www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Some cracking shots there Susie

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I don't think that last picture is wrong for any reasons, Susie. I like it, too.

Thank you Wurzel and Nick

Hi Susie,

Nice photos.

A photo is only 'wrong' if you don't like it yourself, if you like it then it is 'right'

Cheers,

Neil F.

Good point, Neil!

I've already had my first sighting of the day, I was hanging out the washing and noticed this in the garden

Holly Blue

We went to the coast yesterday for lunch - mistake - the weather was cool and drizzly down there. 30 minutes drive away at home it was full sunshine! I made the most of the late afternoon after we came back to go for a walk over my local fields. The swifts screeched overhead and it actually felt like summer for once with some white butterflies still on the wing in the hedgerows. I went to the wild garlic which again lined the valley bottom and looked very pretty. Today was another dull drizzly day so I caught up with chores at home. I got a bit stir crazy after a while and checking the forecast the best chance of weather looked to be around Dorking this afternoon so I set off for a quick walk. I managed to find three small heath and one dingy skipper. The temperature never rose enough for any of the butterflies to take flight but there were loads of St Marks flies on the wing.

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
16. Small Heath

That habitat shot is great - it looks like the start of an epic adventure Lovely shots of the Dingy making it's own "tent"

Have a good in

Wurzel

Liking your GVW on the garlic Susie. Nice composition. Miserable weather here in Hants.

Susie wrote:The swifts screeched overhead...

One of my favourite sounds in life - absolutely symbolic of long evenings and warm(er) weather.

I was checking the cuckoo flower in the garden today for eggs (nothing there) and noticed a very unusual looking flower bud. When I opened it up it was full of bright orange grubs. Sorry for the quality of the photo which I took with my phone but does anyone know what they could be? Does cuckoo flower have a sawfly?

Well finally the weather is perfect for butterflies but I have a different photo for today. Yesterday we got a puppy from Allsorts Dog Rescue. He's shown a keen interest in butterflies and has managed to chase one so far (but not catch it). He'll be a great companion when I'm out on my butterfly walks I hope.

Congratulations on the puppy Susie. We have also recently got a new puppy. A yellow Labrador as a companion for our three-legged chocolate Labrador. They give me a great excuse to go for a walk (and look for butterflies), but they do show a little too much interest in them. Just as I get a shot nicely framed one of them will run over to see what is so interesting. Jimmy (the chocolate one) was quite used to me, but Midge (the puppy) still has to learn to leave me in peace!!

Your dogs sound lovely, and good companions albeit not great butterflyers!

Today I popped along to Kithurst Hill for a short while. I saw some small blue, a single female duke of burgundy, a dingy skipper, a small heath, various whites and a common blue flew over. At home there were more whites and holly blue.
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
16. Small Heath
17. Small Blue
18. Common Blue

Because it's been half term butterflying has been put on the back burner a bit. Today I had some free time though and really I should have put in the effort and gone out to see as many species as I could but I really couldn't get motivated and decided to go to the Floral Fringe Fair at Knepp Castle and just bimble about looking at the stalls and tag along on the walk given by Neil Hulme on behalf of Butterfly Conservation. I caught part of a talk about butterflies given by Matthew Oates as well.

I saw more butterflies on my way into and up the drive of Knepp Castle (orange tip, holly blue, speckled wood and a white (i think it was small but could have been green veined) than I did on the walk but that was no one's fault. Matthew Oates did spot a fresh Small Copper which was my first of the year. I didn't get any photos of the small copper but I did get one of Matthew Oates. I am sure he won't mind my including it here as he is a bit of a celebrity
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
16. Small Heath
17. Small Blue
18. Common Blue
19. Small Copper

I had planned to get to Denbies early this morning and make the most of the butterflies as it was a lovely day but because of the puppy my leaving home was delayed because of a pressing need to play games and be generally silly and I didn't get there until much before 12 noon. With full sun and a strong breeze there was little chance of taking decent photos but there were quite a few butterflies to see. I have never seen so many small heath at one time, they must be having a good year. The green hairstreaks are still hanging on and I saw about six. I saw quite a few male brimstones, I am not sure if they are hangers on from the spring or early summer emerges; the former I guess but they seemed in good condition. There were plenty of dingy skippers around and I saw four grizzled skippers too. I saw around a dozen common blue and Adonis Blue, all males except for two female common and one female Adonis.

The hillside looked beautiful today with lush vegetation and flowers. The orchids seem to only just be coming into bloom so plenty yet to see.

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
16. Small Heath
17. Small Blue
18. Common Blue
19. Small Copper
20. Grizzled Skipper
21. Adonis Blue

I haven't been butterflying for ages due to family commitments and have had to all but give up on my butterfly challenge but yesterday I went to Iping to join the BC walk. I arrived early as I hoped to photograph a male silver studded blue being attended by ants. I found two, but both times I only had a brief look before they took to the wing. I should have got there even earlier than I did but a heavy cold and lack of sleep left me feeling not too energetic.

I managed a quick snap of one The SSB were plentiful and it was a lovely day. I got rather carried away with the camera and missed the start of the walk, considering how grotty my cold is though it was probably just as well as I would have infected them all with my coughs and sneezels. As is always the way with these popular sites I did run into people I knew on the way round including a UKB member. I did eventually find Colin Knight leading the walk over the other side at Stedham by which time they were heading in the other direction but it seems that they had a fabulous morning too and the blues showed well for them.
All in all a great and memorable day despite the lurgies!

Also seen, speckled wood, red admiral and my first meadow brown of the year. When I got home there were four small tortoiseshell in the garden. That's the most I've ever had at one time.




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
16. Small Heath
17. Small Blue
18. Common Blue
19. Small Copper
20. Grizzled Skipper
21. Adonis Blue
22. Silver Studded Blue
23. Meadow Brown

I took the puppy out on his first butterfly walk today to Southwater. It was a beautiful morning and the speckled woods spiralling in the sunshine at the entrance to the woods made me eager to see what I would find. I was hoping for silver washed fritillary and marbled whites. Speckled woods were around in good numbers and there were also quite a few meadow brown around as well but that was all I saw. When I got to the meadow my heart sunk, it has been scalped. The cut throughs from the woods to the meadows have been blocked off too, with barbed wire or tree trunks so it looks like the land owners are not keen on people traipsing over their land anymore. I was really quite gutted as these meadows have brought me a huge amount of joy in the past, although I understand that it is the land owners right to do what they want. Still, all those marbled white, meadow brown, and skipper butterflies gone . It was like this last year

Hi Susie. I know how you feel as this sort of thing seems to be quite common at the moment. I was talking to a fencer recently who was putting up fencing around a lovely wild area that used to be great for butterflies. He said that many landowners are doing this in anticipation of a revised agricultural payments scheme. It is rumoured that future payments will be based on the amount of land that is in production rather than the total acreage of the farm. We are also finding many areas of permanent pasture being ploughed in this year as it is also rumoured that in the future farmers will not be allowed to plough areas that haven't previously been ploughed.
I am sickened by the amount of herbicide that has been sprayed around field margins and road verges here, killing off the wild flowers and insects.

Hi Nick. thanks for the information. That makes sense. I cant blame the landowner, we all have to make a living. It just seems such a shame as this one meadow out of all of them was something special for wildlife.