Pauline

[Pauline]

Cheers Goldie. It's another season where outings are in short bursts I'm afraid. I'm putting together an aviary today and tomorrow but hope to get out briefly.

Thank you for the moth ID Neil - similar to Ermine tho', don't you think? I'm ashamed to say I haven't had the moth trap out at all this year which is something I must soon put right. Stand by for a barrage of ID queries

I feel like I'm one of your pupils Wurzel Do I get marks out of 10

Thank you David. I did wonder whether it was possible to determine the gender. The way it flew towards us and then crawled purposely around plant stems looked like female egg-laying behavior - but then, I've never seen a moth egg-laying so it was probably just trying to get away from the light.

That would be my guess too Dave. Would love to see a shot of both eggs on the same plant just by way of comparison.

Just to prove I have been trying (but without any success) a few cat shots below. I got excited at times finding what I thought to be typical feeding behaviour - turns out a very ordinary green cat leaves a similar trail:

and lots of these brightly coloured (pretty bugs:

A couple of nice moths too. I believe one is a Green Carpet moth and can't remember the other

[CallumMac]

Super moths, Pauline! You're correct with the Green Carpet and the other is Red Twin-spot Carpet Xanthorhoe spadicearia.

[Wurzel]

I'd give it a 9 Pauline as I can't have the pupils getting a better mark than the teacher Great set of moths shots Bit of a heads up - the Marshies are out at a neighbouring Hill to the main site so there should be good numbers over the weekend

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Those moths both display great camouflage, Pauline. The Green Carpet is particularly attractive.

[Pauline]

Cheers Callum - I've not paid enough attention to moths this year so far due to lack of time. Your ID has saved me a bit of that as eventually I would have looked it up. Thank you.

I appreciate your comment Wurzel on all 3 counts I'll have to start seeing what I can organise but there has been some snags with this aviary putting me back a bit.

If I hadn't seen that Green Carpet fly and land again I doubt I would ever have found him David. It was a bit tricky getting a decent image in fading light in the middle of foliage but I tried. I tried again today when I popped out for an hour. I tried to get some decent shots of these Brimstones in flight:

and failed miserably. I had rather more success with this amazing Cuckoo on Thursley Common:

[ernie f]

Oh, my God, Pauline. Stunning Cuckoo photos. You should enter them for a nature magazine competition!

[Wurzel]

Great Cuckoo photos Pauline - is that the one that they bait?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Have just seen your Cuckoo photos, Pauline, brilliant

Mike

[Pauline]

Thank you Mike, Wurzel and Ern for your kind words. Let me introduce you to Colin Named by locals this Cuckoo returns to the same area each year and the food he regularly receives allows unprecedented close views - providing one is prepared to wait sometimes many, many hours. Another shot of Colin and a nearby Stonechat and then it's back to butterflies

[Pauline]

This morning the choice was either Noar Hill, The Straits - or Bookham (kidding Buggy!). I opted for Noar Hill where in a couple of hours I found loads of early stages but today belonged to the BH. Many will know that year after year I am drawn back to the Hairstreaks so I thought I would focus on finding the larva. Much of what I learned from rearing at home was brought into play including the type and amount of feeding damage, inclination to wander at various stages etc. I was quite excited when I found Number 1 (I'm afraid I haven't given them names Guy ). Like many cats they are really well camouflaged and what I hadn't seen at home was the silken thread used to help them find their way around the bush and in this case from one Blackthorn to another. A few shots of Number 1 showing the context and close-up:

After this it just got better and better. I just kept finding more!! Why can't it be like this for PE???? Here is Number 2:

.. and Number 3:

...and Number 4:

..and Number 5:

..and Number 6, but it was this cat I spotted first on the top of the leaf - hope it isn't predatory!:

I could have gone on but ........ have I qualified yet as your able assistant Buggy???

[David M]

Lovely images of the Hairstreak cats, Pauline, though we've become accustomed to your attention to detail with these over the years. What I wasn't prepared for were those fabulous cuckoo shots, especially the last one of your first sequence where the bird has just launched itself from its perch.

Wonderful!

[Neil Freeman]

Colin the Cuckoo...I love it Great photos of him too. I heard my first of the year last week but as usual not a sign of the bird itself.

Some great images of the various larvae recently as well

All the best,

Neil.

[Padfield]

Great shots of the brown hairstreak larvae, Pauline - and I just love Colin the cuckoo!

Guy

[bugboy]

Come to Bookham Pauline, you can relocate all my Brown Hairstreak larvae!

[Pauline]

I would be very happy to give it my best shot Buggy but you would need to be there to make sure I found my way out! Honestly, at least twice I have found myself totally lost in such unfamiliar places which will come as no surprise to those who know me and my total lack of any sense of direction

Thanks Guy. I shall certainly try to keep an eye on these. Just for (my) record I was surprised at how much these larva varied in size given they have been subjected to the same conditions. I appreciate the eggs may have been laid at different times but I know for a fact that 6 eggs hatched within 24 hours of each other and these larva were mostly on those bushes. The question is - are these larva from those eggs or are the larva much more mobile in early instars than I had assumed and also witnessed when rearing. (Perhaps a greater risk from predators in the wild necessitates greater mobility?) One of the reasons I say this is that the eggs I found/saw being hatched were all on small (12-24") discrete bushes which I have checked carefully many times since without any larval sightings (bar one). I also know how well they can remain hidden hence the repeated checking, but if they are the same then that implies that they develop at different rates. Just a few rambling thoughts so hope it makes sense.

Cheers Neil. It was a great experience seeing that bird. Word has it that he (apparently it is male) has been coming for 5 years now and given their lifespan it is thought unlikely that he will return again. However, a second Cuckoo is 'learning' about the food source so you never know! Colin is identified by a white spot just above his left pupil which is just about visible in the shot below:

It's very kind of you to say so David. I am really trying to improve my bird photography but I think that shot was more luck than skill.

A few more of the immature stages taken recently:

I believe the first shot are Holly Blue eggs and the second shot is another Green Hairstreak, based mainly on the fact that I saw the appropriate butterflies egg-laying in different areas. I have yet to find both types of egg on the same plant:

If you should happen to read this Andrew, when it is freshly laid a GH egg is a blue/green colour and then fades to the colour below. I have seen them laid on the flower head and on the back of leaves:

Green Hairstreak larva:

Orange Tip larva:

I didn't bother taking any shots of the Duke eggs as none of the ones I found had hatched.

[Pauline]

It was very calm and still yesterday evening and although the heat of the day had faded it didn't feel particularly cold. A perfect night to put out my moth trap for the first time this season, or so I thought. How wrong I was . This morning I found the grand total of 3 moths!!! Hardly worth the cost of the electricity! The Flame Shoulder was in such a poor condition I didn't even bother to take a photo, the Pebble Prominent (?) I have seen before. The third was a MALE Muslin moth. Apologies Neil as I did not pick up on the fact that you stated the previous moth was FEMALE which makes me even more convinced she was egg-laying - but would they do this by day? If I was one of your pupils Wurzel by now I would be expecting you to tell me I should be paying more attention and you'd be right! An interesting find whilst I was taking the shots was this larva on the bark of an old Peach tree - any ideas please????

[trevor]

You're a very lucky Lady, to see a Cuckoo at such close quarters.
Together with some of, possibly, the finest images ever taken of this bird species.

Superb stuff,
Trevor.

[Pauline]

Trevor!!!!! Lucky!!!!!????? What about patience? What about perseverance? What about skill? What about ............ Yeah, you're right - I did just get lucky Seriously Trevor, thanks for your kind words - I feel privileged to have seen it

I made a quick dash to see my local Pearls yesterday - a brief visit at the end of the day in (still) very hot temperatures but I was only able to locate a definite 3 (sorry Neil, I'll be back again before long - this was confined to the original release area so may have been more elsewhere or more likely roosting out of sight!):

[Andrew555]

Thanks for that Pauline, good to learn. I didn't see anything like that when I checked.
Colin the Cuckoo.. what a star. And great shots of him.
Good effort with the Brimstones I'd say. My attempts at that sort of shot have been a big fail so far.
Enjoying your continued larvae exploits.

Cheers

[Goldie M]

Hi! Pauline, love the Cuckoo shots, I'm ashamed to say " I wouldn't know what it was if I saw one" So very well done Your Bird shots are fantastic , I would enter that one of the Cuckoo if I was you in a comp, lets admit it they're such an elusive bird there can't be too many good shots of them, and your's is a cracker
Hope your Aviary is finished now and Birds enjoying it. Goldie