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Dingy and Grizzled Skipper still on the wing in the Mendips, along with Brown Argus, Common Blue and an abundance of Small Heaths.

A_T wrote:Hardly any Speckled Woods so far this year anyone else finding this? Last year was a poor one for them too.

My experience too here on the Isle of Wight. They are good photographic subjects when you find one though.
Ian

A long trip today over to Bentley Wood and then further over into Wiltshire with weather that meant some activity as well as butterflies roosting throughout the morning. In the Eastern Enclosure a fresh Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary showed as soon as the sun came out. I then found a sleepy female Brimstone that was more than happy to stay still. On into Wiltshire and a few Marsh Fritillaries were flying and settling frequently in the breeze.

With the sun finally shining I visited Happy Valley, Coulsdon to check things out. Small Tortoiseshell larvae have now dispersed from their many communal webs and were only occasionally found basking or feeding. Peacocks are still on the wing, with six males being seen holding territory on one of the long paths. The first larval web of the season for this species has now finally appeared. Only one of the five Peacock egg-masses is now accessible. This was a batch which was laid on 19th May and looks like it will start producing larvae within a day.
It does seem odd however that, judging by the colours, many eggs have developed at different rates.
I will try to check them tomorrow.

Vince

Small numbers of Pearl-bordered Fritillaries still on the wing in Cirencester Park, Glos late this afternoon

A_T wrote:Hardly any Speckled Woods so far this year anyone else finding this? Last year was a poor one for them too.

Yes I agree, I have seen hardly any this year

I spent a couple of hours at Wootton Coppice in the New Forest today.

Speckled Wood 1
Red Admiral 1
Dark Green Fritillary 1
Common Blue 1 male
Brimstone 5 female & 1 male
Large White 1
Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary 1+
Pearl Bordered Fritillary 3+

This is the first time I have seen either of the Pearls. I was unable to distinguish between the 2 on the wing and was only able to identify the ones I photographed when I got home. In fact I did not realise I had seen both types until about half hour ago The Red Admiral and Dark Green Fritillary were very fresh indeed

We seem to be in the "June gap", waiting for the next species to emerge.
Very windy here the last few days and only 1 old Speckled Wood seen.
Most of the ST cats have entered 3rd or 4th instar and are more difficult to spot; there were a few egg sites so varying stages of the cats and their old webs and skins can be seen dispersed across the nettles. Interestingly, this is a consistent place for ST to lay - the third year in a row they have done so.
This nettle patch is shaded on the SW side by bushes, but open to the morning sun. I guess the protection from full sun means the nettles are less likely to get dessicated - a safer place to lay than elsewhere. Or do some females hang around their larval sites? Or both?
Nice to see anyway; at least I know where I might get to see some ST in a month or so
N

On the way home from Wiltshire yesterday I called into a site for some rare orchids. Nearby there were some garlic mustard plants so , as usual, I checked them for signs of Orange-tips and found that some had ova but some had recently hatched and there were several really tiny larva. Not easy taking pics of these really small creatures, especially in the breeze, so apologies for the quality!!

East Blean Wood.
Despite the strong winds and cloud we thought it may be warm enough to encourage the Heath Fritillary out at East Blean Woods (Kent). It was not to be. We did find 32 larva in the area around the main car park. There was not the volume of Cow Wheat as last year, but hopefully more will appear as the month progresses. The car park area is a little over grown, but other areas have been cut this year.

Large Blue now flying at Collard Hill
http://ntlargeblue.wordpress.com/2013/0 ... sh-though/
At least 15 days later than last year, and a whole week later than the previous latest emergence.

I shall be there Friday - expect to see old friends as well?

Cheers

I managed to check the Peacock eggs during the afternoon of 15th June in showery conditions. The first thing I noticed when I reached the plant was that freshly hatched larvae had congregated on the upper surface of the leaf.
Upon hatching they appeared to have burrowed through from the underside of the leaf and had begun spinning their first larval web.

Underneath the leaf could be seen empty egg cases, and some where the larvae were in the process of chewing their way out (as well as some larvae that had recently hatched).
This was clearly a favoured spot because while I was kneeling down to take these photos, I only needed to look up to see a Small Tortoiseshell larval web and a third-instar Comma larva.

Vince

Great stuff Vince! Glad to see that your extended family is doing well

Cheers,

- Pete

Yesterday the weather was sunny but windy on the Isle of Wight. When I took my dog Max for a walk across the fields near my house I would expect at this time of year to see at least six different species of butterfly if not more.
Yesterday, on two walks I saw not one butterfly of any sort!

Hello
Better late than never. A few photos from last week that were taken in very windy weather in the grasslands near Everleigh on Salisbury Plain. The Marsh Fritillary were on the wing or being carried by the wind and mostly landing in the grass. They were already suited their old name of Greasy Fritillary. In a sheltered spot along side a plantation there were strong colonies of Small Blue. The Dingy Skipper was widespread and in a number of places there were Walls and fresh Grizzled Skippers. Green Hairstreaks were still flying with some Brown Argus starting to emerge. There were a number of the lovely Cistus Forester Moth. While we were engaged in looking for butterflies, the Army were very close by on exercises.

Glanville Fritillary
Hi, Gang
A friend of mine tells me that Glanville Fritillary is now on the wing at Start Point, Somerset.
Adrian Riley http://www.bugalert.net

Well timed news Adrian, I'm hoping to get down there on Wednesday, just hope the weather is kind, incidentally its Sand Point rather than Start Point thanks for the tip-off.

Spent a few hours at Kenfig NNR, South Wales today, the morning was showery and the wind was a real frustration, little about, but I saw my first Meadow Brown of the year. The afternoon was much brighter with long sunny spells, the only problem was the wind got even stronger making photographs very difficult. The following species were seen:-

Dingy Skipper 2no
Large White 4no
Green-veined White 6no
Small Blue 50+
Common Blue c15
Speckled Wood
Wall 3no
Meadow Brown
Small Heath c20

I suppose 9 species is quite respectable considering the windy conditions and the Meadow Brown puts my years total up to 25.

Anyone have any sighting news about Heath Fritillary on Exmoor yet?

Bill

Isle of Mull 17th June

It’s taken a long time but finally:
Elderly Green Hairstreak on Ragged Robin at Grasspoint (NM745308) in the southeast of the island.

And Marsh Fritillary same location, about 20 seen in two hours. But when they landed, they were always out of camera range. Hwever, identification not in doubt as another observer shouted from (what was to me) an inaccessible spot: “Here’s one wings open on a flower”.
And another Orange Tip in the area but clearly not well established yet since arrival on Mull circa 2006. That scarcity is surprising considering the abundance of Cuckooo Flower, which incidentally, seems to be the main food plant of the ubiquitous GV White.

Superb views of Sea Eagle at Grasspoint. (Well, superb in binoculars, not quite so good on camera).

Apparently Dark Green Frits are already out in another part of Mull.

Anyone know what this small lemon-green orchid is? (Presumably an orchid. Grasspoint again)


Jack

Spent an hour on the sand dunes at Holywell in Cornwall yesterday and spotted 20+ Silver Studded Blues.

Craig.

Hello Jack

Hope you're enjoying Mull. That's a great find, it's a Small White Orchid (does what it says on the tin) which I think is quite a rarity there.

All the best.

I'm very envious of your Small White Orchid, Jack. It's one of the British orchid species that I've not seen.

Mike