May 2012

[David M]

Pearl-bordered Fritillary by JPNature, on Flickr

That's a most unusually marked PBF.

[edgueinart]

David,is that really unusual?its a Male or Female?this is the first time I photograph Pearl's.

[David M]

I'd venture to say it's borderline aberrant, though if you wait a while someone far more knowledgeable than me will comment further (Guy, Piers, Neil, etc).

[selbypaul]

At last I have had a full days butterflying for well over a month.
Visits to the Lincolnshire Limewoods and environs gave reasonable numbers and species, namely: Orange Tip, Brimstone, Peacock, Green Veined White and Small Copper.
No Dingy Skippers or Marsh Fritllary yet. Still to see my first Speckled Wood of the year.

Was just so nice to be out and about in shorts watching reasonable numbers of butterflies flying at last.

Hugh

Hi Hugh
I love the Lincolnshire Limewoods too. Was thinking about popping there myself on Saturday. Do you think the Marsh Fritillary will have emerged by then?
Paul

[David M]

You up in Chequered Skipper country yet, Paul?

I've been on BC Scotland's Facebook page and they're definitely out - 3 seen a week ago at Glasdrum. Conditions are likely to be almost perfect there over the next few days. 25c and 7mph winds at Fort William on Friday.

[badgerbob]

An early start today to get to Heyshott Down before the Dukes woke up. A short visit but well worth it with some nice specimens. After this I shot upto Botany Bay where the Wood Whites are doing very well.

[Wurzel]

Holly Blue, pair of Orange-tip and a large White at Pewsey today.

Holly Blue in Salisbury on the Wilton Road this evening.

Duke, 8 Pearls, Peacock, Comma and 2 Brimstone at Bentley Wood this evening there was also mention of Small Pearls in the book as well...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Hugh Middleton]

Paul,

I don't know what will be out in the Limewoods this weekend. Everything is much later than last year which of course was very early. Doubt if I wil have chance to go again this week but with the weather set fair its worth a look.

Best wishes

Hugh

[selbypaul]

You up in Chequered Skipper country yet, Paul?

I've been on BC Scotland's Facebook page and they're definitely out - 3 seen a week ago at Glasdrum. Conditions are likely to be almost perfect there over the next few days. 25c and 7mph winds at Fort William on Friday.

Hi David. Yes, arrived properly in the Highlands at lunchtime today. It was very windy, nearly gale force in some places, although extremely hot, hitting 27 degrees at 4pm! Given the weather, I contented myself with spotting a nesting pair of Slavonian Grebe at Loch Ruthven, before a sadly fruitless search for Ptarmigan.

Tomorrow the wind should have died down, so my search for the Chequered Skipper will begin!

[David M]

It was very windy, nearly gale force in some places, although extremely hot, hitting 27 degrees at 4pm!

Incredible temperatures! Enjoy the next few days.

[Debbie]

After a very long day at the office my wonderful husband packed us a picnic and off we went to the Wyre forrest.

This is the first time that I have seen a fritillaries and how beautiful and interesting they are
We were rewarded with oddles of these small butterflies enjoying themsevles.

My thoughts are that this is a PBF or a SPBF

We also were teased by some speckled woods who refused to pose for photos.

Debbie

[scrumpydrinker]

Green Hairstreak in High Wycombe.
Has been on my Rhubarb all morning.

[Hoggers]

Glorious weather today so I went to Wye Nature Reserve on the North Downs:

I've struggled to find Green Hairstreaks this year, so asked Dave Brown for some guidance and as a result of his advice I managed to find three this morning :

Many thanks Dave!

I also saw my first Small Heaths of the year:

a Brown Argus, a Common Blue,Peacock and many Dingy Skippers.

Best of all were the Walls ( about 8 - 10 of them ),racing about like Fritillaries,nimbly chasing each other at top speed. They were so energetic that I had enormous trouble getting close enough to take a picture:

I was lucky to see a female being courted by a male: his attentions were unwanted and she rebuffed him by fluttering her wings very quickly until he flew away

[ChrisC]

Green Hairstreak in High Wycombe.
Has been on my Rhubarb all morning.

some people have all the luck

[David M]

Green Hairstreak in High Wycombe.
Has been on my Rhubarb all morning.

some people have all the luck

Indeed. Wurzel will be seething (great photo though)!

[Reverdin]

Debbie.... I'd go for PBF, apologies if that's already been said!

[Glostopcat]

I had the chance to make the most of the good weather today so visited Prestbury Hill near Cheltenham. I saw a good number of duke of burgundys, dingey skippers and small blues, most of which were in excellent condition. I also saw two green hairstreaks on the edge of the woodland which divides the Bill Smyllie reserve from the Masts field and most surprisingly a wall brown on my way home resting on a stonewall just before the Cleeve Common, whittington and Aggs Hill crossroads. I know they can be found on Leckhampton Hill and Crickley Hill which are only a few short miles away but did not realise that they had spread this far. In addition i saw brimstones, orangetips, speckled woods,smallheaths, green veined whites and small whites in good numbers and a couple of holly blues and peacocks as well as a number of grassland moths.

[badgerbob]

With the Wall Browns in full swing now I did my Wall survey this morning. This is a walk from home of approx 3-4 miles. The 1st mile is through pretty baron farmland until I get to 'The Comp' which is a footpath with bushes both sides and a path in the middle which is a magnet to the heat loving Wall. This path is about 1 mile long. The walk then follows the lower path back to High and Over. The Comp produced 13 Wall, a few more were seen along the bottom path including a newly emerged female. Trying hard I couldn't find the pupa case!! As expected several more were seen around High and Over with a total tally for the walk of 31 individuals. The Adonis Blues have now emerged on another bank along with large numbers of Brown Argus and another bonus was a mating pair of Dingy Skippers.
Late afternoon I went back up to The Comp in the hope of getting a Wall resting on the bushes rather than the hot path. In the past this has paid off and this evening I was pleased to get a smart male doing just this.

[selbypaul]

Glorious day of wildlife watching in Scotland today. My main mission was to see Chequered Skipper, which I did eventually see (circa 5 individuals) at Glasdrum Woods. Also at Glasdrum was a single Marsh Fritillary, and quite a few Pearl Bordered Fritillary.

Saw no Chequered Skipper at either Spean Bridge or Alt Mhuic. However, Alt Mhuic was worth a visit all the same, both for the stunning views, a Green Hairstreak (my first of the year), and a close flyby by a "flying barn door" (White Tailed Sea Eagle). Awesome!

I'm now down to needing only to see Lulworth Skipper to have seen all UK breeding species. Fingers crossed for July!

[Paul Harfield]

Although I was not looking today, I found a bit of a hot spot for Holly Blue today whilst working in Emsworth. I spotted at least 6 at lunch time and no other species
Later on I spotted at least 3 Orange Tips flying well after 6pm in the same location
Hopefully this weather will continue for a while