White Admiral - Favourite Photo of 2023

[Wurzel]

White Admiral - Favourite Photo of 2023

Week 19

Well as winters go that one passed quite quickly. I say ‘passed’ purely in the sense of The Favourites almost coming to an end as this is the penultimate week. Fingers crossed things will transition smoothly into Spring and we don’t get a Beast from the East...

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos as then it will be easier to keep track of things? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As in previous years details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

White Admiral

I chose this one as it was the first for the year but also because it came from a very memorable trip. I’d previously only seen Black Hairstreaks once before and to be honest they’d given everyone the run around on that day. So when my older daughter asked if I could drop her off at Heathrow right in the middle of their flight period I of course agreed and so I found myself at silly o’clock parked up ready to go into Epsom Common. After spending a cracking morning with Blackstreaks, Dave and various other butterflies and butterfly enthusiasts a White Admiral plopped down as Dave and I were making our way out of the Blackstreak area. It looked absolutely stunning and even though I couldn’t get that close this was easily my favourite shot of this species from 2023.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

White Admiral
...even though I couldn’t get that close this was easily my favourite shot of this species from 2023...
Wurzel

Curiously, Wurzel, that very same butterfly was one of my favourites of the year as well. I got a little closer than you did, but the result of semi-immersing myself in the brambles to do so was a trio of ticks discovered later (curiously the only ones I found during the year).

The others were one from Bookham...

...and one from Chiddingfold on the magic Purple Emperor day that appeared ahead of the imperial throng.

It is always good to find fresh unscarred individuals like these with splendid black/white fringes.

Dave

[Goldie M]

It was the 29th of July last year that I finally found a White Admiral, I'd been to East Blean Woods loads of times looking for them only to find where they usually are had been felled, the road into the car park there was half closed with broken tree's every where, needless to say I missed out on a number of species because of this.

I went to Blean Woods which is the other side of Canterbury and quite a distance from East BW, I followed the Dog walk and finally found the WA which was quite worn but a treat to see Goldie

[overthepass]

First photo from Bookham Common on a fine day in midsummer. After spending much of the day on Box Hill, we dropped in at Bookham Common hoping that the butterflies there might be taking things a bit more slowly as evening approached. There were indeed plenty of White Admirals around, but initially they were still very active, and by the time they started settling a bit more they were mostly basking high up, where the trees were still in sunlight. Finally one came down to nectar briefly on some brambles which I had just walked past, and I was able to turn around and get some quick underside shots from a couple of metres away.

A few days later, towards the end of June, this one was nectaring in dappled sunlight just a short distance along the track into Chiddingfold Forest.

The weather wasn't great during the rest of their main flight period, and visits to a few other local sites during July didn't produce any significant additions to the gallery.

[bugboy]

I think this may be the fourth year in a row I've had a White Admiral ab at Bookham. I like the combo of a 'black' White with a Red in the background of this shot

[David M]

Not an easy species to see in Wales, so I took my opportunity on 17th July at Fermyn Woods, Northants, where there were still quite a few around, albeit rather worn:

[Allan.W.]

I rarely try for White Ads away from Orlestone forest (mid-Kent ) but do stumble across them in various other woods that i visit.
The first shot was only the second that i,ve seen at Hothfield Common ,and a good mile from my last sighting there.

In Orlestone i found a fresh individual crawling around a low clump of bracken ,fairly unusual behaviour .Looking at this picture later on i noticed it clinging to something .........and i wondered if it could have been an empty pupal case .

The final shot is the same individual a little while later .

.
Allan.W.

[Mark Tutton]

2023 was a Black Admiral year at Alice Holt forest. This seems to happen every few years and I guess is probably a result of a frost pocket somewhere in the woods that creates conditions that cause aberrations in White Admirals. This year I saw at least four which were variants of ab.obliterae and possibly ab.nigrina. Couple of photos courtesy of my friend Richard who I tipped off about their presence.