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Re: Susie

Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 8:21 pm
by Susie
I agree, Guy, the imagination is a wonderful thing especially when it comes to the heavens.

Yesterday I went for a walk over cissbury ring. It wasn't a good choice of location as it was cooler than at home and the cold wind and cloud meant there wasnt much flying but it was good to be out. I still managed to find a comma and half a dozen peacocks though. :-)

I went home in much better spirits than I had been in when I arrived.

Re: Susie

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 6:40 pm
by Susie
I saw an orange tip male flying along the verge as I drove through Rowhook at lunchtime today and then there was a peacock in the garden when I got home this evening.
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Re: Susie

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 7:53 pm
by Susie
Small tortoiseshell and small white in the High Street in Cranleigh today. The former seemed to be a female looking to lay eggs but she kept 'tasting' hebe. To my knowledge they don't lay on this. Does anyone know if they do?

It seems like all the butterflies are appearing at once when I can't get out to see them. Most frustrating!

Re: Susie

Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 4:02 pm
by Susie
Thoroughly frustrating trip to Denbies today - not a single butterfly seen, probably because of the cool cloudy and windy conditions. There was a damselfly though, my first of the year :)

Re: Susie

Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 10:28 pm
by Susie
What a stunner of a day, and on a bank holiday too - how often does that happen! :D

This morning I visited my local bluebell wood, on the way there I saw plenty of orange tips and brimstones flying around the flower filled hedges and road sides. At the wood there was a large white and more brimstones, orange tips and green veined whites.
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I drove home via Itchingfield and again there were all the usual whites and a holly blue. This was my second holly blue of the day as I had seen one earlier flying over the garden. I decided to call in at Five Oaks on the way but apart from more whites I didn't see anything unusual. The nightingale singing in the hedge was lovely though.

At home a female orange tip was showing interest in the cuckoo flower. She didn't lay though, and sat on some garlic mustard for a while and then on some columbine which enabled me to get the camera out. This was the first time I've been able to get a shot of a butterfly which hasn't been in a mad hurry this year.
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After lunch I went to Denbies again. Again, there were plenty of whites flying, and also a peacock. I went to the spot where I hoped to find green hairstreak and my attention was caught by some rustling in the grass; it was an adder. The green hairstreaks were also showing well. I know there were grizzled skipper around as other people showed me their excellent photos of them but I didn't get to see any myself as I ran out of time but I did manage to see a speckled wood flying over.

All in all, not a bad day and a few more to add to my challenge total.
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Butterfly challenge:

1. Red Admiral
2. Brimstone
3. Peacock
4. Small Tortoiseshell
5. Small White
6. Orange Tip
7. Comma
8. Holly blue
9. Large white
10. Green veined white
11. Green hairstreak
12. Speckled wood

Re: Susie

Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 10:43 pm
by Nick Broomer
Hi Susie,

nice to see you had a lovely day. I must of just missed you up at Denbies, i left about one o`clock, i also saw some Adders, three in total, two of which were youngsters, probably last years young. Maybe i will bump into you soon, if my timing is better. :)

All the best, Nick.

Re: Susie

Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 7:48 pm
by Susie
Hi Nick. I got to Denbies at 3, next time I hope to see you too and catch up.

Re: Susie

Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 9:53 pm
by Wurzel
Cracking shot of the Greenstreak :D

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Re: Susie

Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 5:14 pm
by Susie
Thanks Wurzel. You don't know how happy I was to see it :)

This is nothing to do with butterflies but I think some of you may enjoy watching it. It is time lapse footage of the earth from the ISS

http://youtu.be/FG0fTKAqZ5g

Re: Susie

Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 5:46 pm
by ChrisC
great youtube link Susie.

Re: Susie

Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 5:46 pm
by NickMorgan
Beautiful pictures Susie. It is such a lovely time of year with great light for photography. 12 species so far - well done, I'm at five! My target for East Lothian is 20 this year.

Re: Susie

Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 4:00 pm
by Susie
Thanks Nick :)

I took a couple of the kiddies along to Sussex Kippers walk at Rewell Wood on behalf of Sussex BC this afternoon. It was a bit overcast but Neil still managed to perform his butterfly charming act and conjure up a couple of pearls for the visitors. My thanks to Neil for another very enjoyable walk.
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It was lovely to meet the other people on the walk, some of whom I have met before and some new faces too.
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And finally, something completely different. :wink: Yesterday it was a morris dancing festival in Horsham, and it was great fun!
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Butterfly challenge:

1. Red Admiral
2. Brimstone
3. Peacock
4. Small Tortoiseshell
5. Small White
6. Orange Tip
7. Comma
8. Holly blue
9. Large white
10. Green veined white
11. Green hairstreak
12. Speckled wood
13. Pearl Bordered Fritillary

Re: Susie

Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 4:57 pm
by Neil Hulme
Hi Susie,
Glad you enjoyed the walk. Please can you send me a larger copy of that image - the one with a PBF on my finger. Catch up soon for some Duke action.
Best Wishes, Neil

Re: Susie

Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 5:00 pm
by Susie
Yes, of course, I will do as soon as I'm on the home pc - and thank you for sharing your expertise with us all again. :-)

Re: Susie

Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 5:36 pm
by Susie
Today I went to Heyshott but unfortunately the weather wasn't as good there as it was at home and I didn't see very many butterflies but I did see just enough :D

What I did notice though was what a tremendous amount of work has been done to the site since I was there last year. Huge areas have been cleared. I know we've all been reading about the sterling work the work parties have been doing over the winter but when I saw it today the impact of what a huge effort they must have put in was realised. Well done chaps! :D The flora of the site seems to be about three weeks or more behind what I would expect to see at this time of year, so there is much to look forward to.

Despite the cool overcast and very windy conditions the sun came out briefly for about five minutes. This was enough for me to find one Duke and two Dingy Skippers. I managed to get a couple of quick shots of the Duke before the wind caught it and up and away it went never to be seen again. Likewise the Skippers. Once the few minutes were over and the sun gone again no more butterflies were seen so I headed home. Five minutes away from Heyshot it was bright sunshine. Typical! :(

Duke
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Dingy feeding on orchid
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Heyshott in the drizzle
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Path to Heyshott
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Butterfly challenge:

1. Red Admiral
2. Brimstone
3. Peacock
4. Small Tortoiseshell
5. Small White
6. Orange Tip
7. Comma
8. Holly blue
9. Large white
10. Green veined white
11. Green hairstreak
12. Speckled wood
13. Pearl Bordered Fritillary
14. Duke of Burgundy
15. Dingy Skipper

Re: Susie

Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 5:27 pm
by Susie
I came home from work yesterday to find a green veined white in the garden :(
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Re: Susie

Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 5:52 pm
by ChrisC
butterflies and spiders in the same shot. always sad to see but dare I say at least you got a green veined white :roll:

Chris

Re: Susie

Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 5:55 pm
by Susie
On the same plant last year one caught an orange tip but I assume it was a different spider, I dont think they live that long.

Re: Susie

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 7:03 pm
by Susie
Well I must say that I had rather a marvellous time today! :)

Sussex Kipper was leading at walk at Heyshott to see Duke of Burgundy. It was lovely to see some familiar faces and chat to some friends. The weather was, to my mind, perfect for the occasion being overcast with occasional spells of warm sunshine. This enabled us to see the butterflies and then when the sun went in they would hunker down and let us have a good look and take photos - how perfectly civilised!

I didn't think that the walk this year would be able to surpass last year's fly past and mating Dukes but it did. To our amazement Pearl Bordered Fritillaries were found on the site and .... hotdogs! Perfect for hungry butterfly hunters. The Dukes were around in good numbers too if you knew where to look - they were in pristine condition and I think many of them had emerged just this morning. At one point I was sitting on the grass enjoying the sun with at least five Duke of Burgundy within ten feet of me. Watching them spiral up into the blue sky as they sparred was magical.

Re: Susie

Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 7:04 pm
by Susie
Well I must say that I had rather a marvellous time today! :)

Sussex Kipper was leading at walk at Heyshott to see Duke of Burgundy. It was lovely to see some familiar faces and chat to some friends. The weather was, to my mind, perfect for the occasion being overcast with occasional spells of warm sunshine. This enabled us to see the butterflies and then when the sun went in they would hunker down and let us have a good look and take photos - how perfectly civilised!

I didn't think that the walk this year would be able to surpass last year's fly past and mating Dukes but it did. To our amazement Pearl Bordered Fritillaries were found on the site and .... hotdogs were available at the end of the walk! Perfect for hungry butterfly hunters. The Dukes were around in good numbers too if you knew where to look - they were in pristine condition and I think many of them had emerged just this morning. At one point I was sitting on the grass enjoying the sun with at least five Duke of Burgundy within ten feet of me. Watching them spiral up into the blue sky as they sparred was magical.

Sermon on the Mount
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Pearly Queen
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Dutchess of Duke Street (with a wonky wing)
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I know the last photo is "wrong" for all sorts of reasons, not least because the foliage is blocking out part of the butterfly, but I rather like it for some reason. :P