www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I am a recent convert to the butterfly world, and am wondering if anybody knows of any good sites around the Sandringham area, as I will be holidaying there between the 11th and 20th June later this year. I have visited both Narborough railway and seen Dingy skippers as well as Stoke ferry and seen Grizzled skippers in the past, any others around?
Primarily I am in Norfolk to see Nightjars roosting during the day, but I am interested to see all kinds of wildlife. My recently launched website, http://k33adr.com/, has been set up to showcase my work, any critique would be much appreciated!
Andrew

Hi Andrew,
Not sure how far you will already have travelled to get there or want to travel during your holiday, but at the time you are going, there may be Silver-Studded Blues on the wing at Kelling Heath (near Sheringham) and even Swallowtails further East in Norfolk (see details on this site). This probably relies on you having a whole day to spare and you will want to try to find out if they are around before travelling. Sorry I can't help with venues any closer, but perhaps others on here can.

Trev

PS: Some really nice photos on your webpage.

Hi Andrew

I took a pic of a nightjar in France 2 years ago: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2811&p=17880&hilit=nightjar#p17877

Hope you like !!

Charles

Holme Dunes reserve (TF714448) just to the east of Hunstanton is one of my favourites and I visit at least twice a year even though I live about 80 miles away near Cambridge. Holme is well worth the visit.

Butterfly highlights are Wall Brown, Grayling, Small Heath, Green Hairstreak, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Small Copper in the appropriate seasons. Had my only 2009 sighting of Clouded Yellow at Holme. Good birding too.

Jack

Travelling is not a problem, after the last three years, a combination of the weather and time restraints will be my only limitations. Whole days spent at places of interest are usual for me, the wife is very understanding/tolerant! I have now edited my details to show where I live.
As for the picture of the nightjar, must say I'm impressed with the perspective, very novel, can't say I've ever seen a picture looking down on one. If I get the oppurtunity, I will try to get a similar shot.
I've been to Holme dunes but always thought of it as a birdwatching only venue, I'll have to be more observant. I've been to Ringstead down, a couple of miles away from Holme dunes, which is excellent for butterflies.
Added a picture of my only only British sighting of a clouded yellow in 2009 at a local council reserve, Townclose hills, Kippax, near Leeds.
Thanks for all the help, so far, please keep those suggestions coming.
Andrew

I forgot – Dark Green Fritillary also at Holme. I don’t think its numerous and I have only seen the odd one or two but that might well be because I have only visited at the tail end of their flight season. Still, for good numbers of DG Frit, you need to go to Winterton or Horsey in the east of the county.

Best butterfly spots at Holme are just on the landward side of the dunes. I usually walk west from the visitor centre and most species might be found on the flat ground or near the boardwalk. Green hairstreak favours a scrubby patch of Sea Buckthorn and Bramble about 800 metres west along the boardwalk from the centre. Last spring I had the splendid sight of Green Hairstreaks sparring with Small Coppers, a wonderful combination of colours.

A little further east along the coast, White Letter Hairstreak apparently occurs at Holkham at the end of Lady Anne’s Drive but I’ve never been there at the right time so haven’t seen them myself.

Jack

Hi Andrew, and welcome!

Some fantastic shots on your website, really really good.

I particularly like image 16 on the landscape page, stunning!

Cheers

Lee

They are indeed lovely photos on your website, but you did ask for comments.

I find the width of your page at circa 640 pixels is too small by modern standards. Sure I can change the resolution of my screen but I don’t want to keep switching back and forth. 640 or 800 pixels used to be the norm but I doubt that nowadays many people use smaller than 1024. My own websites are optimised for 1024 (I think!) although in fact my own screen is 1440 pixels wide.

Unfortunately – and bear in mind I’m no computer expert – that different resolutions might result in distorted images. I just tried my own website at different settings and in some cases the result was horrible. I don’t really know what the solution is. My website http://www.snapperjack.co.uk

Jack

I had this site designed by a professional! I thought it looked quite good, considering it is only a showcase for some of my images? Since you've raised the question though, I will put it to the web designer, to see what he thinks, and if it can be altered easily.
I am glad for your comments and thank you.
Andrew

Andrew

Welcome - I'm sure you will benefit from accessing this site.

As a regular to the Norfolk area - but further east - I have visited many of the areas along the north coast. If you can stray as far as Holkham there is a good site for White Letter Hairstreaks. My other regular haunts include Winterton for Grayling and Dark Green Fritillary. Hickling Broad for Swallowtails and White Admiral, Holt Forest for White Admiral and Kelling Heath - where I am informed that the Silver-Studded Blue can be found but I haven't been lucky so far.

Try a visit to www.norfolkbutterflies.co.uk

Mike

WLH can be found in Holkham Woods near the bird hide west of Lady Anne's Drive. DG Frits can be found in reasonable numbers at the west end of Holkham Pines.
Alex

Alex. Just out of interest, I am provisionally planning to go to Holme NNR (near Hunstanton) on Friday specifically for Green Hairstreaks.

Jack

Jack
My wife and I spent last weekend on the North Norfolk coast - she was photographing birds. I didn't see any butterflies - but then birds were the priority! Several green hairstreaks were seen yesterday at Marston Vale Country Park just south of Bedford. This is a reasonably reliable site for grizzled and dingy skippers - there were none out two days ago when I was last there but hopefully they will appear over the weekend.
Alex