Maximus

[Wurzel]

This was the butterfly that got me hooked - I'd been messing around with my wife's camera taking shots of Specklies etc and I got a shot of a Blue Badger ad that was it! As I look out of the window at the drear these shots remind me to cheer up as some of these little beauties are still out there A lovely set of shots

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

I love your Copper shots, they reminded me of my visit to Kent and the Copper ab I saw there, my first for Copper's Goldie

[bugboy]

That is a real gem of a blue badger and is it my imagination or is there a distinct tendency towards short tails down that way?

[David M]

Absolutely stunning Coppers, Mike, and as others have commented, that's one hell of a caeruleopunctata!

[Maximus]

Thanks for your comments.


Friday 27th October

We recently spent a few days in Kent enjoying a family break. Apart from the Wednesday and Friday, which were sunny and warm, the weather was mainly grey and mild. On the Wednesday we were at Kingsdown for lunch with friends, after which we were gagging to take a walk along the clifftop, but not wishing to appear rude we had to pass up on the opportunity. We did, however, spot a Small White and some Red Admirals from the balcony of their home which overlooks the clifftop. Given the shirt sleeve weather, and with Calais clearly visible across the channel, we felt that a Long-tailed Blue could have been a real possibility!
On the Friday, as a means of compensation, we headed over to Dungeness to see what we could find. The car temperature sensor was showing seventeen degrees as we parked up by the lighthouse. We headed across and into the moat with no real expectation, but to our joy we quickly spotted our first Small Copper. Exploring the area we began to find more, some which were fairly worn but also some lovely fresh looking individuals.

Some of the Blackthorn was in flower

A lovely caeruleopunctata female

A fresh female

And this stunning individual

Surprisingly, we also found two Small Heaths which were in remarkable condition.

And several Red Admirals

The moat

After spending a couple of hours in the moat we decided to head for the power station wall in the hope of finding a Clouded Yellow. Although it didn’t look particularly promising territory we were very pleased to find a total of three flying along the wall, stopping to nectar on dandelions. They were a little flighty as it was particularly warm in the shelter of the wall, but we managed a couple of shots.

The power station wall

Four butterfly species seen on a late October day, now that really made our trip special!

[millerd]

What lovely glowing Coppers - and Small Heaths at the tag end of October is exceptional. Sounds like a splendid day out!

Dave

[David M]

Thanks for the context shots, Mike. It's nice to see images of features several others have written about.

Lovely Copper shots, and as others have said, those Small Heaths are a real bonus.

[Maximus]

At last I'm out of hibernation and so are the butterflies it would seem. Saw these two beauties local to me this morning

[trevor]

I had a feeling that I wouldn't be the only one out with a camera today, Mike.
Easily the best weather so far. Might be a late season ?.
Lovely shots.

All the best,
Trevor.

[millerd]

Good to see your season kicking off too, Mike! Nice brimstone in particular.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Good to see you've emerged Mike and some great shots to kick off your season

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Nice shots Mike glad your off to a good start Goldie

[David M]

I may have seen my year get off to an earlier start, Mike, but I can't compete with that Brimstone image! Lovely and clear with the perfect level of light.

You did well to capture that!

[Maximus]

Thanks all for your comments.

We managed to get out locally for a couple of hours yesterday, and were rewarded with the following.

Context shot

Looks like things are beginning to pick up as the totals seen were :- 10 plus Brimstones, 3 Peacocks, 2 Commas and 4 Small Tortoiseshells.

Today we went to North Stoke but unfortunately did not see our intended target. The strong breeze was keeping the butterflies down but we did see plenty of Brimstones, Small Torts and Peacocks. If anyone is thinking of giving it a go a word of warning, it's like the Everglades at the moment

[bugboy]

Good to see the posts going up now filled with our scale winged friends, it's been a long wait this year but like every year, always worth the wait

Good to know North stoke has woken up now. If I make another visit in the coming weeks (the likelihood is rather high) I won't make the mistake I made two weeks ago and turn up without wellies!

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Mike,

Good to see you are out and about and seeing some spring butterflies...great photos

Cheers,

Neil.

[Goldie M]

Looks like you got a hole in one with the species I've yet to see Small Tort's and Comma. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Great sequence of shots Mike especially the first Comma I'm looking forward to the next wave of emergences now

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Lovely spring scenes, Mike. Here's to more of them over the coming week or two!

[Maximus]

Thanks for your comments, its been a bit longer than I hoped for my next post.


5th May

We have just returned from a short break in Kent. The weather during our visit was mostly pretty atrocious, with just a couple of ‘passable’ days to look for butterflies. (The temperature went down to 4 degrees during the day on one occasion and there was over two inches of rain). We made several visits to Denge Woods hoping that some Dukes might have emerged, and although the habitat looked just right, much to our disappointment we saw none. Last year we saw them here on 22nd of April!
The cool, wet and breezy conditions meant that there were very few butterflies on the wing, and a handful of Orange-tips and a few Green-veined Whites were all we found. I did finally manage a couple of shots of an Orange-tip, my first of 2018, and several shots of Green-veined Whites.

Orange-tip well camouflaged

Green-veined Whites

Bonsai bank Denge Wood

On the 3rd May on our way home we decided to visit Dungeness for a couple of hours, with the temperature set to peak at 12 degrees. Our first impression when walking onto the site was of how abundant the flowering plants are this year, particularly the Sorrel. It bodes well for the Small Coppers.
It didn’t take long to find our first Small Copper which was a delight to see and was in lovely condition. Over the next couple of hours we just about made a double figure count, but there was a nice variation of Coppers.

A lovely orangy Small Copper

Degrees of blue spotting

A stunning female