www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Cheers Trevor - I was quite pleased with that WA shot myself

Definitely first brood Wurzel. I'm waiting to see Trevor get one in the same shot as a PE

At last I got my mating pair - I just ran out of time today following several unexpected incidents so had no choice other than to stay very local. This is the site near me where the SSB's are to be found. It is very different to their usual habitat:

This morning, having checked my captive Brimstone pupa which had started to colour up, I sat down with a cup of coffee to decide whether I should risk leaving it for a few hours. As I was mulling it over I noticed an almost imperceptible movement so I ran to get my camera. By the time I returned it was obvious the emergence had started but with a strong gale and the spinning of the butterfly ........ well, both me and the camera struggle to cope. I've never seen this before and it is fascinating how one species differs from another. This was the pupa 40 mins before emergence:
.... and the shots as it moved down the casing, emerged and pumped up its wings:
It's wings were so soft and floppy for such a long time that I brought it indoors for an hour as I worried the strong wind would blow it away. It took almost 4 hours before it felt ready to take its maiden flight.

Just been looking at a few shots of that Brimstone. The 6-7 black markings on the rear wings - are they defined enough to qualify this as the Ab. Hoefnagoli?

Lovely sequence, Pauline.

It's amazing to think that this butterfly could still be around in twelve months time... Let's hope so.

No Emperors at Chiddingfold today either, but there were still half a dozen first brood Wood Whites gamely fluttering along in the sunshine.

Cheers,

Dave

Stunning Brimstone and Purple Hair ; sequences there Pauline ,expertly captured ! The Hairstreak on the berry (?)
is superb ……………………..Nice one ! Regards Allan.W.

Fascinating sequence Pauline Those marks do make it the unpronounceable aberrant that you reckoned

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Great shots Pauline, you always seem to pull some thing out of the hat I took the plunge with your phone call Goldie

Hello Pauline, I am catching up on diaries and yours is nothing short of amazing!!

The PHS shots are incredible. It must have been a sight to behold, have a few of these

I have to be honest here. There are a lot of diaries on ukb and I can’t possible look at all of them. You Pauline don’t seem to post much on general forums (such as sightings) and I hadn’t bothered with your diary (sorry!) That has changed.

Your writings are informative and the photos are equal to the very best on ukb. I didn’t realise what I had been missing – I am now a fan.

Jack

Blimey Pauline, I didn't realise how far behind I am getting with other peoples diaries until I saw what I have missed in yours.
I don't know where to start but suffice to say you have posted some stunning images lately, and 'stunning' is a word that is often overused these days and one I don't like to use myself.

Lovely stuff

Neil.

Lovely shots of the Brimstone emergence, Pauline great to see. And you got the White Admiral too

Mike

Thank you Dave - I'm now seeing Brimstones from a different perspective.

Really appreciate your comments Allan - glad you liked the shots.

I'll take that as a given then Wurzel - never too sure about claiming to have seen an ab. with so much variance around. Thank you for the confirmation.

Thanks M. Chin up - that boot will soon be off.

Good to hear from you Old Wolf but you're making me blush I just try to do the best I can.

Hi Jack, no need to apologise. My diary is primarily as a reminder to myself (my memory is shocking these days ). Glad you like the content tho and hope to hear more from you.

That's really kind of you Neil. In fact I feel overwhelmed by all the lovely comments.

Glad you found your target Mike

Ab. Obliterae???

I wouldn't like to give it a name, Pauline, but that is an amazing Black Admiral...

Cheers,

Dave

Yours looks darker than an obliterae that I photographed in Fermyn Wood in 2010 but the white bands are not completely absent, as in nigrina. I'd suggest it's obliterata as described at http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/aberrati ... es=camilla

An interesting and unusual find

Don't know what it's called Pauline but what a great find Goldie

What a stunning Black Admiral. It almost has a bluish sheen.

Your camera and set up please Pauline.

Jack

Nice Black Admiral Pauline, I suspect there are a fair few around this year. Dave and I have already seen two and they've only just started flying. That cold spell in June is most likely the cause, I wonder if will have a similar effect on its Purple cousin....

It's about 8 years since I have seen one Dave so I was really quite excited. It was pristine too

Thank you Mike - I think you could be right. The last one I saw was found not by myself but by Colin Baker I believe - he was one of the nicest of folk and a real gentleman.

Cheers Goldie - just goes to show, you never know what might turn up!

I hope both you and Dave got some good shots Buggy. I shall look forward to seeing them idc. I have been told that these butterflies can be difficult to photograph as they heat up quite quickly due to the colouring and retreat to the shade/bushes. That was certainly the case here as I couldn't get anywhere near and had about 3 seconds at most for each shot. From memory it was a similar scenario last time one was seen at this location with many photographers waiting many hours for a brief appearance of the butterfly.

Let me tell you exactly how it was Jack as you are quite right, there was a definite blue/purple sheen and it even circled round me in the manner of a PE. In fact that's exactly what I thought it was initially and my heart started to pound (don't think I'm really cut out for this as I get excited too easily ). I soon realised it was too small for a PE and the next ridiculous thought which came to mind was Purple Hairstreak (because of the colour you understand). I quickly dismissed that again on size and eventually realised exactly what it was. I had the pleasure of it's company only for about 10 minutes as it was getting late in the day. I tried again early this morning but no sign of it - or any PE's! Oh, and by the way, my set up is exactly the same as Neil's and many others on this site.

It has been so hot today I thought I would take the opportunity to post what is probably the worst photo I have ever taken - yes, it is that Painted Lady egg-laying. I don't know what went wrong but I only had the one chance - she didn't lay again. I took a photo of an egg I found in the place where she had briefly settled. It was ever so small and embedded into the thistle - if indeed it is a Painted Lady egg as I haven't seen one before and imagined they would be larger. Mind, I had also always assumed the stalk of a thistle was cylindrical until I looked closely and it really isn't. There's lots of channels and indentations where eggs can be hidden away: