Trevor

[trevor]

My early morning visit to Abbots Wood eventually produced a minimum
of five White Admirals although none were camera friendly.
The bramble thickets were very deep and the best blossom always seemed
to be out of reach for me without a great deal of disturbance.
The morning also produced two fast flying Silver Washed Fritillaries, a fresh
Red Admiral, fresh Comma and many Meadow Browns. No Ringlets though.

Trevor.

[Wurzel]

You did well with those WA;s Trevor despite their annoying tendency to always perch and start feeding as far form your lens as possible You've managed to capture the subtle markings on the hind wings really well

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Trevor, I'll swop you a Ringlet shot for one of your White Admiral shots I may miss them this year Goldie

[trevor]

Thanks Wurzel & Goldie. Those WA shots were hard won .

An early morning visit to Chiddingfold Forest yesterday was really a bit of a disaster.
I had to wait for three hours for the blanket of grey gloom to lift, this and the soaking
wet foliage ensured that nothing at all was seen in that time.
I was relieved when Phillip Underwood turned up for a chat, it was as we were talking
that a hole appeared in the gloom, and it was blue!. Soon shafts of sunshine started
to wake things up and WA's and SWF's started to fly, along with Ringlets.
My only images were of a male SWF, before I had to leave to continue my journey
to Wiltshire.

Yesterday evening I paid a visit to Tilshead for roosting Marbled Whites, which have
only just started there as all were fresh, and not in huge numbers.
So the day ended on a high, but not the high I was hoping for!.

Trevor.

[Neil Freeman]

...I had to wait for three hours for the blanket of grey gloom to lift...

Three hours!...I had to wait for five days here

Nice SWFs and White Admirals though, not had chance to go looking for these yet, maybe next week.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Katrina]

I was wandering around there as well. 2 and a half hours to find a meadow brown then sun.WAs, SWFs , skippers and a wood white seen but not his majesty . I left around 1pm.

[trevor]

Thanks Neil & Katrina.

Three hours can seem like five days, Neil, with just a flask of coffee to pass the time.

I did wonder if it was you Katrina, a man with a dog I spoke to earlier, said he saw a
a lone Woman at the triangle, when he returned. I spent the morning at the Botany Bay end.

Stay safe and well,
Trevor.

[bugboy]

I had a similar gloomy morning at Bookham. A nice Purple Hairstreak made a decent compensation for an Emperor no show, although apparently there was a sighting, probably by the people who spend the entire afternoon craning their necks up at the master tree!

[trevor]

Cheers Paul, A Purple Hairstreak would have done for me too. It's got to be next week?.

Tilshead in the sunshine this morning was a treat for the eyes.
The whole massive area was full of wild flowers, all at their peak, including
thousands of Orchids. It would have been a botanists dream today.

On the butterfly front the Marbled White and Small Skipper dominated,
with a sprinkling of Ringlets, and a single female Speckled Wood.

Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cracking images from Tilshead Trevor - we're about a week and half/two weeks behind over this way You can tell its Emperor season...by the appalling weather we're getting!

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[trevor]

Cheers Wurzel. Don't talk to me about the ******* weather, they are even talking
about gales in the south this week. At least a few PE's have now been seen.

Tilshead is looking magnificent at the moment.
Time for a Larkhill stop off ?.

Stay well,
Trevor.

[Benjamin]

It’s never wasted time Trevor - you’re just allowing the eventual reward to swell. Any time this week at Chiddingfold could produce, but the 2nd half and into the weekend looks nailed on. Good luck!

[trevor]

Cheers Ben, I will take your words of encouragement with me this morning.
At 5.30 it's soaking wet in Hailsham, but there's blue sky in the west, so here goes !.

The best of luck to you too !.
Trevor.

[trevor]

Needless to say HE did not appear today at Chiddingfold. With several pairs
of experienced eyes searching, in reasonable weather, the conclusion was
that the PE has yet to emerge at this location.
Other species were found in good numbers, WA and SWF in particular, in addition
some fresh Red Admirals were seen during the day, including one ab bialbata
with only one antenae. Surprise of the day for me was a very fresh, female,
Large White, hardly a species one would expect to find deep in a forest.

Finally it was good to meet Dave ( millerd ) today and have a catch up.

Stay well all,
Trevor

[millerd]

Good to have a catch-up with you too, Trevor! It'll be a while before my photos see the light of day, but I encountered the same Large White on my way back to the car as well. Let's hope things kick off here later this week, after the nasty bit of weather due tomorrow.

Cheers,

Dave

[trevor]

Cheers Dave. That ' nasty weather ' has arrived, the sort that brings down fences.
Perhaps it's a good thing that the Chiddingfold Emperors have yet to appear!.

Doubtless see you later this week!.
Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Hopefully the Emperors will be able to sit out the next few days of rubbish weather safe in their chrysalises That is a beautifully marked Large White Found out the wedding is at Petersfield so a bit of a way to Chiddingfold - keep me posted though

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[trevor]

Needless to say H.I.M. was not granting an audience today, Wurzel.
Despite a gift of the finest cuisine, hours of waiting, and finally a thorough drenching.

But on the bright side we were entertained by some very friendly and docile
male Silver Washed Fritillaries, and a fresh female White Admiral, unusually nectaring on Hogweed.
Another unusual source of nectar for an SWF was Ragwort, never seen that before.

It was good to have the company of Dave, bugboy, Nigel, and John Williams.

Another time !.
Trevor.

[trevor]

The Purple Emperor is still not out at Chiddingfold Forest, as of July 9th.
Yesterday the weather was perfect, in fact the best ' Emporiing ' weather so far this year.
All other species normally found there ( except Wood Whites ) were present, and in good numbers.
If any PE's were around yesterday they would surely have been spotted, with the number of
hopefuls that turned up throughout the day.

Trevor.

[Wurzel]

What's going on Trevor - is it just the weather holding them back - they've been out at Fermyn for some time now I just wish the summer would actually arrive Thanks for the tips on getting to Chiddingfold - unfortunately my plans didn't work out as the hotel made us check out at 9am before breakfast and then Rosie wanted to get home...still the weather was shocking anyway

Have a goodun and saty safe

Wurzel