www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Gary.N wrote:Hi James.

You may have had slim picking but you found that lovely Red Admiral and a great shot of it.

Gary

Agreed and she looks to be bursting with eggs!

Gary.N wrote:Hi James.

You may have had slim picking but you found that lovely Red Admiral and a great shot of it.

Gary

Hi Gary, thank you for the compliment Red Admirals look so smart when they are freshly emerged it's always a joy to see. Luckily this lovely female posed for me when the sun went in.

bugboy wrote:

Gary.N wrote:Hi James.

You may have had slim picking but you found that lovely Red Admiral and a great shot of it.

Gary

Agreed and she looks to be bursting with eggs!

Hi Paul, yes you certainly couldn't mistake this one for a male!

Thank you both for your comments.

I agree the others - that Red Admiral is particularly resplendent
Have a goodun

Wurzel

That female is as gravid as gravid gets! Must say I'm noticing increasing numbers of Red Admirals lately. Hopefully we'll see a bumper emergence later in the year.

Many thanks for the comments Wurzel and David.

A bit behind.

Due to my family suffering with a nasty virus I've not been able to update my diary for a while. I still managed to get out either on my own or in the company of Badgerbob. Going back almost two weeks I popped into my local woods to see what I could find.

Thanks for looking

James

Lovely shots as always Rex, that first one in particular is a cracker, it looks like sit just hanging in mid air Hope the family are on the mend - the viruses around at the moment seem to have a nasty habit of lingering

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Sorry to hear about the virus, James. Let's hope it's behind you all and that normal butterflying can be resumed! After all, it's probably the second most important time of the season....after the first half of July!

Lovely images rex, i'm still searching for Pearls, Goldie

Wurzel wrote:Lovely shots as always Rex, that first one in particular is a cracker, it looks like sit just hanging in mid air Hope the family are on the mend - the viruses around at the moment seem to have a nasty habit of lingering

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Very kind of you Wurzel, yes they are still suffering from the effects of the virus almost 2 weeks after is started. Somehow I managed to escape this one, fingers crossed it still wont get me. I hope you and your family are well.

David M wrote:Sorry to hear about the virus, James. Let's hope it's behind you all and that normal butterflying can be resumed! After all, it's probably the second most important time of the season....after the first half of July!

Hi David, many thanks, I think I might have had this virus before becouse amazingly I didn't catch it! I hate getting a virus during the spring, as you say it's one of the best times of the year and the last thing you need is to be stuck indoors with a nasty bug.

Goldie M wrote:Lovely images rex, i'm still searching for Pearls, Goldie

Most kind of you Goldie, I hope you get in amongst the Pearls soon. Most are past their best down this way, Perhaps a few more fresh ones will emerge as this protracted cool weather has slowed things up a lot.

Best wishes all.



Skipper-de-doo-da.

Last thursday I made another visit to my local Skipper hotspot. The number of Grizzled Skippers were still very disapointing but there were a few more fresh Dingies about and one decided to take a little nectar from hawthorn blossom.



And a very modest improvement over the single male Grizzly I saw there last time 2 fresh female Grizzled Skippers raised my hopes a little.




Thanks for looking

James

Beautiful Skipper shots Rex especially the last one, the colours on the under wing are just gorgeous

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Excellent sequence, James. I like the Grizzlies for all the technical reasons, but most intriguing of all is the Dingy nectaring from the hawthorn blossom. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one settled above knee height, so you stumbled upon something unusual there.

Wurzel wrote:Beautiful Skipper shots Rex especially the last one, the colours on the under wing are just gorgeous

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Many thanks Wurzel when the sun hits the underside of a female Grizzled Skipper it really reveals that beautiful rusty red colour. I had to be quick as the sun soon made her open her wings.

David M wrote:Excellent sequence, James. I like the Grizzlies for all the technical reasons, but most intriguing of all is the Dingy nectaring from the hawthorn blossom. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one settled above knee height, so you stumbled upon something unusual there.

Thank you David, yes I've only ever seen this once before. Maybe like us they get a bit bored with the same old food and try something a little more exotic.

Best wishes to you both.


James and the Brown Argusnauts.

Just over a week ago on the 12th of May I met up with Badgerbob on our local patch to look for some Brown Argus - and anything else of interest.
As usual it was very breezy and challenging for macro photography. We saw plenty of Brown Argus quite a few Wall Browns and I saw my first Adonis Blue of the year too!

We also came across two instars of Brown-tailed moth larvae.

And to round of the afternoon a Dingy Skipper, another great day in great company.

Thanks for looking

James

Lovely Brown Argus Rex I've not seen a Dingy like that one before, it seems to have a really dark 'fringe', nicely sets off the 'carpet-esque' markings

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Great array of specimens again, James. What is it with Dingies and flowerheads? They seem to be drawn to them by magnetism!

Wurzel wrote:Lovely Brown Argus Rex I've not seen a Dingy like that one before, it seems to have a really dark 'fringe', nicely sets off the 'carpet-esque' markings

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel I must admit I hadn't really noticed that but now you mention it I think it is a bit darker than usual, I think it was very fresh indeed, maybe that's the reason?

David M wrote:Great array of specimens again, James. What is it with Dingies and flowerheads? They seem to be drawn to them by magnetism!

I believe it's the camouflage of the Dingy David, they really blend in with their favoured roosting spot - ie deadheads. I've probably overlooked lots of roosting Dingy Skippers over the years.

Many thanks for the comments.


Close to home.

On May the 13th I stayed local except for a very brief morning stop in Abbots Wood where I didn't have time to photograph much. I did see an obliging Speckled Yellow moth that let me get unusually close for a change!


Then later in the afternoon I met up with Badgerbob to check my local Grizzled Skipper spot. Sadly we could only find one female, at least she was in nice condition, unfortunately it's been a very poor year for Grizzlies there this year.

On the way back I spotted a very fresh Common Blue, I couldn't resist a shot - even though I was now late for dinner.


Thanks for looking.

James

Déjà vu.

On May the 13th I had a very similar day to my previous one, I started with a very brief trip to Abbots wood where I saw another Speckled Yellow moth posing nicely and a few worn Pearl-bordered Fritillaries.

And then onto Friston Gallops where I saw modest numbers of Grizzled Skippers, Brown Argus, and building numbers of Common Blue.

Other species seen but not photographed were, Small Heath, Dingy Skipper and Small Copper. Not a bad afternoon despite the unforecast showers making me a little soggy.

Thanks for looking

James

Loving the shot showing the interaction of the Gizzlies Rex

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wurzel wrote:Loving the shot showing the interaction of the Gizzlies Rex

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel, I don't often see Grizzled Skippers shaing a perch together. These were male and female - a married couple perhaps?

Best wishes

James


Memory Lane.

Years ago I used to frequent a local spot called Hope Gap, it used to be an absolutely fantastic spot for Green Hairstreaks, about 4 years ago a large amount of clearence work took place. I vividly remember a very depressing visit the following spring, I was unable to find even a single GHS. Seeing as I'd not visited the area for a few years I decided to return hoping that some GHS's had re-colonised the site. By now it was the 25th of May and after an early spring I only expected to find worn and tired specimens. To my dismay the area did not show any signs of re-gaining it's former glory, after 2 hours of searching I only found one solitary (and very worn) GHS peering down at me from it's lofty vantage point.

It's a bit of a mystery because the clearence work looks to have generally improved the habitiat for butterflies. However the numbers of all species there were very low, baffling to say the least. Anyway there was one surprise of the day, a freshly emerged Dingy Skipper, quite late for my local area.


Apart from one Wall, a couple of elderly Grizzled Skippers and a pair of Small Coppers the most numerous butterfly there was the Common Blue. Oh and I found one solitary Comma as well.



It was nice to visit Hope Gap again but sadly after a long gap my hopes were dashed, at least I still have some wonderful memories of this now lost Green Hairstreak paradise.

Thanks for looking

James

It's horrible when good sites go to the bad Rex Could it be too late in the season so things have merged, done the deed as it were and passed on?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi James,

Sad to hear of the demise of your old site.

I have to say, those Speckled Yellow on bluebells shots, not once but twice These are lovely moths but a right pain to get a decent shot of, well done.

Cheers,

Neil.