dilettante

[Debbie]

I am still looking for my first Shropshire butterfly. I did go out this weekend and found a family of fast moving spiders and a ladybird, but no butterflies yet.

[dilettante]

Sunday 24th March 2012
The game is afoot! In the warm Spring sunshine, I went for a walk with my wife around the fields and footpaths next to my village. Having only seen my first butterfly of the year five days ago, I saw loads today.

Brimstones were everywhere - all male and all refusing to settle even for a minute. And Commas were not hard to find either, doing their usual thing of pugnaciously flying after any insect that dared to venture into their territory:


Comma, 24-Mar-2012. Sony A700 + Tamron 180/3.5

I saw a white, which I'm pretty sure was a Green-veined, although it too didn't settle. I got a pretty good view through binoculars though (another satisfied Papilio customer!). I also encountered a couple of Peacocks:


Peacock, 24-Mar-2012. Sony A700 + Tamron 180/3.5

I was hoping (in vain) for a first Holly Blue, but was even more surprised when a small flash of green caught my eye - a fresh Green Hairstreak! Not only was I very surprised to see it so early, but I didn't know they were found there at all. Definitely one of those thrilling butterfly encounters that sets the pulse racing. It posed for a while, nectaring on some blossom:


Green Hairstreak, 24-Mar-2012. Sony A700 + Tamron 180/3.5

From there we walked through some woodland, normally home to many Speckled Woods but they didn't put in an appearance. But on the home stretch, we added two more species to the tally: A Red Admiral and a Small Tortoiseshell:


Small Tortoiseshell, 24-Mar-2012. Sony A700 + Tamron 180/3.5

Seven species in all - not bad for March

[Wurzel]

That is an absolutely cracking find and an equally cracking shot!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Susie]

I love your green hairstreak photo and can't believe you've seen one so early in the year! Fabulous.

[Lee Hurrell]

Another 'post hibernator full house'!

Lovely Green Hairstreak shot.

Lee

[David M]

My God! Green Hairstreaks have only just emerged in the south of France!!

Excellent images as usual. As you say, seven different species is quite an achievement in March in the UK.

[Neil Freeman]

Seven species already!!!

Apart from singletons of Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell its all Peacocks and Commas around my way.

Excellent photos, I especially like the Green Hairstreak.

Keep up the good work

Neil F.

[dilettante]

Monday 30th April 2012

So after a glorious start in March, April has been a washout. I've seen virtually nothing all month, but on the last day, April has redeemed itself. A bit of sunshine and warmth, so I took myself off the Cherry Hinton Pit LNR, just outside Cambridge, at lunchtime (without camera, unfortunately).

First up was a fresh Speckled Wood, shortly followed by a male Orange Tip, which even sat still for a bit to give me a nice close look. Then a male Brimstone ambled by. All this was a huge delight after such a drought (!) of butterflies. A quick tour around the newer East Pit added Small White to my list.

2 Speckled Wood
5 Brimstone (3 male, 2 female)
5 Orange Tips (male)
2 Small White plus 4 other unidentified whites (probably Small, maybe Green-Veined or female Orange Tips)

[dilettante]

Saturday 12th May 2012

With the return of the sunshine (with rather a cold NW wind), and a day to myself, I went to Dunstable Downs, Beds in search of Dukes and Skippers. While there weren't many of any of them, I did find them all.

First up was a mating pair of Grizzled Skippers, the only two I saw all day. Maybe I was looking in the wrong places.


Grizzled Skipper pair

Moving on to the slopes and gullies described by Dave (millerd) here, I encountered first a Dingy Skipper, and soon afterwards a Duke of Burgundy lurking in the grass. I saw 5 or 6 Dukes (and Duchesses) in all and a similar number of Dingy Skippers.


Dingy Skipper male


Duke of Burgundy male


Duke of Burgundy female


Duke of Burgundy female

Also seen were several Peacocks, Brimstones and Orange Tips, including this female:


Orange Tip female

Sunday 13th May 2012

While trying to mow the lawn and generally sort out the garden, I've had to make frequent stops to grab my camera and dash after butterflies, mostly Orange Tips. Generally they were rather active, but this male sat still for long enough:


Orange Tip male

And a little later, my son spotted this beautiful Holly Blue for me, my first of the year:


Holly Blue female

Things are definitely looking up!

[David M]

Stunning Holly Blue...and your female Duke of Burgundy is welcome too, as it's normally the males that are photographed.

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Good to see you've been able to get out and about!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Nick Broomer]

Your Holly Blue is a female.

[dilettante]

Your Holly Blue is a female.

D'oh! You're quite right of course. Thanks for the correction.

[Pauline]

Beautiful OT and stunning DoB.

[dilettante]

Friday 25th May 2012

I had the day off work, and the weather was perfect for a day's butterflying. My daughter joined me, being off school for the day.

We started at the Devil's Dyke, Cambs, from Reach, looking for Green Hairstreaks. A Holly Blue was our first sighting, then a female Brimstone and several Orange Tips. My daughter spotted a Small Heath, one of many we'd see during the day but my first of the year. Then at last a Green Hairstreak. The weather was quite breezy, so nothing realy stayed still long enough for photographs, but we got good views of the four or five GHs we encountered.

From there we went to the other side of Cambridge, to dodge the guided buses at Over Cutting. Quite a few Grizzled Skippers around, plus my first Brown Argus and Common Blues of the year. A Peacock also put in an appearance.


Small Heath, Over Cutting, Cambs


Grizzled Skipper female, Over Cutting, Cambs

[dilettante]

5th June 2012

I had an hour to spare before lunch this morning, so went to my nearby patch of scrub where last year there were plenty of Common Blues and a few Brown Argus. Despite reasonable weather (bright but overcast, rather windy, 15-16C) and a fairly thorough search, I only turned up one CB, a single Small Heath and several Large and Small Whites.


Common Blue male


Large White

In the afternoon I went for a walk with my family: 5+ miles through fields, hedgerows and plantations, and didn't see a single butterfly. Perhaps it was below the critical flight temperature, but I find it quite worrying. How are there going to be any butterflies next year if they're not out and about finding mates this year?

[Willrow]

In South Wales today it's been like mid-winter, cold heavy rain and low grey cloud and mist, flaming June

I'm as concerned as you are about future generations, I honestly cannot remember such low numbers of butterflies at this time of year, but nature usually has ways of coping, there's now't we can do about the weather, if we could we would most probably mess it up

Some excellent images dilettante, very well done.

Bill

[Neil Freeman]

Some excellent images dilettante, very well done.
Bill

Agreed, very nice photos there

Neil F.

[dilettante]

Sunday 10th June 2012

Seeing the sun shine at last this morning, I forced myself (and my family) out of bed. I was going to head to Hockley for Heath Fritillaries, but from the forecast it looked like I'd spend the sunny hours in the car and arrive just as it clouded over. So instead we went to nearby Fleam Dyke.

Despite ideal conditions (warm, sunny and still), butterfly numbers were disappointing. I was hoping for a skipper or two, Brown Argus or Common Blue, but none were around.


Fleam Dyke, Cambs

In fact for the first half of the walk I saw nothing more than a few unidentified whites and a couple of Brimstones, and eventually one Small Heath.



Small Heath

I spent a bit of time with this Mother Shipton:


Mother Shipton

Highlight of the trip was a couple of rather sorry looking Green Hairstreaks:


Green Hairstreak

(Yes, there's some clumsy artificial blurring on a couple of those shot )

Final tally was:
Brimstones - ~10
Orange Tip - 1 male, probably some females
Small Heath - 2
Green Hairstreak - 2
Holly Blue - 1
Large White - 1
Other whites - several

[dilettante]

Sunday 17th June 2012

Some Summer weather at last, although rather windy, prompted me to make the trip to deepest Essex for Heath Fritillaries. Our first target was Starvelarks Wood, which seems to be this year's hotspot. It wasn't easy finding where to park to get access, but eventually we parked between Pound Wood and Tile Wood and walked through the latter to get to Starvelarks, passing a couple of Speckled Woods on the way. We soon found a well-managed clearing that looked promising:


Starvelarks Wood, Essex

And indeed the Heath Fritillaries were out in force. We spent a couple of hours here, with HFs dancing all around. At times I could see twenty or more while I stood in one spot.


Heath Fritillary male, Starvelarks Wood

This female seemed to be discouraging the amorous attentions of the male:


Some looked fresher than others, suggesting they're still emerging perhaps:


Heath Fritillary female, Starvelarks Wood

I also saw one Holly Blue, and one Large White here. Just near this spot there's an open meadow area with long grass, oxeye daisies and other flowers. There were a couple of HFs out here, and also my first Meadow Browns of the year - just two or three of them, avoiding being photographed as per. Still no Large Skippers for me yet though, which I found a little surprising.

After that, we moved on to Hockley Woods. HF numbers were much lower here. In fact if I didn't know where to look from having been there last year, I probably would not have found them. We saw probably four or five here, compared to scores at Starvelarks. But I did manage a few more photos:


Heath Fritillary male, Hockley (Great Bull) Wood


Underside of the same male