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Very nice image of the mating Green Veined Whites, Paul.
Saw my first one today in the garden, it was in a bad place for a shot though.
It won't belong before the lock down starts to restrict the number of species
we will see this year once the common Spring regulars, to be seen locally, have faded.

Hopefully restrictions will be eased by high Summer, and this dreadful virus is
under some sort of control.

Keep safe and well,
Trevor.

Looks like the female Holly Blue is laying on the dogwood, Buggy - or at least thinking about it.

Cheers,

Dave

Lovely Green-veined Whites Bugboy and that female OT is a corker - love the lemony tinge on the edge of the hind wing
"It certainly beats walking along a street which is the other option"...I'm finding that I walk down the middle of the (quieter) roads as if I'm in a Zombie movie...though in London I can see that that might be tricky

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

God alone knows what that Holly Blue's been up to, Paul. She's pretty beaten up but she's still ensuring a future generation!

Well done with the Green Veined White pair too. I think it's only me who hasn't photographed this species this year now.

Still catching up Buggy. Love the bird shots - used to get all of them in the garden (bar the Linnet),; don't know where they've all gone . Good find with the mating GVW too

Yup, Dogwood it is Dave, the only foodplant here I've seen them interacting with until the Goat's-rue appears which my local population seems to obsess over.
Thanks Wurzel. Actually to get to my patch from my flat is a 10 minute walk along a side road and walking down the middle of it is a viable option at the moment, especially with occasional #@**# who assumes that me moving to one side on the pavement means I'm giving them permission to hog the center
Thanks David, yes she been around the block a few times hasn't she. Hopefully that means she's already laid most of her eggs. I find mating GVW's are one of the commoner in-cop species to come across, although I only noticed this pair when a spare male I was following showed an interest.
Thanks Pauline, good to see you came out of hibernation . I have the nosey male GVW to thank for mating pair sighting

April 2020
Friday 10th. My final day at work before a week off. I’d had in mind things like Green Hairstreak and Grizzled Skippers when I’d booked the week late last year . I guess I’ll have to wait until next year for them now….hopefully at any rate! Anyway todays lunchtime walk proved quite successful (by my works standards) some more Brimstones, a Speckled Wood looking very dainty on the Cow Parsley, a couple of Peacock (the first I’ve managed to photograph at work) and a very fresh mud puddling Small White on the freshly watered nectar border. The walk home was once again successful and presented lots of interesting behaviour. First up a couple of Male Orange-tip and I managed to grab a couple of shots as one took a short pit stop on some Cherry blossom. Comma’s once again littered to the usual spots, like the Peacocks they’ve had an amazing spring locally although they are now starting to show their age. I also once again found a pair of Comma engaged in similar activity as the previous day. In this case the male either didn’t see or was simply ignoring the basking female. He was holding a territory next to a young hazel on which the female had chosen to rest. Whenever he glided near the female on one of many and constant sorties, she would close up but other than that there was no interaction until she took flight. It was very clear that the closing of wings had nothing to do with temperature regulation and was a direct response the males coming and going. After losing the male she flew into a nearby Ash where she sat on a low twig supping on some leaking liquid from a bud. The final encounter of the day was a couple of Green-veined White. Despite the female’s very obvious ‘bugger off’ signals he was extremely determined (it got him nowhere obviously). Perhaps he should take a leaf out of a Comma’s book!

A cracking set of shots Bugboy - especially the failed courtship shots - he should have gotten a medal for trying at least
"especially with occasional #@**# who assumes that me moving to one side on the pavement means I'm giving them permission to hog the center" - yep I've encountered a few of these you go as far as you can to one side on the understanding that they'd do the same but no, they just carry on, muppets
I don't suppose the new advice about driving to do exercise would be any use for you - there must be a way round it?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Some interesting behaviour in those images, Paul. I've never seen a Speckled Wood on cow parsley...come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen any butterfly nectaring on this plant, apart from possibly a Duke of Burgundy at Rodborough Common a few years back.

As for Green Veined Whites, all I can say is that I wish I could locate the females as easily as the males can!

Thanks Wurzel. Not a great deal of help for me unfortunately. Perhaps in another 3 weeks they'll reduce some of the restrictions and my chauffeur (who also lives alone) might be able to take me to a few more distant sites. In the meantime I'm gonna have to make do with my local patch but then when all is said and done I'll count myself lucky, it could be a lot worse!
Thanks David, I don't often find Speckled Wood nectaring full stop. I did however get a Peacock feeding on Cow Parsley last year and also on the 9th of April this year so just for you to prove it wasn't a fluke... April 2020
Monday 13th. Like most of the country, I made a conscious decision not to go out over the weekend but today was significantly cooler meaning there would be less incentive for people to go out, and it would be easier to keep a suitable distance from them during my exorcise. It was rather chilly and I didn’t see much in the way of butterflies to start with and once again I found myself focusing on the birdlife. On the only Buckthorn I know of here, an Alder Buckthorn, I found a few more Brimstone eggs but nowhere near as many as I was finding last year. I’ve not seen many adults so far and this would seem to be more evidence of a poor spring for this species locally. Getting out of the chilly breeze and perusing all my favourite sheltered sun traps finally started to come up trumps though, with many of the usual suspects appearing. I finally managed a total of seventeen individuals of six species (no Peacocks today though).

Interesting that you also failed to find a Peacock on Monday 13th, Buggy - even though the sunshine enticed out a variety of other species despite the cold. Their collective consciousness must have made a decision to stay put...

Cheers,

Dave

Great stuff Bugboy The Comma and his mate the Hoverfly is a cracking shot but what happened to the Comma? It looks like a pair of scissors has been taken to its back end a very neat bird strike?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

bugboy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 17, 2020 7:38 pm..I did however get a Peacock feeding on Cow Parsley last year and also on the 9th of April this year so just for you to prove it wasn't a fluke...

Right, I'm going to make a special effort to watch for this, Paul. The cow parsley is just beginning to emerge here.

..I found a few more Brimstone eggs but nowhere near as many as I was finding last year. I’ve not seen many adults so far and this would seem to be more evidence of a poor spring for this species locally.

I think we were spoiled in 2019 with the numbers of Brimstones. They were all up and flying well before the end of February due to the mild weather. I too haven't seen anything like last year's numbers, and the last couple of times I've been out I've seen only a handful. Good image of the ovum, however.

Hi! Bugboy, your doing okay with the Butterflies, I'm like you, hoping it won't be too long before we can get out again
I really like your Peacock the white really shows it's colour's up. Goldie

Great reports recently Bugboy with some interesting comments.

I am not seeing so many Brimstones this spring and no females yet either. Mind you my sense of time has been thrown out by working from home and now on furlough, I have to remind myself we are still only in mid April.

Cheers,

Neil.

There must have been something in the air that day Dave
Thanks Wurzel, the bird must have made a grab when its wings were closed, its not the only one I've seen this year with neatly scissored hindwings
Thanks David, the last Brimstone I saw was on the 7th on my patch and on the 8th at work (although I've been on AL from work last week so they may still be active there)
Thanks Goldie, I think we're all hoping for the same thing but at least we're still allowed out for daily exorcise, it looked like banning that was on the cards not so long ago
Thanks Neil. I know what you mean about the sense of time, it feels like June with this weather. My work rota has significantly changed and I work weekends too so I don't even them to help reset my clock. Being on AL at the moment hasn't helped either, I have no idea what day of the week it is without checking my phone... sometimes more than once a day, don't even know if I can blame that on age anymore either

April 2020
Tuesday 14th. Another day that seemed to make me work hard to find butterflies, what I did come across was quality over quantity though. A nice fresh Speckled Wood started the day and this was followed up half an hour later by an equally fresh Orange-tip. He was so fresh that despite the growing warmth he was very reticent to fly, only taking to the wing when a nosey GVW dropped by to pester him. Birdlife is taking up a significant portion of my diary this spring. As I’m stuck to my local patch the butterfly variety is pretty limited (if I’m lucky I’ll hit 21 species by the end of the year), and on some days few and far between so hopefully it will break up the monotony a bit. Here’s a foraging Blackcap And this Lesser Black-backed Gull looked to be playing with something, it was only when I got home for a closer look that I realised it’d found a bird’s foot! In the same bit of water a Dabchick in his full breeding regalia was having a spruce up. Overlooking all this a large group of Magpies chattered away. Back to the butterflies a tatty Small Tortoiseshell showed up And a few more Orange-tip were patrolling, one of whom stopped long enough for a few snaps Small and GV Whites both were about and in the regular Comma hotspot I found a particularly eye-catching individual, almost hutchinsoni in his brightness! The final butterfly of note was a very spritely female Large White, my first of the year. She had yet to be mated, a conclusion I came to due to the fact that she acted very male-like, chasing and investigating every other White she came across. She brought my yearly total to 11 species which it will likely stall at for the next few weeks until the summer emergents begin to show, starting with the Large Skipper (unless an early summer migrant shows up of course, or perhaps even, dare I suggest it, a wandering Large Tortoiseshell I can but dream ).

Well done on getting the Large White, Buggy. Really tricky at this time of year. Like you I am stuck on eleven species, but hoping for a Small Copper before too long, especially as the fine weather looks set to continue at least until the end of the month.

Cheers,

Dave

I echo Dave's congratulations on the Large White - still not seen one this year and even if I had they rarely settle Lovely shot of the Dabchick and the super bright Comma So if "7 is for a secret ever to be told..." what does 8 mean - or does the rhyme start again?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Great selection again, Paul. The female Large White is, I always think, a tremendously beautiful insect that doesn't get the attention it deserves.

Mind you, they aren't all that easy to photograph so well done on your effort there.

Thanks Dave it did take a while to pin her down, there was a whole gaggle of male Whites flitting around . Small Coppers are resigned to the 'maybe' file for my patch, I do see the odd singleton from time to time but it's stretching it a bit to suggest there's a colony here I think
Thanks Wurzel, there was actually 13 magpies in that tree but I thought better of getting them all in the picture, there's enough bad luck going round at the moment without me tempting fate It's 8 for a wish and goes up to 12 if Wickipedia is to be believed... lucky I didn't try for 12 from the looks of it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_for_S ... ery_rhyme)
Thanks David, they are lovely for a butterfly with no real colour, especially when freshly minted like my one



April 2020
Wednesday 15th. I went for a morning exorcise today which meant the butterflies were in short supply, with clear skies at night it takes a while for things to warm up. The birds were up and singing away (and in some cases still getting dressed) as usual Speckled Wood are ok with a cool start though, pretty sure I’d photographed this chap a few time already, flitting around his little sunny glade. It was good to find a couple more Small Tortoiseshell. They’re few and far between here but numbers do seem to be stable as best as I can tell. Things were livening up by midday, I found a female Peacock looking for somewhere to lay, doing the whole toe-tappy thing on the fresh nettle foliage whilst a female GVW was busy laying on Rape that was growing in amongst the same nettle patch. The bright Comma from yesterday was lurking too On the way home I took a slight detour into Walthamstow Wetlands where the relative tameness of the waterfowl meant little or no stalking is required to get up close. I watched from a suitable distance as an extended family of Greylag Geese walked through (not round) a family out for their daily exorcise without so much as batting an eyelid. The cormorant colony are well into their breeding season but that doesn’t mean you can’t still do a bit of redecorating to keep your partner happy (eh Wurzel ) Before leaving there was another female GVW and a male Orange-tip stopped off to refuel.

Hi! Bugboy, love the GVW on the Daises , a real Spring shot Goldie