Neil Freeman

[Andrew555]

Great moths Neil. I especially like the colours and patterns on that Hebrew Character.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Goldie, I am sure the Daddy long legs you are referring to would be Crane Flies http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/species/daddy-longlegs I can see what you mean though. There are a few species of Plume Moth in the UK, some of which can be difficult to get the ID right.

Thanks David, yes, always worth the wait to see a few butterflies on spring blossom

Cheers Andrew, I particularly liked the colours on that nice fresh example. A common but variable moth.

Saturday 14th April

Over a week of cold grey and miserable weather came to an end today (Saturday 14th) with a beautiful spring day with plenty of warm sunny spells broken up by occasional fluffy white clouds.
After doing the usual Saturday morning chores, I took the opportunity to try and catch up with some jobs around the garden which have been falling well behind with all the recent rain making parts of it too soggy to walk on without turning it into a muddy morass.
By mid afternoon I reckoned I had done enough for one day and decided to have a walk down to the local park where I had been to have a look around and seen my first butterflies of the year a few weeks ago. As mentioned at the time, although only a ten minute walk from my house I had not previously had a look around this spot until the other week but reckoned it would be worth return visits.
The intervening weeks had brought some stands of blackthorn into full blossom and this was the first place I went to check out, soon finding my first butterfly of the day, a Small Tortoiseshell.

Blackthorn blossom - Wagon Lane Solihull 14.04.2018

Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 14.04.2018

This was the only butterfly around this blackthorn so I carried on a bit further to where it gives way to a mixed hedgerow with bramble patches in front. Here I found my second butterfly, another Small Tortoiseshell...

Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 14.04.2018

...closely followed by a couple more who would often take off from their basking positions to challenge each other and spiral up into the sky. These aerial displays would often also include a Comma, a couple of which were also holding territories along here.

Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 14.04.2018

Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 14.04.2018

Small Tortoiseshell - Wagon Lane 14.04.2018

I wandered along this stretch of hedge line and saw more Small Tortoiseshells including three separate pairs involved in courtship behaviour although as is usual with this species they all flew off with the male following the female before any result could be observed.

Small Tortoiseshell pair - Wagon Lane 14.04.2018

Small Tortoiseshell pair - Wagon Lane 14.04.2018

Small Tortoiseshell pair - Wagon Lane 14.04.2018

As mentioned above there were also a couple of Commas here, at least two males plus a nice large female that came wandering through at one point and stopped for a while to soak up the sun.

Comma male - Wagon Lane 14.04.2018

Comma female - Wagon Lane 14.04.2018

Comma male underside - Wagon Lane 14.04.2018

Along with maybe 8 to 10 Small Tortoiseshells and at least 3 Commas seen during the hour or so spent here, there was also a single Brimstone and my first Small White of the season. The Brimstone didn't stop patrolling but the Small White settled just long enough for me to grab a really ropey record shot (over exposed and with blades of grass all over the place) that I won't embarrass myself with by posting here but which was just good enough to confirm that it was a Small and not a Green-veined White.

I was a bit surprised to not see any Peacocks here today given the nice weather conditions and the other butterflies that were about. I have mentioned before that the summer brood had a poor showing here last year but I didn't see many Small Tortoiseshells locally last summer either and I have already seen more of those than I did of their summer brood here last year.

After yesterdays lovely weather we are back to dull grey overcast here today and with some overnight rain last night everything is all soggy again.
Still, with Orange-tip, Speckled Wood and Holly Blue all reported around the country yesterday and with the weather forecast to improve later this week it finally looks as if the season is getting into its stride.

Bye for now,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Fantastic sequenc of shots Neil, those Small Torts look especially resplendent It seems that finally the wait might be over and none too soon!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

The second Small Tortoiseshell in your sequence is very boldly marked,
lovely blue spots. Good to see Spring erupting everywhere now.

Trevor.

[bugboy]

I'm still awaiting a good Small Tortoiseshell experience this year but hopefully tomorrow afternoon will rectify that. Your shots have whetted my appetite though

[millerd]

Your Small Tortoiseshells really show the amazing variety in colour and markings there actually are in this species. They do seem to have survived the late cold part of winter well this year too. Great set of photos, Neil.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Lovely shots Neil, isn't it just great to see the Small Tortoiseshell Goldie

[Andrew555]

What a great set of shots Neil, those Torts look gorgeous.

[David M]

That's an absolute Tortoiseshell fest, Neil! I particularly like your second individual with the wider than normal hindwing blue border.

Interesting too that your local blackthorn is so well advanced. Ours round my way is only now starting to emerge.

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks all for the great comments

Having looked closely at the Tortoiseshell photos again it appears that all of them, including those in the pairs, are different individuals making 11 in total. I also believe there were a couple more that I didn't manage to photograph meaning my count of these was a little low.
This also highlights how variable this species can actually be both in ground colour and size of markings.

Friday 20th April

Talk about one extreme to the other. After all the grey and wet weather last week, this week has been a scorcher...with me stuck in work

I saw my first Orange-tips of the year today, from the car whilst on my way home at lunchtime. Arriving at home I went into the garden to see if there was anything about and immediately spotted a Comma flitting around. A closer look showed it to be a female who was exploring between the shrubs and occasionally settling but with wings closed in the heat. The shot below was taken with a bit of infill flash to light up the shadow.

Comma - Coverdale 20.04.2018

We then went round to pay our usual Friday afternoon visit to my Mom and I took the opportunity to have a quick look around the park down the road from her house. I quick 20 minute circuit produced 1 Comma, 1 Peacock and my first Speckled Wood of the year, none of which showed any sign of stopping in the afternoon heat.
Back home later in the afternoon I spotted 2 Holly Blues in the garden but they too didn't hang around.

The warmer (hot) weather has brought some more moths out in the garden although total numbers have been tempered somewhat by clear nights which have led to a bit of nippiness in the air by early morning when I check the trap at around 05.00 am before getting ready for work.
I am now up to a total of 28 species of moth to the trap this year, 17 macro and 11 micro.

Pine Beauty - only my second after having one in 2016.

Early Thorn - a nice fresh male.

Early Thorn female - compare with the male above.

Red-green Carpet - Four of these on Wednesday night.

Acleris cristana - a striking colour form of this very variable micro.

With stunning inevitability it appear we may be having a thunderstorm or two here tomorrow

Bye for now,

Neil.

[ernie f]

Neil

Stunning clarity in your recent photos. I've not looked at your other posts yet but I will now. I particularly like the way you used the flash on the comma. I might try that myself and see what happens.

Cheers
Ern

[David M]

Yes Neil, I concur with your thoughts regarding levels of frustration when you're stuck in work during the first truly warm spell of the year. Nothing worse than seeing your first Orange Tips of the year whilst driving along in the car.

Lovely Comma image though, along with another array of interesting moths.

At least things can now be considered truly 'up and running'.

[Wurzel]

It is the Law of Sod that predicts (more accurately than the weather people) come the good weather those that could benefit most from it will be stuck at work I can't wait to retire, only another 26 years
Still on a more up beat note - great Comma and I love the dimorphism shown by the Early Thorn

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks David, yes, things are definitely up and running...or at least they were before the weather took a turn for the worse again.

...Nothing worse than seeing your first Orange Tips of the year whilst driving along in the car...

Ah!..but better than not seeing them. Just spotting the unmistakable sight of a couple of Orange-tips from the car was a lift to the spirit.

Cheers Wurzel, the Law of Sod was particularly active on Saturday...

Saturday 21st April

A lovely sunny morning whilst we were doing the morning shopping and the usual household stuff, I checked the forecast (I know ) and seeing that it was supposed to stay nice for the afternoon I decided to pay my first visit this year to my local spot at Castle Hills near Solihull.
I got there at about 2.00pm and almost immediately spotted a couple of male Orange-tips patrolling along the hedgerows. One of these made the briefest of stops on a bright blue flower (Alkanet ?) and I just managed one quick photo before he was off again.

Orange-tip - Castle Hills 21.04.2018

Over the course of the next hour or so I saw maybe half a dozen male Orange-tips actively flying around the various hedgerows here but none were stopping in the afternoon heat. I also saw a couple each of Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Comma, one of the latter being the only other butterfly that I managed to get a photo of as he kept returning to the same spot. Everything else was just too active.

Comma - Castle Hills 21.04.2018

As I had been wandering around I had noticed that it had steadily been feeling more muggy and I had seen a dark bank of cloud that was steadily approaching. Just before this cloud arrived it all went very quiet, the butterflies had all disappeared and the background noise of bird song had ceased. Uh Oh! I thought...better get back. I was just getting back to where my car was parked when the first big rain drops fell so I increased my pace for the last hundred yards or so and just made it before the heavens opened and a deluge of biblical proportions hammered down. To tell the truth, the forecast had said that heavy rain and possible thunderstorms were heading in but they were supposed to arrive here overnight. In the end we did have more heavy rain overnight along with some very blustery wind but we avoided the thunder and lightening that they apparently had just a few miles to the south.

Sunday 22nd April.

After the wet and wild weather we had overnight, Sunday morning was much fresher although there were still a few sunny spells during which it felt pleasantly warm. Pottering about in the garden I watched a couple of Holly Blues chasing each other about and an unidentified White rapidly passed through.
I also spotted a familiar shape flitting about down the bottom of the garden...my first garden Speckled Wood this year, a nice female no less
She settled where I had earlier been cutting back some brambles and I managed a couple of photos, albeit with an annoying shadow across her wings, before she decided to carry on her wanderings.

Speckled Wood female - Coverdale 22.04.2018

Still no males yet but it cannot be long now before they appear in the garden and set up their territories in the usual spots.

Sunday afternoon was then spent at the Warwickshire BC Spring meeting where more than 90 members enjoyed some interesting talks and plenty of lovely home made cake

Bye for now,

Neil.

[trevor]

Very nicely marked female Specklie, Neil.
If you are having Specklie withdrawal symptoms, with no males,
then I invite you to my ' local ' patch where there are hundreds resident.
They are becoming a nuisance, chasing off my quarry, and sending others up.

Spring wouldn't be the same without them.
Trevor.

[millerd]

Always good to know the first Specklies have appeared in your garden, Neil!

Dave

[Wurzel]

Great news Neil - I've yet to see my first Specklie but the season is now definitely going the right way now that you have

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Neil, I've not seen my first Speckie yet but hope fully it won't be long now, I must say I love the Orange Tip contrasting with the Blue flower I hope you manage if you go back there to get another shot of it because it looks great.Goldie

[bugboy]

Gorgeous looking Orange-tip, yes that is Green Alkanet it's on . My work transect looks to be on the verge of a Speckled Wood explosion, 6 seen on Sunday, including a mating pair. Hopefully the damp conditions we've had will cause a nationwide explosion. I suspect that's why Green'-veined White numbers are rapidly increasing too, at least in my neck of the woods.

[Andrew555]

Great selection of moths Neil. The Early Thorn pair are lovely.
And good job getting the Orange-tip shot.

Cheers