Thanks
Wurzel and no that's not my bath
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
, I placed him on a decorative piece of wood in the front room for his photoshoot
I've always found Cow Parsley THE plant of choice for roosting Orange-tips
David. I strongly believe it is this plant their camouflage has evolved to mimic!
Thanks
Pauline to be honest I'm only presuming they're non biting midges since I've never had a problem with them here (just the occasional mozzie that sneaks into my flat for a midnight feast!) The males are 100% non biting though, guaranteed!
April 2020
Monday 20th. I hoped my morning walk would be in time to find the Orange-tips just waking up. That hope was dashed when upon arriving at the entrance as male fluttered past, the last thing on his mind was stopping for a quick photoshoot. This was going to be the theme for the walk and by the end of it I’d had a fair few flybys but not one single Orange-tip settled, as one would expect for a clear blue sky and temperatures nudging high teens. A few Green-veined Whites stopped, one of them making friends with a Hoverfly
It's been a fair while since seeing a Brimstone so I was pleased to come across a male, even more pleased when he settled!
Talking of Brimstones I had a look at the Alder Buckthorn, finding a single egg and a single first instar caterpillar.
Speckled Woods were in all the usual spots, one in particular was fast running out of eye spots to keep him safe!
I also managed another single Small Tortoiseshell
As with the Orange-tips, other Whites were very much on patrol duties but I managed a few shots of the less active females who take much better care of themselves than the males do. One Small White had a broken spot much like Goldies the other day but I only got a shoddy record shot before the wind took her to the other side of the field. Another Small White was laying eggs on Hoary Cress like it was going out of fashion!
With my days off at the moment I’m tending to go out in the morning when there’s less joggers and other people out for their daily exorcise. The downside of this is I’m not coming across many Nymphalids until I’m close to leaving the site, at this time of year they’re very much butterflies of the afternoon, the exception being the Small Tortoiseshell who seem to be active earlier than Peacocks and Commas. Anyway as I was about to leave today a Peacock briefly settled for a side on portrait.
The final shots of the day belonged to this Great Black-backed Gull, a true beast of a Gull
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
!