Neil Freeman

[David M]

That fourth Orange Tip image is 'cover shot' worthy, Neil.

Fantastic stuff!

[millerd]

Lovely shots indeed, Neil. The other thing about the Orange Tip that David has singled out (apart from it being a stunning image) is that the black forewing spots have white pupils - I would say that seems unusual. Is this an aberration, I wonder?

Dave

[Wurzel]

Absolutely cracking shots Neil The fourth OT is stunning, and an aberrant to boot I really am missing my old garden now

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Just catching up with your diary Neil - beautiful, beautiful shots of the OT's, (tho the others aren't half bad either ) and the white spots do seem a little unusual. I must learn to be more observant.

[Neil Freeman]

Thank you all for your comments, very much appreciated as always

I had noticed the white dots in the black forewing spots but to be honest I considered it to be within the range of normal variation. I have recently seen a number of examples with some degree of white in the black spots,

This one from my garden on the 24th April,

...this one from Bickenhill on the 18th April,

...and another one from Bickenhill with a small bit of white in the spots but with extended back margins down the forewings,

Would any of these be classed as an ab.?...I don't know, maybe the last one with the extended dark borders, but I am not sure if that one would come under normal variation as well

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Maximus]

Very nice Orange-tip photos Neil, the last one ab. or not is a real cracker

[David M]

Only just noticed the white 'spots'. Amazing how sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees!

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Mike, I thought that one was a particularly striking individual.

Cheers David, sometimes these little differences are not too obvious unless you compare images alongside others.

Wednesday 30th April

Another couple of days stuck in the office with hardly a glimpse of outside until finishing. Yesterday afternoon was quite pleasant in the end with some nice warm sun between 4.00 - 5.30pm and today turned out similar if slightly cooler after a bit of light rain on the way home.

On both days I have retreated into the garden with a coffee to unwind as usual and watched the usual suspects coming and going and took a few photos as the opportunity arose

A Peacock and a couple of Specklies from yesterday,

Peacock - Coverdale 29.04.2014

Speckled Wood - Coverdale 29.04.2014

Speckled Wood - Coverdale 29.04.2014

and a Green-veined White and Orange-tip from this afternoon,

Green-veined White - Coverdale 30.04.2014

Green-veined White - Coverdale 30.04.2014

Orange-tip - Coverdale 30.04.2014

Orange-tip - Coverdale 30.04.2014

I think that is now three years running that I taken photos of Orange-tips or Gv Whites on dandelion seed heads, I wonder what it is that attracts these butterflies to settle on them?

Bye for now,

Neil.

[David M]

Perhaps it's camouflage, Neil. I've seen Green Veined Whites doing this regularly too.

[Wurzel]

I was watching a Green Veined do exactly this today - it seemed to be examining the seed heads rather than inspecting possible nectar sources? Lush shot Neil, especially the Peacock - it really stands out

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Wurzel, that Peacock was the first thing that I saw on Tuesday afternoon when I went out into the garden. It still looked to be in fairly good condition and stood out beautifully against the Lilac . It would be nice to think that it was one of those that I released here last summer, no way of knowing but an intriguing possibility.

Hi David, I wondered about the camouflage against the dandelion seed heads but the butterflies don't blend in at all, I could actually see the butterflies stand out from the other end of the garden. Then again, I believe that bees, and presumably butterflies see light in different wavelengths to us so to them they may well blend in perfectly.
As Wurzel mentions, every time that I see one land on one of these, they flutter around it for a bit as if examining it out before landing. Perhaps they are just looking for a nice soft roost, like we do with a nice comfy bed

Cheers,

Neil.

[Butterflysaurus rex]

Some seriously nice photography going on in here Neil the butterflies love your garden, my garden seems to have the opposite effect. I did see a female Holly Blue laying some eggs in it the other day though. That will be my garden highlight of the year.

All the best

B'saurus

[David M]

Hi David, I wondered about the camouflage against the dandelion seed heads but the butterflies don't blend in at all, I could actually see the butterflies stand out from the other end of the garden.

As you say, a butterfly possibly has eyes other than those of a human being in mind when it comes to finding a safe resting spot.

I can spot Wall Browns basking on gravestones in Danygraig Cemetery with ease, but clearly predators lower down the evolutionary ladder cannot see things so easily.

With their wings closed, they are very well concealed, but all it takes to hunt them down is to watch them fly and then settle. Homo Sapiens then has the brainpower to move in slowly, but evidently birds in particular have yet to perfect this technique (thank God, for otherwise we probably wouldn't have butterflies at all!)

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Rex I would recommend Forget-me-nots in any garden for attracting butterflies at this time of year. Even the almost constantly patrolling Orange-tips will pause to visit them and later in the day when they are re-fuelling before roosting they will spend some time on them. Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells, Commas and 'Whites' are all regular visitors and I even took a photo of a male Holly Blue on them the other day They also get regular visits from Speckled Woods, the females will nectar from them although I suspect the males use them mostly as convenient basking spots.

Hi David, thinking about why butterflies do some of the things they do is part of why I find them such fascinating creatures. Every time you think you know why they are doing something you see something that raises questions

Friday 2nd May

A cloudy and quite cool day but there was still an ever reliable Speckled Wood fluttering around in the garden this afternoon.

Speckled Wood - Coverdale 02.05.2014

Plus a Green-veined White that has been lurking around all week, this individual being easily identified by the 'v' shape mark on his left forewing.

Green-veined White - Coverdale 02.05.2014

Purely coincidentally considering my comments above, both butterflies kept returning to the Forget-me-nots

Bye for now,

Neil

[Wurzel]

More great reports Neil, I am becoming more and more envious of your garden I've spent a good while trying to work out whether the mark on the fore wing of the GVW is a bird strike, an if so which bird inflicted it.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Your photos are all of such a high quality Neil that I am struggling to single out any particular one to comment on but for personal preference I do love the ones on the forget-me-nots

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Wurzel, I wondered whether that mark was from a bird myself but couldn't make my mind up. It didn't seem to look 'damaged' enough.

Thanks Pauline, there is certainly something about the blue of the Forget-me-nots that makes any butterfly look good on them

Saturday 3rd May - part1

A cracking day with loads of sunshine and very little breeze and which actually felt warmer than some recent days which have supposedly been warmer but have had cool winds. I figured that today would be my best chance so far to see my first Green Hairstreaks and also Grizzled and Dingy Skippers, all three of these now having been reported form Warwickshire. This being Saturday, I had my usual domestic stuff to do in the morning and so after getting the chores out of the way and having an early lunch, I set off.

My plan for the afternoon was to start off at Bishops Hill, then stop off at Harbury Spoilbank, and then finish off at Ryton Wood Meadows. It is possible to find all three species at all three of these sites although with past experience I was thinking I would probably get Dingy Skippers at Bishops Hill, Grizzled Skippers at Harbury and Green Hairstreaks at Ryton.
Getting down to Bishops Hill by about 1.00pm I parked up and spotted on Orange-tip, Brimstone and Peacock as I was getting out of the car. About 5 minutes later out on the hill itself I found my first Dingy Skipper, a fresh looking male that had a large piece of hindwing missing.
I spent about 40-45 minutes here and saw at least 4 and possibly 5-6 Dingy Skippers before deciding to move on to my next stop.

Dingy Skipper - Bishops Hill 03.05.2014

Dingy Skipper - Bishops Hill 03.05.2014

Dingy Skipper - Bishops Hill 03.05.2014

At Harbury I walked through the gate into the reserve and almost immediately saw a Dingy Skipper. Moving a little further on there is a sheltered depression where I have seen Grizzled Skippers for the past three years and sure enough there was one waiting for me today.

Grizzled Skipper - Harbury 03.05.2014

I then did a slow circuit of the reserve and saw at least 2 more Grizzled Skippers along with maybe half a dozen Dingy Skippers.

Grizzled Skipper - Harbury 03.05.2014

Grizzled Skipper - Harbury 03.05.2014

Dingy Skipper - Harbury 03.05.2014

There were numerous Brimstones flying here, at one point I could see 5 in the air at one time and they were also settling regularly.

Brimstones - Harbury 03.05.2014

After 40-45 minutes here and with 2 of my 3 targets for the day seen I figured it was time to head to Ryton.

to be continued...

Neil

[Neil Freeman]

Saturday 3rd May – part 2

From Harbury it is a 15 minute or so drive across to Ryton where I arrived just after 3.00pm, parking in the WWT car park off the A423 and walking through the wood towards the meadows. This time of year there is a lovely display of bluebells and just walking through the wood with various birds singing in the background is quite magical

Ryton Wood - 03.05.2014

Just after taking the photo above, which is looking back along the path I was on, I turned back around to carry on my way and saw a small brownish looking butterfly flitting across the bluebells in front of me, my first Green Hairstreak this year

Green Hairstreak - Ryton 03.05.2014

I took a couple of photos before it flew off out of sight and carried on towards the meadows, noticing plenty of Peacocks along the way.

Coming out of the wood and along the hedgeline which is the usual best spot for Green Hairstreaks here, it soon became apparent that there were quite a few flitting about the tops of some of the hawthorns.
Most of those that I saw stayed fairly high up but I did manage to see a couple lower down that allowed me to get some photos. I was interested to see that despite earlier comments of mine about usually seeing examples with just a few white spots, the ones that I photographed today all had complete, or nearly so, rows of spots…oh well, just shows what I know .

Green Hairstreak - Ryton 03.05.2014

Green Hairstreak - Ryton 03.05.2014

Green Hairstreak - Ryton 03.05.2014

Green Hairstreak - Ryton 03.05.2014

Green Hairstreak - Ryton 03.05.2014

Other butterflies seen here were Orange-tips, Brimstones, plenty of Peacocks and a couple of tatty looking Small Tortoiseshells. I also had a good search for Dingy and Grizzled Skippers, this being a good site for both species, but without success, although I did speak to a couple of people who said that a Grizzled Skipper had been seen by the entrance to the meadows earlier in the afternoon.

All in all, a great afternoon with all three target species seen, don’t you just love it when a plan comes together

Bye for now,

Neil

[millerd]

Lovely photos, Neil! Especially the Green Hairstreaks. With luck and some more sunshine, I may be at Ryton next Saturday, so I hope they'll still be around. Maybe the skippers will be out too.

Dave

[Willrow]

Wonderful images Neil, and Ryton Woods is looking delightful, don't you just love this time of year!!!

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"