Katrina

[Katrina]

Thank you Wurzel
Thank you David. It was a joy for me to see too - a rare event a butterfly in my patio

[Katrina]

This evening I went back to Anchor Bottom
The Adonis Blue females are now out.
I doubt they read this but just in case - thank you to the two ladies who pointed out the Autumn Ladies Tresses and the Red Star-thistles.
it was a bit breezy for photography but I was glad I got out.

[Katrina]

I spent a couple of hours at Steyning this morning. I was surprised to have the place to myself
I found 2 Brown Hairstreaks and a pair of sunglasses by the blackthorn.
If they belong to you please contact me via the messaging on the website.

[Wurzel]

Lovely set of Borstreak shots Katrina I've found this myself - after the first rush of fresh Brostreaks and having 'ticked' them off their list it seems some butterfliers give up on Brostreaks and so you end up with them all to yourself which is actually kinda cool

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Lovely BH shot Katrina, much better condition than the one I found there.

Great stuff,
Trevor.

[Katrina]

Lovely set of Borstreak shots Katrina I've found this myself - after the first rush of fresh Brostreaks and having 'ticked' them off their list it seems some butterfliers give up on Brostreaks and so you end up with them all to yourself which is actually kinda cool

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you Wurzel. Pros and cons of being there on your own for sure. Just pleased I spotted some.

Lovely BH shot Katrina, much better condition than the one I found there.

Great stuff,

Thank you Trevor. Luck of the draw. Haven’t seen many reports from Steyning this year - maybe all the butterfly enthusiasts have dispersed looking for LTBs
Trevor.

[Goldie M]

Love the Bortreak shot Katrina, I've not yet seen one Goldie

[Katrina]

Love the Bortreak shot Katrina, I've not yet seen one Goldie

Thank you Goldie. They can be quite hard work on the time standing around per sighting front.

[David M]

...They can be quite hard work on the time standing around per sighting front.

Sure can, Katrina. Over the last 13 years I can fairly accurately measure my Brown Hairstreak female per hour ratio at 0.9:1

As you say, a lot of time standing around!

[Katrina]

I went to Anchor Bottom . I saw Clouded Yellows and Humming Bird Hawks moths. Both flying fast so I thought I would try with burst mode on the camera.
I saw 2 different HMHMs egg laying and with the second one decided to photograph the egg as it was less mobile! First HBHM egg I have seen
There were some fresh Adonis still.
The Autumn Ladies Tresses now seem quite widespread.
I saw a white what looked like a scabious to me. I stayed next to it in case an Adonis landed on fit or 5 mins but no joy.]
I was just lining up for a Clouded Yellow Helice shot when my camera flashed up "do you want to recover your data" -aagh fortunately it did save it - not sure what went wrong.
Seen were multiple HBHMs hard to tell how many but possibly 4 or 5. Clouded Yellows minimum 3 including on Helice. Adonis Blues, Common Blues , Small Heaths and Meadow Browns.
I went on to Whitehawk where I saw at least 2 LTBs - unfortunately the fresh one didn't stay long enough for a photo.

[bugboy]

Looks like you had more sun at anchor bottom than I did yesterday. I didn't see any HBHM or Cloudies but it stayed mostly overcast when I was there. Great shots of the Hawkmoths

[trevor]

I imagine you will be using the burst shooting mode more often after that Cloudie shot .
Your other shots indicate a great day out.

Trevor.

[Katrina]

Certainly did have sun. Didn't look promising when I left but by the end I was regretting not bringing my hat.

Certainly was worth a go in sunny weather with rapid butterflies but leaves you with a lot of deleting! Thanks again for the info re Herstmonceaux being closed.

[Pauline]

Just love the shots of the HBHM Katrina and can't even begin to tell you how jealous I am of your photo of the egg!!!!

[Katrina]

Wow that is a lot of Mr Greens Pauline.
I saw it curling it’s abdomen round this plant and fortunately the egg wasn’t hard to spot or photograph as my egg shots often don’t turn out well. I tried to take some photos of where it was so if I get a chance I may go back.

[Katrina]

Just love the shots of the HBHM Katrina and can't even begin to tell you how jealous I am of your photo of the egg!!!!

As above, I always think the HBHMs look like they shouldn’t be able to fly with big body and little wings

[Pauline]

Hi Katrina

If you knew how many hours I have spent on my hands and knees scrutinising my Bedstraw plants for possible eggs , well, 5 Mr Green's seems quite conservative . I'd loved to have seen that, would love to rear them, and would urge you to return if you can to see how it progresses. If you do, please let us know.

[Wurzel]

That is a great capture that Cloudy Katrina Love the Autumn Tresses too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Great airborne shots of the hawk moth and the female Cloudie, Katrina. I've always used 'sports mode' but seeing your results, perhaps I should try 'burst mode' too!

Thanks for posting the HBHM ovum. Never seen that before.

[Katrina]

Thank you Wurzel, it was a lucky shot.
Thank you Pauline and David - I was just in the right place at the right time seeing them curving their bodies round to lay. The didn't seem to land but just seemed to manage while hovering.