April 2009 Lepidoptera Sightings

[Deano]

Hello everyone.
I thought I'd take the liberty, if you don't object, of beginning the April sightings posts. Today I saw my first Green Veined White of the year. It is just two days later than my first of last year. Sadly, no photos as it wouldn't sit still for long enough!
I also saw several Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells, Commas and male Brimstones, though I still haven't encountered a female Brimstone.
Regards
Deano.

[sahikmet]

Hi

Today at Denham Quarry (Colne Valley) , Brimstone 1, Peacock 1, Comma 2, Speckled wood 1. Pictures attached.

Sezar

[Gruditch]

My first non hibernating species of the year today, 1 Large White,( male), and 1 Green-veined White. Yesterday I also saw a few Brimstone, 2 of which were female, 1 Peacock, and 2 Small Tortoiseshell, it does look like the STs are doing a little better this year.

Gruditch

[Shirley Roulston]

Several Small Tortoishells and many Holly Blues.

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Shirley

[xmilehigh]

Hi all,

Great to see people out & about taking some great pics.

Peacock from this afternoon.


Sony A700 - 70-210 F4 (Beercan)

[eccles]

Here's a different individual from the same spot as Xmilehigh's peacock, also shot today. Also there were male brimstone, several comma, a couple of small torts and an indeterminate overexposed white that was shot from about 30 yards away. After pulling back the exposure in Photoshop I think it was a male GVW.
Snapped with A700 + 70-210 F4 "beercan" zoom.

[eccles]

Three orange tip males seen this afternoon. Still waiting for holly blue and speckled wood.
This was shot from about 4 meters away with the 500mm reflex which was totally the wrong lens for the subject. I got one in before swapping lenses and I'm glad that I did as it flew off before I got the more suitable lens on the camera.

[Denise]

A positive flurry of activity when the sun eventually showed itself this afternoon.
3 Peacock, several whites (which didn't stop ) and quite a few fresh Speckled Wood.

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Strangely, no Comma today, and I'm still waiting for my first ST, OT and HB.
Denise

[DaveW]

Yesterday nothing at all. Today my first GVW and a Holly Blue. Plus saw a Comma and a small tortoiseshell. Haven't seen a peacock yet but have seen a Brimstone or two.

[IAC]

Hi all,
So far in April in the deep South of Scotland, Peacocks 10, Small Tortoiseshell 5, GVW 2, Comma 1, Orange Tip 1,....the Orange Tip is very early for these parts...but the weather has been exceptional...he does seem to be the only one around...poor thing.

[Jack Harrison]

This Tortoiseshell using a very popular pub, "The Plum Cherry" in South Cambridgeshire keeping company with Peacocks, Commas and two other Tortoiseshells.

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Notice that the forewing patches are straw coloured, not off white (previous correspondence). And yes, it really was this brilliant red.

Jack

[Charles Nicol]

Plenty of Peacocks, Commas & Small Tortoiseshells around. A few small whites, Brimstones.

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Charles

[sandraandkevin]

I have just seen this on the Hampshire butterfly conservation site, thought it would be of interest.

Andy Barker writes: "I visited Magdalen Hill Down earlier this afternoon and to my surprise I saw four species that were firsts for the year for me. I thought people would be interested to know that Grizzled Skipper and Green Hairstreak were the two most notable on the list. Both were seen on the lower slopes. The Grizzled Skipper was observed basking on some bare earth and the Green Hairstreak was seen perched and flying around a hawthorn bush. My complete tally was Grizzled Skipper (1), Green Hairstreak (1), Peacock (4), Green-veined White (1), Comma (1), Brimstone (7), Orange Tip (1)."


Is this early for Grizzled and Green Hairstreak?

Kevin

[geniculata]

good numbers of peacocks down here on the south coast also my first small coppers!

[Jack Harrison]

geniculata

You have amazing depth of field in that Peacock picture. Could you give us the camera details and settings (including crop), please?

Jack

[Neil Hulme]

Hi all,
3 Grizzled Skipper at Mill Hill, Shoreham (West Sussex) this afternoon. Will post some pics when I get back to my own computer. These are my earliest records for the species, which was first reported on 30th March at this venue - VERY early!
Neil

[Gruditch]

Wow, Grizzleds are out early, and I never saw a first brood Small Copper last year, must keep an eye out.
Did see a male, and a female Orange-tip today though.

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Gruditch

[geniculata]

hi jack,
the camera used is my prosumer compact panasonic fz50, which i mostly use for recording and for the very reason that it does have a seemingly good depth of field.
the settings are as follows, manual, f-stop 11, speed 1/ 100 sec, iso 100, focal length 27.1 mm, minimal crop from bottom and alittle more from both sides. its quite a bulky beast as compacts go but it has a good antishake which allows me to work at low speeds which i like, but has the draw back of not a very close focus macro setting. hope that answers your question mate.
regards gary.

[Jack Harrison]

That’s not the first time I have been impressed with the results from the FZ50. I did consider one myself a while ago but I was put off by the size and bulk.

What is particularly interesting is that the lens will stop down to F/11, theoretically too much for that size of sensor due to diffraction effects. I think that diffraction is an over-played concern. My own camera (Canon A650) works down to F/8 and again (similar size sensor to the FZ50) tests have shown that while F/8 is theoretically too small, I can detect no difference between that setting and the apparently more optimal F/4. But of course, F/8 gives better depth of field.

Of course, (all other things being equal) the smaller the sensor, the better the depth of field. But the bigger sensor (eg on a DSLR) obviously gives better image quality when Depth of Field is not an issue.

Jack

[Padfield]

Hi all,
3 Grizzled Skipper at Mill Hill, Shoreham (West Sussex) this afternoon. Will post some pics when I get back to my own computer. These are my earliest records for the species, which was first reported on 30th March at this venue - VERY early!
Neil

Grizzled skippers seem to be able to synchronise their emergence with the state of the food plant. Last year in CH they emerged on the exceptionally early date of March 2nd, when the Potentilla food plant was already rampant. This year I checked on a weekly basis and the flowers were hardly out at all on that date - they began appearing properly during March. I saw my first skippers this year on April 1st, when the flowers were in almost exactly the same condition as early March last year. I know some butterflies do this by being sensitive to chemical signals from the plants.

Guy