Padfield

[Padfield]

I've a feeling your next 'lep' post will be of adult butterflies.

Just for you, David:


(today, 20th Feb)

He didn't settle - as they so often don't at this time of year - but brightened up the garden and the day no end!

Guy

[selbypaul]

Fantastic! A proper herald of spring!

[trevor]

[Padfield]

Thanks Paul and Trev. It seems quite a few brimstones were seen around the country today!

I did visit a good spot for early small tortoiseshells and peacocks in the afternoon, but nothing flew despite quite warm sun. There was a bit of a wind.





Guy

[David M]

Just for you, David

Thank you for lifting my spirits, Guy. First Brimstone is always an iconic moment of any year.

I've a feeling the next week or so will see plenty more!

[Padfield]

I think you've seen plenty to lift your spirits by now, David!

Last night I thought a second white-letter hairstreak had hatched, though the hole looked a little too small and the shell too opaque, and I did wonder whether the caterpillar was still inside:



From this angle I almost imagined I could see the head:



But it's difficult at night and I concluded I couldn't tell.

Today I photographed the same egg and to my shame completely failed to notice the freshly emerged caterpillar nearby! With the naked eye, and even on the LCD of the camera, I took it to be just roughness on the twig. It's obvious here, in processed pictures, and I just wish I had seen it before, so I could have spent more time getting good shots:





A third egg was clearly unhatched today:



Now I know hatching may last from 21h30 until into the afternoon the next day, I hope to get better shots of the next caterpillar!

On another elm, while I was looking for more eggs, I spotted a moth egg - of what species I don't know. Again, it wasn't until I processed the pictures that I noticed another caterpillar nearby:



Guy

[Max Anderson]

Fantastic shot of the WLH cat - A nice surprise for you when you checked your images, I'm sure!

I've come across a number of other eggs on elm trees before including something very similar to what you have posted here. The image below was from December 2020, and I believe it's an egg from a moth in the Noctuidae, though I haven't made any significant effort to ID to species yet.

[Padfield]

Thanks Max. I saw your recent shots of hatched white-letter hairstreak eggs on your own thread - we seem to be in synchrony. It's galling, though, that the very thing I was hoping to see and photograph was on the twig in front of me and I missed it!

I've seen similar eggs to these moth ones on blackthorn too. It makes sense if they're noctuids. I'll see if it's possible to follow this one, though probably not. I've no idea if the caterpillar in the same shot is the same species.

Guy

[Wurzel]

Good to see you get of the mark Guy, I often think the season hasn't really started properly until I've got a blur of yellow on the memory card Hope things are going well over your way

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Benjamin]

Really enjoying these emerging hairstreaks!

Great photo of the freshly emerged caterpillar Guy. You can be forgiven for missing something so tiny although I’m sure he does look somewhat crestfallen in that 2nd pic, as if perhaps he’d been hanging around waiting to see the proud look on your face when you returned.

I think it’s likely I’m spending too much time with caterpillars

[Padfield]

Thanks Wurzel. Whirr of yellow duly recorded, but the cold has returned here and I've seen just one comma since then!

You can't spend too much time with caterpillars, Benjamin. It was a shame about missing that one. I had examined very, very closely where I held the twig, so as not to crush one of these tiny creatures unintentionally, but believed at the time the caterpillar had hatched the night before and was probably in a flower.

My third hibernating cat began nibbling at his egg-case on 3rd March. I didn't get any decent pictures, but these show the idea:





On 4th March he was still merely sampling the air:



None of the elm flowers on his twig have opened. Does he know this? Is the preparatory opening a way of sniffing the state of his immediate environment?

Today he was still inside but the hole was bigger:



This particular egg is not easily accessible without the risk of breaking twigs, so I can't get good pictures. But I blew up that last shot to show what I think is the caterpillar in the opening:



On the river, the solitary ruff that has spent the last three winters here was feeding avidly, building up strength for his forthcoming nuptials:



The snows brought in plenty of redwing but I was too busy skiing to photograph them. Here's one in the water meadows along the Deben:



Guy

[Padfield]

And still today he's being coy ...



Guy

[David M]

None of the elm flowers on his twig have opened. Does he know this? Is the preparatory opening a way of sniffing the state of his immediate environment?

Fascinating, Guy, and you may have something there. How long can they remain inside the egg case though once they have broken the case?

[Padfield]

I don't know, David - but that egg did eventually hatch.

It's been a long time and I won't try and play catch-up. My recent sightings are all on my web page, here: https://www.guypadfield.com/butterflyyear.html.

This seems as good a place as any, though, to post this lovely nightingale who sang at length for me today from a perch right out in the open:



I have posted a video of him singing here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCrbhe2 ... uyPadfield[/video]

Guy

[Padfield]

Some white-letter hairstreak cats from the last few nights:


(11th May - 3rd instar with fading pink)


(11th May - green 3rd instar)


(11th May - 3rd instar, I think, quite high up the tree)


(last night - 4th instar)


(last night - I think 3rd instar)


(last night - 3rd instar - probably the same cat as the first above)

And finally, one from today (actually during the daytime) - I think 4th instar, and freshly moulted:



4th instar cats have quite a sizeable helicopter landing area at the tail end.

I've been finding 10+ a night in a ten-minute search, so although they're late this year the numbers seem good. There must be hundreds high up in the trees beyond my UV range.

Guy

[David M]

Love the WLH larval images, Guy, but even better is your Nightingale video. These birds are beautiful to listen to, and whenever I hear their song I'm always transported to the French Pyrenees in late spring where we are always met, at around 10 o'clock in the morning, by this welcoming call as we embark on a (usually fruitless) search for Spanish Fritillary.

[Padfield]

Suffolk is blessed with lots of nightingales, David. One even sang in my garden when I was a boy. That hasn't happened for a while, but I hear them every day in good numbers on my walks. One of my early butterfly sites had at least 5 singing males a couple of weeks back. But it is very rare for them to sing from open perches like the one I filmed - I've waited a long time for that shot!

Rain and cloud today. I found fewer white-letter hairstreak cats on our evening walk, I hope because they are growing up and spreading throughout the higher branches. Here are a couple low enough to get photos. The first is a fully grown 4th instar - soon to go wandering himself ...



The next is still 3rd instar:



Guy

[millerd]

Terrific selection of WLH larvae shots, Guy. They are so fantastically camouflaged, especially when the leaves are just unfurling. You must have amazing patience, an astonishing eye, and considering where these cats are, an uncrickable neck!

Cheers,

Dave

[Padfield]

Thanks Dave. I'm sad to say I have none of those superpowers! Persistence I'll admit to, coupled with luck.

I admit too that I'm pleased with some of the shots. It's easier as they get bigger and give the autofocus more to get a grip on. With tiny cats it often focuses on the leaf and I consciously pull the camera very slightly away to take the picture.

I recorded this turtle dove purring a couple of days ago:

https://www.guypadfield.com/recordings/ ... y2021a.m4a

In my childhood, that was a familiar sound. Now it is tragically rare.

Guy

[Benjamin]

The shots are brilliant Guy - I know how hard it is! Your tips for aging them are interesting - I’ve accidentally adopted a few recently when cutting low hanging elm to feed other species. I’ll have to squeeze a non iris post into my PD and perhaps you can tell me which instar they are. Really enjoying the birdsong too - I’m embarrassingly blind, and deaf, when it comes to birds - something I must work on!