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Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 8:59 pm
by Jack Harrison
Guy:
That still looks like a (virgin) female to me.
Not sure I've ever seen one
Jack
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:36 am
by Jack Harrison
Would a female Comma be territorial?
Anyway, here's a picture of Great great Grandparent exactly the same locality 30 March 2008
Jack
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 2:51 pm
by Jack Harrison
Took this at my Comma hotspot today 24 March.
I had noticed how pale the underside was but the use of fill-pin flash might have exaggerated the paleness in the photos. The underside looks a little like f.hutchinsoni, the summer form that is not supposed to hibernate. So logic says it cannot be hutchinsoni.
Jack
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 7:43 pm
by NickB
Comma I saw in their "patch" in the cemetery recently (always 2 or 3 around there) was very light -
but not
hutchinsonii when compared against previous examples like the one below...
- Summer 2009 brood
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:28 pm
by Tom Wade
First butterfly of the year yesterday, a pristine Peacock on my lawn, which stayed long enough for me to take a few shots
Tom
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:53 pm
by Padfield
I've often wondered about whether
hutchinsoni can hibernate and I've looked out for them in the spring. But I don't think I've ever seen one then.
In my experience,
hutchinsoni has rich oranges and yellows in the underside as well as greys and browns. I was lucky enough in July 2009 to get both forms in one shot:
(
starski on left,
hutchinsoni on right)
Jack's butterfly has a pale underside but lacks any of those warm colours.
I went silent on the male/female thing, Jack, because I wanted someone else's opinion. As I said, I find Nymphalids harder than other groups, until they get pregnant.
Guy
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 9:05 pm
by Padfield
Here's a pale
starski, compared to the same
hutchinsoni as above:
Guy
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:05 pm
by geniculata
beautiful day down here in the forest,
but only one male brimstone seen again, this time in lymington.
nice illustrative use of your images guy! still waiting to see my first comma.
gary.
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 12:24 pm
by Charles Nicol
padfield wrote:Here's a pale starski, compared to the same hutchinsoni as above:
Guy
Here is a melanic form... fargasii
Charles
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 12:27 pm
by Trev Sawyer
... Charles,
Is that the version whose larvae are known as the "Huggy Bear" caterpillar
Trev
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 1:03 pm
by Charles Nicol
Trev Sawyer wrote:... Charles,
Is that the version whose larvae is known as the "Huggy Bear" caterpillar
Trev
You just moved up a notch in my book. That puts you at notch one.
Charlonio
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 1:37 pm
by Zonda
Observed at least twenty Brimstones (there were probably loads more) by the side of the A31 and M27 motorway yesterday, in the New Forest area. (heathland). Couldn't stop.
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 2:41 pm
by Lee Hurrell
Starski - genius.
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 3:45 pm
by NickB
Yeah - took me a looonngg time too!
Nice one Guy!
N
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 3:59 pm
by Jack Harrison
f cagneyi and laceyi - what do they look like?
Jack
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 4:23 pm
by Vince Massimo
Damn!.......that one got past me. That's because I always believe everything Guy says. He has spent too long corresponding with Jack. They should not be allowed to sit together this term.
Vince
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 4:59 pm
by Zonda
Agreed!
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:02 am
by walpolec
Is there anyone else out there who, like me, is yet to see a single butterfly?!
Last Sunday, a lovely day, was when I thought it was going to happen. However, despite visiting a couple of my local favoured sites, I drew a blank. Even more frustrating, when I got back from my run I was told by my wife that a Peacock had visited the graden whilst I was out.
With the forecast poor for the next few days, looks like I'll be reporting my #1 in the "April Sightings" forum!
Ah well, at least the daffs are out now.
Chris
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:29 am
by Bill S
walpolec wrote:Is there anyone else out there who, like me, is yet to see a single butterfly?!
Last Sunday, a lovely day, was when I thought it was going to happen. However, despite visiting a couple of my local favoured sites, I drew a blank. Even more frustrating, when I got back from my run I was told by my wife that a Peacock had visited the graden whilst I was out.
With the forecast poor for the next few days, looks like I'll be reporting my #1 in the "April Sightings" forum!
Ah well, at least the daffs are out now.
Chris
I'm in that boat so far this year
Bill
Re: March 2010 Sightings
Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 8:28 am
by walpolec
Bill S wrote:
I'm in that boat so far this year
Bill
Had a bit of luck today: I was visiting my mother and went to get something from her shed and was pleased to find a lovely peacock fluttering at the window. As there was no way for the butterfly to get in/out apart from the door, it must have been hibernating and had recently woken up. Lucky for it that I went in; the shed is hardly ever used, so it could have been trapped in there for quite a while!
Hope you have some luck soon, Bill.
Chris