www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Pete Eeles wrote:Excellent shots William! For anyone wanting to locate Dingy Skipper eggs, take a look at this:

http://www.warwickshire-butterflies.org ... s-2008.pdf

I found 4 today in the space of 15 minutes at Greenham Common.

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks Pete, very useful read. I shall put that advice to test tomorrow

Really interesting report with some fantastic photos William. I love the larvae images and that Small Copper is beautiful

Pete Eeles wrote:Excellent shots William! For anyone wanting to locate Dingy Skipper eggs, take a look at this:

http://www.warwickshire-butterflies.org ... s-2008.pdf

I found 4 today in the space of 15 minutes at Greenham Common.

Cheers,

- Pete

I have seen Mike Slater in action and his ability to find Dingy and Grizzled Skipper eggs is amazing. I am sure that he has got them trained to lay on exactly the plants that he wants for convenience

Cheers,

Neil

Thanks everyone for the kind comments and Pete for the information on Dingy Skipper eggs, some food for thought!

Recent Doings

I managed to fit some butterfly-hunting around work this week. A trip up to Haddon Hill on Monday brought me two lovely fresh Green Hairstreaks after an hour and a half of searching, along with a couple of Holly Blues. For those planning on making the trip, I believe Heath Fritillaries are now out there (I would be happy to help anyone out with details), though it will be a week or two before the numbers build, and Small Pearl-Bordered down the road at Haddon Moor. It will be interesting to see if any Marsh Fritillaries are seen at the latter after my female last year!
Bitten by the Hairstreak bug, on Tuesday, I headed up to Crowcombe Park Gate on the Quantocks. The Quantocks can be an unforgiving place when the wind howls across the ridge over the heather, and so it was for nearly two hours, until I checked one last wood edge and found 9 Green Hairstreaks - hooray!

Just catching up William and your Dingy shots are stunning. I love the SC shots too - You did so much better than me as mine didn't make it for reasons I still don't understand. It is still a butterfly I would love to monitor through the early stages so very well done. I shall be coming to you now for advice

Hi Will,

great photos all the way through your diary. Love the Green Hairstreaks. And well done for rearing the Small Coppers successfully, smashing photos on the early stages.

All the best, Nick.

Thanks Pauline , Small Copper larvae are endearing, slow-moving creatures - I really enjoyed breeding my one! I'd be happy to give you any advice you want, though I got all mine from Pete, so I can take no credit!

BWs,

William

Hi William

Just catching up with your diary. Great photos as always, I particularly like that last Green Hairstreak

Hi William, lovely photos through your diary You seem to have made the most of the Orange-tips, nice to see the eight roosting males in your garden. That's a beautiful Small Copper you reared too

Excellent photos as always - is that a Prominent larva that can be glimpsed at far left on the third of the Green Hairstreak photos?

Thank you all for your kind words - sorry Nick, I think I just missed you when I replied to Pauline, Green Hairstreaks, as you've probably guessed, are one of my favourites too ! Thanks Jack and Maximus - I was certainly lucky with the Orange Tips, nice for them to come to me for once! I think it is a bud in the corner, Chris, though the oaks on which the Green Hairstreaks perched were absolutely crawling with Mottled Umber larvae!

Exmoor

Things are starting to get going on the Exmoor sites, many of which are within striking distance of home. Heath Fritillaries look set to have a good year up at Haddon, I counted 14 in 40 minutes on Sunday. All bar one were males, so it looks like it's still early days. With good weather forecast, I expect numbers will peak over the next 10 days or so. Wood Tiger, Green Hairstreak and the rather pretty micro: Olethreutes arcuella are all on the wing there too. I know the site fairly well, so I'm happy to help anyone planning on making the trip with directions.
Small Pearl - Bordered Fritillaries also look set for a good year, they're on the wing just down the road at Haddon moor, and in excellent numbers at Clatworthy Reservoir. I saw over 20 in terrible, windy weather on Saturday (on the path down to the angler's hut) and there have been reports of up to 50. At one point 8 were clustered in an area of grass about a metre square, an amazing sight, which I utterly failed to do justice to with the camera!

Only just caught up with your Quantock Green Hairstreaks - seen at the place I saw my first ones ever way back in about 1970. Lovely images.

Dave

Beautiful photos especially the third Heath Fritillary one!

I really like your style of photography, intelligent and thoughtfully composed. That first SPBF with the second animal blurred in the background is beautiful.

Thank you for the timely Heath Fritillary update on Haddon Hill William Time to start planning my visit...only need a bit of good weather now, minus the winds

Lovely images and very interesting reports, much enjoyed!

Regards,

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

Great shots from Exmoor William, in particular those superb Heath Fritillaries

Glad you're getting your fill of Heath Frits,William. They don't last long,so make the most of them! Cracking little insects...

Thanks for all the compliments on the fritillary pictures, I always count my lucky stars to have such amazing butterflies only 15 minutes from home!

Cracking Collard

As many may know, I have a bit of a thing, being a Somerset boy, for Large Blues. Last year, I helped out at Collard, working with the Large Blue Ranger (Jono) on the transects, and showing people the 'star of the show'. This year, I was lucky enough to do the same, with this year's warden, Rosie. As ever, it was thoroughly enjoyable, the Blues seem to be doing a bit better this year, and I saw around 15 whilst on site for the open day on Sunday. It always gives me a real thrill to see such an iconic butterfly flying again in my home county, it really doesn't get much better!

Particular hotspots this year have been the quarry (particularly favoured on cooler, windier days by egg-laying females) and the band of scrub below the eastern glade and along the middle of the site (again favoured in breezier conditions), that is not, however, to say that the blues aren't using the whole site, which they are, particularly in warmer spells.

Sadly I didn't get much time for 'serious' photography, helping to find the butterflies, but it was nevertheless a delight to see good numbers of one of my favourite species, and in such excellent company!
Incidentally, Large Skippers are putting on a good show closer to home...
And I can't resist sharing these two, in the Moth Trap over the last couple of nights...

Wow! I've never seen an Elephant Hawk Moth. That's a great spot, William!

Fabulous photos of 2 stunning moths William Although I am curious regarding which moths are about in my area I am reluctant to go down the moth trap route as I fear it could become/is becoming quite obsessive

Some lovely images recently William, as others have said you have a distinctive style to your photos which makes them stand out.

That Elephant Hawk Moth brings back memories of when I was a nipper and used to find the caterpillars and rear them through. When freshly emerged these must be one of the most beautiful moths to be found anywhere.

Cheers,

Neil