Bugboys mission

[Pauline]

Great shots of the Peacock egg-laying Buggy - certainly worthy of note. I also happen to like the composition of the GVW

[Wurzel]

Cracking Comma shot Bugboy My favourite from your latest offering has to be the final OT - with the mark in the wing it looks like too orange Trumps having a fave off - one is non-committal the other not best pleased

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

..Around the corner I had a look to see if the Peacock from yesterday had successfully finished laying her egg mass. The nettles were now in shade so I had to use flash but it was a healthy batch of eggs. However look closely and you can see a couple of tiny dark wasps who I’m sure weren’t there for the scenery. There’s plenty of eggs to go round though and the vast majority should successfully hatch

Fascinating, Paul. Those wasps don't waste any time, do they? Like you say, surely they won't parasitise all the eggs. There are so many Peacocks around this spring I'm sure plenty will escape their attention.

[bugboy]

Thanks Pauline, hopefully I can track these as they grow over the next few weeks
Haha, thanks Wurzel, I hadn't noticed that but now you mention it I can't unsee it
Thanks David, I think I'm right in saying that each wasp deposits it's own load in just one or two eggs, they're certainly small enough not to need many to complete their own lifecycle and in any case, the eggs at the bottom of the pile are very safe from these tiny critters.

April 2020
Thursday 23rd. Yet another cloudless sky (what do clouds look like like again..?) and although I didn’t see much at work it was all noteworthy. I had a female Holly Blue laying on Holly. She would vanish into the undergrowth to do the laying but would pop out from time to time to warm up again.

Around the base of the Holly a Red Admiral was also busy laying eggs but she was too fast to get a snap off.

By far the best sighting this lunchtime though was a male Brown Argus. At first, I thought he was a Common Blue, based on what I had and hadn’t seen here before but he was tiny and I quickly concluded I was looking at the 22nd species I’ve recorded at work.

The walk home was quieter than previous afternoons, some high misty cloud had taken the edge off the day’s heat and had sent most things to bed but a few Comma where still active, high up in some Hawthorn.

[Wurzel]

"what do clouds look like like again..?" So now I know who to blame for the torrential rain showers and flash flooding I experienced on my way home from work today! - Mind you I was at work so didn't mind the terrible weather
That Brown Argus is lush and I love it when they pull the pose in your second shot

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Ahh, sorry about that Wurzel, if it makes you feel any better by flat roof above the bathroom sprung a leak in the downpoors . Only a small one but my useless freeholder needs to get a shift on

April 2020
Saturday 25th. Although I’m not planning on going butterflying on my patch on sunny weekends due to the amount of people it attracts, I hoped the overcast morning today would give me a window of opportunity. Indeed it did and I was amply rewarded for my effort. First up, especially for David M, a Small White feeding on Cow Parsley.

This was followed up by a gorgeous female Orange-tip and then a Holly Blue who was very much in favour of the Hairstreak/Brimstone school of thought where basking is concerned, making no attempt at all to flash me some blue!

A few other seasonal regulars put in appearances as I made my way to see if I could re-find my first instar Brimstone caterpillar to the sound of the first Swifts screeching overhead.

At the Alder Buckthorn it didn’t take long to locate the leaf, young instar Brimstones tend to add a swiss cheese effect to their leaves. The caterpillar itself had moved to a fresher leaf and was preparing to moult. Nearby I found another freshly laid egg.

Typical young larval feeding damage

The late start to proceedings meant that a tatty old Brimstone was still breakfasting on some Comfrey in the early afternoon and whilst watching him a couple of male Orange-tip joined him. I came to within a hairs breadth of capturing two male Orange-tips nectaring next to each other!

Before leaving I once again took a slight detour into Walthamstow Wetlands where I heard my first Reed Warblers of the year and for a little while one popped out to shout his presence quite close to me.

Reed Warbler

To finish here’s some Greylag goslings

[Neil Freeman]

...Although I’m not planning on going butterflying on my patch on sunny weekends due to the amount of people it attracts...

Same here. My local parks have become more popular than they ever have been this past couple of weeks so I have been avoiding them too.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Sorry to hear about your leaky roof Bugboy I really didn't mind the appalling weather as I was at work anyway That shot of the female OT with the closed wings is fantastic - beautifully backlit Good to see the Reed Warblers - don't often

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[David M]

...First up, especially for David M, a Small White feeding on Cow Parsley.

Where have I been looking all these years, Paul? Honestly, I don't ever see butterflies using cow parsley round my way!

Nice work with the Brimstone early stages, not to mention the birdlife.

[bugboy]

Yes its very much avoiding the 'peak' times for me on my patch at the moment Neil
No we definitely needed the rain Wurzel. From my point of view my patch needed a few days break from all the footfall, I was starting to worry some of the areas that are left to grow long during the season would stay flattened from all the sunbathers and picnickers !
Its like a substitute for Buddleja round here David . More baby Brimstone below

April 2020
Wednesday 29th. A small window during the late morning when no rain was forecast but not enough sun came out to wake anything up meant I had time to look for some babies. Rape seems to be the plant of choice for my local Orange-tips. There’s not much Cuckoo Flower here and not a great deal of Garlic Mustard around either so I think it’s a case of needs must rather than a preference.

Over at the Alder buckthorn my Brimstone cat had successfully completed his moult into 2nd instar and was going for his daily government allowed exorcise.

Looking around I started to see more and ended up with a total of eight, mostly 2nd instar, Brimstone Caterpillars, the feeding damage starting to become rather obvious now.

Freshly moulted 2nd instar

2nd instar

1st instar

2nd instar

1st instar

A quick check on the Peacock egg batch finished my walk. You can see in the image where they are. The glue that holds them in place stops the leaf expanding as it grows leading to a distorted area.

[Wurzel]

"I was starting to worry...would stay flattened from all the sunbathers and picnickers !" Some people don;t really understand Lockdown or exercise do they
"leading to a distorted area." that's a useful tip - I'll keep my eyes open for that now

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Muppets the lot of em Wurzel The nature of this forum stops me from using the actual language I mutter when I see them

May 2020
Friday the 1st was a mix match of weather, April showers was a month late this year! I had a few Whites to start with and A holly blue wandered through without settling.

I also managed to locate a Red Admiral larval tent, the owner likely to be half grown, around 3rd instar and I checked on the Peacock eggs which all looked very healthy despite some of them almost certainly currently incubating some parasitoids.

It then went a bit downhill from there and I spent a while dodging heavy showers and hail. Whitethroats kept me company in the less damp spells.

Whitethroat

For the rest of my walk it was more cloudy than sunny and what I did see were flybys, an Orange-tip here, a White there and I was never in the right place to be able to see them as a cloud obscured the sun, oh well. Birdlife kept my camera busy though, I found a gang of Pochard loitering and in the reedy edges there was a Reed Warbler turf war going on, at least four individuals flying backwards and forwards whilst shouting at each other. On the far side in the shadows there was also a reed Bunting lurking.

Pochard drake

Reed Warblers

Reed Warbler

Reed Bunting

Coots and Dabchicks were doing their thing, I suspect the Dabchicks are sitting on eggs somewhere out of the way of nosey people with cameras, whilst on the side a Heron was having a tidy up.

Coot and chick

Dabchick

Heron

The final stop off was the Alder Buckthorn which seems to be being slowly slowly devoured by the Brimstones, my original one I’m following looking really rather chunky compared to when I last saw him.

3rd instar?

2nd instar and egg

[Wurzel]

I have an inking about what you mean when you use "Muppets" Bugboy Love the shot of the male Pochard - they are one of those underrated species which if they were rare people would be raving about and would travel miles to see

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Love your shot of the White Throat Bugboy, he looks really happy Goldie

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, I love the males piercing blood red eyes
Haha, thanks Goldie, hopefully all his singing has got himself a lady

May 2020
Saturday 2nd. Not a great deal happened today. At work I had just a single male Brimstone flyby. A friendly Starling posed whilst searching for food.

On the walk home the cloud cover and chilly breeze had made sure anything that was on the wing had gone to bed long before I arrived on the scene. I had a quick check up on the Brimstones, finding my main one now adopting the classic pose along the centre rib of the leaf, he must be a third instar then according to a certain very useful book!

Elsewhere a female or two had visited since yesterday, freshly laid eggs littered the leaves, most of which already had owners.

[Wurzel]

"I love the males piercing blood red eyes" - yeah a definite Metal Head the Pochard In the states they're even luckier as they have Canvasbacks and Redheads which have a similar livery Cracking Starling shot - another underappreciated beauty

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[millerd]

Great shots of the ever-fatter Brimstone caterpillars, Buggy. Having been guided to some buckthorn by a friendly female, I have been unable to locate any of her offspring, which is disappointing. The do appear to eat a great deal in a short time from what you've recorded.

Cheers,

Dave

[David M]

Interesting to see the feeding damage on the buckthorn, Paul. I presume the smaller perforations are made by the young larvae who then go on to decimate much of the leaf as they grow bigger like in the first image?

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel, shame the sun wasn't out on that Starling to show the rainbow of colours
Thanks Dave, I think that well known children's book may have been based on Brimstone caterpillars based on how fast they munch through the leaves
That is indeed the case David, I imagine it won't be long before the local avian population start noticing them though so numbers will be thinned out and they will be harder to locate. At the moment nibbled leaf = caterpillar but once the birds start munching on them they'll be lots of red herrings. Since they hide in plain sight on the upper side of the leaf I wonder if they glow under UV like WLH who hide away on the underside?

May 2020
Monday 4th. The day really did start of on a high point. Just walking through the entrance to the Marshes I noticed a small dark butterfly jinking around. Instinct took me to the most likely suspect but no, can’t be, surely not, but he landed and indeed it was possibly a new species for my local patch, I’ve certainly never seen them here before!

That evening I discovered from the county recorder it was indeed a new record for the site .

Female Green-veined Whites and Holly Blues flitted around, the latter constantly menaced by the Hairstreak, the former drew the attention of a marauding Small White.

The Peacock eggs were still a healthy emerald green although there are some faintly darker areas beginning to show in some of them. A few adults were still active too, one of whom was about as mint as they come, I’m not sure where she’s been hiding, maybe she just had an exceedingly long lay in this spring.

In the same sheltered sun trap a female Brimstone was breakfasting… in-between being harassed by a couple of amorous but misguided Small White.

Of course no post from me is complete without a butterfly posing on Cow Parsley at the moment, today we have a Red Admiral .

My Brimstone caterpillar is doing well and may possibly be settling down to moult again whilst around him eggs are still appearing. They don’t seem to worry whether a leaf is already occupied, this leaf already has two 1st instars!

The Reed Warbler turf war that was occurring last time I visited the waterworks nature reserve seemed to have settled down and one of them hopped out in front of the hide, unusually quiet, and just sat in plain sight for a few minutes .

I took a short wander along the river lea and found a few odds and ends taking refuge on a small shingle island. A pair of Egyptian Geese were having a good old preen and freshen up.

Whilst a coot was causing trouble as they so often do, a Mallard duckling in this case seemed to irk him in some mysterious manner.

I also rescued a Rose Chafer from certain death, trundling nonchalantly along the main path with cyclists and joggers going to and fro. I found him some Hawthorn blossom to tuck in to.

The final find of the day that was photo worthy was a particularly large female Orange-tip. Little fluffy clouds prompted her to rest regularly for her photo shoot

A particularly good day

Stay safe

[trevor]

One of the pleasures of our hobby is finding something totally unexpected.
Locating the Green Hairstreak is one of my annual highlights.

Great stuff, stay well,
Trevor.