www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Lovely Small Blue Bob and the emerging Damselfly shot is a cracker

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel. Good to see you got your Wall Brown the other day as well.

Great shot of the emerging damselfly Bob - any change to the Wall pupa?

Thanks Pauline. Bad news again on the Wall Pupa unfortunately. Next time maybe!!
At last I managed a butterfly walk today from home. My first Large Skippers of the year seen along with several Red Admiral and a Painted Lady. A particularly nice 'blue' female Common Blue was good to see and nearly back home a roosting fresh male Common Blue was spotted in the long grass. The first brood Wall Brown now seems to be over and as is often the case here have been replaced by the 2nd brood Speckled Wood that were particularly numerous.

Lovely 'blue' Common Blue Female Bob, they seem to be bluer than ever this year!

Mike

Maximus wrote:Lovely 'blue' Common Blue Female Bob, they seem to be bluer than ever this year!

Mike

Yes, that's another corker! if only the weather would change then I could get out and see if I can find any for myself.

Fabulously blue Blue Bob I seem to recall that the really blue ones like that have a form name or aberrant status - I think it was in the Adrian Riley book and again this year they seem bluer then last.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks all. Yes, the females are getting bluer!!!! This one was so blue that in flight I was sure it was a dark male of some sort (hoping for a rare migrant really) but when it landed she was so gorgeous I spent a few minutes trying to get a decent image.

With the weather being pretty poor today I was going through a few posts on the computer. I remembered that Guy had a Marbled White larva crossing the road and that I had mentioned that I should go and check out where I had found some earlier in the season. Anyway, the weather did improve a bit this afternoon so being on a bit of time restraint I headed up the hill to have a quick look. Most of the areas where I found them before were covered with no luck and I assumed that they had either pupated or were, as mentioned in the books, nocturnal in their later instars. I then went along to look at the pupa case of the Wall Brown that had presumably died, the case had gone, only the bit where the larva had attached itself to the grass stem still there, but beneath it was unbelievably a near fully grown Marbled White larva!! If the pupa was still attached it would have been touching the MW larva. The black stripe down the back was very interesting to watch as the stripe widened and narrowed all the time like a pulse going through it.
Following this I managed another shot of a female Common Blue. This one was still very pretty but not as blue as the one from yesterday.
Much more on the blog inc. moth trap and damselflies.

Sorry to hear about the Wall Brown pupa Bob - you must be gutted after all that time and effort finding and monitoring. I have spent a fair bit of time looking for WA pupa - if I had found one only to have it die I think I would give up . Great shots of the cat tho' and interesting observation

Thanks for the sympathy Pauline. Finding the pupa was one of the highlights of the year and finally giving up on it was one of the biggest downers. It will probably have to wait for next year as there is so much grass there now it will be even harder finding them on the 2nd brood, even though there will be a lot more of them.


With all this Swallowtail action not too far away it seems a bit weak putting up images of Meadow Brown and Small Tortoiseshell, but well, that's life. My first Meadow Brown of the year with quite a few seen and lots of very fresh Small Torts. A bit of dragonfly action as well which is on the blog. http://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.com

Super images Bob, and I really like your Marbled White larvae, great detail!

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

"With all this Swallowtail action not too far away it seems a bit weak putting up images of Meadow Brown"...But not when it's a cracking shot like that Bob Meadow Browns are out, first Dark Green - soon it'll be Hedge Browns

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wurzel wrote:...soon it'll be Hedge Browns..

Don't go wishing the season away yet, Wurzel.

For me, Hedge Browns mark the beginning of the end of summer.

Thanks Bill, Wurzel and David. With too much happening at home I've only just seen your comments!!
On Sunday I managed 2 walks over the back checking to see what was about and was amazed to actually get a fresh Small Heath sitting at the top of a stem, even better it stayed long enough for a piccie!! Meadow Browns were freshly emerged and later in the day on the 2nd walk some fresh Common Blues were undecided whether to roost or not with the sun going in and out. The best thing however was a very fast flying Clouded Yellow, great to see even if it was a very brief view.
Last night I put the moth trap out and I caught 2 crowd pleasers in the shape of the Privet Hawk Moth.

Cracking shots of the Small Heath and moff Bob There have been a few reports of Clouded Yellows so hopefully it'll be another good year for them

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I never thought I'd say this Bob but my favourite is the moth .

Thanks Wurzel and Pauline. I remember Pauline liking the grass snake a couple of months ago!! The hawk moths are pretty spectacular although very easy to photograph once caught in the trap. Those Small Heath on the other hand are not normally very co=operative!!
A Dark Green Fritt seen today near Eastbourne.

Another really dull old day here in Sussex today. In the end I decided to head for the River Cuckmere just to see if there was anything stirring. As it happens there wasn't much but a male Large Skipper did decide to perform for me allowing closed, open and head on shots. Several Banded Demoiselles also flying as well as Blue-tailed Damselflies. I also couldn't resist another few shots at the mayfly that continues to show well here. The increasingly rare Turtle Dove was also very nice to see.
http://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.com

My first Small Skipper showed up today on Frog Firle and I was fortunate that due to the weather it was roosting which allowed a few photos. The sun did eventually come out and at this point it flew a short distance before opening its wings. It was also clear why Marbled White larva were easy to find earlier in the year as there were huge numbers of this gorgeous butterfly on the wing.