William

[William]

Thanks Pete - that penultimate one was my favourite so it's nice to put a name to it .

[Wurzel]

A great collection of Chalkhills William Some of those abs are really interesting, you could try the Cockayne collection on the Natural History Museum website to see if any that are similar to yours. If you found that many abs from one site I think I need to check out the sites near me in more detail next year.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[William]

Thanks Wurzel - I did have a look, that's where I came up with the Post-Obsoleta, but I ended up deciding I lacked the necessary expertise ! I was very surprised to find so many abs, I had hoped for just one or two, but I would say 1 in 5 or 4 was aberrant! The only reason I can think of for this is that I was at quite an isolated site for Chalkhills, perhaps meaning increased variation within the smaller gene pool.

[Nick Broomer]

Thats an impressive number of Chalkhill Blue aberrations, William. You might not be blessed with great numbers of these delightful insects in your area, but the diversity of these butterflies certainly makes up for the lack of numbers. Lovely Photos.

All the best, Nick.

[Susie]

Did someone say chalkhills?

This little butterfly is one I hope to never tire of seeing and that was a smashing collection of photographs, William

[William]

Thanks Guys I really appreciate your kind comments - I was delighted to find them in so many unusual shapes and sizes - an evening well spent !

[William]

Whites

I have always found Whites one of the most ubiquitous families of Butterflies in my part of the world, an observation mirrored by the Somerset Butterfly Conservation Transect Booklet for this year - Large Whites increased by 350% on 2012, Small Whites 592% and Green - Veined Whites 112%. With such excellent numbers of Butterflies around, I wasn't hard pressed for photographic opportunities, a few below....

Firstly, a female Brimstone mobbed by Green - Veined and Large Whites..

Brimstone with Large and Green - Veined Whites in Pursuit

Brimstone with Large and Green - Veined Whites in Pursuit

Large and Small White Larvae

Small White

Large Whites Mating

Large Whites

Large White

Brimstone

Large White Larva

Large White Ovipositing

Green - Veined Whites

This last photo shows some behaviour I had not seen before - a large number of males following a female Large White, in a great twisting, extended line - I saw it a couple of times in a clover field where a large number of Large Whites had gathered, quite a sight! I seem to remember reading about similar behaviour 'shoaling' on the Purple Empire.

Large Whites

[Wurzel]

Some mouthwatering shots there William - the in flight multi-species shots in particular are sublime

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Nick Broomer]

Great photos William, especially the butterflies in flight. But, the most interesting shot is the photo of the two Large White larva, the smaller one of the two is shedding it`s larval skin. Well captured.

All the best, Nick.

[Maximus]

Very nice photos of the whites William, we also recorded fantastic numbers in 2013

Mike

[William]

Thanks all, your kind comments are much appreciated .

Mike - Thank You - 2013 was an excellent year, and the clover field in which I found all the Clouded Yellows was also filled with Large Whites

Nick - Thank you very much, each year the Large Whites tear our Rocket, Cabbage, Kale and Nasturtiums to shreds so I have plenty of photo opportunities
Wurzel - Thank you, it was a bit of a fluke, as the poor Brimstone flew slowly around trying to escape her confused suitors I bumped the shutter speed up, selected manual focus and fired away

[William]

Egging

Whilst out today I came across a couple of orphaned Purple Hairstreak Ova - they certainly brightened up the day

Purple Hairstreak Ovum

As well as a few of these, I found 2 more eggs of a different kind. I presume they are moth ova of some sort, perhaps people have had a similar experience whilst searching for Purple Hairstreak Ova and know what they are? I normally find a few whenever I go looking on Oaks, they're about two thirds of the size of PH eggs.

Unidentified Ovum

[William]

Meadow Browns

This week I thought I'd turn to one of the more overlooked summer Butterflies, Meadow Browns. The first of the season are always a real joy, velvety fresh, chocolate - dark males. Unfortunately as they grow more tatty some of their charm fades, as they bomb around, flushing anything and everything. Nevertheless, I always find there is something very stirring about walking through a grassy field, alone on a hot july evening, and being surrounded by butterflies, hundreds of Meadow Browns.

I normally end up with a few photos each season, a couple below.

Meadow Brown - Female

Meadow Brown - Male

Meadow Browns

Meadow Brown - Female

Meadow Brown - Male

Meadow Brown Ovum

And FInally a couple of oddities, a mixed pairing with a Gatekeeper...

Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper Mixed Pairing

And a pale female from 2012

Meadow Brown Female

[Butterflysaurus rex]

Cor Blimey William! Those Meadow Brown photo's are fantastic, I particularly like number 4! I really must have a go at taking some shots like that, I highly doubt they will be as good though.

Great stuff

Best Wishes

B'saurus

[William]

Thanks Butterfly Saurus, it was one of those lovely moments where the light, the butterfly and my camera seemed to be reading off the same page, as is so often not the case

[Maximus]

That mixed pairing shot of Meadow Brown/Gatekeeper is amazing William why did you sit on it for so long

Mike

[William]

Thanks Mike - I was very suprised to see it, as I walked through the garden, the strange pair flew up from under my feet and into a nearby Buddleia.

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots William and that 'odd paring' is pretty special - I've not seen that before - would they have viable offspring or are they not closely related enough I wonder?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[William]

Thanks Wurzel, your kind comments are much appreciated! I think since the two are distinct species they can't, but that's one for the experts

[William]

Browns

I thought I'd continue with the brown theme this week and go with some of the other Browns which I have not photographed enough for them to merit their own post. Wall Browns are normally quite rare in my part of the world, but each year I am lucky enough to have a few grace my garden. I have no idea where they come from, living in a sea of reseeded grassland, but it is always a joy to see them bouncing around, and appropriately enough, perching on their favourite wall.

This year I saw my first, to my great suprise basking in a hedgerow near my home towards the end of May, followed by a female that appeared a couple of times in the garden during August and another on my transect.

Wall Brown - Female

Wall Brown - Female

Gatekeepers had a pretty good year on the patch and as always it was great to see them bouncing along hedgerows in their normal way. They have taken a real liking to my little wild patch, in particular the scabious and knapweed - a real joy to watch.

Gatekeeper - Female

Gatekeeper - Male

Small Heaths are the final browns I come to. They're quite rare in Somerset, and I've only ever seen them twice on my patch, I did however find a couple roosting when I went to look for Chalkhill Blues on the Poldens.

Small Heath