Pauline

[Goldie M]

Lovely shot of the Hedge Hog Pauline, I'd one in the back garden a couple of day's ago, I put some food out but there were no takers, I got a shot of it, it was quite cute. Goldie

[Pauline]

I saw your photo Goldie - great! Keep putting out the food. It has just occurred to me that some folk might think I am feeding them with milk - NEVER do that. This is a special formula. Cat and dog food (meat, not fish), is good and they seem to enjoy the dried cat food - cheaper than standard hedgehog mixes or you could make your own (grated apple, grated carrot, bit of grated cheese, a crumbled weetabix and a bit of mince or cat food all mixed up).

[David M]

That young hedgehog is positively adorable, Pauline. I do hope they all pull through.

[Goldie M]

Yes Pauline, keep us updated and thanks for the advice. Goldie

[Pauline]

Fingers crossed David!

I'll be in touch about the Hoglets by email Goldie - thanks for your interest.

A 3rd PH emerged today but not a cat in hell's chance of seeing that happening. Only just managed to grab a few shots before she took off - yes, a second female to join the original male:

[Goldie M]

Absolutely fantastic shots Pauline Goldie

[Pauline]

Thank you so much Goldie. I'm afraid all my recent shots have been very rushed. I have managed to stretch the 2-hourly feeds out to 2.5 hours. Might not sound like much but that extra 30 mins gives me a lot more flexibility in where I can get to and today I opted for another visit to the WLH. There are some who will be interested in details - I was there for about 90 mins between 1.00pm and 2.30pm. There were about 6 different individuals seen, all down nectaring on bramble or creeping thistle (nearly got 3 in one shot!). One even landed on my arm so I carefully transferred him back to a thistle. A few shots below:

A couple were quite worn:

Thought I'd try a different sort of shot instead of 'same old, same old' but must get that dof sorted out

[bugboy]

You're certainly having a good Hairstreak year Pauline

[trevor]

I like that last WLH image in particular, the angle to the light shows the wing texture nicely.
As with the Brown Hairstreak the underside is surprisingly coarse.

[Wurzel]

Fantastic Hairstreaks Pauline Were the Whitters at Cosham?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Most of those images are exceptional, Pauline, but that fresh female Purple Hairstreak is to die for.

Thanks for sharing.

[Goldie M]

Pauline, What else I can I say I've found out where some of WLH reside so hope fully I'll get to see them, ( if it stops raining) .
Your doing okay with the species considering your feeding the Hogs on 2 hr feeds, It must be great having all the species so close to you in the area so you can pop out and take shots Goldie

[Art Frames]

Pauline, Your pictures of hairstreaks are beautiful. It is lovely to see a butterfly I have only ever seen in single specimens in number and perfect condition. This is a lovely place as it helps to ease some of the negative feelings about the loss of numbers of butterflies in the UK. Clearly, there are still some good places. Just fewer of them where I live.

[Pauline]

Thank you all so much for your amazing comments. You have taken the time and trouble to look and appraise so I feel it is only courteous to reply individually but I hope on this occasion you will forgive me if I don't. I have a lot of catching up to do. It has been a challenging week. Not only have I felt a bit cut off as my PC was in for repair but due to an infection I have also missed out on the butterflies. However, I'm almost finished the 2nd course of antibiotics so I thought it was time to get out and about. The hedgehog feeds are now 3-4 hourly so today I made a beeline for Browndown. I didn't find what I was looking for and I didn't find any Graylings either but there were plenty of Purple Hairstreak - mostly worn. The 4 I was watching in one tree consisted of a male and 3 females (I think). 2 of the females seemed to be egg-laying - something I have not seen before but couldn't get it on camera.

Gatekeepers were also out in force but quite active:

Lots of Silver-y moths around:

... and a really strange fly/wasp? which spent an awful long time just 'displaying', running back and forth and twirling round with wings open. The best I could do:

Overall, a lot of butterflies in a short time including Small Coppers, Skippers and quite a few gorgeous Red Admirals, including this one which seemed intent on getting sap:

[Wurzel]

More great Purple Hairstreaks Pauline Thanks for the info about Browndown, it's on my to do list, which unfortunately is getting longer by the day

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Wonderful Hairstreak shots, Pauline. I see plenty of Purples, but never near the ground, and every year I struggle to find White-letters. I look at your photos and drool... (figuratively anyway! )

Dave

[Pauline]

Cheers Wurzel. Better get a wriggle on - before you know it we'll be looking for Brown ones!

Thank you too Dave. I guess I'm lucky being fairly close to a venue where they're guaranteed to be at eye level. I wasn't so lucky today tho'. As I walked into my front garden I was met with this:

Thousands of them have gone under the wood into the fabric of the house Can't say there isn't any variety in life as each day seems to bring a fresh problem

I decided to escape as I very much wanted to see a few female WLH's - just love those long tails I didn't get lucky there either seeing only 3 males, 2 of which were really very worn:

Great colony of Essex Skippers there to keep me amused whilst I waited and watched. A few shots below together with a strange sort of fly. I don't usually like flies but this one seemed harmless enough, and dare I say, quite attractive. I expect someone will now tell me it has THE most ferocious bite!

[bugboy]

You're safe with that fly, just a harmless hoverfly. One of the diagnostic features to separate them from other flies is clearly captured in your picture. Its the 'false wing margin' where the veins don't reach the edge of the wing and just run parallel to it. In other fly families the veins run right to the edge.

Those Honey bees were probably just swarming to set up a new hive. They normally take a pit stop when leaving the old hive before buggering off to make a new one. It's always worth contacting a local beekeeper who can safely deal with it.

[Wurzel]

Lovely set of shots again Pauline I took your advice Pauline and got wriggling and I managed to bag a Bentley Whitter myself today - my first ever from this reserve

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

That last Skipper image made me smile, Pauline. Well done for capturing it.