Pauline

[Wurzel]

Lovely set of Dukes Pauline They're a little later over this way but not long to go now Really interesting to see the albino (?) Badger - I've only ever encountered one in the wild - at Martin Down - but I have plenty in my beer cupboard, it being my favourite brewery

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Cheers Wurzel - I'd like to say the ones in the cupboard are the best kind - but it's not true

Another eventful day in the garden. I now have a couple of racing pigeons sharing the aviary. They couldn't wait to get in for food and water and I couldn't leave them outside because of the cats/Sparrowhawk. One has contact details on the ring and belongs to Paul from Watford who entered it in a race over Easter. The other, presumably from the same race only carries a bird number so I shall have to trace the owner thru the Racing Pigeon Society.

Whilst dealing with these I spotted a Holly Blue in the garden - my first photos this season:

[Neil Freeman]

There wasn't that much to report from Noar Hill today between mid-day and 2.00pm-ish. The odd Holly Blue, Orange Tip and White but tbh probably more people than butterflies.

Hi Pauline. I nearly went to Noar Hill on Monday, I would have got in touch if I had. As it happened I was on the clock but managed to spend a couple of hours at Butser Hill. I went there because it was closer to our daughter's house and I could maximise the use of my time plus Mark Tutton had shown me around there on Saturday so I knew where to look.

Sorry I didn't get in touch in the end but the days flew past and before we knew it we were coming home again.

I still managed quite a few photos which I now need to go through and put a couple of reports together.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Pauline]

No worries Neil. I hope you enjoyed your stay. You were in good hands with Mark and I am sure you will have some great shots. You probably now know Butser better than I do with his expert guidance.

[Chris L]

Thank you for the badger information Pauline. I had no idea that there were these categories. I am fortunate to have badgers in my back garden too and my experience of them has concluded that their hearing is extremely good, their much written about keen sense of smell not particularly apparent and their eyesight seems to be very poor.

The albino badger photos that I looked at showed them to be extremely white. Your photo has the strawberry blonde of an Erythristic badger to my eyes but the caveat is that I have virtually no badger knowledge.

Did everyone at work know that there was a badger in the fridge or do you work alone? Not an everyday sight when collecting one's packed lunch from a communal fridge at work.

[millerd]

Some nice shots of Monday's Dukes, Pauline. I'd say that only one of those featured on my roster, so as I saw five altogether there must have been double figures - just! I found a Dingy at the last gasp as I was about to leave the site, near enough where you mentioned. It wasn't hanging around, but I did manage a couple of shots. I still find it slightly worrying that no one there had seen a Green Hairstreak.

Good to see you again (on your home turf!) and have a natter. It was quite a sociable day.

Cheers,

Dave

[Pauline]

Hi Otep

despite your comment I am sure you must have a great deal of knowledge about badgers if you have them in your garden I agree that badgers have good hearing - I had just wondered in passing if the reason the 'white' badgers seemed so approachable was because of a hearing defect that affects some other species of white animals. Further research has shown this not to be true but they definitely have a great sense of smell.

Thank you Dave. It is reassuring to know that Dukes are now in double figures and I am pleased you found that Dingy. I just love that female you found and I shall be back there looking out for her I hope Green Hairstreaks are seen there soon but it does tend to be a 'late' site for them. However, given recent activity on the site I can only keep my fingers crossed!

[Pauline]

Morning Dave - I replied to you last night and must have forgotten to send it . It is reassuring to know that the Dukes have at least reached double figures at NH. I shall certainly be keeping an eye out for that gorgeous female you found I share your concerns re GH but I guess time will tell! Very grey out this way today!

[Pauline]

Despite my best intentions to return to Noar Hill I have so far been thwarted by a poorly Amazon, vets visits and waiting for a butterfly to emerge, amongst other things. So yes, it's back to the garden again and yet another Orange Tip that was laid here as an egg. A female this time. Why do Orange Tips always emerge on days when there is a strong breeze???!!!!! And why haven't I learned yet to better judge when they are about to emerge instead of spending more hours than I care to mention waiting for the moment. When the moment arrived I was ready - she had a few attempts to break free of her pupa before succeeding. Lots of photos which I hope do justice to this amazing process:

[Goldie M]

Hi! Pauline, that's one way to make sure you get a an Orange Tip great shots of the emergence
I've yet to get a shot of one Goldie

[SarahM]

Great photos Pauline, thanks for sharing. What a privilege to be able to watch the emergence.

[Wurzel]

Brilliant sequence Pauline It must be fantastic to watch it happening in real time

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Hi Pauline, good to see that you're out of hibernation Glad you got among the dukes at Noar Hill again, we miss that place, even if it is full of people. Lovely shots of the Orange-tip emergence too

[David M]

...Lots of photos which I hope do justice to this amazing process

They certainly do, Pauline, especially that final one which shows the intricate scaling on the hindwing underside.

Epic.

[Chris L]

Great photo sequence Pauline, thank you for sharing. For my learning:

1) How long does the butterfly take to emerge?

2) Once emerged, how long does it take before a butterfly can start flying?

Apologies in advance if it varies by species, habitat, weather, month of the year and other variables that I might not have thought of.

[Pauline]

Morning Otep - thank you for your kind comment. You obviously have thought of many elements that might affect the timing of this process . I can tell you for sure that it varies with species. This Orange tip took about 20 seconds to emerge and 3-4 minutes to inflate her wings. It was getting on for about an hour before she took flight although I didn't time it as I was preparing my parrot for the vet. I have known some Hairstreaks fly in about 15 mins and can recall that the Dark Green Fritillary emerged particularly fast - I remember likening it to someone kicking down a door at the time. Some species can be much slower making photography much easier. One thing I have noticed is how much the time can vary within species between forming the pupa and emerging and I am referring to caterpillars that are kept in identical conditions. Any idea why that should be? Perhaps one larva eats more than the other and develops quicker? Difference between genders??

I'm very pleased you think so David as a strong breeze was making photography difficult. Thank you.

Hi Mike, how's Cathy? Good to hear from you. Don't get me started re NH. You might recall last year I met with the management and wrote several times. I wasn't the only one. In successive years mistakes have been made repeatedly (mostly in the timing of work carried out but also in burning BH eggs, destroying young blackthorn, scraping areas where pupa were likely to be and using herbicide sprays). As you might imagine this has decimated the Brown Hairstreak population there but with no measures in place (not even an egg count) this is hard to quantify. I usually have no difficulty locating eggs but could only find 4 yesterday, all of which had hatched:

Really Mike, there are better places to be these days than NH

Cheers Wurzel - watching it really is great. Waiting for it to happen, really isn't!

Hi Sarah - thank you for your kind comment. I think it is an even bigger privilege to have had these eggs laid in the garden to begin with. A quick look round yesterday found 5 Brimstone eggs on the Alder Buckthorn

Thanks Goldie - you'll succeed soon, I'm sure! If the weather picks up, that is!!!

Whilst in the garden recently I saw a spider that seemed mostly green. I have tried to identify this but the closest I can get is Green hunting spider. Any ideas?

[zigzag_wanderer]

Hi Pauline,

Reckon this is your spider......the eyes definitely have it !

https://www.eurospiders.com/Diaea_dorsata.htm

[bugboy]

Somewhat jealous of your OT sequences. Two of mine have emerged, have been watching them like a hawk but both emerged sometime between midnight and 6am, sneaky buggers! 2 more chances.

Edit: the last 2 emerged whilst I was at work today

[Pauline]

Thank you so much Zig Zag. I must have looked at 4-5 British spider sites for ID and couldn't find it even tho' it is quite distinctive. I now know they are common down here but I have never seen one before! Mind you, I really don't like spiders so usually do my best to avoid them.

Ah Paul! I sympathise with you and I also empathise - this has happened to me so many times before and to say it leaves you feeling deflated is a massive understatement. All that wasted effort!!! I'm not going to say there's always next year .........

With a strong breeze and mostly grey skies there was no-one at Noar Hill when I arrived this morning and I can't say I was surprised. However, in a very short space of time I got lucky

[Wurzel]

"in a very short space of time I got lucky" - I'll say

Have a goodun

Wurzel