www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Me, a schemer, never David. Here is the final photo of the Comma`s wing. Turned 180 degrees.

Just catching up on your little brain teaser Nick, unfortunately too late to have a go myself but some superb close up images of butterfly wings, great stuff

Cheers,

Neil.

Thank you for your very kind comments Neil, as always appreciated. I hope to do a lot more close up photography this year, but then i`m relying on the butterflies to play ball. They had better.

All the best,Nick.

As promised, the photos of the butterflies in full from my little tease of identifying the butterfly from the wing, or at least a small section of it.

Here are the first four.No. 1, male Clouded Yellow.No. 2, male Brimstone.No. 3, male Comma.No. 5, female Clouded Yellow.

The reason for entering the male Brimstone, is that it is the oldest butterfly i have ever seen. It is about a year old, give or take a few days and, was photographed on 7th July 2013, [the earliest i have photographed a summer brood Brimstone was on 11th July]. So i thought it deserved its place in my little tease.

Lovely pictures, Nick! The comma is certainly hutchinsoni - beautifully marked.

If that stubborn old brimstone was around for just a bit longer - which is perfectly possible - he might have had an encounter with his own children! That's quite a rare thing for a butterfly ...

Guy

Thank you Guy for your kind comments, and the confirmation of the Comma being a Hutchinsoni. Appreciated.

All the best, Nick.

The last four photos of the butterflies in full from my little teaser.No. 4,male Purple Emperor.No. 6, female Wood White.No. 7, male Silver-washed Fritillary aberration.No. 8, male Chalkhill Blue.

That silver-washed fritillary is very special indeed! I notice it's not among the aberrations on the species page yet ...

There is something similar in the Cockayne collection, here:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/ ... xonID=8551

Guy

Fantastic shots Nick, that Sivler Washed is something else Mind you putting that in your close up quiz could be considered a slight cheat, almost as bad as cropping most of the butterfly out Mind you seeing that lush Wood White makes up for it

Have a goodun

Wurzel

That Silver - Washed fritillary is mind boggling, and what a great photo to do it justice

Thank you for your very kind comments gentlemen. Appreciated.

Guy, thank you for finding that photo of the similar aberration, on the Cockayne collection, again appreciated. I will try and post a drawing of the upperwing, alas no photo, just a good memory. But not something one would forget in a hurry.

Wurzel, me cheating a little, never. Just a little tease.

All the best, Nick.

As i said yesterday i would try and draw the wing uppersides of this Silver-washed Fritillary aberration. Well, here is my very poor attempt at becoming a butterfly artist. It was drawn with kiddie colouring pencils, i think i should have let a child draw the picture for me, probably would have been a lot better. My drawing of the wing uppersides of the ab. SWF. Now you can see why i could never forget the beauty and the abnormality of this butterfly, and why its stuck in my memory for ever. The wing upperside is a very accurate account of what i saw that gorgeous summers day back in 2010, apart from the fact that i could`nt match the colours with the pencils i had available to me, but then you can see that for yourselves.

It's a pretty clear drawing Nick and a tantalizing glimpse of how spectacular it must have been
Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel. It certainly was a beauty and, when he opened his wings to reveal the uppersides i was gobsmacked, [but he only did it the once then just sat there quite high up in an Oak]. The expression on my face was one of total surprise, and a whopping WOW, with my eyes jumping out in front of me, [thought i was going to have to pick them up off the ground]. It was a complete privilege to have seen and photographed him, even if it was only a closed wing shot.

All the best, Nick.

What an amazing Silver-washed Fritillary ab Nick, and you stayed calm enough to get a great photo lucky you've a good memory for detail too, those upperwings are incredible, your drawing shows them nicely

Mike

I love your drawing, Nick.

There is something similar here: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/ ... xonID=8370.

I'm not sure you should look at it though - it might pollute your obviously crystal clear memory of the butterfly!

Guy

A lovely looking SWF Nick and nice drawing too, it certainly gives a good impression of what must have been an amazing butterfly .

Cheers,

Neil.

Thank you Mike, Guy and Neil for your unexpected kind comments. Much appreciated.

All the best, Nick.

Three weeks ago i went out looking for both Brown and Purple Hairstreak ovum with a friend, leaving my camera at home. I only planned on being out for a couple of hours but, it turned into a four hour stint. A very enjoyable and relaxing time was spent poking about Blackthorn Bushes and Oak trees. I had never looked for Purple Hairstreak ovum before and, never looked for Brown Hairstreak ovum at this site, even though i new they had been found here before, and knew the location. But on arrival the known site was no longer in evidence, having been cut down. So it was off to find a new site, and eventually came up trumps even though the site did`nt look suitable, with no new shoots of Blackthorn which the Brown Hairstreaks prefer to lay their eggs on.These photos were taken on a return trip a week later.We tried two sites in this wood for the Purple Hairstreak ovum where i had seen this elusive butterfly two years before, [did`nt see any here last year] and, the odd Oak tree walking between these sites. We found ovum at both locations, but they were not easy to find due to the sharp fall in numbers of this butterfly over the last few years locally.

Interesting shots Nick I might have to try my hand at finding ovum next year. It was interesting to read that Purple Hairstreak numbers are down in your neck of the woods too - they've had a few bad years over this way too - though this year was good but only compared to last year

Have a goodun

Wurzel