www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Cheers for the info David - I'd love to follow your advice , but my wife wouldn't Guess who will get the final say? Sorry for the hi-jack of your PD Pauline

Have a goodun

Wurzel

No worries guys - always happy to help

Briefly back to the Hairstreaks which are in various stages of pupation, ridiculously early probably due to my mismanagement. I'd like to say that I'll do better next time but I doubt there will be a next time:
I would rather be uploading images of a Swallowtail but that's just the way it goes sometimes ........

Hi Pauline

Good to see you again on Monday. An enjoyable morning, thanks for yourcompany.
Well done with your shots. I have replied to your PM and I hope the reply gets through.

Back there again today and 10 more Dukes seen, also a Grizzled Skipper, a Green Hairstreak, a Holly Blue and the usual suspects.

Cheers

Maurice

I've been studying some of the stunning photos on this site and decided I have definitely been slipping. I really need to up my game a bit and try to remember all the good advice and hints I have been given over the last couple of years. What better butterfly to practice on than the Duke. There were good numbers about this afternoon (good numbers of the human kind too!) but I was surprised at how worn some of them looked - the butterflies too!
I couldn't resist this Comma as I was leaving

Back to the BH - I believe I only have 3 left out of the original 12. Not a good result They are getting quite large now but just wanted to post a comparison of the same butterfly in the same position but in different lighting

Must just have missed you Maurice tho I wasn't there for long). Still looking for my mating pair Looking forward to seeing some of your shots

Pauline wrote:..I've been studying some of the stunning photos on this site and decided I have definitely been slipping. I really need to up my game a bit...

I don't know about that Pauline, you continue to post some great photos, loving the Dukes and your close ups of the Hairsteak early stages are fantastic I guess we are always our own worse critics.

All the best,

Neil.

Thank you Neil but y'know, I've been getting a bit complacent over the winter - lack of suitable subject matter and not much practice. However, some of the images on this site are truly inspirational, yours included, and spur me on to try for better results. My latest efforts at Noar Hill required me to gouge this out of my neck afterwards - Yuk!
This morning I decided to visit Rake Bottom armed with the directions kindly supplied by Mark (again!). Having found the green gate I proceeded along the track trying to recall the route from last year. Given that this is supposed to be the 'easy' way in to Rake Bottom I found myself thinking how old and unfit I must be as I strode up the hill a bit short of breath. I recalled a couple of years ago when I was able to scamper up and down that vertical face from the top of Butser and was pleased for the cool morning air, rather than scorching heat. I began to think how strange it was that such an uphill struggle should lead to the bottom of the valley and seizing any excuse to stop I took a photo of this moth:
I continued on and the ground eventually leveled out and the wooded area opened out to reveal Rake Bottom - a good deal below me and to the right. I was almost back to the top of Butser!! No wonder it had seemed so steep! Retracing my steps I eventually came to the field where Mark saw the fox cubs last year (why hadn't I remembered that!!). A nest box had been put up presumably for owls and although I kept an eye out I didn't see any Ring Ousels
It took a short while for the temperature to rise but when it did the small track was teeming with butterflies. 4 firsts for the season included Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Small Copper, GVW; other butterflies seen included DoB, Holly Blue, Green Hairstreaks (loads), OT, Brimstone, Peacock, Small White, Large White, ST. I was totally spoilt and didn't know what to photograph first, the result being not very many good photos simply because of my exuberance and excitement. I had forgotten how the Green Hairstreaks frequently come down to the ground at this site. I had also forgotten how treacherous it is with the many badger setts and rabbit warrens disguised by foliage and of course the nettles!!! I didn't get out completely unscathed and still tingle as I type. One of the first butterflies I saw was a Grizzled Skipper - they were everywhere:
However, GH's were my main target and I was relieved to see that there were many fresh specimens about, clearly recently emerged. I was surprised at the range of colours, the first one being a lime/yellow colour which I had not seen before. However, as I stood and watched all these Hairstreaks I realised that the colours changed depending on the light, their position and the colour of the plant they happened to be on. I followed my lime green specimen only to see him change to a normal but pale green when on a hawthorn bush. Anyway, a few shots of the Hairstreaks below:
As I was about to drag myself away from this peaceful and secluded site I spotted this cat but no idea what it is:
Hurrying along the track back to the car my attention was drawn to ST on nettles. Having read recent posts regarding egg-laying activity I could not help but stop to watch the spectacle. How time flies I had been there over 30 mins and in all that time, despite all the frantic activity going on with the ST's, the Peacock never moved. I would love to know what is on the underside of that leaf - 2, 3 sets of eggs perhaps. Maybe I'll return and check it out:

Some very nice GH photos. Like you, I always enjoy the range of colours seen in this species, especially when in bright sunlight - anything from lime green to peacock blue! Photos are often disappointing, since the camera struggles to reproduce the intensity seen in the field, but you've captured the various shades well.

I'm no caterpillar expert but think that may be a Fox Moth. Be careful about handling hairy caterpillars as some, notoriously the Brown Tail Moth, have rather nasty, poisonous spines that can cause quite long-lasting skin irritation.

Mike

Hi Pauline
Glad you found it OK - eventually
Think your cat is a wood tiger If you look carefully you will see them quite frequently here - there are good numbers of this pretty day flying moth at this site and the will be on the wing in a couple of weeks. Good that the dukes are flying here now - there has been some good scrub clearance on both sides of the track which should help them - it's a great spot
Kind regards
Mark

Some very nice Green Hairstreak photos Pauline They look very fresh - like they've only just emerged.

B'saurus

Lovely spring images, Pauline, the like of which I hope to encounter over the next few days (weather permitting).

Pauline wrote: I'd like to say that I'll do better next time but I doubt there will be a next time

Hi Pauline

I hope that does not mean you are giving up on rearing butterflies at home It does require a little experimentation and patience. I am sure the experts on here would agree with that. It does not always turn out the way you expect and is not always as successful as you might hope. I think you have done remarkably well for a first attempt even if your adults appear early. Done give up just yet

I know what you mean about Rake Bottom. I also made the mistake of taking the wrong path and ending up at the top rather than bottom when I visited for the first time last year.

Lovely Green Hairstreaks And great group of Tortoiseshells and Peacock

Cracking shots Pauline Hopefully I'll catch up with some Greenstreaks soon - I don't like to mention them though else they may become my nemesis again, just when I thought I'd got them beat

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you Mike both for the warning and for the compliments. Hairstreaks are my favourite group (which is why I decided to rear some of them) and it was lovely just to stand and watch so many of them.

Thanks for your help Mark. I hope I don't have to ask you again next year but you know what my memory and sense of direction is like . I only saw 2 Dukes btw but it's early days yet.

Thank you too BRex - I am sure there must have been a recent emergence which I was very pleased to see.

Thank you also David. I hope you and others have a great time this Easter with the butterflies and I am looking forward to seeing your shots. The weather is certainly looking promising.

Thank you for your encouragement Paul and the kind comments. Perhaps when I see the final result I may change my mind. We shall see.

Thank you Wurzel. I'm sure you'll see them soon as there seems to be a lot about this year. Good luck.

I was looking through my photos from yesterday, in particular the activity around the nettles. There was a sense of excitement and agitation being displayed by the ST's who frequently nudged or walked over the Peacock.
It reminded me of the behaviour I witnessed a couple of years ago when a mating pair of Meadow Browns generated frenetic activity in another species to the point of bullying and aggression.
I appreciate that the general concensus is that it is likely to be mass egg-laying but It has left me wondering whether there could have been more than one Peacock concealed under that nettle leaf as I have no idea where Peacocks would typically mate. If I return and find no Peacock eggs under that leaf what other reason could it have for staying there for so long?

Lovely photos of those beautiful Green Hairstreaks Pauline stunning butterflies, stunning shots

Mike

Thank you Mike but i don't think my photography can ever do those beautiful Hairstreaks justice. Try as I might I just can't get that vibrancy and irridescence. Doesn't stop me enjoying watching them tho'

Today I have been 'grounded' having offered to help a neighbour whilst they are away. Didn't stop me carrying my camera around tho' and altho' I had to take what I could get, whatever came my way really, I managed a small selection of (very) local butterflies:

Being at home also gave me more opportunity to see the garden birds and with all the little'uns there are more than ever to entertain and amuse me:
This little chap was creating such a fuss but I could not see any parents or siblings. I really hope the nest has not been predated by the dozens of cats round here:

Great stuff Pauline and good to see you've adopted the policy of carrying your camera with you everywhere - it always pays off Especially like the Green Veined shot

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you Wurzel - it was my first GVW shot of the season .

Today I had to go back and check out that leaf! Y'know, the Peacock leaf! So, armed with a print out of my photo (to make sure I could identify the exact place and the exact leaf), some gardening gloves (getting tired of being stung by nettles), reading specs (to make sure I didn't miss anything) I set off for Rake Bottom, despite the somewhat miserable cool conditions this afternoon. Well, I found the leaf and obviously the Peacock had been egg-laying and I was totally wrong about the possibility that she had been mating, just as you all knew but were too polite to say . No sign of any ST eggs in the surrounding area tho'
Being in the vicinity of so many Skippers it seemed a shame not to take a few shots before leaving. Most of them were taken in cool, cloudy conditions with brief (very brief) interludes of sun and bright skies:

Hi Pauline,

Great reports and some lovely photos, particularly like the open wing Green-veined white and those Grizzled Skipper photos are corkers

All the best,

Neil.