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That is a very nice Purple Hairstreak. Like everyone says it is shear luck to get them, the only close up I got this year was a dead one caught in a spiders web

bugboy wrote:That is a very nice Purple Hairstreak. Like everyone says it is shear luck to get them, the only close up I got this year was a dead one caught in a spiders web

Thanks Buggy, I was very lucky in that our encounter was with a pristine Hairstreak as well. Hopefully with more good luck I might find and possibly photograph a few more, an open wing shot would be fantastic.


Grayling

Another fantastic morning in the company of Badgerbob had us ascending and descending the slopes in search of some Grayling. Numbers were quite low but with 2 pairs of eyes on the lookout we managed to find a few. Some of which posed beautifully for us, a couple did the usual Grayling trick of landing on various parts of our clothing.
I particularly like the striped eyes of the Grayling, they always seem to remind me of the Humbug sweets of my childhood, so when the opportunity arose I attempted to get a close up. Thanks for looking

James

Absolutely stunning close-up of the Grayling Rex You're catching me up

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wurzel wrote:Absolutely stunning close-up of the Grayling Rex You're catching me up

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Cheers Wurzel funny things Grayling, sometimes you can get really close and yet on most occasions they don't let you anywhere near them. I might be catching you up but I'm fast running out of photos to post.

Best wishes

James

August - in two halves pt 1

For the next couple of entries I've decided to split August into two halves.

The month started off with some unseasonably windy weather but it was still dry and relatively sunny. That had me thinking about going to a more sheltered place, There are not many of those where I live up on the south downs, after some thought it was decided that Steyning would be a good bet. And if we were lucky we might even find a few early Brown Hairstreaks, so Badgerbob and I set off for West Sussex. It was still very windy even within the sheltered confines of the rifle range but we still saw some butterflies braving the strong gusts. We even spotted a couple of Brownies but they were not only out of reach but being buffeted too making photography impossible. The only Butterfly I got a half decent shot of was this sheltering Holly Blue.
It was still a good day so we vowed to return again as soon as the wind had died down. Our next couple of trips were more fruitful, it was still pretty early for Brown Hairstreaks but luck was on my side as I flushed a freshly emerged female, In fact she was so fresh that her wings were still soft and curled over at the tips.
Much closer to home a very good emergence of Common Blues started to get under way.
And in a place I'd never seen them before a few Wasp Spiders were found. Luckily I managed to get both upper and underside shots of one of the UK's most spectacular spiders.
More to follow....

Thanks for looking

James

Great stuff Rex - lovely Brostreak and 'two cell spot' Common Blue If you're this far into August will there be a few more LTBs to come in the near future? If there I better stock up on 'Mr Greens'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Happy memories there James of a few of our trips.

Wurzel wrote:Great stuff Rex - lovely Brostreak and 'two cell spot' Common Blue If you're this far into August will there be a few more LTBs to come in the near future? If there I better stock up on 'Mr Greens'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you for the kind comment Wurzel, your Mr Greens are quite safe sadly no more LTB's this year. I wouldn't have seen the one I did without bumping into Katrina and Trevor. So my thanks go to them, it means I've seen them every year they've been reported on the South Coast! Hopefully if we have another bumper 'LTB' year (it has to happen again sometime) you'll be able to make the trip down this way and find one. Let me know if you do and I will try and help you out if at all possible.

badgerbob wrote:Happy memories there James of a few of our trips.

Very happy memories Bob, apart from the wonderful PBF's this spring my season did not start well. You pretty much saved it for me. I can't thank you enough for all of your help this year. Looking forward to next year, I hope the butterflies 'and us' have a great one in 2017. I'm sure some surprises await us.

Best wishes

James

AUGUST pt 2

Towards the end of August we started to see a welcome influx of migrants here on the south coast. this time instead of another round of Long-tailed Blues arriving we instead had Clouded Yellows and Painted Ladies.
The last really decent influx of Clouded Yellows was back in 2013 so I was keen to use this opportunity to try and improve on my photo's from that year. due to the haphazard nature of my diary this year I've already posted some of my better CY shots all except for my personal favourite. This was taken at Arlington on a very windy day making the shot even more remarkable. I only saw 3 Clouded Yellows while I was there but it was a Beautifully fresh Helice form that really caught my eye. The wind was strong and with lowering light levels 'due to encroaching hazy cloud' I didn't think I would be able to get a decent shot. To my amazement when I got home and checked my images I actually managed to fluke it! I think this is my best CY shot to date, and what is more if it had been an ordinary CY it wouldn't have worked out as well. The pale Helice stands out much more against the yellow background of Fleabane. A very lucky shot!!
With increasing cloud cover at Arlington I decided to see if I could outrun the cloud and extend the trip by heading to BC Park Corner where I was bound to find a few more Clouded Yellows. The move probably only gave me about 20 minuted more sunshine and I did see a few more CY's there but with the sun gone I only managed a half decent shot of a Brimstone.
At the very end of August I found myself confined to home, frustratingly the weather was really nice so I made the best of it and went out into the garden. All of these photos were taken there and thanks to some very fresh Red Admirals, and a couple of Painted Ladies I had a relatively nice time.
My next post will possibly be my last of 2016 and it will consist of a few images that I forgot to post up earlier on.

Thanks for looking

James

Great close up shots James and I love the shots of the Helice, I'd love to see one, may be next year if I'm lucky. We'd no Snow today but in spite of a lovely Sunny day it was still very cold, hope you get it more frosty down there instead of all the rain you've had today. Goldie

Absolutely cracking shot of the Helice Rex - a form I've still to enounter Looking forward to your next post but also sad that it's the last from 2016. Still hopefully 2017 will be better all round!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

That is a mighty fine Helice, saw my very first one this year at Tide MIlls . Those close ups are rather good as well. I've been extending my season this year by 'chasing' caterpillars again although a Small Copper on November 2nd was pretty good! Looking forward to what 2017 has in store for us, looks like we're gonna get a proper winter this year which will hopefully give most things a boost

Hi James,

That is a cracking helice image, I love the complimentary colours of the butterfly, the flower and the background

Cheers,

Neil.

Goldie M wrote:Great close up shots James and I love the shots of the Helice, I'd love to see one, may be next year if I'm lucky. We'd no Snow today but in spite of a lovely Sunny day it was still very cold, hope you get it more frosty down there instead of all the rain you've had today. Goldie

Thank you Goldie, we are a bit spoiled with Helice Clouded Yellows here on the South coast. I wouldn't say they are common but if there's a good migration I usually see few mixed in with the norms. If the weather people are right we should be in for a spell of colder and settled weather soon. No sign of any snow down our way yet.

Wurzel wrote:Absolutely cracking shot of the Helice Rex - a form I've still to enounter Looking forward to your next post but also sad that it's the last from 2016. Still hopefully 2017 will be better all round!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Very kind of you Wurzel if we get a really big influx of Cloudies next time I'm sure your chances of finding a Helice locally will improve. This year was good for CY's but nothing like as big as it was in 2009 or 2013, I saw 3 Helice this year in 2 different locations. Out of the 3 I managed to photograph just 2. Yes I'm afraid My diary is almost done for this year 'touch wood' 2017 will be much better than 2016 was.

bugboy wrote:That is a mighty fine Helice, saw my very first one this year at Tide MIlls . Those close ups are rather good as well. I've been extending my season this year by 'chasing' caterpillars again although a Small Copper on November 2nd was pretty good! Looking forward to what 2017 has in store for us, looks like we're gonna get a proper winter this year which will hopefully give most things a boost

Cheers Buggy your Small Copper cat photos are fantastic, what a great find! Not very easy to photograph when they are that tiny!! I really hope we do get a proper winter this time, I feel it's really needed for a lot of our native wildlife.

Neil Freeman wrote:Hi James,

That is a cracking helice image, I love the complimentary colours of the butterfly, the flower and the background

Cheers,

Neil.

Hi Neil, many thanks yes I really was very lucky with that shot, I still think it would have been a nice photo if it had been a standard issue CY. However it would have been a bit lost in amongst the predominantly yellow background.

Thanks all for your very kind and generous comments.

Best wishes

James

SPRING 2017

A bit of a quiet start here in East Sussex with dissapointing numbers of Orange Tips and Green Veined Whites, the Green Hairstreaks & Grizzled Skippers being slow to emerge in good numbers locally.
By far the most numerous spring emergent has been the Speckled Wood, Giving me an opportunity to photograph my first newly emerged butterflies of the year.
Getting a bit fed up waiting for things to get going here in the East Bob and I travelled west to Devil's Dyke to see some Green Hairstreaks.
After that we ventured into West Sussex and found a few Orange Tips to round off the trip.
A very nice end to a great day in great company.

Thanks for looking

James

Good to see you on here again, James.
Great Green Hairstreak shots, haven't been to any locations for them yet.
You say thing are quiet where you are, I recommend the old railway, plenty of the usual species there.
Except the Green veined White, I've yet to see one.

Keep well,
Trevor.

Indeed Rex good to see you back and somehow you're ahead of me with your PD now there's a surprise Great set of shots, especially the Greenstreaks - tantalizingly revealing a hint of the brown upper wing

Have a goodun

Wurzel

trevor wrote:Good to see you on here again, James.
Great Green Hairstreak shots, haven't been to any locations for them yet.
You say thing are quiet where you are, I recommend the old railway, plenty of the usual species there.
Except the Green veined White, I've yet to see one.

Keep well,
Trevor.

Hello Trevor, thank you very much for the warm welcome. I'm pleased to see you're having such a good time at the old railway. To be honest I've seen more butterflies than my post above would suggest. I just haven't seen all that many freshly emerged butterflies and I haven't taken many photos so far this year. I have seen a few Green Veined, Small and Large Whites. I saw my first hibernators back in early February and had the whole set by early March. I've yet to see my first Grizzled Skipper, Small Copper and if I'm not quick I'll have to add Dingy Skipper, Pearl Boardered Fritillary and Duke of Burgundy to the list as well!

I must compliment you on your photos this year, you've taken some very nice images.

See you around soon.

Wurzel wrote:Indeed Rex good to see you back and somehow you're ahead of me with your PD now there's a surprise Great set of shots, especially the Greenstreaks - tantalizingly revealing a hint of the brown upper wing

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Many thanks Wurzel believe me I'm more surprised than anyone, what am I ahead of again? There was me thinking I was behind everyone else, this being my first post of the year and all.
I think these might be my first Greenstreak photos to show a bit of upperside forewing!
Maybe this year we'll both keep up to date with our PD's, or Pink Porkerstreaks might fly!

Best wishes

James

Welcome back, James. You’ve been missed and it’s good to catch up with your exploits again, even though I’m a little envious of your Green Hairstreak encounter!

David M wrote:Welcome back, James. You’ve been missed and it’s good to catch up with your exploits again, even though I’m a little envious of your Green Hairstreak encounter!

Thank you David you're most kind it's nice to have a few photos to post up, until the other day I didn't have any!
We had to travel a bit to see the Green Hairstreaks but of course it was well worth it. I hope my local Greenies will start appearing soon.

ATB

James