www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi James, I am really enjoying all these LTB reports and photos , of which yours are amongst the best. That first male is a stunner

Cheers,

Neil.

Good to meet you too James.

I must join in with the rest and compliment you in the shots you managed to get. Aside from the LTB's I do also like the Red Admiral underside picture

Katrina wrote:Loving the first picture - a fantastic shot!

Thank you Katrina it's the one I showed you and Vince on the back of my camera. A lucky shot I was surprised to get! Great to see you and your sister over the weekend. I'm sure she's gone home with some wonderful memories.

Neil Freeman wrote:Hi James, I am really enjoying all these LTB reports and photos , of which yours are amongst the best. That first male is a stunner

Cheers,

Neil.

Hi Neil, I was really surprised to have got the shot! It's really kind of you to give me such a big compliment, there are so many lovely LTB shots on UKB and elsewhere. In all the excitement it can be difficult to concentrate. It's often been a worry if I'll have anything good enough to keep or post.

All the best

James

bugboy wrote:Good to meet you too James.

I must join in with the rest and compliment you in the shots you managed to get. Aside from the LTB's I do also like the Red Admiral underside picture

Cheers Paul, the Red Ad underside photo was all thanks to my friend Gary, he found it after it had just emerged! Of course while we were busy taking photos of it the shout went up "Neil's found a female LTB!" as you can imagine we just legged it.

ATB

James

Sounds crazy even in mid-season! To have this happen so late in the year is exceptional.

Spring 2016

After a terrible winter full of serious illness and a death in the family it was a real relief to finally get out for a bit and look for some butterflies 'and other assorted creatures' yesterday. It was a lovely spring day and the Butterflies were responding to it vigorously in the BC PCH reserve. The most numerous butterfly there were male Brimstones.
Followed by some Peacocks.
Commas were the least numerous butterfly with only 2 seen. I didn't see any Small Tortoiseshells but that's not unusual for this woodland reserve.

I did see a splendidly marked Adder to round off a wonderful couple of hours.
Thanks for looking

ATB

James

That's a very fine Brimstone image, James. I went to the Cuckoo trail in Hailsham
yesterday morning, that was rewarding too.

Sorry to hear about the ill health and death in the family.

Sure to see you around,
Trevor.

Great shots Rex and I', really glad that things are getting better for you, I hope you have a fantastic 2016!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thats a great backlit Brimstone James. Sorry to hear about your winter, I hope things get better for you over the coming months.

Hi James,

Sorry to hear about your terrible winter. I know from experience how therapeutic a spell outdoors can be and glad to see you managed a good session.

Love the Brimstone image.

Cheers,

Neil.

Neil Freeman wrote:I know from experience how therapeutic a spell outdoors can be and glad to see you managed a good session.

Agreed.

Nature can uplift you at any time, and maybe never more than at the worst times.

My sympathies and condolences, James. I wish you a peaceful season 2016.

Guy

Thank you all so much for your kind words of support, I really do appreciate it. There are some wonderful people in our Butterfly community, it's a real delight to know so many of you in person, and on the forums here.

Indeed, getting out again to see nature waking from her winter sleep was just what I need after the awful events over the winter. As you all say just being out there seeing some butterflies and listening to the birdsong never fails to lift your spirits.

I hope everyone has a fantastic season, I'm really looking forward to seeing everyones wonderful photos and reports this year.

My very best wishes to you all,

James

P.S see you around soon Trevor

A chilly breeze this afternoon failed to dampen the Small Tortoiseshell's ardour. It only took a very brief stroll close to home to see at least 5 pairs courting.
Still no sign of any Speckled Wood locally but I am close to the sea and they usually emerge a bit later here. Hopefully soon.
Still waiting to see a Red Admiral, and Commas are a bit thin on the ground around here as well.

Thanks for looking

James

The difference between East and West

With things now kicking off next door in West Sussex with newly emerging Orange Tips GVW's and Grizzled Skippers I decided to venture out and see if I could find any activity here 'near the coast' in East Sussex. It felt nice and warm on Tuesday so my hopes were high even though we're usually a week or two behind West Sussex most years. I took a 3 mile route over some local downland that's usually pretty good for producing Green Hairstreaks and Grizzled Skippers.
Right from the start I could see that most of the plant life was too underdeveloped for supporting GHS. I knew that I would have to wait a little while longer for things to get going closer to home. I was more than compensated by really good numbers of Brimstones and by far the most numerous butterfly of the day - roughly 30 Peacocks counted along the way! At about the 2 mile mark I was pleased to see my first GV white of 2016 fly past me. The only other butterflies seen were a few Small Tortoiseshells on the homeward stretch.

In all I had a really good day, it was very pleasing to see Peacocks doing so well. And I think 'in a first for me' I started off my fresh spring butterfly tally with a GVW!
Who'd have thought that after such a mild winter spring would unfold later than it did last year!

Thanks for looking

James

Beautiful photo James, lovely and glittery Peacock.

Katrina wrote:Beautiful photo James, lovely and glittery Peacock.

Thank you Katrina, I think I enjoyed the sunshine as much as the Peacock did. It's a shame the weather is set to turn cold and unsettled, It looks like I'll have to wait to see some Orange Tips.

All the best

James

Hi James, lovely image of the Peacock on the blossom

Butterflysaurus rex wrote:...Who'd have thought that after such a mild winter spring would unfold later than it did last year...

Not sure what it was like down your way but here in the midlands, after a mild first half to the winter, it turned colder from mid Feb onwards and we certainly had more frosts than last year. Now I just need a bit more decent weather at weekends instead of in the week when I am at work

Cheers,

Neil

Thank you very much Neil, it did turn colder here in February too but I think we were spared the worst of the frost. I guess I've been spoiled over the past couple of years by early spring emergences. This time it's a bit more traditional so I'll just have to be patient.

I hope we get some good weather at the weekends, I remember last year it seemed like most of the nice weather was during the week.

With luck after this cold period has passed we'll get plenty of warm spring sunshine to really get things moving. I look forward to your photos & reports to come.

ATB

James

Hi! james, love your Peacock shot, the white blossom certainly shows the lovely colours of the Peacock making them stand out, quite lovely. Goldie