Maximus

[Wurzel]

Ditto what Neil said My spring Brimstones are usually distant, blurry flight shots those are brill

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Paul Harfield]

9th March

What a great start to the season today has been, we have seen butterflies everywhere.

Hi Mike

I will second that Like you lots of Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell and No Red Admiral. Your Brimstones are great. Although I saw many today I do not recall seeing any of them settle at all

[Maximus]

Cheers Neil, always just luck, being in the right place at the right time

Thanks Wurzel, mine are usually the same, just got lucky

Jack, the Red Admiral is noticable so far by its absence, and just got lucky with some settled nectaring Brimstones

[Maximus]

12th March 2014


Back to the lovely hot Spring weather today, so we decided to do a bit of digging on the allotment. We got there around 1.30pm and the sun was hot with just a light breeze, but before we got started on the digging we spotted what we thought were two Brimstones chasing each other. On closer inspection we found one of them to be a Small White, in pristine condition. He was quite content basking on some short bamboo growing on the site, and allowed us a few photos before departing. He looked so fresh we think he probably emerged only this morning! We know in a couple of months there'll be an abundance of Large and Small Whites, but to see one so early in the year was a real bonus for us

[Wurzel]

A real bonus indeed - cracking shots Mike I'm looking forward to my first Small White too, any day now hopefully.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Thanks Wurzel, they're out there, I'm sure you will find one soon

Mike

[Maximus]

Having now seen and photographed the five post-hibernators, plus the Small White, it's obvious that due to the recent good weather, butterflies have got off to a great start. Particuarly pleasing are the numbers of Small Tortoiseshell, they really seem to be doing well so far in 2014!
During the winter we managed to rescue some Purple Hairstreak eggs from felled Oaks, and some Brown Hairstreak eggs found on cut blackthorn lying on the ground. The Purple Hairstreak eggs are still in the fridge, apart from three we found more recently. When I examined these on 15th March I could see that two of them were showing signs of 'blackening up' prior to hatching, which meant a hurried trip out to find some budding Oak. We managed to find some on a large branch which had been blown from the top of a mature tree, where we found three more eggs (now in the fridge along with the others). We tied the eggs to the Oak twigs, which we placed in water.

Purple Hairstreak egg showing first signs of hatching

The second egg also showing signs of hatching

The black dot in the centre of the egg is the larva's head showing through the shell. By the next morning the eggs had hatched.

The larvae had vacated the eggs, which were on either side of the same bud, and had bored into the nearest Oak bud. Fortunately the two larvae did not meet up in the night, which was evident from the holes we found bored into two separate buds.

Now we shall have to wait and see what unfolds.

[Pauline]

Amazing photos Mike and congratulations! I hope you have cracked open a bottle of something to wet the baby's head . I am looking forward to further installments.

[Neil Freeman]

Stunning photos Mike looking forward to further instalments.

Neil

[Maximus]

Thanks Pauline, we've wet the baby's head with a can of Stella


After a bit of a disaster, when some of our Brown Hairstreak eggs hatched prematurely and were lost, yesterday evening we tied all of our remaining eggs to our potted blackthorn. First thing this morning I took a peek at the eggs, and to my amazement I saw a larva emerging from one of them. By the time I had my camera set up, the larva had moved onto, and was investigating, a blackthorn bud. This was a first for us,so a very special moment

Freshly hatched Brown Hairstreak larva

The larva then moved off of this small bud and up the blackthorn branch where it disappeared from our view. Hopefully it has bored into a fresh bud and we will see it again when it emerges in a week or so.

[Pauline]

It just gets better and better I'll be doing well if I can identify some Blackthorn

[Padfield]

Great pictures.

Are those leaf buds or flower buds the caterpillar has rejected? I would be amazed to see leaf buds greening up in March, and so far as I know the larvae don't use the flower buds, which typically appear first. It's very strange all these brown hairstreaks coming out to play at this date!

Guy

EDIT - looking at other pictures, and Vince's post to Pauline, I think these must be leaf buds, as you probably knew perfectly well, Max! But it's amazing they're so early.

[Vince Massimo]

Well done Mike!

I have just made an observation on Pauline's diary about Blackthorn flower buds and leaf buds. Yours looks like a leaf bud because it's pointed. Young plants do not produce flower buds until they have matured sufficiently, which also leads me to believe that this is a leaf bud. This year I have seen plants in all different stages of development in the wild, but the potted plant that I gave to Pauline last year has started to produce leaves.

Vince

Guy, your edit crossed with my post.

[Maximus]

Cheers Neil, I think our postings crossed

Thanks Guy, yes they are leaf buds, and they are early, as are the hatching eggs

Thanks Vince, mature Blackthorn is in flower everywhere now, but as you say, young Blackthorn plants do not produce any flower buds, only leaf buds. Perhaps thats why the female Brown Hairstreak lay on them


Today we noticed that last nights BH egg we'd been watching closely had hatched some time during the night and the larva had done a disappearing act on us But fortunately another larva decided to make an appearance and I managed to get several shots of it hatching and making its way to a leaf bud.

Larva beginning to bore into bud

Larva disappearing into bud

We still have a few eggs yet to hatch, then it''ll be a while until the next stage in their development and hopefully more photos to follow...

[Vince Massimo]

Brilliant sequence Mike

Could you add it to the Species-Specific Album (together with the 2 earlier larval images) when you get time please.

Many thanks,
Vince

[Pete Eeles]

I agree - great observations

Cheers,

- Pete

[Wurzel]

Fantastic sequence Mike and that Cat is so hairy it looks like it's unravelling

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Cheers Vince, Pete and Wurzel, and yes Wurzel BH larva have amazing long hairs, just like an unravelling jumper


This morning we got our very first glimpse of one of our reared Purple Hairstreak larva but it pretty quickly disappeared into a tunnel in an Oak bud. We shall have to remain vigilant and patient. It was amazing just how well camouflaged it was on the bud.

[Neil Hulme]

Fab pic Mike. Some really good stuff lately.
BWs, Neil

[Maximus]

Cheers Neil.


After the brief glimpse we caught of our two PH cats basking on either side of an Oak bud on Saturday, today they made another appearance, again on the same bud. This time they spent the whole afternoon basking and feeding in close proximity on the outside, allowing some good photo opportunities.

7 day old Purple Hairstreak larvae

7 day old Purple Hairstreak larvae

7 day old Purple Hairstreak larva

We also had our first glimpse since they hatched of our BH cats.

3 day old Brown Hairstreak larva

5 day old Brown Hairstreak larva

5 day old Brown Hairstreak larva