Neil Freeman

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Ernie...I must admit I was well chuffed with the selection I ended up with

Cheers Wurzel, me neither...but I could be tempted to utter the words occasionally, just to restore a balance

Indeed David, it can be difficult to maintain a faith in the forecasts when they are so often wrong

Thanks Goldie, the Common Heath is very variable as well and I saw loads in all shades from very light ones to very dark coloured individuals

Cheers Dave, as you say, the earlier conditions made it easier to approach the usually very flighty moths . It certainly warmed up in the afternoon and most things got very active and difficult to approach.

Saturday 2nd June.

The past week has seen some dramatic weather around here with a mixture of cloud, sun and bands of thunderstorms sweeping across the country. I have seen very few butterflies this past week with just a few 'whites' passing through the garden plus a couple of now faded Speckled Wood hanging in there.

A mostly cloudy day today (Saturday) so I spent a good few hours in the garden trying to keep on top of the rapid spurt of growth that has been brought on by the warm and wet weather we have been having recently.
Later in the afternoon I reckoned I had done enough and decided to have a walk down the road to the area of rough ground by the local park that I had checked out earlier in the year. By this time the clouds had thinned out a bit and there were some sunny spells and like most days recently it was feeling warm and muggy.
I only did a quick circuit of the area and it felt very much like we are now in the June gap here between the spring species finishing and the summer ones not yet out, no nice rarities to fill the gap around here unfortunately.
Having said that I did see a few wandering 'whites'. At least one of which was a Green-veined, and a couple of Speckled Wood were flitting about along the shadier sides of the hedges. One of the Specklies was that worn it was almost transparent but the other looked to be quite fresh, quite possibly an early next brood...or a very late first brood, difficult to tell with this species being able to overwinter as either larvae or pupae with the follow on broods overlapping.

Speckled Wood - Wagon Lane 02.06.2018

I was also pleased to find singles each of Common Blue and Small Copper.

Small Copper - Wagon Lane 02.06.2018

Common blue - Wagon Lane 02.06.2018

Not great numbers I know but at least it shows that this area is worth keeping an eye on through the summer.

Recent Garden Moths.

The past week or so has seen numbers of moths coming to the garden trap on the increase, both in terms of the overall total and in the number of species. I mentioned in a previous post that many moths will happily fly in rain as long as there is not much wind and it is warm enough, and the recent wet and thundery but muggy nights have seen the best results, culminating in a count of 75 moths of 28 species on Thursday ( May 31st) night. This was eclipsed however by my son Chris who is running a trap in his garden on the outskirts of Stratford-upon-Avon and had 188 moths of 46 species on the same night.
Anyway, I was well pleased with my results this week which included new ones for my garden of Scalloped Hazel, Peppered Moth and Small Elephant Hawk Moth as well as the first examples this year of some old favourites that I have had in previous years.

Muslin Moth - Coverdale 20.05.2018

Scalloped Hazel - Coverdale 28.05.2018

Ruby Tiger Moth - Coverdale 28.05.2018

Peppered Moth - Coverdale 28.05.2018

Pale Tussock - Coverdale 31.05.2018

The Small Elephant Hawk Moth is a widespread but more local species than it's larger cousin and is one that I have been hoping for since I started running the trap in the garden in 2016.

Small Elephant Hawk Moth - Coverdale 31.05.2018

Small Elephant Hawk Moth - Coverdale 31.05.2018

I have seen increasing numbers of Silver Y Moths being reported over the past week or so and saw quite a few myself last weekend. On Thursday night I had one in the moth trap which gave me the chance to take a photo of one of these not being half hidden amongst the grass.

Silver-Y Moth - Coverdale 31.05.2018

I seem to be falling behind a bit with my diary and also keeping up with other peoples. Sorting through my moth trap when I get in from work combined with time spent taking photos to confirm the ID of many of them on the nights when I don't run the trap means that before I know it another week has flown by.
Oh well, I suppose there are worse problems to have

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Pauline]

Wow! I'm now wondering if I should put the moth trap out again tonight but I can't imagine getting that sort of quantity and diversity. Lovely images as usual Neil

[Wurzel]

"Cheers Wurzel, me neither...but I could be tempted to utter the words occasionally, just to restore a balance"...fair play
Love the purplish sheen to the Specklie and great Small Copper. Those are a great set of Moffs as well, that is the most silver looking Silver Y I've seen, isn't there a grey form 'grammaria' or some such - that could be one of those

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Andrew555]

Great stuff from Prestbury Neil. Love the Small Blues, always great to see a female Wall.
Very nice moth selection as well.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Neil, I mostly take shots of Butterflies but those Moths especially that Small Elephant Hawk Moth will take some beating for colour Goldie

[David M]

Nice butterflies, Neil, but even more impressive are those moths, especially that Small Elephant Hawk which is positively glowing!

[bugboy]

Just catching up Neil, some very nice images there. I like the mating Small Blues. Interesting how we both went to see Dukes and both found a Wood Tiger on almost the same day!

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline, I find it is certainly worth putting the trap out on wet nights as long as it is reasonably warm and there is no wind, in fact those kind of still and muggy nights like we had last week seem to produce the best results.

Cheers Wurzel, I think the silvery effect is a result of the early evening light on that one.

Thanks Andrew, I was well chuffed with that female Wall as they are a species that no longer occurs in my local area and I usually have to travel some distance to see.

I agree Goldie, in fact the Small Elephant Hawk Moth has been a special favourite of mine ever since I first saw one many years ago so I was well chuffed to get one in the garden.

Thanks David, that combination of Pink and yellow seems to work particularly well.

Sunday 3rd June.

Sunday was a warmer day than Saturday with clear skies and the sun shining from the start but with increasing amounts of cloud building up as the day progressed. The morning was taken up with the usual stuff around the house and a stint in the garden during which I spotted a couple of Green-veined Whites and a Large White passing through without stopping.
I also noticed that a better condition Speckled Wood had replaced the two well-worn examples that were squabbling over one of the corners yesterday.

Speckled Wood male - Coverdale 03.06.2018

In the afternoon I decided to drive round to my local spot at Bickenhill to see what was around. Starting down the first footpath which crosses a meadow, I couldn’t help but notice the carpet of Buttercups which were more extensive than I have seen here in previous years, probably due to the warm but wet weather we have had here recently which has led to some lush vegetation growth.

Buttercups - Bickenhill 03.06.2018

Following the path down to a stile into the next meadow I found my first Large Skipper of the year which was chasing off all intruders that dared to enter into his little domain.

Large Skipper male - Bickenhill 03.06.2018

Large Skipper male - Bickenhill 03.06.2018

Large Skipper male - Bickenhill 03.06.2018

I did a circuit of the area and found another half a dozen or so Large Skippers, all males which were very active in the warm sun and trying to see off anything that ventured anywhere near.

Large Skipper male - Bickenhill 03.06.2018

Apart from the Large Skippers, the only other butterflies I saw here were a couple of Green-veined Whites, a single very flighty male Common Blue, and a tired looking Comma still hanging in there in one corner.

Green-veined White - Bickenhill 03.06.2018

Comma - Bickenhill 03.06.2018

More numerous than the butterflies were various day flying moths, mostly Burnet Companions but with a few Mother Shiptons and a single Cinnabar Moth.

Mother Shipton - Bickenhill 03.06.2018

Cinnabar Moth - Bickenhill 03.06.2018

These also included a couple of Silver-ground Carpets and a Blood-vein, both species that are not primarily day flyers but are easily disturbed and can often be seen during the day.

Silver-ground Carpet - Bickenhill 03.06.2018

Blood-vein - Bickenhill 03.06.2018

I then decided to move on to Shadowbrook Meadows which is just a couple of minutes drive away. Things here were much the same as at the previous site with similar numbers of fresh male Large Skippers buzzing about alongside Burnet Companion and Mother Shipton Moths.

Large Skipper male - Shadowbrook Meadows 03.06.2018

There were also a few more Common Blues, again all males and looking either nice and fresh or like they only been out for a few days at the most.

Common Blue male - Shadowbrook Meadows 03.06.2018

Overall, a fairly quiet afternoon with nothing seen in great numbers, but then again that is normal for around here at this time of year and things seem to be getting approximately back on track after a late start to the season.
The appearance of Large Skippers always signifies the transition from spring into summer for me and I usually start to look for them around the end of May or first days of June, depending on how my available time falls in line with the calendar, so those seen today were pretty much on time for around here. It shouldn’t be long now before they are joined by the other summer species.

Bye for now,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Cracking Skippers and Blues and that Mother Shipton is a stand out classic - normally they're skulking around in the long grass so a clear unobstructed shot like that is cracking! Good to see the Large Skippers out and about - summer is actually here, just in time for the weather to go cool, damp and cloudy

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Yep, summer has definitely arrived with both Large Skippers and Meadow Brown's recently being added to my years tally. Where did the spring go though, things are flying by this year in every way!

[David M]

You always know summer's arrived when the fields are a sea of buttercups! Love the Mother Shipton image, Neil. In 10,000 years time, I reckon that species will be classed as a butterfly!

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Wurzel, I have been lucky this year in that I have managed to get some decent photos of day flying moths like the Burnet Companion and Mother Shipton. As you say they have a habit of landing in the depths of the grass.

Hi Bugboy, yes, things are certainly happening at a rapid rate now. We seem to have gone from late spring into an advanced early summer.
Oops!, looks like I missed your earlier comment on us seeing the Wood Tigers under similar circumstances...spooky

Thanks David, on the other hand, some of the members of the Warwickshire Moth Group insist that butterflies are just a type of day flying moth

[David M]

Thanks David, on the other hand, some of the members of the Warwickshire Moth Group insist that butterflies are just a type of day flying moth

Don't I know it! It's like the Judean People's Front scene in Monty Python! I meant to ask too, is your Comma a summer brood specimen?

[essexbuzzard]

Looks in good nick for a hibernated specimen. On the other hand, it’s early for Hutchinsoni, so good question!

[Neil Freeman]

Hi David & Mark.

The Comma was a hibernator, a bit worn and faded but not too bad considering how long he had been around. Here's another shot showing a bit of upperside.

There are still one or two hanging on around here but don't forget that my season here in my part of the midlands always runs a bit later than it does further south. In the past I have occasionally seen examples of Comma, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock still flying when the summer brood have started to appear...not often admittedly but it can happen.

Cheers,

Neil.

[essexbuzzard]

Thanks for that, Neil. I certainly haven’t seen any new adults down here yet, and I have been looking. Though it shouldn’t be long now, I normally see them from about the 20 th.

[David M]

Thanks for that, Neil. I certainly haven’t seen any new adults down here yet, and I have been looking. Though it shouldn’t be long now, I normally see them from about the 20 th.

Yes, thanks for the confirmation, Neil. I thought it was a little early but your specimen did seem in abnormally good nick for the time of year!

[Andrew555]

Very nice selection Neil. Great Skippers and Common Blue. That Blood-vein is my favourite of your moths.

Cheers

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Mark and David, the new summer ones usually start showing up around here towards the end of the month.

Thanks Andrew, I think that is the first decent photo of a Blood-vein that I have managed, one of those that usually hides down amongst the grass stems.

Just returned from a few days away, staying at a B&B not far from Hickling in Norfolk...no prizes for guessing what we went there for

As usual loads of photos to sort through and reports to follow over the next few days when I have had time to do them.

Bye for now,

Neil

[trevor]

HI Neil,
We are off up to Norfolk tomorrow, probably for the same purpose.
If we are successful I will have two new UK species ticked off this year.

Very much looking forward to your images,
Trevor.