Pauline

[trevor]

Lovely SSB shots, as you say they are early !.
Rumour has it that something big and purple is going to be early too !.

Trevor.

[millerd]

Wow, SSB already! Lovely shots, too, Pauline. I'd better start looking at the various Surrey sites to see if anything is happening!

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cracking set of Silver stud shots Pauline - if memory serves me correctly they seem to emerge at your site about 3 weeks earlier than Slop Bog, so I'll note the date in my calendar

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Thank you Trevor. See you at BB in a couple of weeks then

Cheers Dave - not a very modest thing to say but I'm actually quite pleased with those shots myself as I really didn't have very long there.

You'd better bring that date forward Wurzel cos things are cracking on apace here - females already out! . You're going to have to give me a few lessons on how to get my outings down to 5 mins My butterfly time is under serious threat as I am rearing these little Hoglets and as they are only 30 gms they need 2 hourly feeds:

Their nest was dug up by a dog. There were originally 6 but 2 have died of their injuries. Added to that I had another long dental appointment today (he has managed to save the tooth by pinning it together) so I really didn't have much time ...... but the sun came out and the temperatures soared so I had to call in briefly to Bramshott. I was pleased I did. There are a lot of males out now spread all over the common and females are starting to emerge as witnessed by 2 mating pairs:

A lovely fresh Painted Lady flew past without stopping and I nearly got a shot of a couple of Green Hairstreaks. One of them was pristine but I couldn't get near her and I didn't have time to wait until she got bored with teasing and tormenting me. I did manage a shot of this Small Copper and several Common Blues have started to emerge now (strange as they are usually a bit tatty by the time the SSB emerge)

Loads of moths as per usual including this one which I haven't looked up yet:

As I was leaving I stopped to watch several Green Tiger Beetles. Can't imagine why I have never seen them before as they are quite common by all accounts but what strange creatures - and accomplished hunters!

[David M]

Good luck with those infant hedgehogs, Pauline. I'm sure you'll do everything you can to help them.

[Maximus]

Those baby Hedgehogs are so cute, Pauline, but a lot of hard work too, I guess? Amazing that Silver-studded Blues are out already - the year is really moving along

Mike

[Pauline]

Thank you David. Can you believe they each have their own little personality at only 10 days old!

Aren't they just Mike . They only get 1ml of specially prepared milk at each feed ...... but then there's the 'toileting'. The mother would naturally lick them to stimulate but I'm afraid I won't go quite that far!

I THINK the moth from the previous post is CELYPHA LACUNANA

With time constraints I thought I would start in the garden as I could see these moths just outside the window which I believe might be NEMOPHORA DEGEERELLA:

After that it was down the lane and then on to a local site. I have tried to ID some of the critters spotted recently but please shout if I'm wrong. First up is what I think is a Soldier Beetle, CANTHARIS RUSTICA - what I like about this fella is his black heart on the red background:

Yellow-tail

The Vapourer

Common Swift

Another Yellow-tail

No idea

I've never seen moths mating before but I think these might be COLEOPHORA CAESPITITIELLA (such easy names to remember )

Speckled Yellow

Sallow Kitten (or similar)

Don't know

[Wurzel]

A cracking selection of moths and cats Pauline

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Thanks Wurzel - appreciate that

A couple more shots of SSB's in a different style:

Yesterday I stopped off at Wrecclesham to check on the state of play re Glanvilles. Although a couple were seen last year none were visible from outside of the fence yesterday. I felt quite sad looking at what had been a smashing wildlife site such a short time ago. This is where the lake used to be:

The only wildlife seen were several Demoiselles:

[Katrina]

Just catching up with your diary - gorgeous SSB shots. Well done for looking after the hoglets!

[downland boy]

Hi Pauline,

Your 'no idea' larva posted on 1/6 is a species of sawfly. They can be very similar to moth larvae but they show more than 4 pairs of prolegs and the black dot on the eye is also a sawfly feature.

All the best, Nigel

[Wurzel]

Your last post was a bit of roller coaster Pauline.
Silver-studs
Wrecclesham
Beautiful Demioselle
At least you ended on a high

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

That's very kind of you Katrina. I am very pleased to be able to tell you that after a couple of days the mother returned looking for her babies and was caught. They are now re-united and she is such a good Mum. Not able to be returned because of the dog so she'll stay with me until they can all be released. Would love to take lots of shots but won't risk disturbing them. Managed to grab this quick one tho' as I was cleaning them out:

Thanks for that Nigel - no wonder I couldn't find it in my book!

My whole life seems a bit of a roller coaster at the minute Wurzel One of my parrots had to be admitted to the vet yesterday for x-rays, blood tests, barium meal, anaesthetics etc, etc. He won't be coming back for a few days yet and there is some doubt as to whether he will be coming back at all. His pals are all subdued as they are missing Merlin too but he's a little fighter with bags of attitude so fingers crossed - a shot of him in the plum tree:

Having been told he had survived the night and the first day of treatment I needed some 'escapism' - badly. I didn't want to go far and I had heard that a couple of days ago a couple of Clouded Yellow had been seen not far from Alton. Alton is only a stone's throw from Noar Hill so that's where I headed. I started off by checking 'my' larva. Sadly, there was no sign of any of the Duke larva or the eggs but the tiny Green Hairstreak I had found on 27 May was still there:

My next sighting was that of a Speckled Wood egg-laying. My attempts at trying to catch her in the act were laughable - loads of respect for Neil F. who took that smashing shot a couple of years back. I did manage to get a shot of the egg tho'

I also spotted my first Meadow Brown of the season tucked down into the foliage with no intention of showing off those lovely autumnal colours (Am I allowed to say that when we're just into Summer? )

There were a surprising number of butterflies around including Common Blue and I spotted a female which is fairly similar to the one Buggy photographed - very blue with those wide black margins:

I watched another, more conventionally coloured, egg-laying:

By way of comparison I am including a shot of a male Common Blue I took the other day but didn't think it good enough to post as half of it is out of focus

...and again by way of comparison a SSB from long ago:

My next sighting was another surprise - a female Small Blue. I see singletons most years so hopefully all that Kidney Vetch that is fenced off will encourage a larger colony:

I had been out now for almost 2 hours and thought it was time to wend my way back and try to cheer up my subdued parrots when I almost stepped on this lovely Painted Lady, one of several I have seen this year:

....and just as I was leaving I spotted another first for the season, the Large Skipper:

No Clouded Yellows tho'!

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline,

A great selection of subjects in your recent posts and super photos

Thanks for your comment about my egg laying Specklie shot from the other year...you have got a better shot of the egg itself than I have managed so far though.

All the best,

Neil.

[David M]

You do go through the wringer with all your pets, Pauline. I sincerely hope your parrot makes it through its treatment and the hedgehogs continue to thrive.

[Pauline]

[Maximus]

Hi Pauline, it's great that the baby Hedgehogs have been re-united with their mum and it also relieves you of the toileting duties
Shame about Wrecclesham, it looks like the landfilling is moving along at quite a pace
I hope that all will be well for Merlin.

Mike

[Wurzel]

That's a very blue female blue Pauline Really lush Painted Lady as well, in really good nick she is

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Nice blues and the Lady, Pauline - there certainly are a lot of very blue females around this year. It's such a shame to see that view of Wrecclesham. Aside from the Glanvilles it was a good site generally, and my abiding memory of the place is wandering around the lake accompanied by a loud chorus of marsh frogs. All gone now I would imagine.
Dave

[Pauline]

Thank you guys for your kind comments and compliments and for keeping me in the loop during this difficult time. The normality of your posts has been reassuring. It has been a hard week. I lost Merlin. X-rays showed enlarged mass in the abdomen, either liver or gizzard. Blood tests showed severe anaemia, liver enzyme raised, high white blood cell count, chronic bleeding into the GI tract. PM confirmed liver enlarged, pale and mottled and pale intestines. Samples have been sent to lab for further info. Merlin's mate April has been to the vet today too. She is subdued and missing him but previous x-rays showed bone deformity and with increasing age this may be causing her problems. You are spot on David. Trouble is, I have had them for decades and they are all getting old at the same time - bit like me

Thank you for your very kind comment Neil but at the end of the day it is your shot of the egg-laying that will be remembered rather than my egg - and rightly so

Hi Mike, good to hear from you. Real shame about Wrecclesham. I bet there are Glanvilles still in there (Hazel saw a couple in the meadow last year) but I wasn't about to risk the helicopter a second time

The Painted Lady was a real stunner Wurzel. Re Blue female, I was looking through my shots from last year and in the same place on the same date there was a female at least as blue if not more so.

Thank you Dave. I believe the frogs were collected up along with slow worms and some other stuff. Perhaps we'll meet at Chiddingfold this year.

Well, as you might imagine I've not been out much but here's a few shots from just before this all kicked off. The first is a Red Admiral egg that I watched being laid whilst looking for larva at Abbots Wood (Hants):

The woods there are full of foxgloves and try as I might I couldn't do them justice:

A couple of larva which I haven't had time to ID

and a small vapourer moth:

Closer to home I recently planted a Mullein plant and I noticed today that it seems to have larva on it of the Mullein moth: