June 2017

[Philzoid]

Great shots of the in-flight butterflies Greenie

[Allan.W.]

Agreed !! Superb in-flight shots Greenie ,especially the Brimstones ! Nice one !
Regards Allan.W.

[Butterflysaurus rex]

As I was making my way out I met James B’Rex ….. nice to see you again James . Last and only time we met was nearly four years ago at the Large Blue stakeout at Upper Beeding, so some initial recognition confusion was inevitable. Sorry I didn’t have time much time for a chat and I hope you got that elusive Glannie by the end of the day

Phil

Great to see you again Phil, unfortunately no Glanvilles were seen by me or anyone else I met. It's a shame we didn't have much time to chat, maybe next time

Best wishes

James

[adrian riley]

Hi, Gang
Update from Bugalert:

High Brown Fritillary, Devon
Large Heath, Cumbria
Chequered Skipper, good numbers at Glasdrum Wood

For full details please go to http://www.bugalert.net.
Happy hunting,
Adrian Riley

[David M]

After a week in France where butterfy numbers were in the thousands, it was a rude re-awakening to return to south Wales where a one and a quarter hour walk around Fairwood Common in sunny, if cool, conditions yielded a mere 13 in total!

The only positive was that 4 of these were Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries and 3 of them Marsh Frits. The others were Small White (1), Speckled Wood (1), Common Blue (1) and my first three UK Meadow Browns of 2017:

[adrian riley]

Hi, Gang

Update from Bugalert.

Marbled White, Dorset.
White-letter Hairstreak, Essex.

For full details go to www.bugalert.net.

Cheers, Adrian Riley

[millerd]

My first hutchinsoni Comma today near Heathrow. It really is summer...

Dave

[peterc]

In the cloud and wind I spent an hour and half mainly looking for eggs and larvae at Norton Green. I didn't find any Orange-tip larvae on the Garlic Mustard where I saw quite a few some weeks ago - let's hope they pupated successfully. I was not expecting to see any butterflies at all until a rather unusual Common Blue turned up - note the elongated spot towards the middle of the costa on the hindwing. Does it qualify for ab. discreta? I stand to be corrected of course .

ATB

Peter

[peterc]

Only had half an hour to spare at Brampton Wood to find the rare Black Hairstreak. As some of you may know there are two sites to find it, namely Site 1 and Site 2. A few minutes in Site 1 yielded nothing. When I approached Site 2, I saw about half a dozen people standing around in an open area and then suddenly a flurry of excitement. A small dark butterfly was zigzagging around before alighting on what appears to be on an aspen leaf sheltered from the wind. It was on this leaf for at least 5 minutes seemingly oblivious what is going on, and quite a few photos were taken, before flying off and settling briefly on another shrub. How incredibly lucky not having to wait long . Not the best images - didn't have time at adjust my camera settings

ATB

Peter

[Greenie]

After recording Meadow Brown for the first time on transect this year at High Elms LNR during last week , two more were found yesterday at Biggin Hill ,

along with more year firsts in the form of 2 Ringlet and a single Small Skipper .

Added to them a male Large Skipper on Saturday .

[Greenie]

A very dull and windy Hutchinsons Bank this afternoon did produce 5+ very freshly emerged Marbled White .

[adrian riley]

Hi, Gang
Update from Bugalert.

Purple Emperor, Surrey
White Admiral, Norfolk; Surrey; Sussex

For full details, go to http://www.bugalert,net.

Happy hunting, Adrian Riley

[Jack Harrison]

For full details, go to http://www.bugalert,net

which has a typo. I was able to presume the correct url with a dot not a comma

http://www.bugalert.net

Hope that helps.

Jack

[PhilBJohnson]

Really nice links, Jack.
(Thank you also Matt, for your contribution to connection list).

Kind Regards,

Philip

[adrian riley]

Hi, Gang
Update from Bugalert.

Purple Hairstreak now on the wing in Hants and Sussex.
For full details go to http://www.bugalert.net.
(That's with a Straw Dot, not a Hutchinson's Comma!). Cheers, Jack. Hope you enjoyed visiting the site.

Happy hunting,
Adrian Riley

[IanGD]

It was warm and sunny on Wednesday so I made a first ever visit to Hockley Woods, Essex in the hope of seeing some Heath Fritillaries.
I saw quite a few (20+) along newly coppiced ride edges. Some were showing signs of wear and tear so had clearly been flying for a while now.
They were very active and difficult to photograph but a real treat to see.

[peterc]

It looks like White letters might have a good year judging from Pauline's and Neil's recent reports (great images by the way, you two). I visited a known colony at Six Hills Common on Wednesday morning between 0905 and 0925 hours and found at least 8 individuals mostly of clashing pairs in the elm canopy. I went again yesterday at the same time and saw just 3 all together in a few seconds but the windier conditions didn't help. However, on the sheltered eastern side of the clump of elms was a WLH basking on an elm leaf about head high enabling me to take a couple of shots before it flew off.

ATB

Peter

[bugboy]

This year really is bonkers. Today I managed 2 more season firsts taking my annual total up to 42 species.... we've only just got over the 'June gap'!

[David M]

This year really is bonkers. Today I managed 2 more season firsts taking my annual total up to 42 species.... we've only just got over the 'June gap'!

That's a monumental tally prior to midsummer's day, Bugboy!

Personally, after today, I'm on a mere 31. New species added at Daneway Banks & Lower Woods in Gloucestershire were Ringlet, Marbled White, Large Skipper, Large Blue and Silver Washed Fritillary.

This Ringlet posed nicely at head level:

I also managed to spot 4 Large Blues, including this mating pair:

Species seen at Daneway - Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Marbled White, Large Skipper, Green Veined White, Dingy Skipper, Large Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Green Hairstreak, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Small Heath, Speckled Wood & Small Blue.

Two hours at nearby Lower Woods added Silver Washed Fritillary, Brimstone & Comma to the daily tally.

[Catteraxe]

Plenty of Meadow Browns and Common Blues on the Purbeck Downs including this parasitised worn male CB.

Kevin.