William

[William]

Thank you Butterflysaurus - you kind comments are much appreciated .

[Wurzel]

I agree with Rex, having never seen a Helice let alone photographed one I'd love all of those in my collection

Have a great Crimble
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[William]

Thanks Wurzel - I hope you one day catch up with a Helice - they are simply stunning. I also found they were much more obliging than their more 'normal' relatives - I don't know why - hope you have a merry christmas, and many butterflies in 2014 .

[Neil Freeman]

A fantastic series of Clouded Yellow images William

I was fortunate to catch up with loads of Clouded Yellows in Dorset this year and took loads of photos but would dearly love to have captured some images like yours, particularly the open wing helice ones

Excellent stuff

Hope you have a great Christmas,

Neil

[William]

Thanks Neil - I was very suprised to find my first helice - from distance I thought it was a yellowy large white - a stunning butterfly . Have a merry christmas .

[William]

Small Tortoiseshells

Like everyone else, I found Small Tortoiseshells had a really excellent year, and I found them everywhere in larger numbers than ever before. It was really wonderful, to be able to walk my transect (along a rather scrubby field margin next to some maize fields) and find them jostling for places on the flowerheads - on one afternoon in August I counted 101 feeding on the creeping thistle and Purple Loosestrife - an experience that will live long in the memory.

Small Tortoiseshells - North Norfolk Coast Path

Small Tortoiseshells - Somerset

The larvae I found in June moved quickly through their life cycle, as did the numerous other batches of ova and caterpillars I saw, indeed, seemingly every nettle patch I saw contained a seething mass of black caterpillars - they were everywhere!

Small Tortoiseshell Larva

Small Tortoiseshell Larva

Small Tortoiseshell Larvae

These developed quickly, and I took a few final instar larvae in for observation.

Small Tortoiseshell Larvae

Small Tortoiseshell Larva - Pupating

Small Tortoiseshell Pupa

Small Tortoiseshell Pupa - About a day before emergence

Small Tortoiseshell - Freshly Emerged Adult

As well as photographing the immature stages, I enjoyed observing the adults in my garden, and on 'the patch'.

Small Tortoiseshell

Small Tortoiseshell

Small Tortoiseshell - Pale Form

I even managed to find one at roost - unusually not in a hole in a tree or a building. There had been nearly 60 feeding on Purple Loosestrife and when the rain came, a few stuck around.

Small Tortoiseshell Roosting

[Nick Broomer]

Hi William,

Excellent photos of the Clouded Yellows. But i enjoyed your photos of your early stages of the Small Tortoiseshell even more. Just brilliant.

I hope you and your family have a excellent New Year.

All the best, Nick.

[William]

Thanks Nick - I have enjoyed your immature clouded yellows just as much - simply stunning, I look forward to the final instalments .

[Maximus]

A lovely sequence of Small Tortoiseshell photos William

Mike

[William]

Thanks Mike - it was great to see so many this year .

[William]

Peacock

I thought I'd continue my nymphalid theme this week and go with Peacocks. I found 2013 was a good year for these stunning butterflies, but in some areas not others. Usually in late summer Peacocks are one of the most numerous butterflies in my garden, with as many as 20 individuals. This year however they scarcely made double figures, whilst I enjoyed up to 33 Small Tortoiseshells, and similar numbers of Large Whites. Nevertheless, they were around in good numbers elsewhere, and on one thoroughly enjoyable walk on my 'patch' I counted 50 Peacocks within 10m squared on some buddleias, a wonderful experience, every flower seemed to posses a flickering pair of multicoloured wings .

Peacock

Peacock

Peacock

Peacock

Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell

I also found far more larvae this year, somewhere in the region of 8 nests. Given that I've only ever found one nest before, I was delighted to see so many of these handsome gregarious larvae.

Peacock Larva

Peacock Larvae

Peacock larva

[Wurzel]

Stunning shots William My favourite has to be the Peacock and Small Tort together, it looks like one of those team building exercises where you ave to rely on each other to stay balanced on a very narrow and very high platform

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[William]

Thanks Wurzel, much appreciated - I think that's an excellent analogy - I was suprised to see the two co-operating, particularly on such a small flower .

[Neil Freeman]

Just catching up on your diary William. Your posting some beautiful images which are really going some way to brighten up another dark and dreary evening

Cheers,

Neil

[William]

Thanks Neil - Peacocks are magnificent Butterflies .

[William]

I had an extremely enjoyable time today, for once being blessed with magnificent weather. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to see any adult butterflies, but a friend showed me some superb White - Letter Hairstreak ova in his garden, as well as some lovely footage of an abberant Small Copper - an afternoon well spent

White - Letter Hairstreak Ovum

[Nick Broomer]

Hi William,

Lovely photos of the Peacocks, both larva and the butterflies. Especially the second photo down, excellent. Also thats a smashing photo of the White- letter Hairstreak ovum. I am really looking forward to reading your PD in the coming months.

All the best, Nick.

[William]

Thanks Nick - your kind comments are much appreciated

[William]

Chalkhill Blues

Chalkhill Blues, are sadly, not all that common in Somerset, with a scattering of colonies on the Mendips, Poldens and at Brean Down. Nevertheless, I make a pilgrimage to see them each year, normally at a site just down the road from Collard Hill on the Poldens. This year was no exception, and I was fortunate to find them in better numbers than ever before. On a cloudy, windy evening in August, a clocked up around 50 specimens, including several handsome aberrations. The Supporting Cast included Brown Argus, Common Blue and Marbled White, these, coupled with the spectacular views, made for an enjoyable evening.

The cloudy weather made getting undersides quite easy...

Chalkhill Blue - Male

And uppersides more challenging.

Chalkhill Blue - Male

I tried to put a name to the many aberrations, but it was a thankless task - perhaps someone can help?

Chalkhill Blue - Male - Post-Obsoleta?

Chalkhill Blue - Female

Chalkhill Blue - Female

Chalkhill Blue - Male

Chalkhill Blue - Male - Fowleri?

[Pete Eeles]

I tried to put a name to the many aberrations, but it was a thankless task - perhaps someone can help?

Hi William - great photos! The penultimate ab. is definitely a candidate for ab. postico-obsoleta ("Underside of the hind wings with all spots absent except the discoidal. Forewings normal." and your last definitely tending toward ab. fowleri.

Chalkhill Blue abs. were "done to death" by Bright and Leeds in "A Monograph of the British Aberrations of the Chalk-Hill Blue Butterfly" and, as a result, we now have in the region of 500 different abs. defined that vary in the tiniest of details and pinpointing which of the 500 applies isn't easy!

Cheers,

- Pete