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That's a lovely image of the Burnet Companion Neil ..... and you're still tormenting me with images of blue spotted Small Coppers which I have yet to see How many years have I been searching now ..........

Thanks for the comments David and B'saurus
Sorry about the blue spots Pauline the truth is that a lot of Small Coppers around here seem to have some degree of blue spotting although I usually see more of it in the second brood.

Not a lot happening here over the past few days. Yesterday (Saturday) was a washout with constant rain, some of it very heavy, most of the day. I haven't seen so much standing water on the back garden since the depths of last winter.
Today was drier but still cloudy most of the day with a few brief sunny spells that lasted just long enough for me to spot a Large White and a female Orange-tip pass through the garden.

Cheers,

Neil.

Lovely shots Neil especially the gorgeous blue spotted Small Copper - that's lush that is

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Lovely shots of the Common Blues and Small Coppers Neil have a great time on the IOW

Mike

Thanks for the comments Wurzel and Mike

Returned earlier this evening from the IOW, weather was a bit so-so but apparently much better than it has been back here at home. Happy to say that there was just enough sun at just the right time for me to see some good Glanvilles
Other species seen included Adonis, Common and Small Blues, Brown Argus, Green Hairstreak, Small Heath, Dingy and Large Skippers, Large White, Orange-tip, Red Admiral and Painted Lady.

Loads of photos to sort through before I post some on here over the next few days.

Cheers,

Neil.

Stunning images as usual Neil and I'm with the others on your Small Blue shots...WOW!!!

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

Thanks for the comment Bill, very much appreciated

A dull and gloomy morning back here in the midlands which has given me time for this...

Tuesday May 27th – Wheelers Bay, Isle of Wight.

With Glanville Fritillaries being one of the species that I had not yet seen, I had decided that this year I was going to make the attempt. To my mind the correct and proper place to see them is on the Isle of Wight and so, a couple of months back, I had taken a bit of a gamble on timing and weather and booked Jane and myself into a B&B in Ventnor for 3 nights.

The journey down on Bank Holiday Monday was in rain most of the way and on arrival in Ventnor there was a steady drizzle and the forecast was not looking promising. Tuesday morning however dawned a bit brighter and with the sun shining through some decent breaks in the clouds I walked down to Wheelers Bay.
From information on the sightings page and in other diaries on UKB I had a good idea of the best places to look and it wasn’t long before I spotted my first Glanville Fritillary skimming along just above the ground and settling on the Red Valerian which grows all along here, or on some rocks to soak up the morning sun. This first one was soon joined by others, probably around half a dozen along this first stretch just before a large patch of pebbles. Walking a little further along past the pebbles there were more Glanvilles and on a couple of occasions I watched 2 or 3 males together chasing a female up the cliff face.

I carried on walking as far as Bonchurch before turning around and heading back again and as a rough estimate I think I saw between 15-20 Glanville Fritillaries, in various condition, mostly in the stretch by the pebbles, before the clouds started thickening up again later in the morning.
I had been on the lookout for a good underside shot but in the sun the Glanvilles were either flying or basking with their wings open. With the cloud cover increasing again I managed to find one nicely posed on top of some Valerian.


We butterfliers are never happy are we, we want the sun to bring the butterflies out and then we want some cloud to slow them down and get the pose we want
.

I had expected to see more people looking for the Glanville Fritillaries along here but apart from myself there was just one other couple, who had driven down from Edinburgh to see them. This was also their first time of seeing these butterflies and I was particularly pleased for them as apparently they had come down last year at about the same time and missed them by a week.

I also had an interesting conversation with a local chap who lives in Wheelers Bay (my apologies if you read this, I didn’t catch your name), about the fortunes of the Glanvilles and other butterflies along here and who also gave me directions to the best way up onto Bonchurch Down.
He also mentioned a local BC branch walk starting from the Afton Down Chalk Pit car park on Thursday morning if I was interested. I would be passing there on the way to catch the ferry back to Lymington on Thursday at 2.00pm so should have time, depending on the weather.

Other butterflies seen during the couple of hours that I spent along here this morning were half a dozen or more of Dingy Skippers and Common Blues, a few Large Whites and a single Orange-tip. There were also a couple of Red Admirals, my first since last September, which flew past without stopping, as did a Painted Lady and a Hummingbird Hawk Moth that briefly visited a few flower heads of Valerian before vanishing up the cliff.

Bye for now,

Neil

Great report Neil, glad you got your species and did them proud with some super images - and your spot on..."we butterfliers are never happy are we" (but only regards a good photo )

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

Thanks Bill, truth is I was very happy just seeing them, even more so with the photos that I managed to get

Tuesday 27th May – Up the Down.

Later on Tuesday afternoon it was still cloudy but felt fairly warm so I decided to have a walk up to Bonchurch Down for a look for Adonis Blues.
On reflection I had realised that I had seen Adonis Blues during the past few years, either at Rodborough Common/Swelshill Bank or whilst in Dorset on family holidays, but these had always been second brood and I had never seen first brood Adonis before so here was my chance.

Within minutes of walking onto the Down I had seen my firsts of the year of Small Heath, Brown Argus and Large Skipper as well as some Common Blues and plenty of Adonis, both male and female .
Being higher up here and more exposed there was more of a breeze and most of the butterflies were staying low down and settling amongst the grass.
There were also a couple of Small Tortoiseshells flitting about that looked to be in nice fresh condition so I reckon that they were recently emerged summer generation.
With the cloud cover most of the butterflies were roosting amongst the grass but every now and then the clouds would be a bit lighter and bright blue spots would appear as if by magic in the grass as the male Adonis would open their wings to take advantage of the slightly brighter light.

After an hour or so with the clouds getting darker again and with a few spots of rain in the air I called it a day and went back to meet Jane.

Bye for now.

Neil.

Absolutely fantastic shots of the Glanvilles Oh to see them again I'll have to try harder next year Lovely female Adonis as well, stunning blue colour.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Great stuff Neil, great report from your IOW visit and lovely photos, super Glanvilles, brilliant Adonis Blues

Mike

You've been a busy boy, Neil!!

Well done in your quest to track down the Glanvilles in IoW. Lovely images.

Brilliant stuff Neil. You've captured those Adonis perfectly.

I think I may have to return to the IOW next year...

Best wishes,

Lee

Wurzel, Mike, David and Lee, thanks for all the great comments

Wednesday 28th May – Up the Down again.

Wednesday morning was dull and cloudy with spells of drizzle and light rain but by the afternoon it had cleared a bit with the clouds becoming a lighter grey. I did not think that it was really warm enough to tempt the Glanvilles out so I decided to nip back up to Bonchurch Down again for another look at the Adonis Blues.

It was a very similar afternoon to the previous day with the same cast of butterflies with the addition this time of a couple of Painted Ladies. These were not easy to follow on the slopes of the down and as with the other butterflies tended to settle low down with wings closed. I originally thought that I was seeing the same one but looking at my photos it appears that there were 2 different individuals.
I took some more photos of the Adonis Blues when they basked during the spells of lighter cloud before heading back to meet Jane again.
Bye for now.

Neil.

Really fantastic Adonis Blues Neil - that female with the blue suffusion is particularly nice, and you've really captured the iridescence on the males - superb

Thank you for the comments William, very much appreciated

Thursday 29th May

Our last morning on the IOW and with our ferry leaving Yarmouth for Lymington at 2.05pm I figured I would have a couple of hours in hand to join the local BC branch walk that was meeting at the Afton Down chalk pit car park at 10.30am
Arriving at the car park under grey cloudy skies with around a dozen other fellow enthusiasts we set off along the cliff tops to see what we could find.

To start with butterflies were in short supply in the cloudy conditions with a single Large Skipper being seen along with a very blue female Common Blue hiding down in the vegetation.


After searching without success for roosting Glanville Fritillaries along the cliff top and in an area down some wooden steps we headed back to the car park. By this time the clouds had thinned a bit and it had warmed up and in the area around the car park butterflies were beginning to fly including Dingy and Large Skippers, Common and Small Blues, Brown Argus and Green Hairstreaks.
Best of all was a nice fresh looking Glanville Fritillary just yards from the car park which I felt was a fitting send off to our stay on the IOW .

Around 1.00pm we left and headed off to catch our ferry back to the mainland. A great few days with me feeling extremely happy with my first ever Glanville Fritillaries plus the Adonis Blues and other butterflies seen despite the less than perfect weather.

Bye for now,

Neil

Good stuff Neil, I've not been to the Isle of Wight since Bob Dylan made his comeback there many moons ago must return and get some good Glanville Fritillary images next year, hopefully somewhere near your excellent quality ones I've enjoyed your report very much, thanks for sharing.

Bill

"When in doubt...venture out"

Many thanks for your great comments Bill, . Hopefully it won't be long before I return there myself.

Thursday 29th May – New Forest Pearls

With the drive back home from Lymington going through the New Forest I had realised that there was the chance of a stop off to look for Pearl-bordered Fritillaries if the weather stayed reasonable. On the ferry back to the mainland I watched a huge black cloud move slowly across the New Forest somewhere to the north of Lymington and hoped that by the time that I was heading that way it would have moved on. Luckily it did exactly that and just past Brockhurst I turned off for the Pignall Inclosure as described in David Newlands ‘Discover Butterflies in Britain’.

Parking in the Standing Hat car park it was obvious from the puddles that we had just missed a bit of a downpour and whilst it was still cloudy it was fairly warm. I set off down the left hand ride and had only gone a couple of hundred yards when I spotted a Pearl-bordered Fritillary flitting about in a ‘scallop’ at the edge of the ride. This first one looked a bit worn and faded but it was soon joined by a few more, including a couple in better condition, until I saw about half a dozen in this little area.

With the warm but cloudy conditions they were only flying short distances and settled regularly which enabled me to get some photos including some of the ‘classic’ side on shots .
The photo below was taken against the background of the path from the shadowed side of the butterfly and I used flash to light it up. I rather like the way the flash has brought out the detail in its eyes
I didn’t go much further having left Jane at the car reading her Kindle and after taking my photos and watching them for a little while I went back to continue our drive home.

Bye for now,

Neil.

Lovely Pearl-bordered Fritillary shots Neil you certainly did well to stop off in the New Forest on your way home.

Mike

Looks like the cloudy weather played into your hands, Neil.

Some excellent images and I'm sure you feel vindicated by your decision to travel.