Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Wurzel, nice wrapping up of your 2014 reports

If you are starting this season already behind in your posts, how far behind will you be by the end?

Cheers,

Neil.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, hope you get your Heath Frits, I might miss them this year, I'm not going to Kent while August, but if they're late I'll stand a chance
I did all right with the Butterflies this weekend (at last) also got my chocolate egg Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Neil I'll try and get caught up as soon as I can
Cheers Goldie I hope you get the Heaths

Five Rivers 07-03-2015

Saturdays now pass in a whirl of two trips to the swimming pool (as both my daughters are swimming at different times), then there’s the trip to the vets for the cat food, followed by the trip to town for the banks, market and library. Added to this list today were other errands to run and starting to strip wall paper through the whole house in readiness for Lime plastering. Somehow though, I managed to crow bar in a free thirty minutes at Five Rivers with my older daughter.

As we arrived the sun peered through the clouds and started to hang around a bit so we headed straight to the Banks. As we made our way along the narrowest of paths amongst the new growth of Stinging Nettles the wind tore across the river and up the hill. When it did the temperature would drop noticeably and just as I was pointing this out to my daughter when a leaf fluttered out of nowhere and dropped onto the path. Only it wasn’t a leaf it was my first butterfly of the year – Small Tortoiseshell. It was a tired looking insect with one hind wing missing but I didn’t care and as I knelt to take a few shots a wave of calm passed over me and so returned ‘that’ feeling that has been missing since last November. A moment of stillness, the warmth radiating up from the ground, the sun on my back and my mind entirely absorbed by the scene in front of me.

Later as we carried on round another Small Tort bombed down the hill this one was complete but it didn’t stop for a photo. It was an incongruous sight to see as a slight head turn and there were a small group of Redwings – the old and the new at one site. On the way back we checked out a couple of the roof lining squares to see if there was anything underneath. One held a very fast moving Shrew (or rather it didn’t hold it), another a collection of snails and the last one was hiding a Toad much to the delight of my daughter.

So one Small Tort does not a spring make but it’s a start at least!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

HI Wurzel,
Blow the dust off the camera , and give the shutter button finger a work out !
I saw some Cuckoo flower and Cowslips today, so OT's and Dukes will follow

All the best
TREVOR.

[Goldie M]

No Cuckoo flowers here yet Wurzel, I don't think the Orange Tips will arrive here for a couple of weeks yet, mind you if it rains and things start growing better and quicker you never know Glad you've made a start with the Butterflies, I'm off this afternoon to Whalley Abbey may be I'll see something there (hope fully) Goldie

[Maximus]

Great that you're off the mark, Wurzel

[Mike Robinson]

Well done with the Small Tortoiseshell. A nice couple of pictures.
I had to smile when you mentioned kneeling down; with my knees my days of doing that are long gone.

[trevor]

HI Wurzel,
It won't be long before other species appear around here, but for now it's Comma after Comma.
Even when I go to areas where they are not usually found.

All the best
TREVOR.

[millerd]

Nice start with that "Small Threequartershell", Wurzel. I'm eagerly awaiting your sudden sprint to come bang up to date!

(And I do sympathize with Mike's knees - I'm sure the butterflies can hear the creaking as I try to get that bit nearer...)

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor I've finally gotten my Commas, Red Admiral, Peacocks and have added OT and Holly Blue but no Cuckoo Flower yet - still hopefully by next week, I might have caught up by then!
Cheers Goldie I hope the Abbey paid off.
Cheers Mike And thanks for sending one of our OTs over my way
Cheers Mike I'm getting my daughter tarined up so she can lift me up in a few yers time when my knees do pack in - they're in need of WD40 now so I don't know how much longer they've got
Cheers Dave I'm just warming up ready for the genlte amble - I do like to be at least 3 weeks behind on my PD

Five Rivers 14-03-2015

After the brief foray the previous weekend had yielded me my first butterfly of 2015 I was eager to get out again. However the two ‘w’s that are the bane of my life conspired against me; work was ridiculous, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to plan, mark and do all those other little jobs that you’re asked to do and the weather wasn’t that great either.

Still after all the usual chores were completed I set out with my older daughter to Five Rivers. She is something of a Talisman for me and I will ask her as we set off whether we will see a species or not. If she answers quickly the affirmative then I generally see that species, the slightest hesitation often means it will be hard work or I will draw a blank. I know this kind of superstitious twaddle is nonsense but the success rate of this technique goes beyond coincidence and my daughter likes this silly ritual so I still use it. Today when I mentioned Brimstone and Red Admiral there was a deafening silence (had she heard me or was she too busy daydreaming and gazing out of the window?) but Small Tortoiseshell got a response.

Once on site we headed to Comma Corner straight away but the breeze was strong and the cloud hid the sun so we doodled along the Banks. We were about half way along when the breeze dropped, the sun came out and the temperature increased almost to the point of not needing a coat, Bumble Bees bumbled buzzing by. These are two of my indicators that I look out for early in the season as Bumble Bees and not needing a coat often mean suitable conditions for Butterflies. And so it was now as a Small Tortoiseshell suddenly appeared in a place where 2 seconds before there wasn’t one. Because of the wing damage I was able to recognise this as my ‘first’ from the week before. It was still quite distant but I took a shot just in case – a good ploy at this time of year when a single sighting may be all you get on a trip out.

Then there was another slightly further away, as I scanned around it caught my eye and I swear that it ‘reverse faded’ into view. Then there was a third.

We then both spent the next 20 minutes or so alternately wandering back and forth along the Banks or waiting for the sun to come back out from behind the cloud or the breeze to drop. Each time that it would the butterflies would appear from places where they clearly hadn’t been just seconds before. In the end we thought that we had better head home and save my wife from the clutches of my younger daughter and so we made one last tour of the Banks before rounding Comma Corner (still no Comma) and a last final Small Tortoiseshell bombed by as if to wish us farewell. Including this last one and looking through the photos I reckon there were about 5 different Small Torts present so things are a little behind last year but at least we’ve started!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Lots of activity there, Wurzel.

You realise that you are risking actually catching up with your personal diary?

[Mike Robinson]

Some lovely pictures.
Thanks for noticing my Peacocks yesterday.
Mike ...

[Wurzel]

Cheers David I don't think I will get caught up as everytime I sort a set of photos and write a post ready I head out teh enxt day and get more photos!
Cheers Mike No worries!

Work 20-03-2015

It felt like Spring was finally in the air and so as luck would have it I was stuck in work with 6 lessons out of a possible 6 to teach and no PPAs in which I might be able to nip off and take a few photos about the site. As if to rub salt in the wound a male Brimstone (my second of the year) spent the 2 lessons before lunch patrolling around the quad which my lab overlooks. Even worse than this, he kept resting on the small strand of Ivy which is only three steps away from my lab .

Fed up watching his antics I waited for lunch and tried my hardest to avert my eyes from the windows. When lunch came the Brimstone that was outside the window and had kept stopping decided that enough was enough and as I unclipped my lens cap and took the first of the three steps he gently took off, gave an agonisingly slow circuit round the Ivy and then drifted up and over the building and out of sight. It felt like he’d just flipped me the bird!

Teeth grinding I went back though the building and scanned along the car park but he was already gone. A darker flickering movement did catch my eyes and one small area of gravel next to the Transformer revealed itself to e a Small Tortoiseshell. I slowly approached and it seemed quite happy sunbathing. My breathing slowed as I sidled in took a few shots and then sidled back without the butterfly being obviously aware of my presence.

As I was enjoying that meditative moment a small shadow passed overhead and looking up at an angle I spied a blinding white butterfly. I followed it along the Leylandi and it landed very high up. I was only just able to stretch my arms out and reel off a few snaps. They didn’t come out to well due to a combination of factors including the fact that the angle I was photographing it from reflected the maximum amount of light and so it looks like a white blur. I didn’t mind as it was my first Small White of the year and something of a surprise beating Comma, Red Admiral and Peacock onto my year list.

A poor record shot

I headed back in to give up the rest of my lunch time for a revision session but at least I’d had those 4 or 5 minutes of tranquillity.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

HI Wurzel,

You say that you have a lot going on at the moment. Lets hope its to do with Large Tortoiseshells
or Scarce Tortoiseshells , as both have been seen in Sussex this week !!.
(see Sussex BC website , sightings page ).

Good hunting,
TREVOR.

[bugboy]

I reckon he's out and about busy tracking down Map early stages to show off over next winter

[Wurzel]

Sorry to disappoint you guys - I was just revelling in spending time with my girls over the holidays and also feeling quite chuffed that more is getting done to the house - who knows in 6 weeks we might have plaster on the walls

Five Rivers 21-03-2015

What happened? Things were building nicely – one week there was only a single Small Tort, then the next there were 5, I was on yearly count of three species and then today when I visit Five Rivers it was freezing cold. I was only really visiting as a recce as I was interested to see if I could make it across to the Banks, do a circuit or three and make it back to the Leisure Centre in time to help my older daughter get changed after her swimming lesson. The answer to this is yes it is possible, all those years honing my skills on 5 minute stop-offs are paying dividends.

Due to the cold I didn’t expect much and there was only a single Small Tort hunkering down amongst the growing nettles buffeted by the breeze and shivering possibly to get it’s flight muscles up to temp so that it could find somewhere less exposed.

On the way back there were a flock of Redwings still hanging around on the football pitch. As I watched them hopping their way across the field I wondered if this was a sign of things to come, would the cooler weather be around for a bit longer, did they know something that I didn’t? It seemed odd seeing a winter visitor and a spring emerger on the same day and in the wrong order?

Have a goodun
Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, just catching up on postings, I never got to the Abbey some thing came up and that was that. I have had lots of sightings in my own back garden so i've been quite happy

Your STS photo's are great, I've been looking for Whites no luck here yet although the've been seen in Lanc's just have to keep looking
they certainly won't be out today we've got strong winds rain Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie I reckon things will really get going now so it won't be long before the Whites are out in full force.

Five Rivers 22-03-2015

Yesterday afternoon the last of our Lathe and Plaster ceilings came down. Again it was hot and dusty work but I’m getting the hang of it now and the whole job was finished in 4 hours. As a reward I headed out today over lunch to make the most of the weak spring sunshine at Five Rivers.

Comma corner drew a blank again as I headed onto the Banks but I did keep looking back at it wistfully, I just had a feeling that a Comma would turn up there. It didn’t though so I spent some time wandering the Banks. There were plenty of Small Torts around to keep me company they were hard to count as they would buzz all around. I reckoned about 11 for the whole site as the Banks held 6 individuals in one view at one point and there were a few more flying about and further on as well.

Further on round I stopped by the hedge that marks the boundaries. A Brimstone, a male, flipped over from the neighbouring Allotments and slowly, teasingly slowly flew backwards and forwards along the hedge in tighter and tighter circuits. As it moved it lost altitude until eventually it flipped down. Now it was my turn to move slowly, teasingly slowly and lose altitude as I approached it.

Happy with the shots I reversed and as I did so another male flew over the hedge and both males chased after each other and were gone. Feeling a bit lonely I headed back to the Banks where the boisterous Small Torts were having a ball. After another couple of laps of the Banks I headed home. As I approached Comma Corner a different looking butterfly approached. It was more ginger biscuit coloured than the reddish Small Torts and also seemed to have a more direct flight with a heavier build. As it powered past I focused on it – my first Comma of 2015, and at Comma Corner too!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Lovely Beefly there Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Love that Bee Wurzel, you caught the flight just right,
Last week I went up to Gaits Barrow I didn't see much but the weather was great, the usual early Butterflies were there , I hadn't get a Brimstone( couldn't get close enough to take any shots) so I'm still without my Brimstone Yours looks great a really great shot Goldie