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Welcome back Pauline, it's not the start of the season proper until you've come out of 'hibernation' What a way to start talk about off like a shot

Have a goodun

Wurzel

It must be Spring, Pauline's back !. Coping with the weather I hope.
Might see yoy at BB later on.

Best wishes ,
Trevor.

That's a nice way to kick off your season, Pauline. A lovely Duke. I shall have to pop down that way shortly!

Dave

Great to see you back, Pauline. I was getting a lttle worried because you were later than in times gone by, but then so is spring so maybe it's not too much of a surprise.

You made quite an entrance too with your Duke, which is the first image, I believe, of a 2018 specimen on here.

Thank you for the warm welcome on my return. D'you know Wurzel, I have only seen 7 species so far this season, the Duke being one of them. One of the others was this Brimstone which was laying an awful lot of eggs. I took a quick shot of the eggs immediately on 20 April and then went back on 24 April to find them all intact (notice the colour change):
It has been tough this Winter Trevor. I am still caring for a hedgehog I found in the snow (in my garden) with ring worm, mange and lung worm. Hopefully when the weather improves things will get easier and it would be great to see you at BB.

Cheers Dave and thanks for the compliment. For goodness sake, if you are coming down this way please do let me know as it is high time we met up after missing each other for several seasons now despite visiting the same spots.

Thank you too David. You just wouldn't believe how busy I've been. I managed to get those 6 chairs upholstered before Christmas and for a first attempt I'm quite pleased. What d'you think?
I then went on to paint the hallway and kitchen and somehow along the way acquired 6 budgies. Some might recognise another butterfly enthusiast who popped in for a cuppa when the weather was too bad to get out:

As the stat to the season has been so dire 7 species is reasonably respectable That is a cracking shot of the egg-laying Brimstone

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Pauline wrote:I have only seen 7 species so far this season, the Duke being one of them.

Good to see you posting again, Pauline. With the weather we've had so far, 7 species seems a remarkable total to me and I've certainly not seen any Dukes. Once again, I'm looking out onto a rain-soaked and blustery garden, and feeling sorry for all the birds that are trying to raise families in these trying conditions. It seems that better weather is forecast for the weekend, so let's hope for some overall improvement.

Mike

Pauline wrote:
Thank you too David. You just wouldn't believe how busy I've been. I managed to get those 6 chairs upholstered before Christmas and for a first attempt I'm quite pleased. What d'you think?

I think I would, Pauline, but more taxing is the question of how you've found time to upholster a room full of chairs!!

Love the laying Brimstone, whilst the budgies are all adorable, I'm sure. Given the temperament of the one depicted, one presumes they were all former pets?

Welcome back Pauline...and a great way to kick off again with those Duke images

Great sequence of the Brimstone and eggs too

All the best,

Neil

I don't blame you for having a few extra weeks in hibernation this year Pauline, if I could I would have too! Good to know your Dukes are out, give it a few weeks and my 'local' ones in the Chiltons will be on the wing too

Thank you again for your comments. It certainly has been wet here Mike. I have been worried about a male Goldcrest who spent the best part of a week trying to get into my bedroom window and making a dreadful mess on it. His mate was calling from a nearby tree but I imagine he was seeing his reflection as a threat. I was quite worried about his survival at one point as he spent so much time there. I did manage a short video of him but for now just a poor photo:
Yesterday there were another 2 Dukes at Noar Hill but I won't keep posting shots of 'same old, same old'. Suffice to say I couldn't get my car along the road and the water came over the top of my (ankle) wellies!! I hope it has dried up a little today.
For some years now Buggy I have been monitoring the immature stages of the Duke at Noar and last Autumn it was apparent that the level of predation was higher than normal. I shall be interested to see what effect that has had (combined with the inclement weather) on this years population and how it compares to other sites.

Thank you for your kind words Neil. It's good to be back but where this season will take me remains to be seen .

I appreciate the compliment David. Like everything else that lives here the budgies have their stories - but I'll save that for another time

Cheers Wurzel, much appreciated but I'm going to have to do something about that total

6 seen today:
Witnessed the actual coupling which happened in less than a minute and lasted 36 minutes. A few early shots of the 'courtship':

Cracking stuff Pauline It seems like the Dukes over this way are a way off- we haven't even hada Grizllie in Wiltshire yet

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi Pauline, very nice Duke shots.

Whoa! Someone got lucky (with the weather as well as the Dukes)!

Looks like lucina is wasting no time after the recent deluges and cold. I suspect this weekend could see quite a frenzy of activity?

Thanks Wurzel. It's going to be an interesting season that's for sure, one way or the other.......

Good to hear from you Andrew and thank you for your very kind words.

The season will be condensed in my opinion David but it remains to be seen exactly how many have made it through to participate in the frenzy. Once it is possible to make comparisons with previous seasons, conclusions will be drawn by those more knowledgeable than me no doubt - as you know I have concerns regarding the level of predation that extends to Purple Hairstreaks also, despite them having a good year in 2017.

Sorry to have to do this to you Goldie but at least half a dozen seen today at Rake Bottom. Both male and female but no pretty poses. I doubt I shall ever take one as good as Katrina's (check it out). Notice the cute 'eyelashes' on this one:
I also spotted several Green Hairstreaks which looked freshly emerged. These were my target today but sat perched up really, REALLY high so with my camera at full zoom and some pretty harsh cropping I was only able to achieve this:
IMO this part of the site seems to have deteriorated. Today it seemed to lack colour, flowers and the number of butterflies I am used to seeing. There is a tangle of brambles hindering close access to some Green Hairstreak areas and I could go on but I would be interested in what others think.

In the last 24 hours I am pleased to say that the total of species seen so far has doubled. In part this is due to the sighting of a Speckled Wood in the garden this morning. 'So what' I hear you say. Well, not only is this my first sighting of the season but, despite having SWF, WA, PH in the garden regularly (oh, and that Brown Argus that turned up a couple of years ago), this is only the 2nd time I have had a Speckled Wood in the garden I was so excited I thought it deserved a special mention. So there you have it Neil. Whenever I see a Speckled Wood it reminds me of your cracking shots and the numbers which you get in your garden regularly. Perhaps you would be kind enough to confirm the gender?:

Aha, so despite your worries you were after all able to get back out of Rakes Bottom!

Aha!..a garden Specklie, a nice fresh male

Although I would trade a few of mine for your SWF, WA and PHs

Nice Grizzled Skippers too, and the Dukes from the other day

All the best,

Neil.

Pauline wrote: Cheers Dave and thanks for the compliment. For goodness sake, if you are coming down this way please do let me know as it is high time we met up after missing each other for several seasons now despite visiting the same spots.

I promise to in future, Pauline, but I went down today on a last minute decision when the weather looked so good... Well worth it with a Neil Hulme being spotted amongst other species.


Those Grizzled Skipper images are brilliant. They do indeed have wonderful eyebrows, though oddly enough I'm told that is what callophrys (as in Green Hairstreak) translates as.

Cheers,

Dave

That first Grizzlie is an interesting critter, Pauline. The 'clothes peg' on the hindwing is very enlarged, almost like an Oberthur's.

Beautiful specimen and great to see you had another productive day.