Wurzel

[ernie f]

I am amazed by your O Tip distance shot. If I tried to take a picture like that it would never focus properly on the butterfly. The auto-focus would decide for itself that a twig some way behind is what I really wanted to see. You have it bang on.

Cheers

[Wurzel]

Cheers Ernie I don't know the appropriate settings as J just used the Sports Mode which is two clicks round from my 'normal' setting

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Working Lunch 20-04-2018

After the highs of yesterday I set out at lunch hoping for more of the same. It started well enough with a Small White. Well I didn’t know it was a Small until I’d tracked it down and it briefly settled in the Wildlife Area.

From here I got back on track and cut across to the ‘Pits’ and from there worked my way along the boundary hedge. In the glorious weather there were very few butterflies. In fact I found only 3 Small Torts by the time I’d started on the Back path, a decline of 81.25% from yesterday! Perhaps there had been an emergence event and since then they had dispersed?

Along the path it was even worse and I didn’t see a single butterfly until I reached the half way point when I was buzzed by a Peacock. I carried on along the path scanning the usual little ‘clearings’ among the dead grasses and detritus. By the time I’d reached the end point I’d notched up a single Small Tort. Just as I was about to dejectedly turn back a small blue butterfly detached itself from wherever it had been perched some distance away. It rose up and up a Holly tree eventually disappearing over the top – my first Holly Blue.

A quick run and I was back at work with just enough time to wolf down my Hommus sandwich.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, my plans have been put on hold for a while, my Husbands not too well, we seem to get to places eventually though, I hope you've had a good week-end , I see even in your lunch breaks your seeing the Butterflies
Pearl BF Have been seen in the Lakes over the week-end, hope fully I'll get up there some time in May Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie Good luck with the PBF's Philzoid and I tried at Bentley but they hadn't emerged yet - so I went elsewhere and got some Dukes instead

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, I've just checked the Lanc's Butterfly site and no Dukes seen there yet or Pearls , I thought they'd be a bit late because they'd some really bad weather this Winter, so like you I'll have to go back later, let's hope the weather picks up again, rain forecast here for the rest of the week Goldie

[Wurzel]

That's been the story this year, stuff just gets going then there's a spell of terrible weather, then it gets going again, then more bad weather etc Then when you finally do get great weather everything's been held back so it takes a while for the butterflies to catch-up, or so it seems Oh well at least PBFs only need the slightest glimpse of the sun to fly, fingers crossed for a break at the weekend

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

That's been the story this year, stuff just gets going then there's a spell of terrible weather, then it gets going again, then more bad weather etc Then when you finally do get great weather everything's been held back so it takes a while for the butterflies to catch-up, or so it seems Wurzel

The problem this year is that it keeps going from one extreme to another, oh for some good old fashioned spring weather of regular mixed cloud/rain/sun with temperatures in the mid to high teens. I don't think our spring butterflies are used to the recent heat, either charging around in turbo mode or hiding away in the shade.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Hear, hear Neil I'm with you on this But perhaps with climate change continuing then extremes will become the normal

Have a goodun

Wurzel11

[Wurzel]

Stourhead 21-04-2018

Finally the weekend arrived and the weather held. I couldn’t believe if. After the usual Saturday mornings doings we bundled the girls in the car and it the highway to Stourhead. As usual the clouds followed us and we even had a brief shower as we made to turn off the A303 but once we were parked the clouds had lifted and we were able to walk around uncoated with short sleeves up.

We followed the usual route; over the bridge, up through the terraced gardens, on through the stables and following the woodland path. Unfortunately the area I’d been looking forward to visiting most was closed so there would be no sightings of Whites or Specklies fluttering from one side of the avenue to the other. In fact it was very quiet and by the time we’d reached half way round I’d seen only a single Brimstone and that hadn’t stopped to boot!

As the path came down the hill by shallow, wide steps and broke out from the trees an OT flew by. I watched as it patrolled this way and that and it seemed to be following a circuit. However despite this I just couldn’t get a clear photo as it would stop fleetingly, just long enough for me to get into position before setting off on the same patrol but always stopping at a different place. Another OT briefly ventured onto the original territory and a skirmish ensued before the intruder was sent packing. We carried on and by the time we’d reached the caves leading up to Apollo’s Temple I’d notched up 3 Brimstone, 3 Small White and 3 OT’s. Up at the Temple there were a few fleeting views of a Holly Blue to add to the tally but it wasn’t playing ball either. It was a little frustrating though as everything was bombing about. However my frustration was tempered by spending time with the family in beautiful settings.

Later while I was packing the boot K asked after her sweatshirt…she’d left it up at the Apollo Temple. Cursing under my breath and possibly slightly louder we walked-ran all the way back. It was still there and so out of breath we made our second return journey. We did make one important pitstop – a Holly Blue was fluttering down on the path looking like it was trying to find somewhere to mud puddle. The traipsing tourists that surrounded it made it instead settle on a low growing plant.

Ever cloud has a silver lining it seems. In this case more of a silvery Holly Blue but there we go…

Have a godun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, that was on the 21st of April WoW!!!! the HB"s have only just come out here, you got yours nice and early Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie It still felt like ages to wait for them

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Andrew555]

Great stuff Wurzel, I really like your 2nd Small White shot from VJ's Mill.

And good news, I have now seen a Small Tort, so thanks for putting a word in.
Hopefully you've seen a Speckled by now, I shall watch your incoming reports.

Cheers

[Wurzel]

Cheers Andrew I'm glad the Small Torts finally got a wriggle on and made it over your way - next time I'll ask them to move a little faster I have finally seen Specklie and much more besides

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Duke Site 22-04-2018

Having spent the afternoon yesterday visiting somewhere the family wanted to go today it was my turn to pick the picnic location. I plumped for my Duke Site, vaguely hoping for an early Grizzlie which might have awoken in the glorious sun or maybe a Greenstreak. Plus it had the advantage of soft, mossy areas of dappled shade in the clearing.

Things looked great as we arrived, a Brimstone flying by and showing up vividly against almost uniform kakhi green background which was occasionally sprinkled with bright yellow Cowslips. However it was decidedly quiet by the time we’d reached the big Cypress tree between the track and the clearing. We carried on up the track seeing a Small Tort on the way before turning left and heading to the far corner of the clearing to a mossy area favoured by Dukes. I was then free to roam and set out on a couple of forays whilst the girls (all three) relaxed in the sun. I checked out the little valley, the stony bank behind the clearing and the clearing itself first but it was proving hard work. A couple of Brimstone, an OT and a Peacock later and I was back before embarking on my second foray. This time I worked down the clearing and followed the track round to the right. I wouldn’t normally go this way but I was being led by an un-obliging OT. It just wouldn’t stop!

I eventually lost sight of it as it sparred with another white. It went up and over the Hawthorns and the other went low and further into the beech wood. I followed and it settled a few times and just long enough to ID it as a GVW and also get a few shots. A Small White nearby didn’t stop long enough for a photo and soon both whites were bickering away so I left them to it and headed back to the family for lunch, passing another Peacock on the way.

I kept an eye out during lunch and my munching was briefly disturbed by a Brimstone and then another male OT. This one I watched and it was behaving slightly differing than the others I’d seen. It seemed to be completing a circuit flying along the track on two sides of the clearing before zig-zagging across the clearing to its original start point; flying in a jagged tooted triangle. It was also stopping more regularly and for slightly longer. So lunch done I set off to intersect it. A couple of times I was able to get it in the viewfinder, the next few I managed the odd record shot before finally things fell into place – right plant, right orientation, close enough and autofocus running fast enough. Hopefully things will get easier as the season progresses as the butterflies do seem to chill out after an initial surge.

As the newspaper and books had been read, the coffee drunk and the lunch eaten we bade farewell to my Duke Site. I’ll be back soon though…

Have a goodun

Wurzel How long will it be?

[Wurzel]

Tutor Time 23-04-2018

Once a week I take my younger daughter across town so that she can spend an hour with her 11+ Tutor. During the winter I would sit in their front room and get some marking or planning down. It was a very productive hour. However now the winter is almost over I have started making the odd foray out either up the Down or down to the local church yard. So far these occasional visits have produced zero butterflies, not even fly-by’s but tonight I was determined to make the most of one of the few sunny afternoons.

So I thought I’d try my luck around the meadows. Through the church yard I went with no Green-veined or Small Whites, down through the Yew and Holly bushes with no Specklies or Holly Blues. Along the river I went seeing Cuckoo Flower but without finding an Orange-tip nor any Small Torts bedding down among the nettles. I climbed up and over the bridge and walked along the path where there was a distinct absence of any Peacocks on the blossom and then through the fields and past the huge dung heap where there zero Red Admirals. In fact I didn’t see a single butterfly in any of the haunts that I’d visited in the past. I was walking on new territory and getting near to having to turn back when a white something or other drifted down a settled in the Stinging Nettles. At first I thought the stand out white object was just a feather so delicately had it drifted to its resting place. But as I go closer it turned out to be a female Green-veined White.

Chuffed with my first ‘2018 Tutor Session Butterfly’ I beat a hasty retreat so as to collect little L. The return journey was just as butterfly-less as the outward journey. Things have got to get going properly soon surely?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Waiting with bated breath for the May sunshine to hit you Wurzel! A nice delicate GVW there...

Dave

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, I'm looking forward to your May Lunch Time Breaks also your Bank Holiday shots Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave I'm trying to get up to date but I keep making more trips out What a terrible situation to be in
Cheers Goldie A few more lunchtime shots thought with the GCSEs starting tomorrow they may slow down for a week or two...

Better get on with writing some posts...

Have a goodun

Wurzel 8

[Wurzel]

Work 26-04-2018

I hadn’t been able to get out for a while as the weather was playing silly buggers and was destined to do the same thing over the weekend but all of that was going to change today. So in blazing sun I made my way out and along the usual route making for the back path. On the way I saw only a single Small Tort but it was really well positioned/posed like it had taken ‘the Dandelion stairway to heaven’.

Along the path things were really quiet past the gardens. So quiet in fact that I stopped about a quarter of the way along to take a few shots of a female Oil Beetle as a back-up just in case I couldn’t add anything to the tally. I needn’t have worried as I fell into a purple patch just past the half way point. The path widens here and there is a small but steep bank reaching up to the residents’ back garden fences. As it’s wider more vegetation can grow here and around and about there was another Small Tort along with a Green-veined and a Small White. It’s strange how butterflies seem to congregate in the same spots, I suppose they often have similar needs so the same spot can meet those needs for more than a single individual? Anyway it was great being able to click away to my left and right and straight ahead and get three species without having to take a step.

After this I strolled to the end of the path and saw my first Large White of 2018 et it didn’t stop unfortunately and directly after identifying it took flight. So I strolled back the way I’d come and at the Purple Patch the Small White was still sitting maybe recovering still from the bird strike which had deprived it of the tops of its fore wings? A second flew in, there was a brief scuffle and it was gone to be replaced by a fly-by Peacock. I could have stayed all afternoon but in the end I forced myself back to work. The day got even better when the staff meeting was postponed so I was looking forward to an extra hour at t’Vera…

Have a goodun

Wurzel
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