Butterflysaurus rex

[badgerbob]

Hey James.
Underside shots of Red Admirals don't come any better than that one!!

[Butterflysaurus rex]

Lovely selection of pictures in your past few posts James. It's often difficult to get the full beauty of a Red Admiral underside but you definately managed it

Very nice of you to say that Buggy I was lucky that the light was in just the right place to illuminate the Red Admirals wing. Congratulations on seeing your first Brown Hairstreak, and what a beauty she was too!

Hey James.
Underside shots of Red Admirals don't come any better than that one!!

Hi Bob, thank you for your comment, especially considering all of the stunning photos you've taken this year! If you think it's good then I must be doing something right.

All the best

James

[Butterflysaurus rex]

A REAL SUMMERS EVENING AT LAST!

Last week we actually had a nice warm "and calm" evening for a change! So I ventured out after dinner to see what was about.
By the time I reached my intended destination the sun was already low in the sky and I didn't have long before the sunset.

There were roosting butterflies all over the place but the trick was finding one or two in good condition before it got too dark! Thankfully I did find a couple of nice Silver Spotted Skippers at roost.

And this Cinnabar Caterpillar having some dinner in his rugby shirt.

By now the sun had almost gone but I just managed to grab a shot of this 'rather startled looking' Small Heath.

It was a lovely evening, the only drawback was that I came home covered in mosquito bites!

Thanks for looking.

ATB

James

[Wurzel]

Beautiful images Rex Make the most of it now as it will soon be baths and bedime routines eating into your evening butterflying

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Love the Small Heath image. Haven't seen one for a few weeks and to be honest, they haven't been around in great numbers all year, sadly.

[Butterflysaurus rex]

Beautiful images Rex Make the most of it now as it will soon be baths and bedime routines eating into your evening butterflying

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you very much indeed Wurzel, oh that all started a while back, I just managed to sneak out for a while, one of the grandparents did my bit.

I hope you had a lovely time on Holiday, like everyone else I can't wait to see some of your more 'exotic' butterfly photos.

Love the Small Heath image. Haven't seen one for a few weeks and to be honest, they haven't been around in great numbers all year, sadly.

Well it's not as beautiful as your lovely Brown Hairstreak photo David but I think I earned a few "brownie points" for getting a photo of such a tricky butterfly. OK I'll get me coat.

Best wishes and 'happy Butterflying' to you both.

James

[Maximus]

Lovely photos in your PD James, Red Admiral, Silver-spotted Skipper and Small Heath

Mike

[Goldie M]

Hi! James, I love all the shots especially the Silver Spotted Skipper Didn't get him this year, I like the way the evening Sunset behind him gives the photo a glow also for the Small Heath Goldie

[Butterflysaurus rex]

Huge apologies for my very late response Mike and Goldie. As ever thank you so much for your kind and generous comments.

EXCITING TIMES!

Well I can't really add anything to Neil Hulme's excellent report about the Long-tailed Blues in Sussex. What I can say is that after much searching over several weeks I was lucky enough to discover some Long-tailed Blues. And thankfully I was able to share some of these magic moments with a few friends. I can't believe I've now come across my second mating pair! If only I had such luck playing the lottery.

Courtship before coupling.

My second sighting on british soil!

Female on Boad leaved everlasting pea.

Female open wing.

Some males.

Apologies for the graininess on some of these images, the compression program I use seems to cause it, I must look into an alternative.

Thanks for looking.

All the best

James

[badgerbob]

Hey James.

Well done to the Long-tailed Blue whisperer and thanks for helping me see a mating pair this time!! Great images and good to see the courtship on your images that I had missed.

[Neil Hulme]

Hi James,

Some epic images there! I'm glad that you were rewarded for putting so much time in. Not many people are determined enough to return to search sites following entirely fruitless days! Round Two should be much easier.

BWs, Neil

[David M]

Excellent reportage, James. Wouldn't it be great if this insect became a regular visitor to the UK?

[Katrina]

Well done! Great photos too!

[Maximus]

Well done James, superb images, and well deserved after doing all that legwork

Mike

[Butterflysaurus rex]

Hey James.

Well done to the Long-tailed Blue whisperer and thanks for helping me see a mating pair this time!! Great images and good to see the courtship on your images that I had missed.

I'm just glad you were in the same area Bob, after only just missing out the last time it was a relief to see you arrive while they were still together. As you know I didn't see the courtship last time so that was a real delight to witness.

Hi James,

Some epic images there! I'm glad that you were rewarded for putting so much time in. Not many people are determined enough to return to search sites following entirely fruitless days! Round Two should be much easier.

BWs, Neil

As you know Neil persistence and effort do not always pay off, there's a huge mount of luck involved too. On this occasion my efforts were rewarded. Luck was on our side that day, you were coming to join me and the mating just happened out of the blue. No one was more surprised than me, I didn't think you got to see something this rare twice! The main thing is we all saw it and got some photos. What a day!!!

Excellent reportage, James. Wouldn't it be great if this insect became a regular visitor to the UK?

It would indeed David, I know they are considered a pest on the continent but they are a real treat for us. They are stunning little butterflies.

Well done! Great photos too!

Thank you Katrina. The Monarch we saw in Brighton was pretty special too wasn't it! Even if it was probably an unauthorised release. No doubt I'll see you out there again somewhere.

Well done James, superb images, and well deserved after doing all that legwork

Mike

Cheers Mike, It took a few weeks but my attempts to photograph a fresh Brown Hairstreak was going so badly I decided to chuck that in and look for Long-tailed Blues instead. I thought I was being a little crazy for doing that but thank heavens I struck gold, well blue anyway.

Thank you all for your very kind comments.

Best wishes

James

[trevor]

HI James,
I've got to award you 10 points for that lot, and not a few mrgreens !. Shame we didn't see any at
Newhaven a few weeks back. Any more finds like that and i will have to fit a tracker to your car !.

Very, very well done,
Trevor.

[Butterflysaurus rex]

HI James,
I've got to award you 10 points for that lot, and not a few mrgreens !. Shame we didn't see any at
Newhaven a few weeks back. Any more finds like that and i will have to fit a tracker to your car !.

Very, very well done,
Trevor.

Thank you Trevor, I did have some extraordinary luck. We still had a nice time ambling about though didn't we. Chatting about your grand kids and my little one too. As you said one of the great things about all this is that it extends the season. If we have an early spring it might only be a few months before we're back out again.

Your Large Tortoiseshell was a fantastic find, perhaps I will see one of those one day, well I can hope can't I.

Best Wishes

James

[Wurzel]

A fabulous find , a fabulous series of shots and it couldn't have happened to a nicer gent . My only problem is that I could be here for the next hour adding 'Mr Greens' to the post to fully express my envy

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

I second Wurzel I only wish I didn't live so far a way then I could be in on the search Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Hi James, living in the midlands and having used up all my spare holiday from work for this year now it is unlikely that I will get to see this species any time soon, even if there is a large influx/emergence. I am however glad that people like yourself get to see them and post such great reports with fantastic accompanying photos

Keep it up,

Neil.