Wurzel wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:51 pm
Thank you for sparing me the Green-veined White Neil
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
it's okay I saw my first today so now you can publish your images
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Cracking set of Moffs - I can see why the Brindled Beauty is so named - one of those juxtapositions of subtlety and stunning-ness
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Loving the Punk-dweeb feel of the Spectacle
Have a goodun and stay safe
Wurzel
Thanks for the permission to show the Green-veined White Wurzel
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
...coming up.
Stunning-ness...is that word? If not, it should be.
Goldie M wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 7:26 pm
Love that Spectacle Moth Neil, it made me laugh
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Goldie
Glad you enjoyed it Goldie
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
There are some great moth names.
David M wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 8:25 pm
Looks like Wagon Lane is producing them by the wagonload, Neil! The Midlands seems to be doing fine for spring butterflies right now!
Love the moths too, especially the Spectacle (although the Pine Beauty runs it close).
Thanks David. Yes, I am lucky with that local spot, it is only small but usually produces a good number of the commoner species.
Matsukaze wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 8:46 pm
Nice moths - I also had Brindled Beauty on about the same date, and it is also a rare visitor to our garden. I've never had Early Grey here (though it was regular in my previous garden 3 miles away) and have only ever seen one Pine Beauty. It's strange how local some moths can be.
Thanks Matsukaze. Yes, there are plenty of supposedly 'common and widespread' moths that I have never seen here. Then again, I have had a couple of rarities in previous years, that is one of the things with moth trapping, you never know what might show up.
Tuesday 14th April.
After a cold and quite blustery Bank Holiday Monday, we woke up on Tuesday morning to a frosty start under clear blue skies. The cold wind from the previous day had dropped but an underlying chilliness persisted all morning despite the constantly shining sun. It was not until early afternoon that the air temperature rose into the mid teens and it began to feel reasonably pleasant.
I had already popped out earlier in the morning for a walk to my local shop for some milk and fresh bread and so I decided to sit out in the garden in the afternoon to see what turned up.
The first butterfly I noticed was a Speckled Wood in the corner with the blown down elder tree. I took a couple of photos and compared them to those taken on Sunday which proved that this was a different individual that had moved in to this spot.
![Coverdale 14.04.2020 019 resize.JPG (535.36 KiB) Viewed 1815 times Speckled Wood - Coverdale 14.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_d944e3322cc7cfd159d5505bfd98d5ae)
- Speckled Wood - Coverdale 14.04.2020
![Coverdale 14.04.2020 020 resize.JPG (503.18 KiB) Viewed 1815 times Speckled Wood - Coverdale 14.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_c25234da903ebad7515e4dd40c283ff0)
- Speckled Wood - Coverdale 14.04.2020
Another male Specklie was flitting up and down one of the side borders and photos proved this was also a new one in the garden.
![Coverdale 14.04.2020 027 resize.JPG (558.33 KiB) Viewed 1815 times Speckled Wood - Coverdale 14.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_15bf2868d88f020311fe911aa4b7581d)
- Speckled Wood - Coverdale 14.04.2020
Both male and female Small Whites kept passing through and occasionally stopping on the dandelions that I leave growing wherever they pop up.
![Coverdale 14.04.2020 009 resize.JPG (487.12 KiB) Viewed 1815 times Small White male - Coverdale 14.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_1ca07bc86085b0ac8620d1d4933911bd)
- Small White male - Coverdale 14.04.2020
![Coverdale 14.04.2020 011 resize.JPG (470.95 KiB) Viewed 1815 times Small White female - Coverdale 14.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_68be331ccd1a344e2062e3f16c269d81)
- Small White female - Coverdale 14.04.2020
I had also been watching another white that looked a bit different in flight and was wondering if this may be a Green-veined White when it settled giving me the chance to creep up and get some photos. It was indeed a GVW, my first confirmed one this year and a nicely marked female at that.
![Coverdale 14.04.2020 045 resize.JPG (473.22 KiB) Viewed 1815 times Green-veined White female - Coverdale 14.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_64e3b45bacad4dd6eb9f4238d9acf14c)
- Green-veined White female - Coverdale 14.04.2020
But of course, what I was really hoping for was a visit from an Orange-tip or two and hoping that one would actually stop long enough for photos. Despite the cooler conditions, the first couple of times a male appeared they seemed to be nearly as active as before....nearly, but not quite, as today they did stop occasionally albeit they were still very flighty.
As the sun began to get a bit lower later in the afternoon the Orange-tips began to settle more often and would stay down a bit longer giving me a more opportunities to get some shots. By comparing photos, I identified at least two different males that kept coming around on their circuits.
![Coverdale 14.04.2020 063 resize.JPG (457.29 KiB) Viewed 1815 times Orange-tip - Coverdale 14.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_93319dab61f41f6a797d6368cfebdc97)
- Orange-tip - Coverdale 14.04.2020
![Coverdale 14.04.2020 069 resize.JPG (532.9 KiB) Viewed 1815 times Orange-tip - Coverdale 14.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_0480fa44a29b5281faab489bb96ad3cb)
- Orange-tip - Coverdale 14.04.2020
![Coverdale 14.04.2020 083 resize.JPG (413.52 KiB) Viewed 1815 times Orange-tip - Coverdale 14.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_35ca17110acb70e15b289b816ee9ecfb)
- Orange-tip - Coverdale 14.04.2020
One of them also began to stop for an occasional refuel at one of my 'Bowles Mauve' plants. I grew these from cuttings taken three years ago and they are beginning to look a bit straggly now, I must take some more cuttings this year before they peg it.
![Coverdale 14.04.2020 073 resize.JPG (480.93 KiB) Viewed 1815 times Orange-tip - Coverdale 14.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_12b4a0a0dd42f0061f1856e683c67181)
- Orange-tip - Coverdale 14.04.2020
![Coverdale 14.04.2020 084 resize.JPG (501.77 KiB) Viewed 1815 times Orange-tip - Coverdale 14.04.2020](./files/thumb_10101_5d238db460c9170539e49593e8a46773)
- Orange-tip - Coverdale 14.04.2020
A day that turned out much better than I had expected given the original forecast and one that proved the value of just sitting in the garden to see what turns up.
Bye for now and stay safe,
Neil.