July 2014

[brian laney]

With a bit of luck today, and despite some atrocious weather conditions I managed to connect with my first ever British MONARCH at Ruckinge, Kent. It has been present 2 days now and after finding out it was still present and arranging access to the owners garden, I was treated to views as it sheltered from the heavy rain this afternoon. I managed a few shots which were not good as it was obscured but what a sight to see. Hopefully I will post some shots later on my Blog: http://www.marcheath.blogspot.com

Marc

Excellent shots. Would love to catch up with one. I missed two, one in 1997 I think and one in 2012, both from Dorset. My brother also keeps missing them even though he lives in Cornwall and has a better chance of getting to one quicker than me.

Brian Laney, Northants.

[ChrisC]

as well as the skipper laying in eggs in the front garden yesterday i had the pleasure of the company of 2 pine hawk moths in the garden last night after dark.

[Pete Eeles]

Great photos Chris!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Jack Harrison]

Not just great Pine Hawks Chris, but clever photography.

And me today 23rd July Isle of Mull, Croig (in NW of island)

Scotch Argus only just emerging – 4 or 5 seen
Meadow Brown – also 4 or 5, all being males
Speckled Wood 1
Small Heath 1
Dark Green Fritilllary – at least a dozen
Common Blue – 1
Common whites (GV) - many
Disappointingly, no Graylings
No Tortoiseshells there but plenty later in garden at home.

Temperature 25C at Croig and unpleasantly humid. Later car thermometer showed 28C in Dervaig area.
Back in Tobermory, my weather station recorded max of 26C, hottest day of the year.

Jack

[David M]

Temperature 25C at Croig and unpleasantly humid. Later car thermometer showed 28C in Dervaig area.
Back in Tobermory, my weather station recorded max of 26C, hottest day of the year.

Wow. That's seriously warm for the western isles. I believe even Stornoway got into the mid-twenties.

[Pauline]

Fantastic shots Chris

[AJSteele]

A couple of hot days in cumbria produced Northern brown Argus, DGF including one egg laying(which where the only ones which stopped), quite a few graylings and scotch argus on the wing at arnside knott. At Great gable only a couple of mountain ringlets seen but distance but amazed to see large white less than 100m from the sumit and at methol Moss no sight of any Large heath decide a good hunt but did find my first cumbria reptile in the form of a common Lizzard along with a nice small cooper

[CJB]

Hello UK B'ers

A very brief trip Scotland produced a lifer for me in the form of a Scotch Argus!

Scotch Argus

This was about the only time it sat still long enough to get a record shot, but a really beautiful flutterer nonetheless.

Flutter on!

CJB

[jasonbirder]

A hot day in the field...even though I was out and about by 9am everything was very skittish and active...making good photo's hard to come by!
Visited Arnside Knott and there were plenty of Grayling about on the area's of exposed stone on the slopes uphill from the Car Park...and small numbers of Scotch Argus in the grassy open area's on the south side of the Knott...as these were all very active and seemed to favour the most precipitous slopes it made getting a picture difficult to say the least...I expected greater numbers...so perhaps we are still in the early stages of their emergance?
Onto Gait Barrows which was alive with second brood Brimstone and Peacock...I was after better photo's of High Brown Fritillary...which were obvious around the reserve with their distinctive high gliding flight...again they were reluctant to settle for long...though at least one individual co-operated long enough to get the diagnostic underwing shot!

[Catteraxe]

Spent a pleasant couple of hours at Collard Hill this afternoon. Seriously hot but plenty of butterflies although numbers of Marbled White disappointing being only a fraction of the numbers this time last year.

[Cotswold Cockney]

Busy with lots to do, have not been paying much attention to the garden lately. Even so, in the heat of the past few days my garden has seen a larger number of butterflies passing through or staying for a while. These include a fresh male Brimstone and lost count of the number of Peacocks seen. They appear larger in size than previous seasons. Same with Hedge Brown/Gatekeepers. Numerous males and a couple of females. All the usual three whites with the Large being the least represented.

There was also a very small and feeble flying 'white' in today's heat which did not quite give all the usual signs of being a Wood White, only some of them. Another mystery. have lived in my present house for over forty years. Once have I positively identified a Wood White in my garden. That was twenty five years ago and I needed a net to positively ID it. I have seen them miles away from suitable habitat making their way slowly but progressively along hedgerows in quiet country lanes.

I now know why my Buddleia has little attraction for the past few seasons. Less than fifty metres away, what was once a few skinny plants are now a massive bank of the plants now tree sized ~ not bushes. That's where they all go now .. :rolleyes:

One regular breeder in the garden for many seasons is almost absent now. The Speckled Wood. We have had a large extension to the house which meant many plants and some areas of grass have gone. Plus, building materials and equipment stored on the now reduce lawn area. The extension is now complete and the reduced garden size is starting to recover.

A week or so ago I disturbed a fine specimen of that beautiful Moth "The Old Lady" roosting on some boards against my garage wall. It did not take flight immediately so I went to get my camera. On return it did take off and was immediately chased by a female Blackbird which is also a regular visitor to my garden. I suspect she has young somewhere nearby. I discouraged the bird and the moth escaped with a fine buoyant flight more like that of a large butterfly than a moth. I now realise the possibility that fleeting observations of this moth in that past which always puzzled me may explain what that unidentified "big brown butterfly" was. Too dark for one of the several Large Tortoiseshell species which I am familiar with having bred them, and no sign of ocherous borders to its wings of the closely related Camberwell Beauty which I've also bred. So .... It's close relative the Red Underwing also looks like a buoyant Butterfly taking flight when disturbed during the day. First impressions of a Red Admiral until the ID is made.

Up until that garden sighting, my positive observations of this moth during my lifetime was three! Now I'm sure that total of sightings is rather higher.

[Ian Pratt]

Seen this morning close to my home. Its colours are stunning and it is why it is one of my favourite butterflies. Ian

[cl-bucks]

Norfolk, a Camberwell Beauty by old radar site on Salthouse Heath this afternoon

[Ian Pratt]

Three second brood Adonis blues at Bonchurch Down IOW today. Ian

[Hoggers]

A beautiful helice graced my Patch this morning down here in Kent

(Together with a male)

And at Dungeness I saw another Clouded Yellow with a Painted Lady

Best Wishes,

Hoggers.

[Matsukaze]

I have seen a couple of White-letter Hairstreaks in the last few days, one at low level and one fluttering around the top of hedgerow elms. Their season is not over yet!

[Ian Pratt]

At Arreton Down Isle of Wight this afternoon there were possibly 10,000 chalk hill blues or more together with 2 clouded yellows. 1 small skipper, 1 small tortoiseshell, 2 red admirals, 1 peacock, 4 marbled whites, 1 common blue, 1 green-veined white, 3 large whites, 2 commas, many gatekeepers and meadow browns and 1 brown argus.
On one patch of wild marjoram alone there were at least 50 chalk hill blues , and a couple of meadow browns!
Ian

[Rosalyn]

Sunday 27th

An early start for us to get to Aston Rowant (North) before everything started to get hyperactive. We arrived around 8am and it was mostly quiet except for a few Meadow Browns. Lots of Chalkhill Blue and a few Marbled White roosting early on but we were searching for Silver-spotted Skippers. Phil had a tactic, lie in wait where there was some activity. I made slower progress, I should have put boots on to negotiate the steep bank, as it happens I slipped and scared one up which quite coincidentally landed where another was perched

As the morning wore on I was surprised we had the place to ourselves apart from a few walkers passing by.

We found an unusual Common Blue, very pretty but a little shy. It grew steadily warmer and by midday we had used up our water, by then Phil had ambushed his SSS too. Spotted a single Adonis Blue as we were leaving.

[Neil Freeman]

Spent this morning at Babbs Mill Park and LNR near Solihull with my daughter and grandson. Whilst checking the skippers for Small/Essex I had a flypast of a Clouded Yellow, the first one I have seen locally.

Then later this afternoon at Sheldon Country Park at the end of the runway at Birmingham Airport, another Clouded Yellow flypast. After years of not seeing one locally, that's two in one day

Cheers,

Neil.

[Ian Pratt]

As well as Glanville fritillaries it appears we now have bee-eaters breeding on the Isle of Wight. Exciting!
See https://www.facebook.com/IsleofWightNT?fref=ts
Ian