www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

No, I'm a burlesque dancer. Those brambles play havoc with my fishnets and feathers get in a most terrible state.

Phew - I need to go for a little lie down now..............

Obviously I was joking .... I am an astronaut really ...

Susie wrote:...
There is also a patch of young elm just adjacent to Sainsbury's carpark on the downs link at Cranleigh. Could be a good place for WLH but I've not seen an adult there and can't get close enough when wearing work clothes to search for eggs.
....

Hi Susie,

You might stand a good chance of seeing the adults there one bright and still morning before work in the second half of June or early July. The males will spiral upwards chasing each other like little purple emperors from the local high point.

Thanks, Matsukaze, I'll try that.

A walk today over my local patch lifted my spirits, as always. Despite the gloom and drizzle the birds were singing and the flowers just starting to come out.

Wild primroses on High Wood. It also gave me a chance to test out my new macro lense.

I was so thrilled to watch this honeybee on the snowdrops at the garden centre yesterday that I bought a load to supplement the ones in the garden. There was a real feel of spring in the air. It also gave me a chance to practice with my new macro lense.

Edit: Just been out in the garden as it is such a mild night. A dozen or so frogs hopped into the pond as I approached . I tried to get a picture of Mrs False Widow as she is getting really big now (abdomen around the size of a 5p coin - surely getting towards the end of her life span?) but no luck. We got the halogen lamps set up but she didn't like the light and went into her tunnel in the brickwork. She seems to have been excavating as there are now two holes rather than just one and there seems much more motal missing, although none of it is cracked so I shouldn't have thought it would have fallen out naturally.

Yesterday a very kind gentleman that I don't know left a CD of his butterfly photographs at work for me, and they are really lovely. Don't suppose he reads this but if he does ... Thank You!

Yesterday a very kind gentleman that I don't know left a CD of his butterfly photographs at work for me

That's a new one. I used to offer to show my etchings.

Jack

Did it work, Jack?

Following on from the Coca Cola ad in the Ribena thread I found this very entertaining. It's beetles though, not butterflies (I love the sound of the dragonfly's wings). I wonder if it is the same company making all these ads.

http://www.youtube.com/blackbeetle

Did it work, Jack?

Huh. But it does remind me of the advert:

"For sale. Wedding Dress Size 8. Worn once in error"

Jack

I don't usually follow blogs but I find this chap's blog very interesting. I'm not sure where I stand on pan-listing though so have found the latest item quite interesting.

http://analternativenaturalhistoryofsus ... gspot.com/

Hi Susie,
Graeme Lyons is our guest speaker at the BC Sussex Spring Social - alongside Sgt Blencowe and me .
See you there!
Neil

Well I didn't know that! I shall look forward to going even more now

Susie wrote: I'm not sure where I stand on pan-listing though so have found the latest item quite interesting.

Do it! Pan-species listing is brilliant! If nothing else it keeps you fully motivated to check any aspect of natural history you care to look at.

A chap called Mark Telfer brought pan-species listing into the limelight just a few weeks ago via this Birdguides article http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=2533. His personal website is http://www.markgtelfer.co.uk

Thanks to Mark's article my life has been in turmoil these past couple of weeks, frantically sorting out my lists. I'm over 2200 so far and still to sort out the fungi and a few odds and sods. Seriously, it's completely reopened my eyes to orders I've mostly ignored over the past few years. I've finally found the motivation to dig out that Key to the Adult Lacewings book I've got hidden away somewhere. I'm keen to learn again!

Plus I like the idea of a Listing League Table, dirty though it may be to reduce the wonder of nature into a mere list!

Hmmmmmm, your enthusiasm is contageous, Gibster. I'm not really much of a lister though, I find it hard enough just submitting my butterfly records, but I do like to discover new things. I might give it a bash for a while and see how it goes.

I don't think I could ever achieve your current total of 2200 though

Oh dear, just checked out the blog and can see that I am going to become an even bigger geek than I am already.

Jack Harrison wrote:

Yesterday a very kind gentleman that I don't know left a CD of his butterfly photographs at work for me

That's a new one. I used to offer to show my etchings.

Jack

Any success Jack..?

Ask his wife

Ha Ha! Nice to meet you, Dave. Don't let Holly give you the Blues

...I'll get me coat...

Driving to work this morning I saw a barn owl sitting on a post by the side of the road. I did a double take, then backed the car up until I was adjacent, only a few feet away from it, and the pair of us sat there regarding each other for a good few minutes until it took off and glided a couple of hundred yards up the road. Again I drove up to where it was perched and had a good long look before it finally flew off. It didn't seem phased at all. It so graceful in flight. The experience might have made me a tad late for work but by goodness it was worth it. There's nothing quite like a close encounter with nature to set you up for the day.

What a pity Susie you didn't have your camera with you Goldie M

That's what I thought at the time, and also I was kicking myself on the day I saw the waxwings because the light was great and I was able to get right up close to them, but subsequently I've had a change of heart. Sometimes when I am out butterflying I'll put down my camera and just enjoy the moment. It was fantastic yesterday just to sit and watch the owl and not do anything else.