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Cheers Wurzel and thanks for the ID - I think I know what the adult looks like and I would never have imagined that to be a juvenile Stonechat.

I'm pleased you like them Trevor. I am sure you will find your target if past experience is anything to go on. I, too, hope to see more of them at different sites but today was all about the WLH. Don't have time for the full report tonight - just a taster:

Hi Pauline. Going back a few posts (!), I don't think your ladybird larva (eyed ladybird, Anatis ocellata) is shedding its skin in that first picture - or I can't see the skin, anyway - though it does look very fresh in the second picture. My experience of this so far is limited to exactly one instance, so I'm hardly an authority, but I suspect the silk is from something else. The one I watched (a harlequin ladybird) had white legs during ecdysis, hardening up to black in the air. I don't know if this is general.

Wonderful orange tip pupae. I hope I'm lucky enough to find some this year. And a really beautiful blue-tailed damselfly, with that metallic green thorax. The more I study these creatures the more I am drawn to them.

A lot of the pictures on this page don't load even though I keep reloading it, but the batch of shieldbug eggs does, and I can confirm that is what they are.

Guy

Thank you Guy. Strangely, I, too, frequently find it difficult to view your photos which either don't load or only partially load. I wonder if anyone else has similar issues? Re Ladybird larva, I think you may well be right about the silk belonging to something else but the other reason I thought it was shedding was because the skin seemed to have started to 'split' which I hope is more visible in this blown-up shot?:
Yesterday I had a wonderful time at a local WLH site where I saw a great deal of close-up activity during the whole time I was there. I had to drag myself away as there were frequently 3-4 WLH at close range at any one time. My guess is that they had only recently emerged as there was no sign of any 5 days earlier and the weather in between hasn't been great. A conservative estimate would be half a dozen males and a couple of females, many with that oily sheen so indicative of a newly emerged butterfly. The WLH repeatedly came down to nectar on the daisies and although I have seen this before it is usually at the end of their season when the bramble has gone over. Marbled White and Meadow Brown were egg-laying all over the site and I was pleased to see both 3 Painted Ladies (in various states of wear and tear) and my first Essex Skipper of the season. Other butterflies included Red Admiral, Common Blue and a single Ringlet. If anyone is planning to visit this very small site, please, PLEASE try to stay to the couple of 'tracks' that have already been established to avoid spoiling the butterflies environment.
On Friday it was the wind which was troublesome. Today it was the light. The position of the brambles means it is often necessary to shoot into the sun so the contrast issues of the dark butterfly on a white flower were magnified by the glare. As usual I did my best.

That's a real Hairstreak-fest you've enjoyed lately, Pauline.

I only wish I had a site near me where the WLHs come down to nectar like those in your post. Sadly, my local ones seem permanently wedded in the tree canopy.

Terrific White -Letter shots Pauline ! a species that I struggle with in my neck of the woods,we have a regular site closeby
but they nearly always stay from mid-way to the top ,of one huge Wych Elm ,they are occasionally seen lower ,on a few Elm Suckers ,but not often
and I,ve only seen one on a Bramble by the tree ,just once. Add Purple Hairs to the equation (they also seem to like the tree !) which makes id that bit more challenging ! Thanks for comments re;Black Hairstreaks...…………….. I got lucky !
Regards Allan.W.

Thank you Allan. It must be incredibly frustrating - well , I know it is - to see Hairstreaks that won't come down but you really did amazingly well with the Blacks. Yes, an element of luck but don't forget the field craft and observation and photography skills involved

I'm enjoying it so much David that despite the overcast and humid weather today I just had to go back for more. I got there early-ish and was amused to see a couple of WLH down on the daisies lying on their sides in the same way as they do up on the Elms to soak up the first bit of available sun. I didn't see any females on this visit but there was still plenty of activity. The Painted Ladies had moved on but there were a couple more Essex Skippers, mating Meadow Brown and a host of other things including a stunning metallic green beetle which I believe is a male Flower Beetle. I was hoping for a mating pair but it was not to be . A few extra shots of these lovely creatures:
The Essex Skipper - such a charismatic and photogenic little creature:

A cracking set of Whitters Pauline I have limited experience of this species so is the double white line on some of the 'W's' usual?
As for the photos not loading I suffer it too - I either have to click and load each image individually or click to make a reply and then all the images seem to show up?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Pauline wrote:...I'm enjoying it so much David that despite the overcast and humid weather today I just had to go back for more...

I don't blame you, Pauline. I'm enjoying it too (albeit vicariously)!

Interesting to see their 'warming up' technique. I've seen Brimstones doing this but never any of the Hairstreaks.

Cheers Wurzel - good to know Guy and I aren't the only ones to have that problem. I believe that extra white line is normal Wurzel but what I haven't seen before was this one which hasn't really got the white W:
Pity you weren't closer David - but as you have said before, it's swings and roundabouts. You will see species I never will. I have seen the 'warming up' positions many times when they are high in the trees but I have never seen it down low before. Usually when they come down to nectar they are fully charged up but perhaps with the weather being so changeable they got caught out?

I've only gone and done it and I admit that I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself . In the last couple of days I have found a wild Brimstone pupa on Buckthorn and another preparing to pupate along with a further 5 fat cats which I shall try to monitor. It has taken a bit of effort and persistence but with a starting point of 62 larva I always thought it might be possible. Buggy reminded me that he had found an empty pupal case half way up a hillside but over the years I have come to realise that butterflies (in all stages) can behave differently depending on a number of factors and a one-off experience shouldn't be taken as the norm. Vince kindly gave me the benefit of his experience which was that more than 50% pupate away from the food plant but I reckoned that still left a few to be found. I also found that fact interesting given my belief, which I have held since rearing WLH, that the WLH larva vary in where they pupate ie soil, branch, leaf - something which Paul is working hard to prove. It was interesting to hear of another species which does this. Anyway, the photos - which I am still excited about :
Just look at how beautifully camouflaged it is. I have checked these bushes over and over again and either I missed it or it wasn't there at the time. This is the bush it was on:
I should add that if it hadn't been for rearing 2 which are still in the pupal stage I might have found the task quite a bit harder:
Never let it be said that I don't like a challenge

A challenge it may be, Pauline, but you've put the effort in so you should expect some rewards.

Brimstones have had an amazing spring this year, so I'd like to think there'll be plenty about when the current crop of second brooders emerge next month.

Thank you David. Effort doesn't always guarantee success with these creatures but I reckon I'm getting better at finding them

My reared Purple Hairstreaks are starting to emerge bang on time so I reckon it's time for a few more piccies. I haven't seen any of this batch emerge so far but unlike 5 years ago I haven't spent a lot of time watching. Is it really 5 years ago!
and a few from before:

Re: monitoring of 5 fat cats - yesterday on my evening check I discovered this :
1 down 4 to go

Congrats on your reared Purple Hairstreaks, and the resulting images.
In the wild it is very difficult to photograph the overall purple sheen of the male.

Great stuff.
Trevor.

Terrific shots of the WLH, Pauline. They really do perform colour-changes depending on their angle to the sun, and like you say they have an annoying knack of silhouetting themselves against the light, so you did really well.

Your shots of the shiny new Purple Hairstreaks are excellent too - it would be great to encounter a fresh male like that in a wood one morning...

Cheers,

Dave

That's very gracious of you Trevor as I know how much you want that 4 purple-wing shot. These were all taken post-release and I didn't have very many seconds to get in the right position for the shots once the wings opened - spun round once and then they were off. Had I had time to 'set-up' the shot I would have chosen a background that was more pleasing.

That's very kind of you Dave. I guess it's the challenges that keep us coming back for more!

Yesterday I popped up briefly to Bramshott to see how the SSB's are faring. I didn't spend much time with them as it happens as I was distracted by another 3 Painted Ladies - that's 6 now which is more than I saw in the whole of last year. At one point they were all in this bush together:
and this one was nicely camouflaged among the rabbit droppings:
I saw this egg being laid by a very blue female common blue so obviously they manage to attract the males at some point, but can anyone hazard a guess at what laid the egg next to it or even the plant it is on??:
Anyway, there were plenty of females around, none of which looked particularly fresh, but as yet no mating pair:

Lovely series of shots of the White-letter Hairstreaks, Pauline a butterfly that I've yet to see at close quarters!

Mike.

Thank you Mike. Good to hear from you

Guess I've moved on to the woodland species:
It was quite accidental. I thought I would make a further trip to Chiddingfold to see if I could find a Wood White larva (still flushed from my success with the Brimstone pupa ). It was not to be but I did find the adult:
I saw a very fresh SWF which just passed by but this White Admiral was more accommodating:
and another 3 Painted Ladies bringing my total up to 9. These were in much better condition than the previous ones. I watched one egg-laying on some thistle but my shots are blurred - I could weep
There were lots of other butterflies:
.... and 3 frogs and 1 toad!
Note to Trevor: I kept my eyes peeled but not so much as a glimpse of PE.

Thanks for that, Pauline. Had the weather been better I would have gone to BB today.
As it was, I went to my local woods and had a fabulous time, despite wind and cloud!.

Checking various websites, PE's are now slowly emerging.

All the best,
Trevor.

PS. Wonderful WA shots, saw four today.

A cracking haul of shots Pauline Now you've ventured forth to the woods it must be about time for me to too Judging by the loss of some scales etc I take it those are still first brood Wood Whites?

Have a goodun

Wurzel