www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

You only get one choice...I know it'll be hard for some but...

Spanish Festoon for me

Hard? - I've found it nigh on totally impossible...
I keep thinking I've decided on one, only to move onto the next one on my list!
Obviously , species I'm actively hoping to see (or even better have just seen) for the first time tend to be high on this list.

If really pushed, it would have to be one of the first species to hatch in the spring (rather than overwinterers), as that really makes me happy and I know the season is finally getting underway again. OK, If REALLY pushed VERY hard, I would go for the one I use as my avatar...
It was one of the first 'unusual' species we went to look for as a family and my children still affectionally call it the "Gribbled Skipper"

Trev

Well i think they are all lovely ( although it is sometimes hard to like the whites ) but hairstreaks are the best !!



( although i had never heard of hairstreaks let alone seen one until i was over 40 !! )

charles

Charles Nicol wrote: hairstreaks are the best !!

But which one is your favourite...?

My favourite is the Iolas blue. It is the king of the blues, huge, powerful, rare, fascinating and beautiful.



Of the British species, my favourite is the large tortoiseshell. When I was 21 I found one while I was gardening on a local farm for pocket money. But I didn't have my camera and I couldn't leave the farm without locking it all up (and so not finishing my job), so I rang my mother and asked her to zoom over with it. She got caught behind a lorry for 45 minutes but the beautiful creature stayed nectaring on brambles while I hopped up and down in excitement and it stayed at least another hour while I got my pictures. You don't forget days like that.



Guy

Can't help noticing its only the chaps who have posted replies! So being female I can't possibly choose a favorite - if I did I would change my mind in five minutes! On teh list would be Monarchs for sheer scale of numbers & the story of their wonderful migration. Seeing them in the forests of Mexico reminded me of another favorite Silver-washed Fritillary. And another woodland butterfly I worship with the adoration he requires is The Purple Emperor. Talking of big butterflies how could I not consider the splendid Swallowtail. It would be folly to choose one

I loved Guy's story of the Large Tortoiseshell & making my choice on a similar basis - the impact & occasion of a particular sighting my favorite butterfly has to be a moth! albeit a day flier. Hummingbird Hawk moth! Simply because the first one I saw was particularly memorable. It was in the period 1979 to 1982 and an early summer evening. I had called my friend round from next door but one to see fledgling baby wrens in the garden. As she left iIwalked down the drive with her & there it was zooming around a plant of red valerian Centranthus Rubra. As we oohed and aahed with the sheer delight that this wonderful creature deserves we wondered "Is it a little hummingbird that has escaped from some where " Don't laugh we are not the first to have thought that I do hope people will use the link on http://www.butterfly-conservation.org to eport their sighting sof HBHM ( & Painted Lady) - the special 'Animals on the move' survey in partnership with Radio 4.

And sorry my favorite butterfly is a moth - please don't throw me off this site

Martin wrote:

Charles Nicol wrote: hairstreaks are the best !!

But which one is your favourite...?

well it would have to be the purple hairstreak... they are so tantalisingly difficult to photograph. also the contrast between the plain underside & the fabulously gaudy topside is wonderful. Last august i came within 6 inches of one at Monks Wood but in the excitement i fluffed the picture !!

charles

With my limited knowledge of butterflies (hope to improve that this year) it would have to be Holly Blue. A couple of years ago when I started really looking at butterflies, I was mesmerized by this tiny blue butterfly that would appear out of the Holly tree and disappear down the garden. It took me weeks to get a good look, and then, never with the wings open. I did get this shot with my compact camera.


It took me another year, and with great elation to see one with the wings slightly open.


Up to now, this has been my proudest achievement, and my favorite butterfly.
Denise

My top five 1- Marsh Fritillary
2- Adonis Blue (male)
3- Duke of Burgundy
4- Common Blue (female)
5- Valezina, Silver-washed Fritillary

Gruditch

The Small Copper is my favourite butterfly, with its feisty character.
I just love to watch its actions, chasing off anything in its territory, even if it is twice the size of it, and most of the time it will come back, circle round you and land on the exact same perch

I have many images of Small Coppers, but nothing that I’m really happy with, the ultimate pic for me is to capture that gorgeous, almost iridescent glow, which only appears in certain angles.

Gwenhwyfar wrote:The Small Copper is my favourite butterfly, with its feisty character.

They're easily my favourite UK butterfly too (so far...there'are lots to see yet )

Gwenhwyfar wrote: I have many images of Small Coppers, but nothing that I’m really happy with

I'm exactly the same!

Martin.

Ha!

The most difficult question! After much thinking.....

my favorite British one, (if you forgive the Swedish undertones) ...... Large Blue



& my favorite European one, though much more difficult.... Scarce Swallowtail

Beatiful shot of the LB

Beautiful shot of the LB

Seconded.

The first time I ever saw silver washed fritillaries dashing around Clanger Wood at top speed in Wiltshire, two years ago, was a mesmerising experience. These butterflies are huge, almost tropical in appearance, and such fast fliers, almost like birds. Absolutely wonderful.

My favourite is the Duke. I live a stones throw from the north eastern stronghold of the Duke of Burgundy and every year I commit tens of hours of every available day, marching up and down the woodlands of Pickering, Helmsley, Rieveaulx and other areas of the North York Moors searching for the little b*stard. Never found him once. Not even glimpsed him.

Seen plenty in the lakes and down in Buckinghamshire, but never on my own doorstep. It both frustrates and fascinates me... so much so that there is not one species of butterfly that occupies my mind more; and for that reason, it's my favourite.

Hi Chris

I can understand your disappointment at not locating your local Dukes. Even when I visit sites where I know they are present they are not the easiest of species to see. You probably are following both of these statagies but these suggestions may help others locate their elusive butterfly! (Mine is Purple Emperor and like you I have spent many hours tramping around woods in search.)

So the strategies - visit sites where Dukes are seen & spend a lot of time watching to really get an eye in on the species. Note the characteristics of the spots & times of day that males spend time lekking. Look carefully at the location of plants where females lay - their condition, surrounding habitat, amount of shade, compass bearing of any slope. I think the better our undersatnding of butterfly behaviour the better our chances of locating it.

I hope that Sussex Kipper will respond to you too as he is a MASTER at finding Dukes

All the best
Lynn
PS In Hampshire we need the weather for our Dukes! April has hardly yielded a day over 14 C yet

Well, I'm new to this but I'd have to say, so far, it's gotta be the Speckled Wood.

They are real handsome and best of all, they let me get reeeeeal close with my rubbish compact digi camera - like 2 or 3 inches away.

I'd say either common Blue:



Or Speckled Wood:



I like watching maes fighting and seeing larger females appear at the time of year when they do.

When it comes to butterflies I'm unashamedly a royalist. The Duke of Burgundy and Purple Emperor are joint 'tops' for me. The Duke has sooo much character for a little'un - extreme 'Napoleon complex'. In 2006 I saw a 'very late' male on the 20th June, which was so worn and tattered that it was barely recognisable; but it was still beating the living daylights out of freshly emerged Large Skippers Of course the Emperor's magnificence is hard to match, despite having the table manners of a serf. Quite capable of attacking a bird, he's in an entirely different weight category to the Duke. But if a Duke could get in close, and bite his knee-caps, it could be a close contest! Tips for tracking the Duke down: Go mid season (variable due to weather and geography), usually mid May, when numbers are at peak. Warm, sunny, mornings are best, from about 10am. Look in sheltered spots at the base of slopes. Once you've found a lek (male assembly point), they should be there year after year.
Neil

That's a magnificent female purple emperor! Was it luck, or do you have a method for females? I only ever see them at random and have never got a decent picture, whereas I think I know how to find and photograph males pretty well now.

Guy