May 2016

[MrSp0ck]

20 Glanvilles at Hutchinsons Bank today, in the sunshine earlier. We had a pairing there as well on the Bottom Bridleway. They even paired on the foodplant.

[Vince Massimo]

Today I visited Heyshott Escarpment for the first time ever and my hat goes off to all the people who have worked so hard to make it what it is now

I arrived at 10am and during the course of 3 and a half hours saw approximately 20 Duke of Burgundy on the eastern part of the site. Among these were a couple of slight oddities. One was noticeably paler than all the others and another had a pale left hind wing.

Pale Duke of Burgundy male 23-May-2016

Pale hind-winged male 23-May-2016

Standard male Duke of Burgundy 23-May-2016

Egglaying was observed by several females.

Duke of Burgundy eggs 23-May-2016

Other species seen were Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Green Hairstreak, Common Blue, Small Heath, Speckled Wood, Brimstone and Peacock. The best was a Dingy Skipper pairing.

Dingy Skipper pair 23-May-2016

Dingy Skipper pair 23-May-2016

Other species seen on the track approaching the site were Small White, Green-veined White, Large White, Orange-tip and Red Admiral.

The temperature reached a maximum of 18C with a northerly wind and broken cloud.

Vince

[Greenie]

On my way to enjoy the Glanville Fritillaries at Hutchinsons Bank , I stopped a short distance away and found two White-letter Hairstreak larvae on a known Elm .

[Jack Harrison]

Orange Tips Nairnshire.

A few seen today not all that far from previous localities. Yet again incredibly tiny perhaps as small as 30 mms wingspan.

I am struggling to find the real headquarters and food plant. Nowhere that I have encountered Orange Tips has there been any suitable larval foodplant.
A few patches of Hedge Garlic (Jack-by-the-Hedge) has not revealed any eggs, usually quite easy to find. Perhaps a large lay-by patch of Honesty is worth checking out although haven't seen the butterflies there.

Jack

[Adrian Dowling]

My wife & I had a great morning at Hutchinson's Bank today, our first visit to the site and our first Glanvilles too. Many photos to sort through but back to work early tomorrow so they will have to wait a while.

I just wanted to say thank you to Martin for his help & advice, and also what a pleasure it was to meet so many like-minded people there.

In addition to the many Glanville Frits, we also saw Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Brimstone, Dingy Skipper and Grizzled Skipper.

Adrian

[Jack Harrison]

Adrian

http://www.adriandowling-wildlife.co.uk/

Some absolutely stunning photos there. Unfortunately, I cannot identify some of you birds but do know that they are "twichers' rarities".

Jack

[Adrian Dowling]

Glad you liked the photos on my website Jack, and thank you for your kind words. There are a few rare bird photos on there which could be a bit tricky for non-birders to identify but, as you no doubt saw, they are all captioned in the relevant folders for anyone who requires some assistance.
I started out (many years ago) with birds as my main photographic interest, but over the last few years have found myself diversifying more & more, and loving every minute of it. Now I find I can't wait each year for the Butterfly & Dragonfly season to start, and of course seeing all of the great shots that are posted on this forum is superb inspiration. I even invested in my first macro lens at the end of last year!

Hopefully when I am off work again on Sunday I will find the time to go through the shots I took at Hutchinson's Bank the other day and add them to my site.

Best regards,
Adrian

[millerd]

Large Skipper seen today at Bedfont Lakes Country Park (Middlesex). My first of 2016.

Not a very good photo, I'm afraid...

Dave

[MrSp0ck]

We had 2 more ab Glanvilles today, both in the cutting, a few others on here got better underside shots of the first one. Undersides were hard to get today. The upperside of the first is below, note the missing fringe on the left hindwing, the later ab was intact but i didnt manage to get a picture.

[Jack Harrison]

27th May Nairnshire

Found a nice little colony of Speckled Woods today about half way between where I live (Lethen) and Auldearn. Circa eight males so no doubt early in the season here.



Unlike local Orange Tips which are distinctively small, these Speckled Woods seem quite normal.

Jack

[Allan.W.]

Had an hour spare after work this afternoon,so thought I,d head up on the downs near Wye,and have a look at an old Duke site,i look most years but alas the Dukes gave up the ghost here about 7-8 years ago,but I still give it a go ..........just in case !! Anyway found a few butterflies. 3 Orange tips 3 Brimstone all 3 of the common Whites,2 Small Heath
a few fresh Brown argus,a mating pair of Common Blue,and an odd male,but the star of the show today was the Adonis Blue,i reckon there were around 50+ around some really fresh individuals,also found a pair ,and 4 males,on a Badger scat,one surprise was not a single Dingy,this is always a good sight for them,but not a one today,there are plenty out on other sections of Wye NNR.......curious. but those Adonis they really are stunning beasties !! Regards Allan.W.

[millerd]

We had 2 more ab Glanvilles today, both in the cutting, a few others on here got better underside shots of the first one. Undersides were hard to get today. The upperside of the first is below, note the missing fringe on the left hindwing, the later ab was intact but i didnt manage to get a picture.

A great day at HB today.

Some more photos of this ab. are in my personal diary.

Dave

[Ian Pratt]

Thirty or so Glanville fritillaries at Wheelers Bay Ventnor today. Also one dingy skipper, fifteen common blues and one brown argus. Also several wall lizards (podarcis muralis) which I believe are unique to Ventnor .

[MrSp0ck]

Thirty or so Glanville fritillaries at Wheelers Bay Ventnor today. Also one dingy skipper, fifteen common blues and one brown argus.

Thats great news, we are not at peak yet at HB, but have had 70 on the transect already this year [24,24,22[today]]

[Buchan Boy]

Good numbers of Glanvilles showing at various points along Compton Bay,Isle Of Wight over the past week.More in my PD.

Compton Bay Glanville Fritillary

Dave

[Jack Harrison]

29th May

I'm still trying to find where my local (Nairn/Moray) Orange Tips breed. This plant seems a possibility (but no eggs found so far).

This small crucifer is quite numerous where it occurs - sunny spots in woodland (the habitat loved by Speckled Woods).
It is a little like a miniature Hedge Garlic - a half-size version.

Jack

[Greenie]

A visit to Hutchinsons Bank this afternoon ended with a sighting of the second ab., having photographed the first last week .
On the way home , found just two WLH larvae on the Elm , but one was a brown specimen . I believe this indicates that it is about to pupate .

[Willrow]

Couple of late afternoon hours spent at Aberbargoed Grasslands NNR, Gwent (Monmouthshire) yesterday, produced my first Marsh Fritillary of the year, only 15 or so seen, it could still be a late emergence, this time last year my count exceeded 100+, we shall wait and see A brief view of a passing Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary along with several Dingy Skipper, Small Heath and half a dozen Common Blue completed my sightings.

My first Marshy of the year!

Marsh Fritillary on Heath Spotted Orchid

A nice added bonus to my visit was a resting Common Blue sat quietly in the sunshine on Columbine, it allowed a chance for a few tidy images

Common Blue at rest...

On the day-flying moth front, I was pleased to see a nice fresh Chimney Sweeper, it accomodated by posing on it's larval foodplant - Pignut.

Chimney Sweeper on Pignut

A pleasing few hours spent in some charming company...

Bill

[sahikmet]

Friday 27th May visit to Aston Clinton Ragpits produced very few butterflies just two green vein whites. However there were several slow worms. College lake up to 24 small blues. Also a few brimstone and orange tips. Cheers

[DaveO'B]

I spent yesterday at a couple of the N.Yorkshire Duke of Burgundy sites, counting 10 at one site and 2 at the second site. The Duke's presence at the second site is sporadic, and possibly entirely dependent on individuals flying the couple of hundred metres from the first site. My sightings included an ovipositing female, a male feeding on honeydew on young hawthorn leaves, and a very pale coloured female. I also saw about 6 Cistus Forester, one of which was a beautiful bronze colour which almost exactly matched the young oak leaf it had settled on.