www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Susie wrote:Not a sighting but an enquiry, does anyone know how the Heath Fritillaries are doing down in Kent? Are they about in good numbers yet (or am I late for them)?

nfreem wrote:

Testudo Man wrote:At long last...after months of searching my local areas in Kent...I have finally sighted my 1st Red Admiral of 2014!!

The last time i saw a Red Admiral was way back on the 10/11/13!

Hi Paul,

I haven't seen one yet this year and my last one was in Dorset last September.

Neil F.

Willrow wrote:Ewyas Harold Common, Herefordshire. My third visit yesterday to enjoy the Pearl-bordered Fritillary my count on this occasion was approximately 70, I took particular notice of the underwing patterns when I was given the chance, interesting to note that the occasional individual had distinctly 'irregular' markings on both the pearls and the shape of the 'ducks-head', you can perhaps see the difference between what could be considered normal and the 'irregular' in the images below. The other species I had come to hopefully find was Grizzled Skipper and I decided to explore much further away from my usual areas, it took some time but I was finally rewarded with three individuals, all were rather the worst for wear and were easy lost to view in what was a brisk and frustrating wind...heck they can get lost on a perfectly good day I did manage a few poor quality record shots though.

During my afternoon search of the best P-b F spots I heard some unusual noise coming from the rather shaded understorey a little distance from where I was searching, something told me to check it out and I stood silently crouched as a natural drama was played out, a dark grey feral cat was prancing around a pretty big female Adder, flicking a paw out to knock the snake off balance, the tail being the chosen target, I could hear the snake hissing in anger as it tried to avoid the cats very quick paw-work and dancing footwork, I remained motionless fascinated to see what the outcome would be, the Adder however was slowly but surely moving towards some bramble and it used the thick ground shoots to try to climb up out of the tormenters way, by doing so the cat saw me and was away in a heartbeat. I was unable to get a photo of the drama owing to both the obstructing understorey branches and would have disturbed my view by any movement. The Adder remained motionless for several minutes before almost falling back to earth and slinking away, it climbed a thorn covered briar to about 3 feet or more, and I managed some difficult shots, I was amazed that the thick thorns didn't prevent the climb, t'was a fascinating thing to witness

Another very interesting discovery was Corizus hyoscyami a very locally distributed squash bug, it's only usually found on coastal sandy type sites in southern Britain, I'm trying to find out it's status in this part of the country, and feel it might just prove a significant record. Also watched a female spider Misumena vatia on bluebell waiting for a nectaring insect for it's afternoon meal, this species can change colour and mimic the colour of it's chosen plant, I've seen them yellow, white, green and shades in between, an incredible evolutionary ability that helps them to dine

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out" (Glad I did yesterday!!!),