www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Lovely Emperor Pauline, well done on capturing the double purple. Great series of the White Admirals emerging too, fascinating stuff

Sorry to hear about your tick troubles and your other issues with the mites, hope all is ok now.

All the best,

Neil.

Thank you Mike. It is not possible to tell from the shots but the butterfly was down a ditch with water at the bottom (full of mozzies - and I was in shorts again ) so it was incredibly difficult to manoeuvre into the right position for the double purple wing shot as I gradually sank thru the shingle into the water

Thank you too Neil. The mite issue will continue for some time I suspect but I am now only killing dozens on a daily basis as opposed to thousands. However, most of the work has to be done in the dark by torchlight so today it was a choice of sitting in the garden with a Pimms (or 2) or going to see some Purple Hairstreaks whilst the weather held. Well, Can you guess which won?

Many of the Purple Hairstreaks are already looking worn and they haven't been out that long. Whilst they are easy to find they are not so easy to photograph, frequently choosing shade and obscured positions. There were many of them tho' which was some compensation and they were landing in all manner of places - bracken, gravel, other plants. Most small Oaks held at least half a dozen so like the Green Hairstreaks in this area, I believe they are having a good year. A few shots:
Most were keen on a bit of sun bathing and if they had been in a better position open-winged shots would have been a doddle:
Graylings are out tho' I only saw one and no photo. I also saw my first Gatekeeper of the season and even better 3 Small Coppers nectaring on heather. No blue badges and photos not a patch on Hoggers but just for the record:
What I assume is a Sparrow Hawk seemed intent on following me around and keeping an eye on me but wouldn't let me get too close:
Well, my car park was about to run out and it was time to go but the weather was still glorious. Back home, out in the garden for that Pimms. Win-win!

Love the open winged shot of the PHS Pauline, you're a lucky so and so I'm stuck here with so few Butterflies it's really pathetic and if that's not bad enough my 70-300 lens packed in on Monday, the only day we'd a good bit of Sun Any way I bought A new lens today, I was bothered it was my Camera with coming on holiday again down to Kent and hope fully another visit to Sussex, a new camera would have been an expense, so I was lucky in that regard
Hope you've got those mites on the run now although you might not have got the PE if you'd not been fed up and gone out at 6.30 Goldie

Love the 'ghostly' head-on shot of the PH - very unusual

Mike

Very of your Purple Hairstreaks, I only got a few long distant shots today whilst another tormented me by fluttering around at waist height before deciding to go to the canopy. That's a Kestrel perched in the tree btw

So there are Small Coppers outside of Dungeness!!

I was beginning to wonder !

Wonderful photos as always, Pauline

Hoggers

Great Purps - of both types - Pauline Where about's were the Hairstreaks as I don't know of many, if any, sites where they come down that low. All my previous PHs have been lucky flukes

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you Goldie - you know Hairstreaks are my favourite. Hope you're getting on OK with the new lens.

Thank you too Buggy - would you believe me if I said I knew it was a Kestrel really?? (Lack of sleep or too much Pimms has clearly addled my brain ). Sparrowhawks come into the garden almost daily so I am reasonably familiar with them - I can tell you're not convinced!

As you know Mike most of the Oaks there are stunted so even I can reach most of them . However, this one was just out of reach but I do like the result. Thank you for your comment.

These Coppers were really quite tiny Hoggers so I think they must have slipped under your radar unnoticed and escaped from Dungeness You'd better do a quick count of the others Thank you for the compliment.

Hi Wurzel - the site is Browndown, a military site. Unfortunately, it is not open as often as it used to be, the result being that it gets quite crowded now when it is open. There must have been at least another 5 butterfly folk there!!!! In the past it has been quite isolated - apart from the odd nudist but curiously, when they spot the camera they cover up and disappear

When I stumbled upon what I believe to be a Puss moth cat (based on the egg) I decided to give rearing this species another go. The last one was obtained at a late stage so I didn't have the opportunity to watch its development and then it was unfortunately predated during pupation. I was surprised at that because I do know that the pupal case is amazingly tough to the point where the moth has to cut its way out using formic acid (if I remember rightly).
In this shot it has clearly just shed its skin which I was disappointed to have missed. I wasn't expecting it to happen again in such a short time frame as it had moulted just before I found it. It is clearly growing fast and already eating loads but what a curious little creature. Its behaviour could easily convince me that it had a unique little character with various moods and likes and dislikes. Fascinatingly, it seems to have various appendages which appear and can then be retracted depending on various circumstances, mainly in response to danger or threats. I have marked these on the next shot but shall try to get a clearer photo soon. The ones which protrude from the tail are deep red, move independently of each other and are very sensitive to touch, curling on occasions, before disappearing again. Having kept tropical fish in the past they reminded me of the tubifex I used to feed them. I shall definitely be watching this one closely.
.... and a little Vapourer cat which I passed by:

Pauline I've not been able to try it out yet the weathers been so bad I'm still trying to work out the best f numbers for it has well, I think I'll just go Auto Goldie

The weather is mixed here too Goldie - today has been cloudy, breezy but very warm and humid

Surely this pupa is beginning to change now?? We're on at LEAST day 19 so things should be happening before too long:
On the subject of pupa, the shot below shows a mixture of Brown and Green Hairstreak pupae. Their story is for another day:

That watch tower should be knocked down!!! The first one I mean! There must have been so many photo opportunities missed because butterflies want to take resin from the wood rather than come to the ground . Such was the case today when I freed up some time especially to see PE's but would they land anywhere except the tower??????? When I arrived 1 was on the tower and 2 were dog-fighting in the air at around 1.00pm. I spent a hefty chunk of time watching them and the other butterflies, in particular the SWF which were relatively prolific. On the other hand, it is the first time I have ever been there and seen more PE than WA The whole time I was there I only saw one fairly worn WA. I can't help but wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that so much honeysuckle was hacked down and disposed of with many eggs (knowingly) lost in the process. It is a real shame about that and it appears to show little regard for that gorgeous butterfly.
I decided it was time for a quick check across the road and on the way to the car stopped to watch a Dragonfly hunting. It was a big Dragonfly with yellow rings around the body. Whilst I watched, trying to work out whether it was the Golden ringed Dragonfly mentioned to me recently, a mating pair of SWF drifted towards me and the Dragonfly immediately snatched them Well, I wasn't fast enough with my camera and to be honest I was transfixed watching the drama unfold. The Dragonfly flew with them for a few yards and after taking a bite out of them dropped the pair in the grass. This time I managed a couple of snatched shots before the pair made off into the tree tops:
Across the road the situation was very much the same with 2 or 3 PE flying around the canopy showing no interest in descending. I decided to check out the Skippers - or should I say check to see if there were any yet!! Since the grass was cut during the egg/larval period I have had concerns about these Skippers and now my hopes are rapidly fading. I have seen only one Small Skipper and no Essex Skippers at all whereas before there were dozens and dozens of each for as long as I can remember. I would pop up of an evening and just watch them all roost together - I should explain that they seemed to live in a tight colony along just the one stretch of verge. As I was thinking how regrettable this all was I met a very nice lady who just happened to work for the Forestry Commission. She told me that they take bio-diversity very seriously but the person doing this work had only been with them for a matter of months and may have been unaware of this colony. She seemed genuinely disappointed and said she would bring it to the attention of their head office on her next visit in 3-4 weeks.

Well, a few more shots of what I call my 'in-betweeners' ie. those shots I take whilst I am looking/waiting for the main target species

It is blowing a gale out there so it is back to the baby photos. The 3 tiny Green Hairstreaks continued to eat, and to grow, and as they did so I recorded their development. This set of shots focuses on the development of No. 1 and No. 2 from when they were 5 days old until they were almost 2 weeks old - the period from 2nd June to 9th June.
On the 4th June they both shed their skin for the first time, sitting on top of it and eating it:
By the 6th June they were becoming noticeably larger and photos were getting a tiny bit easier:
The next two shots were taken on the 7th and 9th June respectively when they were beginning to look like proper little Hairstreaks. I had discovered that once Dogwood is cut it really doesn't last very long in water and even less time in oasis so I had to return to Noar Hill for some fresh supplies as their appetites were growing with them:
It was whilst I was doing this that I found my first few larva in the wild which was very helpful as it enabled me to compare the rate of development of the reared cats with the wild larva. Before taking any branches I scrutinised them carefully, primarily for any pests or predators as I did not want to put my precious charges in any jeopardy. The Dogwood was all in bud and despite taking precautions as the buds started to unfurl the following day they revealed 3 more larva So then there was 6!!!!!!!

Just catching up, Pauline and I think your shots of the Purple Hairstreaks are just amazing. Like Wurzel, I've rarely seen one down close enough to get a decent shot - they are always at neck-cricking height! The undersides are such a lovely shade of lilac-grey and beautifully marked as well. Much envy at this end!

Dave

Thank you Dave. It's a really reliable site for both PH (lots of them) and Grayling. Well worth a visit but I am guessing that Gosport is a bit too far for you (?) otherwise I'd be happy to show you around it.

The last few days have been wet and windy but today, well, it's just downright cold (with the threat of thunderstorms later ). I haven't been getting out anyway because of the Red Mite problem. So far I have spent hundreds of pounds on products and days spraying but there are still many thousands which fall on me like rain if I go into one particular shed. They are in my hair now and I found 3 trying to get up my nose this morning!!! It is a nightmare However, I continue to monitor my Ringlet pupa and yesterday, on Day 23, it definitely started to change colour:
Today it darkened even further. It will be such a shame if it emerges into these low temperatures but it is now Day 24 (at least) so I guess it has to happen soon:
This morning I also found my first ever Orange Tip larva in the wild (just up my lane on the verge). Directly below it was the pupa of a Large White (wonder if it's one of my offspring ):
Last night I spotted this weird thing on my Nasturtiums (you can see I'm really not getting very far ). Obviously some sort of fly but I can't begin to imagine what has happened to it:

I am becoming a little concerned about my Ringlet pupa. It has been very cold recently and yesterday the torrential rain (drops the size of marbles!) and thunder (accompanied by the usual power cuts) did little to help. Today has seen more of the same and the forecast for the next few days does not look promising. I posted the first shot of the pupa on 19th June although I think the pupa was formed a day or 2 earlier. On that basis it will have been in the pupal stage for about 25 days. A few sites (including this one) have suggested that this stage should only last a couple of weeks. I am assuming that it is still alive given the recent changes. However, how long can it delay emergence? How will I know if it has died (sooner rather than later)? Should I try to intervene? I confess that tonight I have brought it indoors but I could put it under a UV light? At least once it emerges there is a chance it will survive until better weather enables release. Any views/opinions? This is quite a new problem for me A couple of shots from yesterday and today:

Pauline wrote:Directly below it was the pupa of a Large White.

Hi Pauline - this is almost certainly a Green-veined White pupa, given that it also feeds on Garlic Mustard.

Cheers,

- Pete

Where are you keeping the pupa? In the wild it would be formed at the based of a grass clump and protected from a) extreme weather (rain) and b) direct sunlight.

Cheers,

- Pete

Hi Pete, thanks for both responses. One reason I assumed it was a Large White pupa was because I had previously seen half a dozen Large Whites feeding on these plants and also because it looked very similar to many of the 80 I recently reared. However, I stand corrected.

Of more importance is the Ringlet. It has been kept exactly as you described with minimal disruption and little intervention. Perhaps this shot of the larva just prior to pupation gives a better indication:
Any advice you might have on how to deal with the current situation would be appreciated, eg, whether to try to 'speed things up' or should I just leave nature to take its course? The weather here in recent weeks has been poor to say the least and I am assuming (again) that perhaps that is the reason the development has been slow.

A gorgeous Comma was most accommodating this morning:

It's good to see the Summer brood is out. I like your last pic best, because it shows the proboscis contacting the flower.