Hi all,
Firstly, many thanks to UKB's Polly for helping out at my exhibition today. Amongst the visitors was Nick Herbert, MP for Arundel and South Downs, and we spent quite some time talking about the difficulties facing butterflies today. After locking up I went on to a local site, finding my first Purple Emperor caterpillar of the year
Neil
4 Brimstone, 30+ Orange tip, 5+ Small white, 2 Large white, 3 Comma, Holly blue, 20+ Peacock, c10 Speckled wood.
Best parts were a field of new orange tips, prancin around the meadow in the sun and a Bright male Brimstone - thought a tennis ball had flown past me!
NickB wrote:Hooray! Some sun and the Green Hairstreaks out on the Fleam Dyke (same bush, Charles )
Well done Nick... there was no sign of them last Monday !!
I went to Sharpenhoe & Totternhoe ( i was chilling with my 'hoes ) yesterday. No Green Hairstreaks or Dukes. Peacocks, Commas, whites & the season's first Speckled Wood.
One green veined white I saw as I was coming out of my house, chased it and got a photo, I'll post later. Nice to know you got your Green hairstreak Gary. I remember last year when I went to look for them, they almost eluded me, but I eventually found one before I had to give up and go home.
Nice photo's Gary.
I get very frustrated at weekends as I can't go out cos I have to do the family thing
However an hour in the garden produced many Speckled Wood, Small, Large and Green-veined Whites and my first fly through Holly Blue of the year.
Denise
Often, though, things like this worry the butterflies a lot less than they worry us. My nearest rosy grizzled skipper site (Pyrgus onopordi) doubles in part as a rather filthy camp site. This photo was taken on a track where I have in the past photographed rosy grizzlies taking minerals:
That was on 13th April this year. The track was dry, but just a few hundred metres away, the same day:
Councils have been given a ticking off from civil liberty groups for inappropriate use of CCTV cameras to catch people that do this. If they can catch them that way then bring it on. A hundred hours community service cleaning up other people's rubbish as well as their own would soon sort them out.
On a happier note, I went to Walton Common with Xmilehigh today with target species being grizzled skipper and green hairstreak. We had a fleeting glimpse of a single pristine grizzled that subsequently went to ground and stayed there as we didn't see it, or any others, again. We had more luck with GH with two separate colonies, one at the highest point of the common near hawthorn trees, and the other just above the tree line on the southern slope. Also seen were one or two GVWhite, lots of brimstone of both sexes, surprisingly more females than males, and an unidentified butterfly, possibly painted lady, heading north like a bat out of hell.
I caught this little lady ovipositing.
Spent a very enjoyable time at Marsland on the Devon Cornwall border, and usually one of the earliest sites for P-b F.
We had high hopes as we slithered down into the valley - beautiful blue skies, little breeze, and lots of flora showing - but very little bugle, which is, as Gary so astutely observed, the favoured nectar source..
We patrolled a very reliable half mile "beat" for a couple of hours, with Peacock, Brimstone, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Orange Tip (will you sit still for just a few seconds - pleeeeease...) and suspected Small White.
Then, after at least two hours we spotted one individual. I managed one quick photo before we lost sight of him. Then, all of a sudden, we were surrounded by them. At least 20 individuals in an area well covered just 20 minutes ago!
Many were really fresh, and one poor female had been pounced on by an amorous male before she could unfurl her wings.
I reckon we witnessed a synchronous emergence at around 14:30 this afternoon. Has anyone else experienced this?
This is a very good omen for next wekend at Bentley.
Hope to see some of you there.
Roger Harding
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Last edited by Rogerdodge on Sun Apr 19, 2009 7:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
had a great day at martin down, with good numbers of as follows.... dingy skipper 2, grizzled 5, brimstones 30, orange tips 13, large white 1, gv white 6,
red admiral 1, small torts 5, peacock 8, comma 6, speckwood 22, ruby tiger moths and common carpets. sadly no green hairstreak or holly blue, but both apparently seen there today, also painted lady. saw good veiws of adders, common lizards and slow worms.
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