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That is a cracking White Admiral shot Trevor - love it I for one am hoping that the Silly Season doesn't start at Chiddingfold until next week as next weeked I have the all clear and there won't be any surprise family visits

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel. The best of luck for next weekend.

I popped over to Abbots Wood early this morning. The hoped for Purple Hairstreaks
don't seem to have started there yet, none seen even high in the Oaks.
There were plenty of White Admirals around but all were showing signs of wear,
either with wing damage or scratches. Two pristine butterflies were found,
a male Silver Washed Fritillary, and a female Large White, the first I've seen
for a couple of months.
I was quite surprised when a Comma I had photographed earlier was still in the
same spot on the bracken over an hour later.

Trevor.

Beautiful SWF photo

Thanks Katrina. At least there are plenty of SWF around to entertain !.
The only ' High Summer ' species missing at Abbots is the PE, all the others are there.

Trevor.

Hi! Trevor, lovely shot of the WA and the SWF , much better than mine Goldie

Thanks Goldie. But your Purple Hairstreak stole the show!.

Trevor.

Brilliantly marked H.Comma there Trevor What's going on with His Nibbs this year? Good luck for the HBFs

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel. Looking forward to HBF, they'll be a lifer for me.

Yesterday morning looked ideal for a fourth trip to try and find butterfly royalty.
The journey and indeed the walk through the woods were completed in ideal summer weather.
In one sunny glade three male Silver Washed Fritillaries were chasing each other and competing
for a single thistle flower, where my images were taken. I even managed a shot with two males
sharing breakfast!.
Then a large cloud obscured the sun, and a breeze came in from the West, Soon the sky had
completely clouded over and the now strong breeze was blowing the tree tops about.
After a hour of this weather I was questioning the wisdom of staying on. Then the welcome
sight of Dave Miller walking towards me lifted my spirits. After a long catch up we went our
separate ways to search for the Emperor, as a few patches of blue sky had appeared.
At about 12.30 I saw a distant Dave waving his arms, when we met he showed me a couple
of grab shots of a grounded Emperor which had flown off. Knowing they have a habit of returning
to a favourite delicacy we decided to stake out the area where Dave had spotted HIM.
As we walked to the spot we could see the PE flying erratically in our general direction,
and eventually land on the track. Staying well back until HE was settled we took some distant
shots and gingerly moved closer. By now HE was almost unspookable and many close up shots were possible.

So I hope you enjoy the hard won shots below. Unfortunately this PE had suffered some scratches,
which were possibly a result of the strong winds since his emergence.

Thanks Dave for an unforgettable day!.
Trevor.

Fantastic shots Trevor of both Species, I thought it bit early for the PE , so I'll have to get my skates on next week if I can Goldie

It was a very good morning, Trevor, though it took a while to get going. Still, that gave us a chance for good deal of catch-up chat beforehand! Really good to meet up again.

I'll post the action shot I showed you here, rather than in my own diary, so you can feel free to delete as you wish. It does give a nice bit of context to midsummer Emperor-hunting... Dave

Nice one Trevor, patience is a virtue and all that

Thanks Goldie, Dave & Paul.
If Mr Miller decides to take up portraiture for a living I'd avoid him,
he doesn't take very flattering images!

Anyway, yesterday I found a very fresh, bright and quick Small Tortoiseshell on a patch of earth.

Trevor.

Great to see His Nibbs finally paying a visit to Chiddingfold Trevor Hope all goes well for the HBFs

Have a goodun

Wurzel

An early morning of blustery wind, sun and cloud produced a surprising number of sightings.
Abbots Wood was host to some now very worn and tatty White Admirals, understandable
when they are seen flying within the brambles. Two very fresh male Silver Washed Fritillaries
put in an appearance, and at lunchtime an SWF appeared in my garden, only the second time
in 25 years!. I also found my first Gate Keeper of the year, a male, at Abbots.
Whilst scanning the Oaks for Purple Hairstreaks, a moth flying at the speed of a bullet was seen
to land in a Silver Birch, this turned out to be a Hummingbird Hawk Moth.

A very enjoyable couple of hours,
Trevor.

Nice to see His Nibbs, Trevor, and the supporting cast lately has been pretty spectacular.

So far our quest to find the High Brown Frit. has been a failure.
Writing this at 08.40 Monday, we are waiting for the cloud to break.

One highlight of yesterday was this unusual female Meadow Brown.

Fingers crossed for today, home tomorrow.
Trevor.

Nice Meadow Brown Trevor...but 'tis a male.

Sorry to hear you are not having any luck with the High Browns so far. Good luck for today although I hope your weather there is better than we have here, its gone dull again after a bit of sun first thing.

Cheers,

Neil.

Nice looking Meadow Brown - would they class that as 'pathological'? I got plenty of Purp action at Bentley - at one pint there were four in one tree - two of which were in cop but alas all very distant and none came down and settled I might try Savernake this weekend as they're supposed to be about two weeks behind everywhere else Looking forward to the High Browns.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Neil & Wurzel. Thanks for pointing out the sex of the Meadow Brown Neil.

You can carry on looking forward to the HBF shots Wurzel, we saw not a sausage!.
It was either sunny and windy, and today was calm with complete cloud cover.
If you are going to Savernake, apparently the monument is a good bet, PE's seem
to be attracted to the minerals in the stone work on the monument. Good luck!.

Trevor.

Sorry to hear that Trevor - are you down there for any longer or are you back already?

Have a goodun

Wurzel