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Peacock - Favourite Photo of 2022

Week 12

Happy New Year everyone! What a way to start the New Year with a trio of fabulous looking butterflies to make your favourite selection for! Here’s hoping that everyone has a tremendous 2023, may it be a butterfly bonanza!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos as then it will be easier to keep track of things? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As in previous years details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

My Aberdeen garden was busy with these colourful butterflies in late August. Best shots attached.

In the first week of April ,i noticed a large Nettle clump around the base of an electricity pylon in a field on my local home patch ,and from a distance could see a couple of what i assumed to be Peacocks flitting about ,as i got closer i saw that at least one of the few was actively egg laying ...........so i was able to take a few shots ,probably the only Peacock pictures that i took all season. Allan.W.

Love that last image in particular, Allan. That's a fair batch she's laid.

I didn't get the chance to take many shots of the Peacock last year, so when one landed in the garden of my new house and nearly got buried in the flower pot I just had to take that as a favourite It was the 30th of July and I'd just been in the house for four weeks Goldie

Not a good year for Peacocks around my patch. They were easily the least numerous of the three overwintering vanessids here (Red Admiral is still not a spring butterfly for me) although I did manage to see a few on spring blossom which always lifts the spirits.
The summer emergence appeared to be very poor locally although this may have been as much due to me not getting out as much as would have liked to around that time and therefore missing most of them.
Cheers,

Neil

Early in the year (the first photo) and late, but not many in between. As ever, beautiful butterflies.

Peacocks on springtime nectar sources are always a joy to see.

Despite being a bit tatty, this April Peacock sat perfectly still for my camera. There is something about the hindwing eyes I rather like.

I came across this one happily basking in the mid-afternoon sunshine in March.



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Thanks David ! and judging by her HUGE ! abdomen ,she was far from finished ! curiously i looked for the egg batch on a couple of later visits ,and was unable to find it ....................probably predated, sadly !
Allan.W.

Allan.W. wrote: ↑Tue Jan 03, 2023 2:30 pmThanks David ! and judging by her HUGE ! abdomen ,she was far from finished ! curiously i looked for the egg batch on a couple of later visits ,and was unable to find it ....................probably predated, sadly !

Shame if that hard work all went to waste, Allan.

I think I'd have tried to rear them had I found such a batch. Would have taken me back to my childhood when I did that with both Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells when I found their ova on nettle leaves.

I saw my first Peacock of 2022 basking locally on a sunny 9th March: always an uplifting moment.The first of the offspring of the 2021/22 hibernators appeared at the end of June, and their deep colours are such a contrast.In this curious year, there was something of a gap in sightings until a handful made an appearance in October. Dave

Peacock

Like a lot of my shots from early in the season this one came from Five Rivers. I chose it because Peacocks feeding on blossom always make attractive images but this is slightly different as I managed to get below the butterfly and capture the subtle detail of the wings which with a casual glance look just a black colour when in reality there are bands and stripes and spots – brilliant.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

Easy decision for me - this Peacock posed beautifully on some new blackthorn blossom at Cwm Ivy on 3rd April:

How the mighty have fallen! The numbers of the Peacock in our butterfly garden in 2022 were no more than in our very first year, 25 years ago, when the garden was hardly developed at all. Very frightening. And so, my choice of pic had to be this courtship one, in the hope that they soon bounce back and rebuild their former glory - 10 years ago we counted 268.