Pauline

[Maximus]

Lovely shots of the stunning Black Hairstreaks, Pauline Wish we were there to pay a visit or to bump into you at one of the Hampshire sites

[Pauline]

Thank you Mike. I do miss the laughs the 3 of us used to have whilst 'putting the world to rights!' I see you still have a great sense of humour in wishing you were here whilst having Swallowtails, Maps and all the rest in your garden!:o Another Black Hairstreak I should have included as it gives a glimpse of the upper wing:

[David M]

Thank you Mike....I see you still have a great sense of humour in wishing you were here whilst having Swallowtails, Maps and all the rest in your garden!

Yes, I'd happily forego a Black Hairstreak or two for garden visitors such as those.

That said, you've done superbly with pruni lately, Pauline. It's not an easy butterfly to get close to.

Nice too that you've picked up an Essex Skipper. I guess it'll be a week or so before they arrive round my way.

[Pauline]

I reckon the first Essex Skipper was out on 16th David. On my local WLH site that indicates WLH will soon be seen. With that in mind I set off this morning to look for WLH having been informed they are out on another nearby site. On the way I decided to call in briefly at (another) local common but that 'short' visit lasted 2 hours+ given that I was distracted with at least 5 DGF (that is a lot for me btw!). They should have been easy to photograph given the sun was interspersed with cloud, but for such a large powerful flier and brightly coloured butterfly they disappear easily turning sideways to negotiate long grass. The breeze didn't help photography either. I managed a few shots of them - all male I believe - but I shall be back:

There were a lot of firsts going on for me at this site. I saw a female Hummingbird-hawk moth which appeared to be egg-laying. In fact I spooked her from a resting position - you know how it is; you see it a split second too late. I also saw a female Small Heath egg-laying. I have never seen this before and didn't get an 'action' shot but this is the egg:

I saw my first male Marbled White of the season:

All in all I saw 13 species including a couple of Grizzled Skippers (sorry M.)

Brimstone, Small Blue, Brown Argus and also Small Tortoiseshell. I haven't seen many of these this season (I think Ben has them all ) so I just had to include it:

Haven't found my little colony of pink grasshoppers yet but I did see a couple of lizards:

A fair few day flying moths were noted including this one - I have no idea what it is but I am sure someone will know:

[Katrina]

I like your close up shot beautiful colours.

[essexbuzzard]

You did well with the DGF pictures, Pauline. Not an easy species to get photos of.

[Pauline]

Thank you Katrina - it's really kind of you to say so but it doesn't match the lovely creative and artistic shots you have been sharing.

Cheers Mark - how are you doing? Good to hear from you. The DGF has long been my nemesis as many already know so I had fully intended going back there today to try to do better. However, an email I received early morning changed those plans and I ended up at another new site (for me) taking shots of WLH. It is not often that I say this but I was pleased with a few of these shots especially the first one. Hope you like them:

Thanks to the fellow enthusiast who pointed out this WLH pupa:

I also stumbled across a couple of mating pairs of Meadow Brown. Definitely not a first for me but included for completeness:

[Katrina]

Lovely that they just fit nicely on the flower. I don’t think I’ve seen better WLH shots before

[essexbuzzard]

I’m with Katrina. You don’t often see them on daisies like that. Definitely worth going with that tip-off.

[Pauline]

Thank you Katrina - it's not very often that I am satisfied with any shot I take but I am very pleased with the first one. I still have some problems with the resizing software which I am working on so the original looks better than the version you are seeing. Sadly, that was also the case with the DGF shots.

Thank you too Mark - it was just sitting on that lovely fresh daisy when I arrived and remained there for several minutes.

This morning I am once again 'grounded' as I am having a drains survey carried out with a view to re-lining the pipes. In preparation for that I had to move stuff that had accumulated on top of manhole covers and found these which I believe are Buff Ermine moths, the male being the darker of the two:

A quick look round the garden showed the Brimstone larva are quite big now:

and my Brown Hairstreaks are looking ready to pupate (probably too early tho' they've been outside the whole time!)

The 6 large Orange Tip larva have disappeared (must have a good look for them) to be replaced by 4 tiny larva. I'm not sure they will survive but we'll see.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Pauline, those Moths are the first I've seen mating , that's a first for me and many others I think Hope your drains are sorted out soon but with shots like that your okay in your garden Goldie

[Pauline]

Cheers Goldie - they were on the back of a cage I use for butterflies which was against an ivy covered wall in the shade. Tempting to keep the female for eggs to rear but I've just got too much on at the moment (as you know). This morning they were both gone. The moth I posted earlier is a Common Wainscot I believe.

I'm getting a bit behind now. Would you believe the drain engineer arrived at 7.15 am and was gone before 8.00am!!!! That freed up some time this afternoon to visit Alice Holt (the Straits). So much clearance work done I hardly recognised the place. On entering I watched a tatty old female Red Admiral doing her duty for the species:

This was one of her (many) eggs:

The next thing I noticed was a huge patch of flattened grass in exactly the same place as those 'Black' Admirals emerged last year. I wonder if it has happened again? I certainly didn't see any Admirals and only a fleeting glimpse of a SWF in the distance. For the most part it was just Large Skippers and Meadow Browns. I saw my first female Large Skipper of the season and she was such an obliging little insect that I took several shots of her:

A male Large Skipper by way of comparison:

A Speckled Wood was very active and posed nicely a couple of times but not a sign of any Ringlets - won't be long surely:

A Meadow Brown caught my eye as she had a crumpled wing but in the time it took to take this shot I had 2 ticks on me and about 200 ants!!!

Ladybirds and larva were very much in evidence and in the absence of anything else I just had to take a shot:

[Pauline]

Usually when I return from a butterfly outing I feel uplifted, relaxed, happy - all good feelings even when there have been some frustrating moments. Today I feel irritated, disappointed, saddened. I decided to risk the ticks at Oxenbourne (only picked up 13 and they were on my jeans) to go and look at the many DGF that have been reported from there. I was hopeful and excited that with so many butterflies I might even manage a shot of a female that I have wanted to take for a long time. For locals who know the site you can imagine how I felt when right down by the gate I saw a female fluttering round, clearly in egg-laying mode. She landed on a leaf close to the ground and was initially a bit twitchy but just as she was settling and I was moving in for a well-posed closed-wing shot some guy came striding down the bank. I imagined he would hesitate, even pause when he saw me with the camera. He was clearly a butterfly person himself with all the gear (and vaguely recognisable). He just kept coming and didn't even try to skirt around the narrow path so before I could press the shutter the butterfly took off up and over the hedge. I have come to expect this sort of behaviour from some dog walkers who do not really understand that you might have waited weeks or years for that shot - but another butterfly person!!!!???? I looked at him in amazement and he just casually remarked 'ah, there are hundreds up there', nodding towards the down. I asked 'but are they all nicely settled?' He curtly replied 'no' as he walked away and to his back I said 'well this one was'. I do not know what makes a person so selfish and inconsiderate. Had I unintentionally spooked a butterfly (and Tutts will vouch for this!) I would be mortified for years but I didn't even get so much as an apology. I got a couple of shots of the males but not the female I so wanted:

Rant over and moving swiftly on I popped over to the local common the other night to check on the immature stages. It is a little worrying that many of the Painted Lady larva seem to have disappeared but here are a couple that remain:

I could just about see a couple of the Dingies in their little tent but when, or if, they will ever come out (and whether I shall recognise them if they do!) remains to be seen.

[Wurzel]

Some absolutely cracking posts/shots recently Pauline - brilliant Haristreaks (Black and Whitters) And some beautiful DGF work . Sorry to hear about the inconsiderate butterflier - I've not experienced that before and it sounds like unfathomable behaviour to me - I've had hoggers, queue jumpers and over eager spookers before but never a totally inconsiderate/ignorant git Hopefully karma will dish you out some good stuff next time your out

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Cheers Wurzel - that just about sums him up and I've never met one before either! Another first As you can tell I've cheered up considerably having just got back from watching a Barn Owl feed its chicks in a nearby wood (another first). Not sure the pics are up to much tho' and it started raining so I called it a night.

I did have to have a another short walk earlier this evening and I was also pleased to see 3 lovely fresh SWF, my first Ringlet of the season and a Silver-y moth zooming around taking nectar:

[Pauline]

A bit bored today, just looking through the website. Seeing the reports of QoS in Kent brought back pleasant memories of when a pair turned up near Chichester in about 2009. I think Neil might have camped out on site that night and there was a lot of camaraderie in the group with Patrick Barker being present. Thank goodness my photography has improved somewhat since that time but if it hadn't been for a member of the Sussex group I wouldn't have got any shots at all. The battery in my camera packed up and no spare. This individual who didn't know me from Adam gave me his spare and trusted me to return it. A couple of shots from those happy days:

[Neil Freeman]

Some more lovely photos lately Pauline of some great subjects. I am jealous of your hairstreak shots but my favourites are the ones of that female Large Skipper, a lovely combination of complimentary colours.

Sorry to hear about your encounter with the arrogant g*t at Oxenbourne.
Unfortunately there seems to be increasing numbers around over the past couple of years that don't have a clue how to move around butterflies. I have to say that the ones I have encountered have all turned out to be 'birders' that have recently taken to chasing butterflies in the summer. There seems to be a few groups of them on social media that all follow each other from site to site and only seem interested in getting the latest 'ticks' for their lists and seem to know very little about the butterflies themselves.
I'd better stop there as I feel a rant coming on.

Cheers,

Neil.

[millerd]

Just catching up, Pauline. I am still envious of your Black Hairstreaks - they just wouldn't play ball for me at all. Some great DGF shots too, and a very nice SWF too.

Cheers,

Dave

[Pauline]

I rely on you Buggy as my quality control person but you appear to have let me down! . It would seem that I have posted the wrong shot and the 'Ringlet' is actually a Meadow Brown I DID see 2 Ringlets that evening - just got to find the right images! I'd like to be able to say I must have had too much sun but ............

Dodging the thundery showers today I made another trip today to see the WLH pupa. It has darkened considerably since my visit 4 days ago. I am told it was discovered on 12 June, already pupated, so I can't imagine having to wait too long before the butterfly emerges - tho' I doubt whether I shall see that.

Speaking of pupa, as suspected my Brown Hairstreak has now pupated:

Given that many species are late this year, I am concerned that this is too early (I have history as many will recall!). However, these BH eggs which were rescued from the bonfires on Noar Hill were tied to Blackthorn in my garden. As the larva disappeared, one by one, presumably being predated, I took a few and put them into a butterfly cage in a sheltered but shady position outside (near the blackthorn). At no time have they been indoors - So my question to the team and any other experts reading this, to avoid repeated mistakes (for myself and others) is, what can I do in the future to ensure timings are in line with wild species? I would be grateful for any helpful suggestions. If a larva pupates early, would storing it in a fridge until its wild counterparts are emerging recify things?

My Brimstone larva are also looking to pupate. 2 have already left and the next 2 look like they are on their way. I have been following one of them for 3 days now which is how long it has been since he left the Alder Buckthorn. He seems intent on staying down amongst the clover. This is him earlier:

I include a shot of the Alder Buckthorn which is in a pot in a part of the garden I allow to go wild:

and another having weathered last nights monsoon:

Thank you Neil - I had never thought about birders. I'm pleased you like that female Skipper - she was very obliging.

I don't think you need to be envious Dave - I know you have some great shots waiting to be posted in your diary .I'm glad you like the DGF (I WILL get a good shot of a female some day) but my favourite shot of the year so far has to be that first Brown Hairstreak

[Pauline]

Definitely a Ringlet this time!

Not much about today although I did see my first WA of the season - 2 actually! A few lively SWF but my attention was caught by several Beautiful Demoiselles which, to my mind, are as graceful as any butterfly:

Pity there wasn't more sun to show them off to better advantage!