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Today, at the old railway line can only be described as brilliant.
Holly Blues ( all males that I could make out ) are now in good numbers,
And there are enough male Orange Tips around for me to witness a short chase
consisting of three together.
Speckled Woods must be approaching peak numbers, there are now enough
holding territory and launching at each other ( and any other passing species ).
One in particular gave me a hard time this morning as I was trying to photograph
some Holly Blues. Every time a Holly Blue looked as though it might land the
resident Specklie launched an attack.
Long lasting Specklie duels were commonplace ( why does it take them so long
to find out that they are not right for each other ! ).

Happy days,

Trevor.

Great shots Trevor, love the Holly Blue.
I popped by for a short time this afternoon, after my days outing.
Half a dozen butterflies in the first couple of minutes, including 3 male OT's.
A great site indeed!

Cheers

The Old Railway Line sounds like a fantastic place Trevor That is a mighty fine Holly Blue

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Speaking as a connoisseur... that is indeed a lovely Holly Blue, Trevor. It looks much softer that many of the quite harsh shiny ones I see. More like a Common Blue even.

Dave

Hi Trevor

Lovely Holly Blues. I am glad you are seeing so many butterflies. I have a couple of ex-railway lines I must get to. I tend to go to the same old spots and may be missing similar fruitful spots.

We have Bluebells already, and primroses. And I narrowly missed the Orange Tip on Bluebell shot

I have responded to your Tesco comment...

I don't ever recall having such an experience in Tesco's fish dept.,
but I do recall your reaction to the Tesco joke. .

Glad you enjoyed the old railway, Andrew, it was fabulous today.

Cheers Wurzel & Dave. ( Wurzel, took the family into Salisbury's Waitrose, it's vast.)

Today I visited the old railway specifically for Orange Tips. Although there were many
Butterflies to photograph, it took five hours to obtain images of three male OT's.
This was still easier and more productive than in the bright sun and heat of last week.
No females seen today.

Trevor.

Those Orange Tips were so hard won, I thought they deserved a posting of their own.

The other prize for today's efforts was the opportunity to photograph male and female
Green vein Whites, both open wing.
A real surprise came in the form of two Red Admirals, the second of which was very fresh.
Holly Blue males were everywhere, a few were ground searching, others were harassed
by Speckled Woods. Other species on the wing were many ' Whites ' and a single Comma.

Trevor.

I think you must have had more sunshine than I did, Trevor - though the mix was the same, the numbers weren't around today. Another fresh Red Admiral - I wonder if they are newly arrived or newly hatched?

Dave

Fantastic set of whites and OTs Trevor The Waitrose in Salisbury is great isn't it but soon they'll be stopping their free 'nice' coffees

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Fantastic Orange Tip shots Trevor, still waiting to see the rest except for Red Admiral which I saw in March in Kent in Clowes Wood, I wondered at the time if they had arrived too soon because the weather was cool down there at the time. Goldie

You're have a bit of a purple patch down there Trevor, I'm still struggling with Orange-tips... and the weather!

A CELEBRATION OF THE ORANGE TIP.

This morning the weather was just perfect for an Orange Tip hunt.
There were just enough fluffy white clouds in an otherwise clear blue sky
to ensure regular landings when the sun went in.
I arrived on site at about 9.30 and the OT's were already up and about
and presenting opportunity after opportunity for the camera.

Fortunately the old railway cutting provided total protection from the strong wind.

Hope you enjoy.
Trevor.

Lovely set, Trevor. You must be pleased.

Of course it may just be one butterfly which you moved from plant to plant. Well it would have to have been here! But no, clearly you have a few more in the sunshine than we do in the Midlands today in the showers and cold wind

I'm still waiting for a chance to get an open winged OT. I'm just having zero luck with the weather at the moment!

Cracking set of images Trevor, I checked out three sites today but all I got was a distant Small White in someone’s garden

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Lovely Orange Tips, Trevor. None of the few I saw today were hanging around for anything.

Dave

Fantastic stuff Trevor. And your GVW's are great too.

Many thanks everyone, that was a magical morning with the Orange Tips.

Today, however was a totally experience to yesterday.
At 9.30 am yesterday I was greeted with plenty of action, all species present were up and about in good numbers.
Today it was not until just before mid-day before things got going,
Yet the weather, to me, seemed almost identical to that of yesterday.

The prize of the day was a close encounter with a very docile and fresh Large White.
which spent ages nectaring on a dandelion. Holly Blues ( all males ) did not seem to
mind the apparent change in the weather and flew in good numbers all morning.

Trevor.

Simply lovely Butterflies Trevor, Goldie

Hi Trevor, a great selection of photos from your recent trips out, especially the Orange-tips

Cheers,

Neil