www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I was going to comment with commiserations earlier but then I watched Countryfile...if these things can be believed next weekend might be quite spring like and then we're into the usual April showers. Fingers crossed they've gotten it right...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

David M wrote:

bugboy wrote:I'm back to work this coming Wednesday so I'm sure that will herald the return of spring!

Looks like your sense of pessimistic irony is going to be proved right, BB.

The forecast is dreadful all week except for one sunny day- Thursday!

Wurzel wrote:I was going to comment with commiserations earlier but then I watched Countryfile...if these things can be believed next weekend might be quite spring like and then we're into the usual April showers. Fingers crossed they've gotten it right...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I'm thinking about publishing my holidays on here so you can all know what days to avoid going out, so far this year it has been more accurate than the met office

Shame that Green Woodpecker couldn't swing round to the front of the tree trunk. When I see them they seem to fly off at great speed at the drop of a hat.

Yea that's Green Woodpeckers for ya Andrew. I wasn't sure I'd managed to pick out the woodpecker until I looked at the picture at home, this new lens continues to impress

3rd April, Walthamstow Marshes

The forecast hinted there might be a bit of sun this afternoon so on my last day of freedom before the return of work I spent the afternoon wandering the local patch for signs of life. The sunny spells did actually appear albeit rather fleetingly but it was definitely significantly warmer than recent days so I hoped something lepidopteran would show itself.

Birdlife was fairly obvious today, lots of Chiffchaff’s chiff-chaffing away, a friendly Blue Tit posed well whilst some of the winter visitors have yet to leave. When you get close to a Starling you realise what amazing looking birds they are, just a shame the sun didn’t come out properly to make that iridescence even brighter The more secluded spots, where butterflies traditionally turn up at the beginning of the season, were as waterlogged and muddy as the main paths, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the place this waterlogged (I guess that’s why it’s called a marsh though…). It was whilst exploring one of these areas that an autumnal looking leaf fluttered weakly from under my feet and settled a few feet away. At last, the first butterfly on my local patch this year. It didn’t hang around for long though and fluttered off in the weak hazy sun over the hedge, the boggy ground making it nearly impossible to do anything other than watch it go. A short while later I noticed a dark butterfly gliding around the top of a blackthorn hedge. It was just a black silhouette to the naked eye but the new lens soon aided the ID. Two butterflies, things were looking up. It was some time before I saw any sign of more. Having yet to see any kind of Tortoiseshell this year I headed over to the spot where Small Torts normally hang out. It took a lot of wandering, mainly waiting for a break in the thicker cloud but I finally managed a hattrick of species. Again it didn’t hang around for long, had it of done I’d have swapped lenses to get some better shots, but at least I know things are starting to wake up here now. A forth was seen a while later but it never settled and was some distance away, but it was probably a Red Admiral.

Near the end of my wander I stopped off at an old water treatment works that been turned into a nature reserve which backs onto the marshes. Here I found some very aggressive bathing from some of the wintering Teal And a good variety of other birdlife (and a bat that I tried and failed to get a picture of). Not sure what the Pochard was looking at, perhaps a bird of prey that I couldn’t see. Well it’s been a faltering start to the season for me but let’s hope things pick up soon.

Well done Paul, three of the hibernators on a day like today is good going.
I went out looking this morning, but nothing.
This time last year I had already seen an Orange Tip, and photographed a Holly Blue
and some Speckled Woods. I have a feeling that this season might run a little late.

Well done again,
Trevor.

That's great Bugboy, I bet you were pleased Nothing here yet . Goldie

Great stuff Bugboy This part of the season is always a bit start stop only more so this year I will revise my weather forecast as the Beeb now has tomorrow and Friday the only decent days for the foreseeable future

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Aah, you are now seeing several species of butterfly, BB! We are turning the corner for sure (although keep the bird images coming as they are most welcome in the relative absence of butterflies).

Well done Bugboy. Great shots, I like the Starling in particular.

It may be running late Trevor at the moment but as long as we don't get any silly cold snaps I reckon it will soon catch up
Yes Goldie, I was very pleased to see anything on what was definitely a borderline day for butterflying
It looks like your revised forecast was spot on Wurzel, and just as I predicted when I returned to work
The corner has most definitely been turned now judging by the flurry of reports over the past few days David
Thanks Andrew. I just wish it was a bit brighter, in the right light starling look like a living rainbow! Here's another shot of another one in the flock showing very well how they got the name Starling 6th April.

I was determined not to totally waste the current short lived good spell of weather so I took my camera to work with me today, planning on stopping off at my local patch on the way home in the hope I could stumble across anything soaking up the last rays of the day. I finished work at 4 today but it still takes an hour to travel across London so arriving at just after 5pm I wasn't expecting a lot, although thankfully the sun was still strong enough to cause me to shed my coat.

Half an hour into my wander I spied my intended quarry, a dark butterfly circling the ground and landing behind a clump of grass. It flew up as I got close enough to ID it but thankfully not far and settled to have a last feed before going off to find a roosting spot. Sods law dictates that if you own two lenses but leave one at home because you don't fancy carting all the through London rush hours then it is that lens which you would need but my macro managed a few passable shots (with a bit of cropping). So that's all the adult hibernators finally recorded for posterity for the year (barring the elusive large Tort of course)

Great to see your Peacock, well worth the rush hour crush.
As for extra lenses they can be a pain, Butterflies don't usually allow time to change them,
unless it's a nice settled Purple Emperor !.

Here's to a great season .
Trevor.

That's nicely posed Peacock, Buggy. They are very fond of the tree blossom at this time of year and don't often seek out the dandelions like their Tortoiseshell cousins do.

Dave

Hi! Bugboy, now what you want is the Orange Tip good shot too considering the distance Goldie

Great Peacock shot Bugboy and that Starling is a beaut I'm still eagerly awaiting the mini heatwave, fingers crossed it happens over a weekend

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I'm sure you'll get that shot sooner or later Bugboy.

Cheers

Is it just me or is there something abnormally reassuring about seeing butterflies nectaring on tree blossom?

Love the Starling too. He seems to be full of the joys of spring and looks like he knows something we do not at the moment!

Thanks guys. Middle of April and I'm still struggling to see anything . I have my fingers crossed for this weekend but depending on what I look at we'll either get rain or sun. Probably a mixture of all sorts since it is April. One I can confirm though is that we will definitely get two full days of weather!

I think this seasons poor start is accentuated by last season amazing one. Looking back at my records I was up to 14 species by the 11th April last year, I've only seen 13 individual butterflies so far this year! I've had a bit of a play with my pictures to illustrate how the past three seasons compare to this year up to 11th April: There you go, a post in 2018 full of butterflies even though none of those images are actually from this year

Sounds an awful lot like my posts so far...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Having had my chortle I looked properly at your year on year comparisons...some absolutely cracking shots Bugboy . Hopefully the comparatively slow start of this season will bring greater rewards later int he year, 2017 seemed to start early and then fizzled out quite quickly (with a few notable exceptions of course).

Have a goodun

Wurzel

We can tell you're hurting, BB. We're all equally frustrated but things can't go on like this indefinitely, and by all accounts next week will see a welcome change to mild and sunny conditions, and I suspect we'll all have filled our boots by this time next Thursday!