Katrina

[trevor]

Great stuff Katrina, at least I now know that His Majesty has appeared on the ground.
I went three times last week and saw nothing. It seemed strange as HE
was showing at other locations the week before.
Both John Williams and Mark Colvin saw flypasts on Friday and Saturday.

You captured a lovely glimpse of purple.
Trevor.

PS. Lovely White Admiral shot.

[millerd]

Good to see you again today, Katrina, and I think we did well all things considered to identify and track down that lone Emperor. A pretty good shot you ended up with in the end, avoiding the grass stems by a whisker and getting the flash of Imperial purple as well. No purple on the single shot I managed... I may have to steal your image as a record!

Cheers,

Dave

[bugboy]

Nice bit of purple there Katrina . I think pictures on here may well be the closest I'll get to them this year sadly, so I hope there's more to be seen

[Katrina]

Thanks Trevor,
I saw on social media one was down briefly the day before near parking.
Thanks Dave was good to see you too. Feel free with the image!.
Thanks Paul. IF I get a chance I will go back but I am sure others will oblige with better images.

[Wurzel]

Cracking set of shots Katrina I was thinking about heading over there this weekend but it doesn't seem to be producing the goods this year so I can treat myself to a family holiday now with the money I'll have saved on petrol

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Well done getting that grounded Emperor, Katrina. They've not been coming down so much these last couple of years so these types of images have been at a premium.

[Pauline]

Lovely shot of the PE Katrina - I missed it when you posted it probably because I was out looking for them too. I've only seen one grounded this year and time is fast running out!

[Katrina]

i was recently in Scotland on holiday and photographed caterpillars.
I am thinking the ones with the white spots may be peacocks, the yellow stripes may be Small Tortoiseshell but am not sure about the other one.
Can anyone confirm / help? All found on nettles.

[Katrina]

The place we were staying at had quite a lot of private land. Soon after I arrived I got a test from my sister to say she had found mating DGF in one location and NBA in another. She met me and took me to the DGF. We went to the DGF first and I managed to see them but it took me multiple attempts to see the NBA.
Other butterflies seen were Small PBFs, Common Blues, Ringlets, Meadow Browns, Small Heaths, Green-veined whites , one Small Tortoiseshell and probable Small Whites.
There was a wrens nest and house martins nests on the house.
We also saw Red Squirrels.

[Pauline]

Nice shots of the DGF Katrina but great find with the NBA eggs Can I look forward to some Red Squirrel images?

[Katrina]

Nice shots of the DGF Katrina but great find with the NBA eggs Can I look forward to some Red Squirrel images?

Thanks Pauline, my sister found the first ones then I found more I think we found 12 in total.
Especially for you a Red Squirrel photo. I didn't take many as they were more shy here than normal and as ever I had the macro lens on.
Also birds nests on the outside of the building my sister said the first was a wren although I didn't see it come out. As my uncle said it's nest came with its own defences and House Martins.
Also the bat that came to visit for dinner.

Any thoughts on the caterpillars?

[Pauline]

Oh wow! That looks like my kind of holiday Katrina.

[trevor]

Well done with the Red Squirrel. My best view of one ever was on the
Isle of Wight, it ran and paused in the road as we left the car ferry.
Very nice female DGF, and a for your NBA, never seen one.

Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cracking set of images Katrina - my favourite is the obvious NBA, none of the worry about it being a salmacis with those white spots showing

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[PhilM]

i was recently in Scotland on holiday and photographed caterpillars.
I am thinking the ones with the white spots may be peacocks, the yellow stripes may be Small Tortoiseshell but am not sure about the other one.
Can anyone confirm / help? All found on nettles.

Hi Katrina,
I was thinking also Peacock for your third image of caterpillars but am a bit thrown by the orange/brown head shown by some. The fact that they are still living gregariously on nettle but are dark in colour makes me think these are possibly 3rd instar larvae? I'm intrigued by the head colour though, perhaps someone with more knowledge could comment?

Thanks for posting these larval images,
Best wishes,
Phil.

[bugboy]

Some nice images Katrina. Definitely NBA eggs, I got some shots of salmacis eggs a few weeks ago, I was watching her lay them. You're right with your peacock/small tort caterpillar ID'S, the third photo are Peacocks. They've freshly moulted hence some of the spines are still pale and some of the head capsules are reddish, an hour later and they'd probably all darkened off properly.

[Katrina]

Oh wow! That looks like my kind of holiday Katrina.

It was a good one with aunts, uncles, cousins and their children and people celebrating 60th and 50 th wedding anniversarys.

Well done with the Red Squirrel. My best view of one ever was on the
Isle of Wight, it ran and paused in the road as we left the car ferry.
Very nice female DGF, and a for your NBA, never seen one.

Trevor.

They were a bit shy here but saw them a few times on feeders and at a distance.

Cracking set of images Katrina - my favourite is the obvious NBA, none of the worry about it being a salmacis with those white spots showing

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel. It was the most hard won image, I had to go back many times to find it.

[quote=Katrina post_id=172340 time=<a href="tel:1658345725">1658345725</a> user_id=13159]
i was recently in Scotland on holiday and photographed caterpillars.
I am thinking the ones with the white spots may be peacocks, the yellow stripes may be Small Tortoiseshell but am not sure about the other one.
Can anyone confirm / help? All found on nettles.

Hi Katrina,
I was thinking also Peacock for your third image of caterpillars but am a bit thrown by the orange/brown head shown by some. The fact that they are still living gregariously on nettle but are dark in colour makes me think these are possibly 3rd instar larvae? I'm intrigued by the head colour though, perhaps someone with more knowledge could comment?

Thanks for posting these larval images,
Best wishes,
Phil.
[/quote]

Thanks Phil, the head colour was confusing me too. I am not great at caterpillars but am trying to make more of an effort to pay attention to them. Fortunately Bugboy once again has come up with answer. Thanks for confirming the other two.

Some nice images Katrina. Definitely NBA eggs, I got some shots of salmacis eggs a few weeks ago, I was watching her lay them. You're right with your peacock/small tort caterpillar ID'S, the third photo are Peacocks. They've freshly moulted hence some of the spines are still pale and some of the head capsules are reddish, an hour later and they'd probably all darkened off properly.

Thanks Bugboy for coming to the rescue with the ID! Very interesting about the head colour change.

[Katrina]

My sister took her moth trap on holiday. Here are some photos of some of the prettier moths and a moth caterpillar.

[Wurzel]

Love that Garden Tiger shot I've still to get an image of one of those The blue spots on the hind wings always look out of place on the orange ground colour to my eye, almost as if they've been added on later

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Katrina]

Thanks Wurzel. I am not normally into moths but Garden Tigers are pretty