www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Thank you very much for your kind and generous comments Goldie & Wurzel I hope you both manage to find some Grizzlies. It was great to see some Green Hairstreaks again. Grizzled Skippers and Green Hairstreaks are so different from one another yet they both delight in their own special way, I love to seeing them again every spring.

Going Green!

After spending a wonderful day with Neil Hulme and Gary Phillpot over at Chantry Hill "where I managed to take my first Green Hairstreak photo of the year" I thought I'd go and see how my local Greenies were fairing.
Yet again there was a chilly, strong and gusty wing blowing, so I thought I'd seek out some of the more sheltered areas - hoping the butterflies would have the same idea.

I duly arrived at the GHS spot and started looking..... nothing! After an hour of searching I decided to move on to another GHS area I know. Still some way off from 'the usual GHS hotspot' I caght a glimpse of that familiar jerky flight pattern near the periphery of my vision. BINGO it was a Green Hairstreak all right and better still it was the freshest GHS I've ever managed to photograph. The day was starting to look up!
I spent a bit of time trying to get a decent photo of this 'beautifully flawless' butterfly before I moved on the my intended destination. It didn't take long to find about 5 more Green Hairstreaks all showing various stages of wear and tare. I was particularly pleased to find an attractive GHS with a nicely defined "streak" of spots and a lovely metallic gold flash to it's fore wing.
After finding my fresh GHS I didn't think the day could get any better, as is so often the case I was wrong. Before I set off for home I thought I'd take a look at one last area thinking it would provide a bit of shelter from the cold wind. As I looked downwards towards the bottom of the scarp I was very pleased to see BadgerBob approaching. I recently asked Bob if he would kindly help me find my first Marbled White Larva, unfortunately I've been so busy we'd not been able to arrange anything. As Bob came closer I jokingly shouted "where are all these Marbled White Larva you promised to show me then! Expecting a witty reply - perhaps followed up by an arrangement to meet up for a MW Larva hunt at a later date. Bob had other ideas - he led me to the place where he had been monitoring a wild Wall Brown Pupa. Thanks to Bob I was able to take a photo of the Pupa. I'd never seen a wild WB Pupa before so I was thrilled to see this.
Bob's kind generosity didn't stop there, after a short search he even managed to find me a Marbled White Larva as well!!
Thanks to Bob and a flawless Green Hairstreak I had a marvellous day yesterday. Thanks again for all your help Bob.

Best Wishes

James

Possibly your best sequence ever, Rex.

Keep 'em coming!

Some great reports and images recently B'rex, fantastic stuff

Cheers,

Neil.

Thanks for your comments Rex, loving your Hairstreaks and those MW early stages are a real find. Looks like the first Marbled Whites are only a few weeks away if there are already pupae!

I agree with David, an absoluetly cracking post Rex, those Greenstreak shots are lush

Have a goodun

Wurzel

HI James,
I'm seeing scattered OTs.here and there, but nothing like last year.
Hope you enjoyed your day out with Neil, i'm sure it was an enriching experience.

All the best,
TREVOR.

@ David, VERY kind of you to say that David, thank you.

@ Cheers Neil, I've been enjoying your diary, lot's of great photos to enjoy.

@ bugboy, it was a friend that found the MW larva for me to photograph, they are not pupating yet, the MW larva was still an early instar. The Wall Brown Pupa "also found by my aforementioned friend" should join the other adults soon. In fact just before I took the photo an adult Wall Brown landed just to the right of us.

@ Wurzel, You're most kind, I don't doubt that we'll soon be seeing some lovely Greenstreaks appearing in your diary soon.

@ Trevor, It's good to see you're finding some more OT's, perhaps we'll see a second wave when the Garlic Mustard blooms. I didn't know Neil was going to be there so it was a very nice surprise to see him, it's always nice to meet Neil - he's a great bloke.

Thank you all for your kind comments, I really appreciate it, especially as I've really struggled to get out as much this spring, or take as many photos as usual.

All the best

James

Yesterday we we're forced to abandon a family trip out thanks to the weather, the day started out fine and sunny but quickly deteriorated. So in the afternoon I quickly popped out to see if I could find a few butterflies.

I found one male Orange Tip,
one Female Orange Tip,
and a Female Green veined white.
Not too bad for the short time available to me, I would have stayed out a bit longer but the rain started to come down.

All the best

James

The quality of image you achieved is indicative of how poor conditions can sometimes (often, even) play into your hands.

Great stuff.

David M wrote:The quality of image you achieved is indicative of how poor conditions can sometimes (often, even) play into your hands.

Great stuff.

Thanks David, yes indeed cool overcast conditions can really help to slow some of our more frenetic butterflies down a tad. Giving me some more time to compose a shot and get a bit closer than usual.

Best wishes

James

That first image is just great Rex I have caught up with a few of the Green Ones but they were a bit tatty looking probably as they were hanging out on Bramble and Cypress

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wurzel wrote:That first image is just great Rex I have caught up with a few of the Green Ones but they were a bit tatty looking probably as they were hanging out on Bramble and Cypress

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel I'm looking forward to seeing your GHS photos, it can be really difficult to find one in undamaged condition. As you say the Brambles and (Gorse in these parts) quickly take their toll on those lovely emerald wings. I'm sure these gale force winds are not helping things too much either!

Tomorrow looks a lot better but I'm not sure if I can get out.

Best Wishes

James

Hi B'rex,

Some beautiful photos recently in you diary, great stuff

Cheers,

Neil.

Neil Freeman wrote:Hi B'rex,

Some beautiful photos recently in you diary, great stuff

Cheers,

Neil.

Thank you Neil, I've really been enjoying your diary as well. You're doing a lot better than me this year. Things seem to be a bit slow around here at the moment!


A quick dash to my local Skipper spot late this afternoon yielded about 7 Grizzled and 5 Dingy Skippers. Not great for this particular site but I think more will emerge there over the next week or two.

I also saw my first brown Argus of the year but I didn't manage a photo. Oddly it appeared to be alone and a little worn, try as I might I couldn't locate another.
All the best

James

Nice shots, Rex. I'm even more eager to catch up with Dingies having seen so many images over the past few days.

Cracking shots Rex, it makes me want to get out there with my camera, but unfortunately it's a bit too late at present

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wurzel wrote:Cracking shots Rex, it makes me want to get out there with my camera, but unfortunately it's a bit too late at present

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel, you could always take yyour camera to bed in case an interesting moff comes to visit I hope you got your Dukes this weekend.

David M wrote:Nice shots, Rex. I'm even more eager to catch up with Dingies having seen so many images over the past few days.

Cheers David, I lost some of my best ever Dingy Skipper shots last week thanks to a faulty memory card. I hope you catch up with some and get some great photos.

A CHALLENGING DAY

This afternoon I made a visit to Abbots Wood to see my first PBF's of the year. By the time I made it to the main site it was very warm and sunny so I knew I'd be in for a hard time catching any pearls.
As expected they were whizzing around at break neck speed hardly ever landing. The best I could manage was this shot (below) after a lot of running around!
It wasn't long before I noticed that there were a few females laying eggs, so with the hope of a wonderful PBF shot unlikely I changed tack.
I watched as this female found a good spot to deposit an OVA.
After she flew off I went over and very carefully tuned over the leaf to reveal a beautifully fresh PBF egg, I took a couple of photos before turning the leaf safely back over.
Soon after I saw another female laying an egg.
It would have been nice to stay on until the evening and perhaps find some roosting pearls. Unfortunately I had to leave but very happy to have seen so much egg laying. Hopefully we'll see a bumper crop of PBF's at Abbots next year. In all I saw roughly 25 over about 3 hours and many of them appeared to be in great condition.

It's been a really good spring for Bluebells in Sussex this year, the vibrant colour has been a delight.
Best Wishes

James

Hi James,
I'm pleased that you saw some Pearls in Abbots Wood. The site you visited now has the main population
( if it's the site i think it is ). To me the number of Pearls this year is about the same as last year, so i'm
hoping that they are at least holding their own.
It is interesting that neither of the Females in your images have laid their eggs on Violets ( at least they
don't look like Violets ).

All the best,
TREVOR.

Morning James

I think the superb images you have captured are much more interesting and challenging than roosting Pearls. I would have loved to witness that so I am very envious I believe that Pearls lay eggs in a variety of places including leaf litter close to the food plant but I would be happy to be corrected on that one.

Interesting behaviour Rex and nice shots I really must get round to sorting my Pearl shots out...

Have a goodun

Wurzel