Bugboys mission

[Vince Massimo]

Great work, Paul. I admire your dedication and stamina. It was all worth the effort in the end

Vince

[Goldie M]

What an experience Bugboy, great shots too, lovely Butterfly. Goldie

[Janet Turnbull]

Congratulations, Bugboy! A wonderful experience and a superb set of pictures!

[Neil Freeman]

Superb sequence of the Speckled Wood emergence Bugboy I really must make an effort to find early stages of this species in my garden.

Cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

Bugboy, many thanks for sharing that sequence which is right up there in the top 1% of posts on this site.

Shame you didn't get to see the moment the butterfly emerged - your dedication surely warranted it!!

Well done once again.

[bugboy]

Thank you all for your very kind comments, I'm glad I could share the experience with like minded people

25th & 26th March

What a lovely couple of days to do some butterflying, unfortunately I was at work all weekend so I had to make use of my lunch breaks. The chilly breeze worked to my advantage, corralling the butterflies into a sheltered spot so what was about was very easy to track down, stalk and photograph. On Saturday, there were a couple of male Brimstones active, both of whom eagerly stopped off long enough to feed on the Dandelions and also briefly on a Daffodil.

There was also a Comma, sat in one of this year’s usual spots. I managed a few pictures after he had settled down from a foray up in the air chasing a female. Easy to see it was the opposite sex that attracted his attention as, rather than the usual aerial dogfight there was a more seductive bout of fluttery bottom sniffing, so romantic!

On Sunday on the same spot a single Brimstone was actively patrolling, he didn’t settle today and the Comma was in the usual spot but somewhat less approachable than yesterday.

The one species I did spend some time with today was my first ‘proper wild’ Specklie of the season, a lovely female who wasn’t the best poser in the world but obviously as fresh as yesterday’s male.

The Warm weather has also brought out some local Bee Flies

I do hope this weather lasts until Tuesday, it looks touch and go currently...

[millerd]

Well done on getting some Brimstone pics, Buggy. None of the ones I've seen over the weekend stopped at all.

Dave

[David M]

Forecast looks great for tomorrow, Bugboy, and in the east you'll probably eke out another decent day whilst we in the west welcome another arrival of Atlantic cloud.

Orange Tips and Large Whites possibly on the menu?

[Wurzel]

Great sequence of shots of the Specklie emerging Bugboy And a fresh wild one as well It's all kicking off now, and long may it continue

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[peterc]

I admire your dedication and enthusiasm for the immature Speckled Wood shots, Paul. Well done!

ATB

Peter

[Art Frames]

Great story and set of pictures of the speckled wood and the release portrait is superb. It has been half lifetime since I reared and released anything. But emergence is still the most amazing spectacle.

The other pictures show some lovely shots. Uplifting work.

[Pauline]

Great shots of the Speckled Wood Buggy but I can imagine how frustrated you must have felt at missing the actual emergence. You wouldn't believe how many times that has happened to me (took me 3 years to get the White Admiral) but I expect it will just make you more determined next time (No more loo breaks or dozing )

[bugboy]

Again Thank you everyone

Great story and set of pictures of the speckled wood and the release portrait is superb. It has been half lifetime since I reared and released anything. But emergence is still the most amazing spectacle.

The other pictures show some lovely shots. Uplifting work.

It's been a similar length of time for me. When I was a teenager I captured a gravid female Specklie and ended up rearing about 30 or 40 of them from eggs, didn't witness a single emergence though

Great shots of the Speckled Wood Buggy but I can imagine how frustrated you must have felt at missing the actual emergence. You wouldn't believe how many times that has happened to me (took me 3 years to get the White Admiral) but I expect it will just make you more determined next time (No more loo breaks or dozing )

Yes I was kicking myself for dozing off after watching it so intently all evening. Never mind, I'm just glad it was a successful emergence, I was starting to get a little worried.

27th March

Another lovely sunny day where I was left to snatch what time I could during my lunch break. It felt a bit warmer today, the wind having lessoned from the weekend but surprisingly there were no Comma’s today. I was keen to keep an eye out for some other springtime species, holly Blues in particular but as it turned out there were only Brimstones today, two males (probably the same two as on Saturday) and my first sighting of a female this year. They were all in feeding mode and I witnessed something I’ve never seen before, a male and female feeding from the same flower with no interaction.

The male very briefly attempted to flutter after her when she left but quickly gave up and returned to feed. It would seem he has yet to build up the stamina to keep up with the girls!

The female was particularly amenable today and even allowed me to move the occasional offended blade of grass as she fed.

I was also very pleased to get some nice shots of Bee Flies feeding on Green Alkanet

Day off tomorrow and looks like this sunny spell is about to collapse I might just be lucky and get some late morning sunshine but I won't be holding my breath!

[Wurzel]

Great stuff withe the female Brimstone Bugboy they can be right pains to photograph at this time of year I hope the weathermen get it wrong tomorrow, fingers crossed for you If not then they seem to think that next week will be good again.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

I agree with Wurzel, still waiting to see Brimstones here so it was good to see yours, hope fully the nice weather will be back , it's been cloudy all day today. Goldie

[David M]

...I witnessed something I’ve never seen before, a male and female feeding from the same flower with no interaction.

That's most unusual. You see this regularly in summer but in spring the males are generally more interested in chasing females than feeding. Perhaps this one had just finished a marathon?

[bugboy]

28th March, Local patches again

These past three days have been excruciating, stuck at work with just lunchtime breaks to go hunting. Whilst I’ve been reasonably successful at work, I really needed a good day full of butterflies so I was praying this sunny spell would hold on for just one more day, thankfully it did and the reward for my ‘patience’ came in droves.

The plan was the same three local site trip as a few days ago, with targets for the day to get a picture of a Peacock and some shots of anything on Blackthorn blossom, (with maybe a Holly Blue or Orange-tip thrown in). Before I even got my camera ready a Peacock appeared, things were looking good. He sat for a bit but with the departure of the recent chilly breeze the sun was able to warm everything up and he was soon swooping off across the field. In the same nettle bed, I also found a Comma lurking, the first of many.

A few more Comma’s turned up further along the path, one feeding on Blackthorn blossom

The other one decided I was much tastier! Several times I tried to encourage him onto the blossom but it would seem I was secreting some particularly tasty mineral salts today. Even when I did manage to get him off he would take to the air in ever increasing circles until he relocated the source of his addiction again I finally.

Eventually I escaped my lepidopteran stalker and found another butterfly enjoying some blossom.

There were two here but only the better looking one posed for me, oh well. Like last time a Small white put in an appearance and I had a Brimstone flyby today as well.

Several more Comma’s later I made my way to where the Small Tortoiseshells normally hang out (others have Comma corner, I have a Small Tortoiseshell path). As expected I found my quarry, two in fact, looking resplendent in the March sunshine.

With the morning coming to a close it was time to head of over to Abney Park but it was difficult to tear myself away, what with more Tortoiseshells and a Brimstone distracting me.

Like last time the hour I spent at Abney was ruined by cloud which only started to clear as I left, waking up another Comma and Small White.

Last time at Tottenham Marshes was butterflyless, this time was the complete opposite. I had a Small White flyby before I even had my camera out of my bag and this was quickly followed by a couple of Commas, and then another couple after which the Small Tortoiseshells began to appear in droves, including a courting pair. Well the male was courting, I’m not so sure the female was in the mood!

All these Nymphalids were easy to find as they were concentrated at the bottom of a lush bank of nettle, Cow Parsley and Comfrey. If there’s an opposite to hilltopping this is what they were doing. I suspect it was the strong breeze that was keeping them down here. This context shot, facing south shows what is so attractive, full sun all day! The fence on the left stops you falling into one of the River Lea navigation canal thingies.

Next stop was my other butterfly hotspot at this site, a similarly sheltered path which also runs north/south and so receives full sun for most the day. As long as you visit at the right time of year in good weather butterflies are guaranteed and today was no exception, at least five Peacock and four Commas jostling for territory.

Not too sure if this chap could still fly, missing most of its left forwing.

I mentioned on Wurzels diary a few days back how I was jealous of his double figures tally of Tortoiseshells in one day. Not any more, today was one of the best days for me in recent memory, a conservative tally of 15 individuals. Add to that 14 Comma, 12 Peacock and 3 Small White It’s easy to forget we’re still in March, things are looking good for 2017, touch wood!

[trevor]

Great haul there, Buggy. I'm glad today was kind to you.
We had an early sea mist, which lifted into low cloud and kept things too cool.
Then a certain Mr. Hulme finds a Large Tortoiseshell.

I should have stayed in bed !
Trevor.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Bugboy, I love the comma on your finger, how did you manage that I've always found them very skittish You certainly had a great time .Goldie

[Wurzel]

I'm glad that the weather held for your outing Bugboy, and glad that you managed to make the most of it Godd news about the Small Torts although I did see mine within 20 minutes

Have a goodun

Wurzel