Pauline

[ChrisC]

what a great collection of shots and memories never to be forgotten.

Chris

[David M]

It's a shame they don't rest wings open, Pauline, as their upperwings are a truly beautiful shade of deep yellow/pale orange. What's more, judging by the first photo I'd say this individual is a female with the more attractive wing margins.

You did well to get those photos as Clouded Yellows are like Brimstones on heat; always purposefully on the move. Even when I'm surrounded by them in France I can never get near them!

[MikeOxon]

You bring back memories of the excitement of my own first photo-encounter with Clouded Yellow. It was, of all places, in Smardale, Cumbria, where I was photographing Scotch Argus. That was during the great influx of 1992. Let's hope for another good year .

Mike

[Wurzel]

Says it all
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Great stuff Pauline

I saw my first Clouded Yellows for years in Dorset last year, two of them but neither of mine settled. Even so I remember the excitement that I felt so can appreciate what you must have felt.

All the Best,

Neil F.

[Pauline]

You're so right Chris - I'll never forget that experience. It's great when you see something that you plan to see but even better when it's totally unexpected like this.

Thank you David. I was able to spend enough time watching to see the really beautiful colours. I have just been informed that you are right about it being a female.

Morning Mike. I'm still buzzing from the encounter and pleased that others can understand and share the excitement.

Hopefully you're turn will come Wurzel if we do indeed get an influx

Thank you Neil - if I don't see another thing all Summer I shall still be quite satisfied. I reckon I got lucky as they are quite difficult to photograph.

A quick Maggie update for anyone interested (more butterflies a little later). She is doing well and she thinks she is now good to go but I know better. Until she is feeding herself and can fly a bit better she must stay a little while longer:

[Pauline]

I had to go up to Tesco earlier for fruit and veg for the parrots. I was halfway to Wrecclesham so I thought I might as well do the other half. I am concerned about that site as I don't understand what is happening there. It seems as if huge areas are dying off. It can't be due to the persistent sun or scorching ...... and surely it's not a lack of rain!!!

An area where I stood only a week ago, watching 2 Large Skippers and chatting to another UK butts member, has changed colour The large patch of vetch is dead Large clumps of brambles and nettles around the site look like they are dying

(The area where we were chatting Alan, by the cliff)

This place used to be teeming with all sorts of butterflies, including Small Blues which I haven't seen for a couple of years. I am wondering if it is some sort of spraying that is killing off the food plants and hence the butterflies Today I only saw 3 species, all singletons but I did see these beautiful creatures. How awful if they were all to disappear

I thought Damsel flies ate insects but this one was repeatedly pulling something off the seed heads (actually, perhaps there were tiny insects there that I couldn't see).

I still needed my butterfly 'fix' so stopped off at Broxhead Common on the way back just for 10 minute. As it was very windy I only took a few shots. I have not seen any females at this site yet.

[Pauline]

I'm getting a bit behind with my postings so here is a few shots of the SSB's that I took last week at my 'new' local site. The environment differs greatly from that of my other local site which is largely heather. Here there is much bracken bordering open spaces with a variety of wild flowers - I have yet to find the heather but the bracken makes for some picturesque shots.

Several males were competing for the attention of this brown female which was disguised as a leaf

One of these males was half the size of the others but he was so fresh and absolutely stunning:

[NickMorgan]

What beautiful butterflies and great pictures.
The vegetation you show does look a little as though it has been sprayed. After they have been sprayed, often the plants will grow rapidly and then curl and turn yellow. I have noticed the plants here have been wilting, but that is because of the lack of rain and the strong winds. Certainly a field margin I walked around this morning that was sprayed last week had no insects flying in it at all, but the neighbouring field had all sorts of insects (but only one butterfly!).

[Pauline]

That's very kind of you to say so Nick and thank you for your comment about the spraying. The more I think about it the more I think that has to be the reason as it is quite patchy and surely if it was due to the weather it would be all over?

I seem to be surrounded by Blues at the moment and can't resist posting more photos as I am enjoying my camera more this year even if I am still making basic mistakes - I am sure I shall improve with the help I am getting from the folk who read this diary.

[Maximus]

Hi Pauline, I am a bit behind as our internet has been down again! You have some amazing photos of the Clouded Yellow, what an encounter, I know how you felt! Glad to see the young Magpie is looking so good they are intelligent birds, we had an encounter with an injured one once and for a wild bird he was so laid back. Wrecclesham is worrying, I believe someone vandalised the earth moving machine so they removed it from the site, I guessed there would be some repercussions! You have some lovely SS Blue photos of really fresh looking individuals in your last posting.

Regards,
Mike

[Neil Freeman]

Some beautiful SSB images there Pauline

You have got me thinking about getting up to Prees Heath again this year to see some.

Cheers,

Neil F.

[Wurzel]

Absolutely lovely shots of the Silver Studs I'll have to try Slop Bog this weekend and hopefully they'll be out there...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Morning Mike - I'm glad you like my latest shots. I am lucky to have several SSB sites quite close to me, Broxhead being one. However. it is Bramshott where they seem to be most prolific this year and most advanced. I noticed the equipment had gone from Wrecclesham but didn't know about the damage - interesting! Maggie is now starting to find her own food and is flying better but I'm struggling to get good photos of a black and white bird. Have tried various settings but ........

I appreciate the compliment Neil and I am enjoying your diary too.

Thank you Wurzel. Inspired by your wonderful insect shots and Paul's reports on larva I decided to take a closer look at some of the other insects around. Trouble is, I don't know what any of them are The first patch of nettles I looked at was covered in a variety of Ladybirds. I assume that these are different species and not just male and female?

My next find amongst the nettles was a number of pupae, too small to be a butterfly I would think. The case had 2/3 golden rings at the top end which are not visible in the photo. I would have had to destroy its nettle cocoon to capture those and I was not prepared to.

I soon spotted a very red beetle, noticeable because of the vivid colour. It was not fast moving so I am thinking the colour, as it is not camouflage, must be a warning of a kind - sour taste perhaps? These cannot be rare as I went on to see several more but I can't remember seeing them previously.

Both this year and last I have seen several different spiders all with this sort of moth. I am wondering if this species tastes particularly good or whether they are just one of the easier ones to catch, or perhaps just very prolific.

... and last but not least, this beautiful moth. Dozens and dozens of them around.

[Paul Wetton]

Hi Pauline

I think you're ladybirds are the Harlequin Ladybird which is a very variable species and one that has been spread into this country from Asia I think and unfortunately its larvae eat the larvae of our native ladybird species (boo).

The red beetle is a fairly rare Red Longhorn Beetle Stictoleptura rubra.

The moths look like the Yellow-barred Longhorn Moth Nemophora degeerella.

I'm not sure about the Pupa.

All great photos.

[Vince Massimo]

Hi Pauline,

Lovely images as always
I think your pupa is most likely the Mother of Pearl moth http://www.ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1700

Regards,
Vince

[MikeOxon]

I soon spotted a very red beetle, noticeable because of the vivid colour.

From your description of the very vivid colour and the fact that there were several about, I assumed that this was a Cardinal beetle (pyrochroa coccinea). This variety has a black head, while the rather similar pyrochroa serraticornis has a red head. I'm no expert and tend to go wrong with IDs but I'd be interested to know why Paul went for a rarer and less vividly coloured species.

Pleased that your Magpie is doing well. They are difficult to photograph because of their strong contrast. I have some tips on my website at http://home.btconnect.com/mike.flemming ... odging.htm that you could try. Alternatively, take a burst of bracketed exposures and combine them with an HDR (high dynamic range) program. I think recent versions of Photoshop Elements can do this or there's a good free program from http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/

Mike

[Pauline]

A very big THANK YOU to Paul, Vince and Mike for your ID's. The breadth and depth of knowledge on this site never fails to amaze me. I think to myself 'how do they know that???!!!' It has certainly motivated me to look more closely at insects and I reckon I'm going to have to get a book for ID's. That was definitely the pupae Vince - and what a cracking moth (I'm tempted to go back there once they emerge to try to see them. I keep telling folk I'm not interested in moths but I think it's because the sheer numbers overwhelm me a bit.

Thank you also for the on-going help with the photography Mike. It is really appreciated and I shall certainly be looking at your website and trying out your recommendations. I am not sure how much longer I shall have Maggie as she is getting stronger and more able every day.

I have heard folk bemoan the fact that their butterflying is restricted to weekends and that they are dependent on the weather even then. I can totally sympathize as, until a few years ago, I was in the same position. I am now fortunate enough to have the flexibility to get out for an hour or so whenever I choose and am lucky enough to have a dozen or more sites within 10-15 minutes with a fair diversity of butterflies. However, I find myself envying those folk who can spend leisurely whole days at weekends enjoying the butterflies and the camaraderie of like-minded folk. Ah well, the grass is always greener .....

Today I fancied a change of scene and decided on the Straits. Although White Admirals have already been reported from here I saw only 4 species of butterflies - Large White, Speckled Wood, Large Skipper and Comma - but what captivated me were these lovely Dragonflies. There were 2 of them and I was surprised that the Comma persisted in chasing them - I thought it was supposed to be the other way round?

The Comma who was displaying such bravery/stupidity:

I took a fair few photos of insects but the strangest one was moving from side to side on a leaf seemingly 'tasting' it. A larger individual was on the leaf below doing a similar thing. They were most peculiar with long legs and odd looking feet. Quite evil looking in fact and I am wondering if they were some type of Horse Fly. The photos are not as clear as I would have liked but I am determined to find out what they are and perhaps what the weird behaviour indicated:

I was taking a photo of a very fresh Skipper and almost stood on this. I did not get to see its head but would be very interested if anyone knows what kind of snake it is. I have only ever seen one snake in my entire life (That was the one you showed me last year Tuts).

[Padfield]

Hi Pauline. Your snake is a grass snake. They generally keep quite a low profile, which is why you rarely come across them, but if you discover where they hang out to warm up in the mornings you can see them regularly and on demand (at one place I lived near Oxford they gathered in numbers on some corrugated iron left in a grassy patch in the garden). They are also quite good swimmers and you will often see them dropping into water when you disturb them along the bank of a stream.

The dragonfly is a female broad-bodied chaser, Libellula depressa. You might have noticed the males at the same site - with a similar broad, flattened shape but a lovely blue colour. It's interesting that your comma was chasing them. Male butterflies can be quite indiscriminate in their aggressive tendencies!

Guy

[Pauline]

Thank you for this Guy. The snake did eventually slither away and dropped into a ditch full of water without me ever seeing the head so I shall check out that place next time I am in the area. I certainly didn't see any blue Dragonflies which led me to wonder if the females emerge before the males, unlike most butterflies. I have been looking on the internet at the immature stages - fascinating. My interest is primarily butterflies but I feel there is a whole new world opening up here. I found that I already have an insect book - a Collins guide - and I have tried to identify my fly. It is certainly not a Horse Fly or a Stilt-legged fly but I am wondering if it is a Snipefly. I think more likely it is a type of Hover fly (Milesa Crabroniformis) but I am not familiar enough with the anatomy to be sure. The creature seemed to be stroking the leaf with an odd looking proboscis as it weaved from side to side and had the two of them been on the same leaf I would have thought it was a courtship ritual. I don't know if these photos help with identification: