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Swallowtail - Favourite Photo of 2023

Week 18

Not long to go now! Time to check the final selection for the overall Fave but don’t forget the last few species!

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

A first for me with this Swallowtail ,well at least on UK soil ! and one of my butterfly highlights of 23'. I,ve been fortunate enough to see Swallowtails in their Norfolk homes a few times ,and also found quite a few larvae as well .In 23' Continental Swallowtails turned up in a few places along the Kent coast ,and after a few reports from the St Margarets area ,i thought i,d have a look for myself ,i was able to "kill two birds with one stone " ,as there was also a scarce plant that i wanted to try for ,so i headed along the cliffs towards Deal to look for it ..........I got lucky and although not quite in full flower ,i found my target plant (actually 4 ) plus another plant species i stumbled across which i was also pleased to find.
Kept my eyes open as i strolled along ,thought i may get lucky ,the BLEP plants were looking good for later on and were in good flower .I wandered back to the monument and decided to have a little look at the small grassland reserve to the left of the monument (Bockell hill ) I found good numbers of Small Blue here and a stunning "Blue" female Common Blue . As i was crouching to take a few shots of this beauty ,and as i straightened up i immediately noticed a Swallowtail ............tearing along at some speed towards me ...............head down ,no stopping till Dover !!
Very pleased ! but a little disappointed that it didn,t stop for its picture !.
Nipped back to the car for a drink and noticed two or three other enthusiasts wandering about ,they,d seen one briefly as well ,and after a while it reappeared ,but refused to come out of a dense bramble patch ,beside the old look-out post ,had lovely views at distance and some very close flybyes
but this was the best shot that i managed . But no matter !..............I was very pleased !
Finally time to head home ,put the bins and camera in the car ,and blow me a Swallowtail shot over the bonnet ,landed on a verge-side bush for about two seconds ...........then disappeared ! Allan.W.

Nice pictures Allen, I wonder if that was the same one I saw (the only Swallowtail I saw all year). I was there in the 12 June.

I was attempting to go for a context shot (Padfield style) with the coastline in the background to contrast with the usual fenland/doctors garden shots I have thousands off, but couldn't manage the depth of field. You get the idea though

I still haven't had the pleasure of seeing the swallowtail butterfly in the UK. However I was on holiday in Son Bou, Menorca and managed to photograph one on a very hot sunny day on 5th August.

Best photos attached.

Bert.

Thanks Paul (Bugboy ) .I found my Swallowtails on the 15th June ,and i can more or less picture the area you took your shot from ,and thats roughly the area that the other enthusiasts were looking . I reckon that there were several Swallowtails around ,and in all i saw 2 definate specimens and probably a third as well .Also of interest ,in the small reserve beside the monument the Hawthorn was in fine flower ,with several different colour variants on show .............must confess to getting a little excited by a "Large " White that was continuessly patrolling up and down the Hawthorns ,but refusing to land or allow Close approach .................... I believe that 1 or 2 Black- Veined were also reported from this area ...............from whence they came ......................who knows !!
Allan.W.

The highlight of my year was a migrant continental Swallowtail that visited my Lancing seaside garden in July and laid two eggs on my fennel. Unfortunately one of them failed to hatch and the other produced a sickly larva which soon died.
Maybe next year?
Vince

That's a great garden tick, Vince!

Shame about the ova/larva.

Judging by the way this thread is developing, the South coast generated more photographs of the continental race than the Norfolk Broads did of britannicus. I hope this is not a reflection of its demise. As I happened to be staying with friends in Norfolk in June, I felt it rude not to pay this most spectacular species a visit. Although there were a few about, it was rather windy and photographic opportunities were limited. However, one individual obliged and is my favourite, by default.

There has been unusually severe flooding in the Norfolk Broads this winter.
I have to wonder what impact that will have on Swallowtails.

Jack

A few days in Norfolk between the 11th and 14th of June provided us with some Swallowtails in 2023 although it must be said that they were hard work this time.
We stopped off at Strumpshaw Fen on the way to our B&B on the 11th and it appears that most people were failing to see any. In the end I saw two, one flypast that disappeared over the reeds and one posing up in a large shrub that had attracted a small crowd of observers. It was only possible to get some distant shots but a 50% crop produced the image below which I like due to it being different to any of my previous Swallowtail photos.
We were told by a number of people that the Swallowtails were running very late due to weeks of poor weather consisting of cold winds and constant cloud piling in off the north sea. The weather had finally improved for the weekend that we arrived and fortuitously a number of Swallowtails were being reported from Hickling Broad which was close to our B&B and where we visited a few times.
Although we saw quite a few at Hickling, between 6-10 each time, numbers were definitly down and apart from those and the couple at Strumpshaw I only saw one other, at How Hill on 13th.
I have since seen reports that 2023 was a poor year for Swallowtails in Norfolk and given Jack's comment above, we can only hope that they are not too badly affected.

Cheers,

Neil.

Wolfson wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2024 11:35 am...However, one individual obliged and is my favourite, by default.

Beautiful individual, Wolfson.

Didn't see them in the UK in 2023, but they pop up regularly whenever I'm abroad, such as this individual from Andalusia in early May:

My best effort, taken in the Alps in July.

Was lucky enough to find 3 on a trip to Strumpshaw Fen on the 16th June 2023. 2 in the Doctors Garden and 1 on the path through the Fen.
This was a return visit, first was with Greenwings, weather was very cold and wet a few weeks earlier. Nothing was on the wing

This is very serious in The Broads:

https://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/ ... -warnings/

Jack