Maximus
Re: Maximus
Indeed a mighty collection of which the Greenies top the bill
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Have a goodun
Wurzel
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Re: Maximus
Fantastic shots of all the Butterflies Max, I'm envious Goldie
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Re: Maximus
I'm most envious, Maximus. You seem to have had a veritable blitz of species.
Make the most of them, and while you're at it keep looking forward to the next batch of emerges.
Make the most of them, and while you're at it keep looking forward to the next batch of emerges.
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Re: Maximus
Thanks, Neil, bugboy, Pauline, Wurzel, Goldie and David
We have recently returned from our annual pilgrimage to the Isle of Wight where we spent a few days getting our much needed Glanville Fritillary fix. Luckily, this year the weather was much more obliging during our chosen week than it had been in previous years, although the persistent strong breeze made getting decent photos challenging! Over the past few years we've been fortunate enough to find up to about a dozen Glanvilles, mostly along the sheltered coastline at Wheelers Bay, this year however a walk along this stretch of coastline gave us a count of 41 Glanvilles, far exceeding our expectations!
Our second day we decided to explore the south-west coast, stopping at various places along the Military Road. In one particular spot where there was an abundance of thrift we counted no less than a hundred Glanvilles. There were probably many more than this, but too many to count..It was a real Glanvillefest! We sometimes observed small groups of them in hot pursuit of each other, often being carried over the cliff edge by the strong breeze, only to reappear seconds later to nectar momentarily on the thrift before repeating the whole process again. Couldn't help but be in awe of their amazing flying abilities in such conditions. We also saw a number of mating pairs and several freshly emerged females being constantly pestered by interested males. It would appear the emergence is ongoing and numbers have not yet reached their peak.
The rest of our week to follow in my next post....
We have recently returned from our annual pilgrimage to the Isle of Wight where we spent a few days getting our much needed Glanville Fritillary fix. Luckily, this year the weather was much more obliging during our chosen week than it had been in previous years, although the persistent strong breeze made getting decent photos challenging! Over the past few years we've been fortunate enough to find up to about a dozen Glanvilles, mostly along the sheltered coastline at Wheelers Bay, this year however a walk along this stretch of coastline gave us a count of 41 Glanvilles, far exceeding our expectations!
Our second day we decided to explore the south-west coast, stopping at various places along the Military Road. In one particular spot where there was an abundance of thrift we counted no less than a hundred Glanvilles. There were probably many more than this, but too many to count..It was a real Glanvillefest! We sometimes observed small groups of them in hot pursuit of each other, often being carried over the cliff edge by the strong breeze, only to reappear seconds later to nectar momentarily on the thrift before repeating the whole process again. Couldn't help but be in awe of their amazing flying abilities in such conditions. We also saw a number of mating pairs and several freshly emerged females being constantly pestered by interested males. It would appear the emergence is ongoing and numbers have not yet reached their peak.
The rest of our week to follow in my next post....
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Re: Maximus
I've enjoyed the Glanville's at Hutchinson's Bank this season, but there's nothing
like seeing them in their natural habitat. A similar AB to yours was seen by some at HB.
Great images, Mike.
Best wishes,
Trevor.
like seeing them in their natural habitat. A similar AB to yours was seen by some at HB.
Great images, Mike.
Best wishes,
Trevor.
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Re: Maximus
Hi Mike
Gorgeous Glanvilles
Gorgeous Glanvilles
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Re: Maximus
Maximus,
41 Glanvilles! That;s quite a haul, well done. Love the photos and that ab looks stunning.
Regards Kev
41 Glanvilles! That;s quite a haul, well done. Love the photos and that ab looks stunning.
Regards Kev
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Re: Maximus
Some great shots there Mike Actually, you can have another 2 of those just for being on the Island! Surely that dark female has to be an ab. too??? I love the shot of the Glanville with the scenery in the background - very Padfield-esque
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Re: Maximus
That sounds just fantastic Mike - to see so many Glanvilles Beautiful shots as always too!
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Have a goodun
Wurzel
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Re: Maximus
Thanks, Trevor, you got some great shots of Glanvilles at HB, but it is fantastic to see them flying around the crumbling cliffs of the Isle of Wight. That's interesting that a similar ab was seen at HB.
Thanks Paul, they are gorgeous butterflies we were lucky to see so many.
It was quite a haul, Kev. glad you like the pics, the ab was stunning!
Thanks for the greenies, Pauline you would have loved it there I guess she could be an ab?
It was out of this world, Wurzel, surrounded by all those Glanvilles
5th June
Having not seen one of these this year....until now...
...just like buses two arrived in our garden today
Thanks Paul, they are gorgeous butterflies we were lucky to see so many.
It was quite a haul, Kev. glad you like the pics, the ab was stunning!
Thanks for the greenies, Pauline you would have loved it there I guess she could be an ab?
It was out of this world, Wurzel, surrounded by all those Glanvilles
5th June
Having not seen one of these this year....until now...
...just like buses two arrived in our garden today
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Re: Maximus
Continuing with the posting from our Isle of Wight trip.
Small Blues appear to be having a very good year, and on the sites we visited we found them in very good numbers. This year we also found them on sites that we hadn't seen them on last year, some without any apparent Kidney Vetch present!
Adonis Blues did not appear to be present in the numbers we saw last year. Perhaps their main emergence was later this year, but we still saw a couple of fresh ones.
Common Blue numbers, at least for us, were down on last year too, but those we saw were stunning.
Brown Argus were present in good numbers as always with some lovely marked specimens.
Small Blues appear to be having a very good year, and on the sites we visited we found them in very good numbers. This year we also found them on sites that we hadn't seen them on last year, some without any apparent Kidney Vetch present!
Adonis Blues did not appear to be present in the numbers we saw last year. Perhaps their main emergence was later this year, but we still saw a couple of fresh ones.
Common Blue numbers, at least for us, were down on last year too, but those we saw were stunning.
Brown Argus were present in good numbers as always with some lovely marked specimens.
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Re: Maximus
You're doing well with the abs. this season Mike I've just looked at the species page and there is a couple of examples very similar to your Brown Argus under the unspecified aberrations section.
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Re: Maximus
HI Mike,
Your image of the Adonis Blue and Brown Argus sharing a perch is a real gem.
Right place, right moment, to the second !.
Trevor.
Your image of the Adonis Blue and Brown Argus sharing a perch is a real gem.
Right place, right moment, to the second !.
Trevor.
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Re: Maximus
Fantastic shots Mike, I second Trevor on that photo it's great.Goldie
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Re: Maximus
A beautiful set of Blues Mike especially that stunningly marked BA
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Have a goodun
Wurzel
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Re: Maximus
Thanks Pauline, yes I've now seen those on the species page and it's quite similar.
It's pure luck, Trevor, as always, they were fighting again shortly after.
Thanks Goldie
Thanks Wurzel, if only I could have got a better shot but it flew off into the distance, never to be seen again
Final part of our Isle of Wight trip.
We saw our first Large Skipper of the year at Compton Bay and then several more at other locations.
Dingy skippers appeared to be in good numbers in the usual sites along the south coast of the island.
Grizzled Skippers were less common than Dingys but those we saw were in fine condition. Quite a bit of variation in both species.
There were not as many Green Hairstreaks as in 2015 and they were showing various states of wear.
During a visit to Brading Down we saw quite a few first brood Holly Blues, three Red Admirals and a single Wall Brown. The Down appeared to have become a bit overgrown since last year, particuarly at the bottom of the Down, where we saw most butterflies in 2015.
At one point, while we were watching dogfights between the Small Blues, Common Blues and Brown Argus, a small dark butterfly parted from the melee and landed on an Alkonet plant at my feet. Taking a closer look I saw it was a Small Copper, only it looked a little different from the norm. Looking at the couple of shots I got of it on my camera's LCD screen confirmed that it was an ab!
Having only seen three Small Coppers in total during our visit what were the chances of one of those being an ab?
It's pure luck, Trevor, as always, they were fighting again shortly after.
Thanks Goldie
Thanks Wurzel, if only I could have got a better shot but it flew off into the distance, never to be seen again
Final part of our Isle of Wight trip.
We saw our first Large Skipper of the year at Compton Bay and then several more at other locations.
Dingy skippers appeared to be in good numbers in the usual sites along the south coast of the island.
Grizzled Skippers were less common than Dingys but those we saw were in fine condition. Quite a bit of variation in both species.
There were not as many Green Hairstreaks as in 2015 and they were showing various states of wear.
During a visit to Brading Down we saw quite a few first brood Holly Blues, three Red Admirals and a single Wall Brown. The Down appeared to have become a bit overgrown since last year, particuarly at the bottom of the Down, where we saw most butterflies in 2015.
At one point, while we were watching dogfights between the Small Blues, Common Blues and Brown Argus, a small dark butterfly parted from the melee and landed on an Alkonet plant at my feet. Taking a closer look I saw it was a Small Copper, only it looked a little different from the norm. Looking at the couple of shots I got of it on my camera's LCD screen confirmed that it was an ab!
Having only seen three Small Coppers in total during our visit what were the chances of one of those being an ab?
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Re: Maximus
Hi Maximus, that Copper is just drop dead gorgeous!
Congratulations on a fantastic find!
Best wishes,
Hoggers
Congratulations on a fantastic find!
Best wishes,
Hoggers
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Re: Maximus
That's a great looking ab Mike. It's like a much chunkier ab. radiata
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Have a goodun
Wurzel
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Re: Maximus
That's a great looking Copper , like Wurzel says, very chunky looking hindwing spots
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Some addictions are good for the soul!
Re: Maximus
Thanks Hoggers, glad you liked the Copper, I know you've seen a few which makes you a very good judge
Thanks Wurzel, a chunky radiata it was and I was lucky to spot it.
Thanks bugboy, it was a bit unusual and would have looked even better when it was really fresh
We have recently made three trips to our local Silver-studded Blue site, which is a late site for this species. This was borne out during our first visit when we failed to find any SSB's. On our second visit five days later we found about half a dozen males, all appeared to be very freshly emerged. The timing for the third visit on 17th June was spot on and we really hit the jackpot as, not only were there lots more males, but the females had finally emerged too. There was plenty of activity as the males were intent on finding freshly emerged females, and during our visit we found four mating pairs.
The beautiful females showed plenty of variation in their upperwing markings.
Thanks Wurzel, a chunky radiata it was and I was lucky to spot it.
Thanks bugboy, it was a bit unusual and would have looked even better when it was really fresh
We have recently made three trips to our local Silver-studded Blue site, which is a late site for this species. This was borne out during our first visit when we failed to find any SSB's. On our second visit five days later we found about half a dozen males, all appeared to be very freshly emerged. The timing for the third visit on 17th June was spot on and we really hit the jackpot as, not only were there lots more males, but the females had finally emerged too. There was plenty of activity as the males were intent on finding freshly emerged females, and during our visit we found four mating pairs.
The beautiful females showed plenty of variation in their upperwing markings.
Diary entries for 2016 have been archived. If there are missing images in this post, then they can be found in this archive if one exists. All archives can be found here.