I had a fair few moths but I shall only post a few shots of my favourites. They are not good photos I normally take my moth shots quite early or quite late (and can therefore blame the poor light ). Given that it has been teeming most of the day I took advantage of a brief sunny spell to record them with the camera. Never again!! 20 seconds later they had all taken off up into the trees - and for those first 20 seconds they sat with quivering wings preparing for take-off! Anyway, I think this first is a Great Prominent which I haven't had before...

...I've had both Lesser Swallow Prominent and Swallow Prominent but I'm still not quite sure which this is - the former I think but they are both gorgeous:

...It was warm and still so I left her but today, given the incessant rain, I became concerned about her and decided I would try to find her and bring her back until the weather abated. I looked for about 30 minutes getting totally drenched in the process but I couldn't find her .

Hi Pauline,

I am not so sure that I am a couple of weeks ahead here, we are very late and things are slow to get going. I think it is more likely to be a case of us having different habitat close by. For example, I have only had one species of prominent so far - an Iron Prominent.
I usually take my moth photos in the early evening. I don't have time in the morning before setting off for work, just enough to cover the trap and put it in the garage until I get back.
I would agree with your ID for the Great Prominent but not sure myself on the two 'Swallow' species.
Your female Emperor probably flew off during the night, the males are day flyers but the females are night flyers and during the day just sit around and wait for the males to find them.

Great images of the Green Hairstreaks and Duke

All the best,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Great shots Pauline I can't decide on my fave either so just as well you 'chucked' em all on

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Thank you Neil - that's reassuring as I was worried that she had become dinner. I shall definitely be looking in this area again soon to see if I can locate any more of these cats.

Thank you too Wurzel - I've decided that my favourite is the second one down - this is the one that laid the egg in the photo. She laid 3 eggs on the one plant which surprised me having read that the larva are cannibalistic and given the massive amount of food plant available.

Sorting through some photos (as one does on a rainy Saturday morning whilst on a coffee break) I came across one I took of the first GVW I saw this season (bringing my total up to a mere 17). The shot was taken at Bentley Wood so in the excitement of seeing the Pearl ab. it was somewhat overlooked. However, what was noticeable was the size of this female - she was tiny, probably not quite as big as a Common Blue. At first I thought she must have only just emerged and still be pumping up her wings. I don't think this was the case on either count. I managed a dreadful shot of her with a male OT who fancied his chances, which I'm including for size comparison purposes only as this web site states OT and GVW are the same size. I have read that small larva, early pupation, small adults can be the consequence of food shortage but I imagine that is not the case in this location.

[Pauline]

I have spent a great deal of time recently watching my Glanville pupa, keen to see an emergence and compare it to those I have seen in other species. There have been a couple of false alarms, eg on the 11th my first to pupate started to change shape and colour and began to move significantly. Ridiculously early but given my history ( ) I was convinced the emergence was imminent and spent 2 days watching it!! I eventually realised it just wasn't going to happen and as days went by I started to think perhaps it had died - there was no movement and no other changes and we are now into the 4th week since it pupated. Nevertheless, I kept watching them all and today in the sunshine several of them were moving so the vigil began yet again. To pass the time I took a few (hundred) more shots of the pupa :

As evening approached it was time to start preparing the evening feeds but shortly before 7.00pm I realised I had a butterfly . Pity I missed the main event but hopefully I shall have other opportunities:

[Wurzel]

Lovely detail in your shots Pauline, I saw a few of those today but not like/doing that

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Thank you Wurzel. Nevertheless, I am sure you got some great shots and I shall look forward to seeing them

Little darker than I am used to seeing. Within normal variation?

[MrSp0ck]

it looks like another ab. with extra black on the underside hindwing as well as the upperside. You might have got 2 abs. in a week anyway.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Pauline, great shots of the Duke's, hope it's another ab I'd have needed binocular's with a camera on the end to get a shot so close of my Duke Goldie

[Pauline]

Looks like you might be right Martin but altho' I've perused the ab. list I have no idea which one it might be

Thank you Goldie - I'm pleased you liked them

It seems as if there are some benefits to watching paint dry (aka waiting for butterflies to emerge from pupa ). Sat at my post I saw a butterfly drop down from the 60' Leylandii onto some bread I'd thrown out for the birds. It was a race between me, the starlings and the hens as to who got there first - luckily I beat them all to it. I do believe this was a Brown Argus tho happy to be corrected on that. It didn't hang around long due to all the (unwanted) attention. Either way, it brings the garden total up to 21 species . Can't imagine why the bread (sainsbury's basics bought specifically for the birds) was the focus of attention when there is so much nectar in the garden!

[Pauline]

I've spent a fair bit of time lately watching Glanvilles in one form or another. The pupa seem to come in a multitude of shapes, sizes and colours, none of which can be used to reliably indicate when the butterfly is about to emerge. Sometimes they could be mistaken for wasps with their yellow and black markings whilst others range from a purple hue through to black. Some are long and thin whilst others are short and fat. They are frustrating and unpredictable and when the butterfly does actually emerge after days of teasing and tantalising it is like a mini explosion. Very reminiscent of the Dark Green Frillary I reared but on a smaller scale. Very fast indeed with no warning whatsoever. It really is a waiting game. None of mine to date have emerged in the morning, unlike most of Martin's. Having missed a couple actually emerge by a whisker I decided it was time to get serious and try to capture the moment with the camera. I was guessing that the next one to emerge was one I had some concerns over. The pupa appeared to have a deep 'crease' across one of the wings. I half expected that if this individual was able to emerge then it would at the very least be fairly damaged/disabled:

By 2.00pm yesterday I decided it was time for some lunch which I took into the garden with a drink and the crossword to occupy me as I watched the pupa. I have become quite adept at multi-tasking Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I detected a sharp movement; plate, food, drink, paper went flying all over the garden as I leapt towards the camera. It didn't help that the breeze had picked up and the fragile creature was being buffeted about but I managed to get some shots in the short time it took for the wings to be inflated. The 'crease' along the left wing was initially very noticeable, as was a kink in the left antennae, but thankfully, as the wings inflated this disappeared leaving a perfect butterfly, albeit one which had a few problems sorting out her tongue:

Although I have now reared 14 species I found the Glanvilles very different from the others and at times quite difficult. For example, it seems that they often pump up one wing before the other - a fact I didn't know and which led to a few panics as I thought the first couple to emerge were destined to be disabled (not so). I am grateful to Martin for being such a good mentor - always on hand to give guidance and advice at every step of the process, keeping in touch on a regular basis to ensure that all was well and 'in step' with those at HB. I also very much appreciate that he gave me the opportunity to experience and learn about this species from their very early stages.

[MrSp0ck]

great to see you finally captured the hatching. Very much blink and you will miss it. We found 4 roosting Glanvilles today in the dull conditions.

[Goldie M]

Great shots of the Glanville's Pauline, that's another one I'll have to chalk up another year Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Wonderful sequence of pics, Pauline, and very informative. There's a lot to be learned about how the various events connected with emergence are controlled and timed so precisely.

Mike

[Pauline]

Thank you Martin. As you know I must have spent at least 6-7 days attempting to witness that emergence. Thank goodness it's over

Cheers Goldie - let us hope they are still around in future years.

I appreciate your comments Mike. I think my focus has changed a little this year from simply taking photographs to trying to learn as much as I can from each experience.

Yesterday I popped over to Botany Bay, the primary reason being to meet up with Jamie. I arrived a little early so whilst I was waiting I amused myself by seeing what I could find around the entrance. The first creature of interest was this Orange Tip cat, the only one I could find despite there being loads of the food plant around:

As usual I didn’t have much time to spare and as Jamie was a little late I decided to check out the Wood Whites, confident that we would find each other eventually. Compared to many other species I find that these butterflies are quite easy to photograph and imo are very photogenic. I only counted about 12 individuals but was able to grab a shot almost every few paces.

One of these butterflies was really quite tiny; much, much smaller than the others. Once one butterfly has been located I find it easier just to keep an eye on it as they are much better than me at searching out more of their own kind. This was the case as I followed a female who landed on a stem where there were already 3 individuals which I would have otherwise likely overlooked. Before I could get a photo one decided to depart.

During cloudy periods I was happy to turn my attention to other creatures including this Cardinal Beetle and Common Carpet Moth. There was also a really strange creature which I think might be some kind of Weevil?:

My highlight of the hour was discovering what I thought was an amazing looking cat and one which I have never seen before. I have looked at my books and believe it was (or likely to become) a Drinker Moth. Fantastic!

I took a few more shots of Wood Whites before Jamie and Doug appeared in the distance. Really nice to meet you Jamie and interesting to hear about your recent adventures. Nice to see you again too Doug.

[Goldie M]

Lovely Photos Pauline, I suppose they'll have gone by the time I get down there Goldie