78 years of butterflying
Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2023 9:43 am
I, Jack, was born December 1938 Gorleston, Great Yarmouth on the coast of east Norfolk.
Mum caught a Peacock late summer 1945. That started things off.
1946 (aged seven) was my first full year. All was wonderfully new. I had no decent guide books – just a few illustrations in a Children’s Encyclopaedia - and when I caught a female Orange Team, I thought that without the orange, it was a 'freak'.
Memories fade but that year, 1946 I almost certainly came across:
Large Skipper:
Large White: Small White: Green-veined White: Bromstone
Red Admiral: Painted Lady: Small Tortoiseshell (and a few more Peacocks)
Meadow Brown: Hedge Brown (aka Gatekeeper)
Ringlet: (very worn when found late in season)
Wall Brown: Small Heath: Grayling (amazingly)
Common Blue: Holly Blue: Small Copper
1947 was blessed with a fine summer and I could consolidate on the previous year's findings. I had been given “Ford’s Butterflies” by an uncle and had won “South” as a school prize so had far better information.
New observations:
Brown Argus (yes, I knew that it wasn't female Common Blue)
Small Skipper (possibly seen the previous year)
Clouded Yellow
Silver-washed Fritillary in our garden.
Comma - yes, in east Norfolk in 1947.
Small Heath
Purple Hairstreak: Holly Blue Spring brood
At this age of eight, I began to appreciate habitats - not all species could be found everywhere.
Small Heaths in particular were restricted to one section of a country lane
1948 April - my one and only Large Tortoiseshell.
In 1950, dad got a car. Mum and dad loved north Norfolk (who doesn't?) and I duly found Green Hairstreak and Pearl-bordered Fritillaryry in Pretty Corner Woods, Sheringham. Catfield Fen in the Norfolk Broads gave me my first Swallowtail (which, I am embarrassed now to admit, I caught and pinned). The Suffolk Sandlings (Westleton, for example) were, in season, alive with Silver-studded Blues.
In June 1952 now aged 13, we had a holiday in north Somerset.
Butterfly firsts were Speckled Wood (widespread) Grizzled and Dingy Skippers near Cheddar. I picked a wood more-or-less at random and, as expected, Pearl Bordered Fritillaries.
1952 produced a great surprise - White Admiral in the Broads. I caught it, (very tatty) and let it fly around my bedroom to enjoy its graceful flight.
By this time I had grown out of collecting and began experimenting with photographing butterflies. This was before the days of single-lens reflexes, so I rigged up an L-shape wire frame at the correct distance and aimed that around the target. The close up lens came from a small telescope. I still have that telescope – now an antique, complete with all lenses!
Things slowed a bit during my teens, and I didn't really resume butterflying until posted to RAF Benson in the Chilterns in 1962. I soon found Marbled White and Silver-spotted Skipper.
Two years later, as a mere lad of 25, I had a weekend away with my girlfriend - in those days, you didn't tell parents about such things! I suggested that Lulworth Cove would be an interesting place to visit. Success with Lulworth Skipper.
Another memorable ‘first’ was, when in a gliding competition, I was unable to stay airborne so had to land near Ipswich. The disused airfield of Martlesham Heath had a surprise after I had got out of the cockpit – scores of Essex Skippers.
Over the years, I saw all the other British species (I didn't go to Ireland for the Cryptic Wood White) with the final ‘tick’ being Large Blue at Collard Down in the early 2000s. Except, that new regular migrant, Long-tailed Blue is not on my list, although I have seen in various locations abroad.
Now in the second half of my Ninth Decade with various parts like knees long after their "best before" dates, butterflying is history. But I have had a good run, numerous hobbies and a 40-year career as a professional pilot, firstly in the Air Force and later as an airline pilot. There was no better job, as two of my children are now appreciating. Miles and Polly both fly for easyJet.
Jack
Mum caught a Peacock late summer 1945. That started things off.
1946 (aged seven) was my first full year. All was wonderfully new. I had no decent guide books – just a few illustrations in a Children’s Encyclopaedia - and when I caught a female Orange Team, I thought that without the orange, it was a 'freak'.
Memories fade but that year, 1946 I almost certainly came across:
Large Skipper:
Large White: Small White: Green-veined White: Bromstone
Red Admiral: Painted Lady: Small Tortoiseshell (and a few more Peacocks)
Meadow Brown: Hedge Brown (aka Gatekeeper)
Ringlet: (very worn when found late in season)
Wall Brown: Small Heath: Grayling (amazingly)
Common Blue: Holly Blue: Small Copper
1947 was blessed with a fine summer and I could consolidate on the previous year's findings. I had been given “Ford’s Butterflies” by an uncle and had won “South” as a school prize so had far better information.
New observations:
Brown Argus (yes, I knew that it wasn't female Common Blue)
Small Skipper (possibly seen the previous year)
Clouded Yellow
Silver-washed Fritillary in our garden.
Comma - yes, in east Norfolk in 1947.
Small Heath
Purple Hairstreak: Holly Blue Spring brood
At this age of eight, I began to appreciate habitats - not all species could be found everywhere.
Small Heaths in particular were restricted to one section of a country lane
1948 April - my one and only Large Tortoiseshell.
In 1950, dad got a car. Mum and dad loved north Norfolk (who doesn't?) and I duly found Green Hairstreak and Pearl-bordered Fritillaryry in Pretty Corner Woods, Sheringham. Catfield Fen in the Norfolk Broads gave me my first Swallowtail (which, I am embarrassed now to admit, I caught and pinned). The Suffolk Sandlings (Westleton, for example) were, in season, alive with Silver-studded Blues.
In June 1952 now aged 13, we had a holiday in north Somerset.
Butterfly firsts were Speckled Wood (widespread) Grizzled and Dingy Skippers near Cheddar. I picked a wood more-or-less at random and, as expected, Pearl Bordered Fritillaries.
1952 produced a great surprise - White Admiral in the Broads. I caught it, (very tatty) and let it fly around my bedroom to enjoy its graceful flight.
By this time I had grown out of collecting and began experimenting with photographing butterflies. This was before the days of single-lens reflexes, so I rigged up an L-shape wire frame at the correct distance and aimed that around the target. The close up lens came from a small telescope. I still have that telescope – now an antique, complete with all lenses!
Things slowed a bit during my teens, and I didn't really resume butterflying until posted to RAF Benson in the Chilterns in 1962. I soon found Marbled White and Silver-spotted Skipper.
Two years later, as a mere lad of 25, I had a weekend away with my girlfriend - in those days, you didn't tell parents about such things! I suggested that Lulworth Cove would be an interesting place to visit. Success with Lulworth Skipper.
Another memorable ‘first’ was, when in a gliding competition, I was unable to stay airborne so had to land near Ipswich. The disused airfield of Martlesham Heath had a surprise after I had got out of the cockpit – scores of Essex Skippers.
Over the years, I saw all the other British species (I didn't go to Ireland for the Cryptic Wood White) with the final ‘tick’ being Large Blue at Collard Down in the early 2000s. Except, that new regular migrant, Long-tailed Blue is not on my list, although I have seen in various locations abroad.
Now in the second half of my Ninth Decade with various parts like knees long after their "best before" dates, butterflying is history. But I have had a good run, numerous hobbies and a 40-year career as a professional pilot, firstly in the Air Force and later as an airline pilot. There was no better job, as two of my children are now appreciating. Miles and Polly both fly for easyJet.
Jack