Notes and Views - May 2015

[Vince Massimo]

The website of the Sussex Branch of Butterfly Conservation carried another report from Dave Harris in Newhaven, East Sussex on 15th May concerning the Red Admiral eggs and larvae he was monitoring. The eggs were laid between 29th November and 2nd December 2014 and by 7th January 2015 he reported that there were good numbers of both first instar caterpillars and unhatched eggs. The last of the eggs had hatched by 23rd January 2015. On 15th May 2015 he reported that "the last of five overwintering Red Admiral caterpillars under observation hatched (into an adult butterfly) today......This originated from eggs laid on 2nd December, so about five and a half months from egg to butterfly"

The link to the website is here http://www.sussex-butterflies.org.uk/sightings.html but the report will slip further down the page as time passes.

Vince

[Vince Massimo]

An amazing image captured by Neil Freeman of a female Speckled Wood ovipositing in his Solihull garden on 15th May 2015. Reported in his UKB personal diary.
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=5424&start=1320#p98074

Vince

[Vince Massimo]

An unusual cross-species pairing captured by Maximus on the Isle of Wight on 20th May. This time, a male Brown Argus with a female Adonis Blue.

See Personal Diary entry here viewtopic.php?f=29&t=6813&start=660#p98461

Vince

[Willrow]

I've previously seen these two superb images on Neil and Mike's Personal Diaries, however they are indeed very notable and highlighting them here so that other enthusiasts and fellow UKB's that may have missed them is commendable Vince glad you did this - it emphatically proves the worth of the Notes & Views thread.

Regards,

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

[Vince Massimo]

Many thanks Bill. Many outstanding sightings, observations and photos on UKB risk being overlooked or forgotten after a few years have passed, so it was decided to produce a monthly highlights section. The forum is open to all contributors and can include butterfly related information from anywhere on the web which is seen worthy of mention. This is then collated (presently on a quarterly basis) to produce an article on the Dispar website. It's all part of the service

Vince

[Willrow]

Many thanks Bill. Many outstanding sightings, observations and photos on UKB risk being overlooked or forgotten after a few years have passed, so it was decided to produce a monthly highlights section. The forum is open to all contributors and can include butterfly related information from anywhere on the web which is seen worthy of mention. This is then collated (presently on a quarterly basis) to produce an article on the Dispar website. It's all part of the service

...and what an excellent service it is

Regards,

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

[Pete Eeles]

I have to say, Vince does a superb job at capturing the latest and greatest findings, which I simply collate and post here:

http://www.dispar.org/notes.php

So, if you feel that you have (or have come across) something that is worthy of note, then please post in these Notes and Views threads. We have a veritable army of butterfly watchers across the British Isles, and feel that we should capture the community's findings for future generations to do something useful with!

Cheers,

- Pete