Pauline

[Pauline]

Thank you Sarah. I shall never do that again so I was really pleased to get those shots. I had intended to post the rest of that sequence earlier but had to make an emergency visit to the vet with Magnet and have been attending to him for most of the day:

Anyway, just to finish off the second emergence a few more Duke shots below. The last few were taken on Noar Hill before the wings had even dried properly altho' I stayed until I was sure the butterfly was fully mobile:

[David M]

Success! I was better prepared this morning, knew what to expect, and the weather was kinder. As a result, when the 2nd Duke emerged this morning (after only watching for 90 mins ) I was able to witness the actual emergence. It was wonderful to see both of them complete their life cycle

Exceptional, Pauline. Vicarious pleasures don't come much better than this.

[Pauline]

I'm very pleased you like them David. I know I couldn't have done any better on that occasion.

Still battling with Magnet. A 40 hour stretch without sleep produces some strange effects and is not an experience I am keen to repeat. The vet eventually admitted him, put him on a drip and told me to go home and get some sleep. I managed to get out for an hour to clear my head a bit, knowing he was in safe hands. A few of the butterflies seen at Noar Hill:

Tiny moth ID?

[Pauline]

Am I winning yet with Magnet? I don't know. Still awaiting more blood test results but at least he is back with his mate, temporarily at least. As a result the following posts are in or around the garden. A few immature stages to report at last but not in the same league as last year. Only ONE Orange Tip egg laid in the garden and although it looks as if a slug has crawled over it, it seems ot be OK. Only about 6 Brimstone eggs laid on the Alder Buckthorn as opposed to the 26 or so laid in 2022. Also included is the only BH larva I could find on Noar Hill - one of the 3 eggs I was trying to monitor:

My first Mother Shipton of the year which I saw somewhere close, some time recently. Likewise, a bee which I believe is an Ashy Mining Bee - very noticeable and very attractive:

[Wurzel]

I hope all is progressing well with Magnet Lovely set of images but that second Duke shot is a corker, the Dandelion seeds look like little stars and make it stand out even more

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Well done with the Mother Shipton, Pauline - always a tricky subject to photograph.

I wish you all the best with Magnet.

[Benjamin]

Echoing others I hope things are improving with Magnet and I must congratulate you on your superb emerging sequence photos! I can’t imagine anyone more deserving of such success after the effort you have put into the project over the years. There’s always something of interest in your diary - a great read.

[Pauline]

I'd like to thank you all for your good wishes re Magnet. Still no definite diagnosis but not all blood results back and imaging has been mentioned. 5 different drugs have now been reduced to 2 and supplementary feeding greatly reduced. There appears to be improvement and he is now back out in the kennel/run/garden with his mate. Don't think he's out of the woods yet and vet bills now well into 4 figures Can you perhaps organise a quick whip round!?

I very much appreciate all your comments on my photography/diary but because of the above I have been somewhat limited to the garden and very close by. Having watched a couple of Orange Tip females in the garden I realise I am totally wrong about the number of eggs they have laid. I watched one lay a couple of eggs on Garlic Mustard but then abandoned this plant in favour of what I think is wild rocket. Examining the clumps of this plant there is a fair few eggs on them.

Also seen was a female Holly Blue showing a lot of interest in my peas which are in flower. I spooked her from the peas at the back and found her again on the peas at the front but couldn't locate any eggs. Do they even lay on this? I imagine LTB do but not likely to get that lucky!

A couple of tatty Speckled Wood were enjoying the sun but had clearly seen better days:

[Neil Freeman]

Glad to hear that Magnet looks to be improving Pauline.

Nice Mother Shipton in your previous post, I saw a couple today but couldn't get close to them.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Pauline]

Thanks Neil. Still can't leave him too long but managed to get to Bramshott today as it is only 5 mins away and I had to pick up more meds. There were lots of Mother Shipton moths flying along with Burnet Companion. I also saw my first Common Blue of the season and my first Small Copper. 3 Dingy Skippers were seen which means I must try to start my next project now - ie. where do they roost on this site???? Just hope it doesn't take me another 6 years!!!!!!!!!

[Wurzel]

Lovely set of Orange-tip shots from before Pauline and that Common Blue is a cracker Good luck with your Dingy roosting investigation - I've seen them settling down high up in a Hawthorn before if that helps

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Cheers Wurzel - my investigation has already started so yes, I was interested to learn that you had seen them roost high in Hawthorn. Did you get any photos? Did they adopt the usual roosting pose at that height? I'd also be interested to hear from anyone else who has seen the Dingy Skipper roost on anything other than Lesser Knapweed. As I mentioned before, this site is dominated by gorse, bracken and low growing bramble. There isn't even any Hawthorn in this area:

My experience so far in monitoring the Dingy Skipper at this site suggests that it roosts somewhere low down. I have identified 5 different individuals now. Finding them as the sun goes down is the easy part but keeping track of them as they select a safe place to roost requires good eye sight, quick reactions, time and patience - I only have 2 of these right now!!!!!

This is not a particularly remote site but there is often military activity here. Heavy vehicles crammed with uniformed men will often give me a wave as they pass by during the day but it is still a little unnerving to suddenly come across structures like this at dusk knowing they hadn't been there the previous evening:

Anyway, back to the butterflies. The sun kept disappearing and I could feel the tempertures dropping as I tracked one of the Dingies from a distance to observe its behaviour without any disturbance. I took a number of shots as it seemed to be slowing down and seeking out the last of the sun's rays. It would stay for a few minutes before moving just a couple of yards onto dead bracken, low bramble leaves, a fallen willow catkin and other low growing plants. It hesitated momentarily on plantain which seems to be one of the few plants here that would give it any camouflage and enable it to wrap its wings round in the typical roosting pose. However, it didn't stay long and as a late shaft of sun warmed it through it took off and I lost it. I suspect it didn't go far but I didn't have any more time. Second and third attempts followed a similar pattern.

At one point the sun disappeared for quite some time and for the whole of this time the Dingy Skipper didn't move from the bramble leaf it was on at the time. Rather it started to 'curl' its wings around the leaf as I hope this poor image demonstrates. I did wonder if intended spending the night like this but some late, weak sunshine caused it to move:

Observations of courtship, egg-laying and larva development on this site in previous seasons seem to suggest that the Dingy Skippers are unlikely to travel far to roost. I will keep trying as I shall not be satisfied until I actually find out where this is.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline. I have seen Dingy Skippers roosting on a number of different plant seed heads over the years, not just knapweed. I am afraid I am not good with plants and so cannot name most of them but I definitly remember finding one on an old teasel head a few years back.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Pauline]

Thanks for this input Neil - much appreciated. I can certainly imagine that they would roost on Teasel. My very first sighting of a Glanville many years ago was of one roosting on Teasel and I have seen various species using it since. At the risk of being incredibly boring Bramshott is pretty much flat and currently nothing much higher than a buttercup there. I am starting to wonder whether it is indeed the trees they use - I hope time will tell. Another unsuccessful evening there but you would love it Neil. Early evening the place comes alive with all sorts of moths, many of which I can't identify or even get close to. There are loads of Burnet Companion, Mother Shipton, Speckled Yellow and Silver-y amongst others. The other night a huge pink moth was racing around (looked salmon pink from a distance). I bet anyone who ran a moth trap there would be very pleasantly surprised. Last night I watched a Silver-y egg-laying and took some shots of the eggs. I was tempted to take a couple to rear but just have too much on at the moment to give them justice:

(Silver-y egg on Bramble)

Great Tits are starting to emerge from one of the nest boxes in my garden and I am just soooo worried about the cats round here. Spent most of last night hoping this little one will be OK. The parent was feeding it at least till bedtime:

[David M]

Good to see Magnet back home and looking perky.

Hope the nestling is okay and good luck with the Dingies.

[Pauline]

Thank you David - he's still on a load of medication altho' there are plans to reduce it gradually from next Wednesday. I'm just about on my knees here as the Doves in the aviary have attacked some babies. I didn't think the smallest would survive as he had his head almost caved in along with other injuries ...... but they are very resilient. I have had to remove them for hand feeding:

Still trying to keep up with the butterflies but there will be a lot I miss out on this year. Adonis close by (luckily) but by 9.00am this morning I was already too late. They were just so active. Even tho' I tried for an hour for a decent shot this was the best I could do:

On the way back I watched a Dingy Skipper egg-laying. This is one of her eggs:

[Pauline]

As I typed my diary yesterday I was able to watch a male nd female Bullfinch in the garden, hopping through the grass, searching for and eating dandelion seed heads. Taken thru' glass at a distance:

Lots of Dingy and Grizzled Skippers seen yesterday ranging from quite fresh to a little worn but all very active in that lovely sunshine:

..... and a few more of the Blues, both Common and Adonis:

[Chris L]

Absolutely awesome photos Pauline. It is like a quality episode of Sprinmgwatch opening up your thread. I have only read the last 2 pages having been away from the forum for quite a while and my eyes are as big as saucers looking on in wonder at all that I have seen. I was thinking about setting up my own photo thread with the offerings from my Huawei 2017 smartphone with its cracked screen. However, I don't think I will bother now that I have seen your photos. My photos are what they are - a load of photos taken on a cracked screen Huawei 2017 smartphone.

Captivated by the Duke photos. Jealous of the Adonis photos. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get a decent Adonis photo yesterday and nearly missed the kick off of the Championship play off final. The Adonis does not respect high stakes football encounters.

Have you any badgers this year Pauline? Apologies if there are pages and pages of badger news in past posts that I have yet to read. I got my first babies appear in the last few days, a couple of them. They are extremely cute and very amusing to watch.

My best wishes to you and your beloved Magnet.

[Pauline]

Thank you for that lovely comment Otep and for the 'hello' you sent to me a while back via another member. Apologies I didn't get back to you but it was hectic here. Please don't hesitate to start your own diary. I am sure there will be plenty of interest in it. The camera I use is an old 2nd hand model that I got off Ebay for £30.00 quite some time ago when my original packed in. It gets treated quite roughly at times.

It is strange that you should mention badgers today. For a couple of years now I have been trying to keep them out of the garden as they have started eating the hedgehogs. For years they didn't bother them but then something changed. They are so persistant tho' and built like little tanks. I believe they got in last night and tried to get into one of my aviaries. It is underwired to stop foxes digging but I don't think that would stop a badger. I have just finished clearing this up:

All the brown bits used to be grass!!!!! I THINK I know where they got in and I've tried to fix it but hope there is not a repeat of this when I get up tomorrow! Have you got any shots of your cubs?

[Pauline]

Well, the damage was even worse this morning and I am baffled as to where it is getting in!!

By 5.00pm I felt I deserved a short walk over Bramshott but even at 6.00pm it was still very warm but with quite a considerable breeze. However, it was quite lovely there this evening with a Cuckoo in the background, a Green Woodpecker fly past and hundreds of moths. There must have been dozens and dozens of Burnet Companion moths but I was still surprised when about a dozen of them flew past me in close proximity. It took me a few seconds to realise that one was a female which was being persued by a number of males. She landed virtually at my feet allowing me some close up views. From what I could see, in a short space of time (perhaps 5-10 mins) she was mated by 4 or 5 different males. Is this usual with moths? By the time I left her she looked quite worn out and they were still at it:

A handful of fresh Common Blue have appeared since my last visit: