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Re: Wurzel
Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 6:21 am
by trevor
It's a great pity that the BH season always coincides with that Dog show at Shipton.
Great report, but it's your Small Heath shot that does it for me.
Great stuff,
Trevor.
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 5:49 pm
by bugboy
Glad you got the result even if you had to run the gauntlet. People just don't understand how perilous this hobby of ours can be sometimes!
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:32 pm
by Wurzel
Cheers Trevor
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
To be fair it's only over three days but generally the days that I can get there which coincide with the main egg-laying activity it seems.
![Rolling Eyes :roll:](./images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif)
Oh well if it was easy it wouldn't be worth doing
Cheers Bugboy
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Indeed when I started photographing butterflies I was not aware of how dangerous it would be
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
When I was a birder the main dangers were a farmer shouting "Oi get off my land!" and possibly a puddle that was slightly deeper than expected. With butterflying there are rabid dogs to face down, venomous snakes to circumvent and horrible wee beasties that feast on yer blood
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 6:22 am
by trevor
Cheers Bugboy
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Indeed when I started photographing butterflies I was not aware of how dangerous it would be
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
When I was a birder the main dangers were a farmer shouting "Oi get off my land!" and possibly a puddle that was slightly deeper than expected. With butterflying there are rabid dogs to face down, venomous snakes to circumvent and horrible wee beasties that feast on yer blood
Have a goodun
Wurzel[/quote]
And of course the hazard of what Doggies leave behind, and their owners fail to pick up !.
![Evil or Very Mad :evil:](./images/smilies/icon_evil.gif)
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 8:43 pm
by millerd
What a great selection of Brown Hairstreaks, Wurzel!
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Obtained at risk to life and limb too by the sound of it.
I have to say that dogs (or rather their owners) have spoiled more butterfly outings for me than any other single thing, including ticks. I could go on...
Cheers,
Dave
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:03 pm
by Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:46 am
by trevor
A wonderful selection of Fritillaries, Wurzel.
I will award you a mrgreen
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
for that High Brown, but of course it is
sometimes not difficult to find what would be a rare species over here,
quite easily in France. I remember finding an almost vertical bank, rich in
wild flowers, which was host to many Large Blues.
Great stuff,
Trevor.
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 10:10 am
by Philzoid
Brilliant brilliant brilliant
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
. Those fritillaries take me back to my time in France … the zombie stagger as you don’t know where to lurch to next
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
. Cracking photos of the Spotted Fritillary in fact all the fritillaries ..and the Short-tailed Blue
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
.
Your Skipper may be a Pyrgus malvoides Southern Grizzled Skipper
![Question :?:](./images/smilies/icon_question.gif)
formerly a sub-species of malvae but now a species in its own right.
As for the European tree-frog .. so good to have nature like that literally on your doorstep
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
. Were the girls tempted to take him home?
Phil
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 3:58 pm
by Goldie M
Hi! Wurzel, fantastic Butterflies to cheer me up
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
I love the Fritillaries , It' great to see other kinds for a change
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Goldie
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 9:01 am
by Art Frames
A great story and some nice pictures. You didn't specifically mention the provencal short-tailed blue, but it is a nice fresh one. Usually I see more of those and less of the short-tailed, good to see them together, it adds to the confusion about where to stagger next.
I must confess I have been really tempted to smuggle a tree-frog as an adult, they are gorgeous. As a small boy there would have been no contest
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 11:44 am
by Maximus
Great report and shots from the Dordogne, Wurzel
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Especially that female Spotted Fritillary
Mike
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 10:13 pm
by Wurzel
Cheers Trevor
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
That was my over-riding memory of France, from now on in my mind France=Fritillaries - I saw 10 species whilst there
Cheers Philzoid
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Little L was indeed tempted, I think she missed our cat Teddy and so went round naming everything that shared our area - the 2 Robins, three lizards and of course the Frog
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
As for the Skipper I was erring towards S.G.S but hoping maybe for Oberthurs at a push
Cheers Goldie
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Glad the shots served a good purpose apart from making me suffer from holiday sickness (the reverse of homesickness)
Cheers Peter
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
I was a little unsure about that one and so didn't like to mention it, I did once but I think I got away with it
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
I did do a check of Little L's bag before we left for the airport, just in case she'd smuggled the frog in and as I looked up she was checking my bag as well
Cheers Mike
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
She was a beauty and one of those species that even though you can watch them moving still don't seem real - they look like they've been painted by a heavy handed toddler, one that likes really, really bright orange
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 9:12 am
by Andrew555
Great shots of those lush Fritillaries Wurzel.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
And your Adonis from Laverstock is a cracker.
Cheers
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 7:06 pm
by Wurzel
Cheers Andrew
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
The Dordogne was really Fritillary Central, they were all over the place, it was a joy to behold!
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:01 pm
by millerd
A splendid array of Fritillaries, Wurzel, and the female Spotted is my favourite too.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
I've seen males in Greece, but never a female.
Cheers,
Dave
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:49 pm
by Wurzel
Cheers Dave
Tilshead 28-08-2018
I had arranged to meet Trevor for some Walls at about 9:30 but today some things didn’t go to plan. Our winter wood supply took ait longer to sort out with logs not only filling the wood store but also having bags of them secreted in numerous places round the house. Hence I didn’t get to the Churchyard until about 10:30. At that point the weather wasn’t showing any inclination of unclouding or at least not for long enough to bring the Walls out. So we cut our losses and I followed Trevor over to his Tilshead site.
It proved to be a cracking site right from the get go with a spacious Tarmac car park and Adonis Blues all over the place within 10 paces or so from the car. The field is pretty level which makes a nice change from traversing Downland after this species and I could stand back and scan ahead with little sapphires glinting out from the straw coloured background wherever I gazed. Trevor and I set to calling out every now and again when we found a particularly nice specimen – which when it came to female Adonis was quite often. Some of the males were looking a bit jaded, as were their smaller cousins but the females were looking fabulous. They were all chocolate and slate coloured with showy chequered margins.
![DSC_0237 - Copy.JPG (1.15 MiB) Viewed 2164 times DSC_0237 - Copy.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_5c4a0e651552b5cc8249c539c44a362d)
![DSC_0244 - Copy.JPG (1.42 MiB) Viewed 2164 times DSC_0244 - Copy.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_f8bde3c5dc607f9c94580c2df9a6a636)
![DSC_0258 - Copy.JPG (1.89 MiB) Viewed 2164 times DSC_0258 - Copy.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_45713efb0716ebfd99a2fba0c6312811)
![DSC_0263 - Copy.JPG (1.57 MiB) Viewed 2164 times DSC_0263 - Copy.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_ed028768e3b70bd7caeac9895a527e46)
![DSC_0268 - Copy.JPG (1.44 MiB) Viewed 2164 times DSC_0268 - Copy.JPG](./files/thumb_9821_adf44d7cf9e0cb282b86da0d0b5c267d)
There were other members making a supporting cast, a few Meadow Browns, Small Heath, Whites and the other Blues but for me the female Adonis were the real stars of though they didn’t glitter confetti like in the grasses as the showy males did when you found one looking ‘clean’ and lush they were a joy to behold.
All too soon our time was up so thanking Trevor for letting me in on what is a real gem of a site I headed back to the aftermath and chaos of ‘Wood Day’.
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:37 am
by trevor
That morning at Tilshead was certainly one to remember.
I first discovered the rich pickings there, on my way back from ' the hill '
in the Spring of 2017. There is much similar grassland all over the Plain
but very few places to pull off the road. It was because of that ' car park ',
that I took the opportunity to pop in and have a look.
That morning I found plentiful Adonis, Common, Small Blue and Brown Argus.
Also Grizzled and Dingy Skippers. Green Hairstreaks were plentiful in the shrubbery
bordering the site.
Your lovely images sum up that August morning very well, but just wait until next Spring !.
Well worth a detour for one of your ' stop offs '.
Trevor.
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 8:42 pm
by Matsukaze
I see you found more fritillaries when you were in Dordogne than we did in late June (just Silver-washed and Weaver's). It was still good for butterflies though and we had 20+ species in the garden including Wood White, Swallowtail and Lesser Purple Emperor, and more HBHMs than I have ever seen in one place before.
I had a wander round your patch a couple of weeks ago - Hexagon Wood near Larkhill is full of huge elms, a number of which had fallen down, and I did look them over for WLH eggs without success - surely the butterfly must be there though.
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2018 2:25 pm
by Wurzel
Cheers Trevor
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Definitely going to look at how a can factor a few stop-offs here; I might have a few extra 'late meetings' next year
Cheers Matsukaze
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
There has been some concern about the White-letter Hairstreak in Wiltshire so I'm not surprised that you drew a blank
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
Mind you nearby the is a small colony of Dukes
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Wurzel
Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2018 6:18 pm
by essexbuzzard
Nice collection of Adonis Blues, Wurzel, especially the females. Your Fritillaries from the Dordogne are none too shabby either. On my first trips to Europe, I was often surprised to see how common species are, that are rare or extinct in Britain . Black-veined White for example, and HBF.