Jack Harrison

[David M]

Is there a more bizarre hobby?

There are plenty, Jack.

What you're doing is laudable and educational in equal measure. I only wish more people were as interested in the natural world as you.

[Jack Harrison]

Lucky Large White

I collected five or six caterpillars late last summer on nasturtiums growing in Findhorn. The resulting butterflies have been emerging since mid-June with the last today, 4th July. This strongly suggests that Large White is single brooded in this part of the British Isles. Moreover, I’m not convinced that Large White is a true resident here. It is scarce and probably only a temporary inhabitant after immigration.

Anyway, the latest to emerge was lucky. I just happened to see him flopping around at the bottom of the box with wings only partially extended. He had for some reason missed the twigs I had placed next to the chrysalis. I coaxed him on to a twig and he then expanded his wings perfectly. It’s bitterly cold this evening and his “first solo flight” has been postponed until the morning.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

5th July. On his first solo, he flew around the garden for a bit and then landed in a convenient spot for his portrait.

Jack

[Wurzel]

"On his first solo, he flew around the garden for a bit and then landed in a convenient spot for his portrait." looks like you trained him well Jack Interesting to read about your thoughts on the number of broods - it would tie in with what other species show in that generally the further North the fewer broods

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Good work, Jack. He looks quite dusky...is this a feature of Scottish Large Whites?

[Jack Harrison]

He looks quite dusky...is this a feature of Scottish Large Whites?

Don't think so. Most likely camera setting and/or Paint Shop Pro and/orthe dull weather when photographed.

Jack

[David M]

He looks quite dusky...is this a feature of Scottish Large Whites?

Don't think so. Most likely camera setting and/or Paint Shop Pro and/or the dull weather when photographed.

Aah! Thanks for the explanation, Jack.

[Jack Harrison]

Another point to be made is that in four years living in this area I have seen just one [wild] Large White. In the previous three years living in Mull, I saw none. A professional gardener there told me in answer to my question that he had never been plagued with caterpillars. The greatest number of wild Large Whites I have seen was last year at Findhorn – caterpillars.

So I cannot say if the butterfly is more dusky here than in the south. PhotoShop in auto colour mode produced the result you have seen so I have little idea how realistic that is. I am inclined to agree that “in the flesh” it probably looked a little more yellow.

Findhorn village is right on the coast so frosts are rare and if they do occur are not normally severe. The vegetation reflects that: Fuchsias for example don’t die back in winter. Nasturtiums seem to get a much earlier start than I can manage in my garden a few miles inland. So maybe, just maybe, Large Whites are confined to a few places with micro climates. Although this is arable country with plenty of brassicas grown, I presume they are heavily sprayed. Large Whites here are possibly totally dependent on Nasturtiums.

Jack

[MikeOxon]

He looks quite dusky...is this a feature of Scottish Large Whites?

Don't think so. Most likely camera setting and/or Paint Shop Pro and/orthe dull weather when photographed.

I think 'auto white balance' has made a mess of things here, having been confused by all that green foliage. The result is that the image has a strong magenta cast - look at the leading edge of the forewing for example. I tried correcting the colour balance in Photoshop (a subjective process, I admit) to produce the following result:

colour re-balanced

JackHarrisonWhite2.jpg (57.13 KiB) Viewed 4238 times

I suspect that this may be a little nearer the original but only Jack will know! The moral is always to be wary regarding any 'auto' settings - they can easily be fooled.

Mike

[Jack Harrison]

Thanks Mike, much more realistic.

Six species today beside the River Findhorn:

Painted Lady, Dark Green Fritillary, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, GV White, Common Blue. Only Ringlet in double figures. Scotch Argus here around the end of the month.
Jack

[Jack Harrison]

Was it stealing?

I “liberated” five Large White caterpillars from Nasturtiums overhanging a garden wall in Findhorn on the Moray Coast. Large Whites are certainly not common in these parts.

Findhorn is almost frost free so maybe Nasturtiums can survive winters (as they do in a few places in the Channel Islands and in Malta) – I need to check next winter. As a parallel Fuscia bushes are evergreen in Findhorn but where I live a few miles inland, new growth doesn’t start until mid to late May.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

I have now met the “owner” of the Findhorn Large Whites, Steve. He works in the adjacent Kimberley Inn and looks after the garden of a holiday let where the Nasturtiums self-seed each year. So they aren’t evergreen perennials (as Nasturtiums are in some truly frost-free climates) but Steve tells me that the location is an almost frost free and some other extremely tender plants do survive the winters.

I have looked at other patches of Nasturtium in Findhorn but not yet found and Large White caterpillars.
Here is the hot spot.

Steve says I can take as many caterpillars as I like. They are mostly nearly fully grown at the molment although there are a few much younger ones. I can’t handle more than about two dozen in total and will probably collect the final eight or nine tomorrow.

My expectation is that they will be parasite-free (they were last year) as I would think that the caterpillar population is too small to support the parasitic ichneumon wasps. We’ll see. Watch this space.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

I recall a chap who used the same pub when I lived in Sussex in the 1970s (Kevim was a lorry tyre changer/repairer by profession).

The Fountain at Ashurst was a superb meeting place in those days. I could cycle there from my bungalow in Partridge Green so wasn’t worried about breathalyzers! People from all walks of life socialized: me (airline pilot), lawyers, delivery drivers, carpenters, bankers, refuse collectors, farm workers (I had a bit of a soft spot for a milkmaid!) It was a truly classless mix.

Anyway, Kevin - he who attended road side tyre failures - lived with his mother. He would always joke about her dreadful cooking. One day he apparently complained about a black caterpillar in his cabbage. Mum said: “Well it was green when I put it in the pot”.

But we weren’t all equal. I was the undoubted “liar dice” champion. Good old days.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

Large Whites.

I’ve had further thoughts. Although there were still plenty of caterpillars at the Findhorn site when I last checked, I won’t be taking any more as that might be irresponsible. The adults. when they emerge, will be released back in Findhorn.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

Returned to Findhorn today. Still several Large White caterpillars but only on that patch. All other Nasturtiums drew a blank.

Weather was overcast and drizzly (after it had rained buckets overnight).
In that most unlikely of places, far from any woodland, a single Speckled Wood.

Jack

[Wurzel]

Just back from Portugal, Porto airport via Easyjet last night and wondered if your son was working on the (delayed) 19:35 to Gatwick?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

...Large Whites are certainly not common in these parts....

They've been uncommon practically everywhere this year, Jack. I've hardly seen any in the UK, and even during my regular foreign jaunts they've been few in number (or even absent).

What has happened to them this year?

[Jack Harrison]

Wurzel: Just back from Portugal, Porto airport via Easyjet last night and wondered if your son was working

Miles certainly does that route but was on a day off on Thursday.
Miles (as passenger) and his sister Felicity are actually flying up to Inverness on Friday. Miles returns south later, Felicity stays with me for a week.

Meanwhile, my younger daughter, 26 year-old Polly, has just started her pilot training but won't be earning her keep for another 18 months or so.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

My Large Whites now beginning to pupate. Two so far.

Jack

[David M]

My Large Whites now beginning to pupate. Two so far.

I shall look forward to their emergence, Jack. It's the one supposedly common species I've seen very few of this year, both at home and on my travels.