Pauline

[Goldie M]

Hi! Pauline, love your shots of the Adonis , I must go back to Temple Ewell and see if there flying yet, also thanks for the post about the Black Veined White, lets hope they come back, it looks like Churchill had the right Idea, may be the butterflies would still be around if he'd filled is estate with them Goldie

[Allan.W.]

Hello Pauline ,
RE; Dewicks plusia , yes i reckon that they do breed here,whether thats occasionally or regularly i,m not too sure ,but what i do know is that we had a larvae that either came in with cut flowers or wandered in from outside ,and pupated on the underside of a microwave stand in the kitchen ,and as i,ve said ,i kept it to see what emerged .............very pleased i did !
Allan.W.

[Katrina]

Great Adonis shots - you have really captured the shine!

[David M]

Love that poplar hawk moth, Pauline, and great you've had Painted Ladies visiting your garden. Been several round my way lately so perhaps we are in for a good season for them this year.

I see your bowles mauve is doing the trick!

[Pauline]

Thank you M. I was lucky to get any shots worthy of putting on this site as the strong breeze played havoc with potentially good images.

That's really interesting to know Allan. I'm kicking myself that I only took the one snatched shot as I probably won't see another one!

Thank you Katrina - I don't think many photos actually do that species justice.

Thank you David. I believe Painted Lady will egg lay on wild mallow so I am wondering if I should check that monster mallow that has sprung up through the paving stones.

I didn't have enough time on the day to look around the whole of OWH so I returned to look at the other side. I was initially greeted by a very tatty Painted Lady which was enjoying the early morning sun and a more pristine looking one which was already clearly warmed up and which I could not get close to. A worn Green Hairstreak was egg-laying on Birds foot Trefoil but with limited time I did not stop to search for eggs:

There were even more Adonis flying there but the males were steadfastedly ignoring the females present. At one point I thought I might have found a potential mating pair as 2 males seemed to be in competition for another butterfly low down in the grass but it turned out to be another newly emerged male with meconium dripping from him. I have seen this behaviour before and presumably it is some sort of pheremone that gets the males excited. Sadly no more rare moths!!

(note meconium at bottom right)

Anyone hazard a guess at what is on the flower - I didn't even notice it when I took the shot?

On my way back I took my first shot at a Small Copper this season:

[Neil Freeman]

Blimey Pauline, your Duck Shed is getting better moths than my garden trap

Good to see the Adonis look to be doing well at OWH, they bring back memories of seeing them there last September

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Love the colour on that fresh Adonis Pauline - they're stunning when they're in that good a nick

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

I'm not really sure that is true Neil but even if it were, you take the best shots of them!

Cheers Wurzel - I was in your neck of the woods this morning. Have been a bit tied up with domestic issues here and knowing it was unlikely I'd get out tomorrow (which is forecast to be the better day) I decided to take a chance on Bentley Wood. Loads of moths and half a dozen worn PBF but couldn't find a single Small Pearl. As I was leaving I met another enthusiast arriving intent on the same target. I hope he had better luck than me.

A few Mother Shipton moths and Silver-y (pretty sure they were ) but didn't see any Argent and Sable.

[Pauline]

I should have added that I believe the larva are Yellow-tail moth.

Today I thought I would pop over to my local Common to see if the SSB were out - and so they were :

[Goldie M]

Lovely shots Pauline as usual, I think I saw an Adonis today but it looked like I felt a few weeks ago Goldie

[Wurzel]

Brilliant Silver-studs Pauline Looks like I'll be taking a trip to Slop Bog soon now then Bit depressing to hear about the lack of Small Pearls - I'll be having a look on Sunday but just in case I've looked into a couple of other sites, nowhere near as close to home though

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Thank you M. It is great to have the SSB so close

Cheers Wurzel - don't give up on the Small Pearls at Bentley. The weather was rubbish when I visited so who knows .......?

[Pauline]

Whilst watching the SSB today I saw a Small White but the colour didn't look quite right. It was moving quite fast and touching down regularly for about 3 seconds which gave me a chance to catch up with it before it flew off again. As I sprinted through shoulder high bracken I was wondering how many ticks I would be collecting By this time I could see it was a Clouded Yellow but I could only get very distant shots:

[Allan.W.]

Nice One Pauline ....................is the Cloudy your first of the season ? ...........if it is ........not a bad first a "Helice " nice find !
Allan.W. PS; excellent Silver Stud shots as well !

[Pauline]

Cheers Allan - not only the first of the season but only the 2nd Helice form I have ever seen. Quite chuffed to have it on my doorstep so to speak but frustrated I couldn't get close. I thought I'd pop back there today on the offchance it was still hanging around, but even if she was it was really too cold, breezy and overcast for much to be active. However, in the (very) brief sunny spells I was able to watch the SSB's again. No females around yet. Before I post these images I should say that they were not posed or manipulated in any way (which is what I would have thought if I had seen them particularly as I have never seen a SSB on a buttercup before!)

Usually at this time of year I spend time here waiting for the SSB to emerge and whilst doing so enjoy all the Common Blues especially those fabulous blue females which appear on this site. Strangely this year so far I have seen more SSB's than Common Blues and even then only males:

[Katrina]

Beautiful and unusual as you say to see them on a buttercup!

[millerd]

Congratulations on the helice female Cloudie, Pauline! Nice and early in the year too - let's hope she's going to be laying eggs and providing you with a crop of summer yellow butterflies. Very nice shots of the SSB on the buttercup too - you didn't pose it, but the butterfly seems to have been determined to do so all by itself. None had appeared on my nearest site on Thursday, but it can't be long now.

Cheers,

Dave

[Pauline]

Thank you Katrina. I'm going to have plenty of opportunity to watch them as they are very close to home

Thank you too Dave - you are spot on. I saw her again about an hour ago and she was laying eggs all over the place. She doesn't stop for long whether egg-laying or taking nectar so yet again all shots are very distant!

.... and this morning, another fine specimen in the duck shed. I think this one was fresher than the last one. Took a few shots as I was moving it to a safer place:

Aren't they just gorgeous - just look at those little feet and those big eyes! No comparison with the micros - I know they say size doesn't matter and all that, but really???

[millerd]

...I saw her again about an hour ago and she was laying eggs all over the place...

Excellent! It looks as if all the Cloudies people have seen have been females, and it appears they were mated before heading across the Channel as they seem to set about laying almost immediately. Assuming the weather doesn't do anything drastic, there could be new home-grown butterflies at the end of July! Plenty of time for them to fit in another generation by the Autumn, too. Fingers crossed!

Cheers,

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Well done with the Helice Clouded Yellow Pauline, a cracking find

Some excellent Silver-studded Blue images there too

And a nice Poplar Hawk. I've not had any Hawk Moths here yet this year.

...just look at those little feet...

Those little feet can't half hold on tight, like velcro feet

Cheers,

Neil.