Pauline

[millerd]

Wonderful caterpillar shots, Pauline. The White Admiral is amazing in its new livery after the moult! And that Red Admiral looks to have a huge task ahead to fold that leaf - the energy it must expend doing that, but no doubt overnight it will have diligently completed the task.

Cheers,

Dave

[Pauline]

I'm pleased you like them Dave - I realise that not everyone is interested in the immature stages but I think they are fascinating.

I certainly wasn't expecting to stumble across this on one of my local sites but it was very welcome, brightening up a cloudy day:

I wonder how many ticks those shots will have cost me! 28 and counting so far

[Wurzel]

Cloudies are brilliant in that respect Pauline - always turning up somewhere least expected Cracking shots I hope you didn't get too close

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Cheers Wurzel

Having spent a couple of hours wandering round Noar Hill looking for Brown Hairstreaks (unsuccessfully), it was inevitable that I would take a few shots of whatever caught my eye. The only pic that needs any explanation is the poor image of a huge Grass snake which disappeared rapidly before I could work out where the head was. The transect recorder expressed surprise at the find as apparently it is about 5 years since one has been seen there:

[Pauline]

It was good to see that a few female SSS have now emerged (yesterday) but a strong breeze and frequent cloud kept them hunkered down low:

You've just got to admire these female DGF's. Still egg-laying despite being on their last legs (or wings in this case):

.... and the Chalkhill Blues are all over, the females now sometimes outnumbering the males although you wouldn't think so to look at this shot which was after I inadvertently scared half of them away:

[Pauline]

What a difference 48 hours makes. I returned to one of my favourite areas of Noar Hill today - an area where I saw most Brown Hairstreaks last season and where I watched a number of eggs being laid. It was the same area where I stood 2 days ago and took all those butterfly shots amongst so many wild flowers. It didn't really matter that I didn't see a BH as the sea of colours and scents were just so uplifting. To say I was shocked just doesn't come close! Devastated, frustrated, angry, confused, despairing, sad were just a few of the emotions. Why???!!!! Is it not enough that they burn the eggs! Is this management or vandalism. There are other areas of the site which are in greater need of maintenance. The hemp agrimony, thistles, small blackthorn and dozens of other flowers have been obliterated. At least it was done before any eggs were laid but how many pupa have been destroyed by the machinery:

Before:

[millerd]

What can be the justification for mowing all those wildflowers flat at this time of year? I could understand doing it at the end of the summer perhaps. Large areas of my local patch were also mown in mid-July, but Heathrow (who own the land) justify this as it represents a potential fire risk rather close to the airport - though this year it was far too soggy for that... I doubt Noar Hill could come into the same category!

Cheers,

Dave

[Wurzel]

I too, like Dave and yourself, can't fathom this? It seems counter productive on a nature reserve to cut back huge swathes of wildflowers - one of the most depleted habitats in the UK? Who manages Noar Hill and more to the point what were they thinking when they sanctioned this?

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Hi Dave, Wurzel,

HIWWT with Rotherfield Farm manages the site according to the sign. I have emailed the questions and concerns but whether a reply will be forthcoming remains to be seen.

[Pauline]

Well, it's a start at least - but not from Noar Hill!:

[Pauline]

Given the weather today I think it is time to post some recent random images, mostly immature stages:

White Admiral egg and 1st instar:

DGF egg:

Rare shots of final instar Dingy creating larger hibernaculum which is usually done under cover of darkness:

The Fox moth larva are now shedding their skins for the 3rd time, and my word, what splendid larva they are. This really doesn't do them justice:

The Comma larva from the eggs I 'rescued' from my nettles have grown quickly and 10 mins after I took the last shot it pupated (another one I missed). Love the colours on these:

and a Ringlet that took shelter from the downpours under my guttering:

I do hope it made it as there are lots of spiders up there!

[Katrina]

Wow! Quite a collection of immature stages. I particularly like you pre-pupating spiky comma caterpillar.

[Pauline]

I'm really pleased I took those Commas into captivity Katrina as I know there were more eggs laid but I can't see any sign that the unprotected ones have made it - same goes for the Red Admiral.

I decided to dodge the downpours yesterday and go somewhere local. Oxenborne and SSS won over Noar Hill and I was pleased with my choice as I watched 2 females egg-laying as soon as the sun came out. Not wishing to disturb them I turned my attention to this female. I think she had just emerged as she was still trying to sort out her proboscis:

[Katrina]

Beautiful photos. Well done for catching the sun. I went out in the morning but it started to rain as soon as I opened the gate to Castle Hill and continued onwards …

[Pauline]

Thank you Katrina. There wasn't much sun but thankfully there are plenty of trees at that site which provide adequate shelter for the many heavy showers. The biggest problem (apart from finding them!) was the strong breeze which appeared from no-where as soon as the rain stopped!!!!! Today the weather looks very similar here, but if it's a choice between looking for butterflies and hoovering .....................

[trevor]

Hoovering for me in this weather, Pauline!.

[Pauline]

Thought I'd just show you what that Comma turned into Katrina:

I'm afraid the hoovering lost Trevor. I only saw 8 species which some may think wasn't worth the effort but I think one can learn almost as much from what is NOT seen - no BH obviously! A couple of shots from Noar Hill:

My ducks live in a kennel with a large run when they are not free range in the garden. Overnight I had accidentally left the light on in the kennel and I was astonished at the number and variety of moths in there the following morning - probably as many as I get in the moth trap. Trouble is, there are a lot of spiders in there and the artificial light makes photography (for me) difficult as the light bounces off the white walls (something to do with white balance?). There were a couple of Brimstone moth looking like they might be about to mate, a silver-y moth, Black Arches, Box moth and the most beautiful, huge Large Emerald which I haven't seen before. I did manage to get the Canary-shouldered Thorn outside for a few shots so here's a few from yesterday:

This one was taken a couple of weeks ago but I'm not yet sure what it is:

[Maximus]

Morning, Pauline. Lovely shots in your PD recently, as always Lovely Brown Hairstreak, shame it wasn't from Noar though! The Silver-spotted Skipper female is a beaut and lots of great early stages, plenty there for all tastes. The management at Noar Hill has always seemed a bit iffy to me, they seem to manage for DOB at the expense of BH. Not sure why they would start in August though, seems a little bit premature
Your moth btw is a Swallow-tailed moth. We've only been here a year and I've yet to run our moth trap Perhaps when this fine spell of weather we're promised arrives, I'll give it a go

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline.

Just catching up again, more great photos and reports recently.

Swallow-tailed Moth for the last one.
Edit; just noticed that Mike beat me to it.

Cheers,

Neil

[Pauline]

Hi Mike (hello to Cathy too) - and thank you. I think you are right about NH - it is probably managed primarily for the DoB but it would be a real shame if BH were lost from there. Perhaps, like many other species, they are just late???..............

Thank you too Neil and thank you both for the ID - always appreciated.

Really too horrible to go out today (and that hoovering won't do itself!) so instead I watched one of my Commas pupate. Fascinating! It reminded me of someone in a straight jacket trying to escape with all the gyrations and sometimes violent contractions. At times it was just spinning around wildly out of control making photography almost impossible - at other times swinging from side to side. I hope these images give some idea of the transition as the skin literally splits open and is peeled off:

Much of the time it looked like this: