www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Have been snowed-in here in Caterham for the last two days with 9 inches having fallen so far and an estimated 6 inches to come overnight. That'll teach me to live on a hill near the North Downs. Have been unable to get out except to photograph our topiary rabbits in the back garden, which are now snow bunnies .
Doubtless more photos to be posted.

Vince

Hi Vince, we have around a foot to 18 inches of the stuff in places here in Derbys, resorted to walking to work to avoid the Numpties getting stuck left right and centre! Hope you dont get snowed in! Roll on Spring Mate.


Dave C (GRUMPY)

Hi Vince,

I was not so very far away from you a few weeks back, at Selsdon Park. There are breeding White-letter Hairstreaks there (I found the eggs).

Hardly any snow to report from Swansea. It feels like we're in a different country (which we are, I suppose - Wales).

I guess this is compensation for the wet weather we were receiving last summer when the SE of England was enjoying a prolonged heatwave.

Lots of snow on my car this morning
Cheers,

- Pete the Numpty

Ouch! Oh dear, Pete, I am so sorry to see your poor car. What happened? And more importantly, are you okay?

I haven't been to work for the last two days and am not going tomorrow as I don't want to prang my car, plus the children's schools are closed. We have around a foot of snow here now and jolly pretty it looks too.

I wouldn't fancy trying to find brown hairstreak eggs at the moment though!

Yes, both Andy Bolton (my passenger!) and myself are fine. Just a few bruises. But thanks for asking! The car basically skidded on fresh snow for 20 yards before going down into a ditch and hitting a tree. Coming back from a BC committee meeting so the trip wasn't a complete write-off

Cheers,

- Pete

Double ouch Pete ! glad you are both ok, wouldnt class you as a numpty, its all those others! Took a major hit myself this January when a flatbed truck front ended me on black ice at work, not nice.


best wishes

Dave C (GRUMPY)

Hard luck Pete.

But I have to ask why everyone seems to be quoting snow depths in inches (or feet)? Even the incredibly conservative BBC is now using centimetres.

Jack

Ahh, that old chestnut!, but surely the correct expression of the depth SHOULD be in feet, after all they are the first things that find it?!!




Dave C (GRUMPY)

Not sure what the metric equivalent of a generous sprinkling is - which is all we have here near Heathrow...

Dave

Even on the Isle of "White" we have had 6 or 7 ins of snow overnight. Gave me chance to photograph the red squirrels in snow- could be the Highlands!
PS Glad you (Pete) and your passenger were unhurt!

Just now catching up with all the posts after finally managing to dig myself out. I now have scale models of Everest and the Matterhorn on my front lawn. Next time it snows I really must park the car at the bottom of the drive rather than the top.

Glad to see that Pete and passenger are ok. I have been without my own car for the last three weeks after a "proper" numpty pulled out in front of me.

Matsukaze - I saw your original report about finding White Letter Hairstreak eggs in Croydon, but I assumed that it was in the north of the Borough, which would have been a bit out of my area. However I am very interested to see that they were found at Selsdon Park, which I know quite well. Is there any chance that you could provide me with a grid reference please?

Ian - Beautiful photos.

I have been trying to make the best of the bad weather by getting out and taking some photos, but without sunshine everything looked dull and lifeless. However the famous Caterham Cedar (which is growing completly out of the pavement) is nicely lit up.
Vince

Hi Vince,

TQ348616 - in woodland on the golf course. Also looked for Purple Hairstreak eggs and Purple Emperor larvae in the general area, but without success.

we have had 6 or 7 ins of snow

Much as I prefer metric, at least nobody is making the absurd conversions beloved by so many, the BBC being one of the worst culprits.

6 inches to 7 inches (clearly an approximation to one significant figure) mysteriously becomes 15.24 to 17.78 centimetres (now apparently to a precision of four significant figures).You cannot get a higher level of precision after a calculation than the level of precision of the input. This is so often forgotten. Even The Times is frequently guilty (but I have to add that the newspaper show no consistency, just as frequently providing a sensible conversion.

An aside. I’m watching the Test Match as I write this. We really have got the Australians rattled. When two of their batsmen ran to the same end, I couldn’t contain my mirth.

Jack

millerd wrote:Not sure what the metric equivalent of a generous sprinkling is - which is all we have here near Heathrow...

Dave, a tinkle?

Ian Pratt wrote:Gave me chance to photograph the red squirrels in snow

Beautiful photos Ian

Cheers

Lee

The snow has finally stopped but we now have freezing fog. While out taking pictures I formulated a theory of how our ancestors survived the Ice Age. Easy....... they just gritted the first part of the path and left the rest. The mammoths then all ended up in a pile at the bottom of the valley .
Matsukaze - Thanks for the White Letter Hairstreak information. I will try to find the adults in July.

Vince

Those Red Squirrels are amazing Ian. Thanks for sharing.

Jack

On Wednesday I received a call from work telling me not to go in to work for the afternoon as they were closing early due to the snow. We only had a few inches at this stage and I had planned on going in but thoroughly enjoyed going for a walk instead. Far better than being stuck in an office. By Thursday there was no way I was going to be able to safely get into the office as we had nearly a foot of snow at this stage, so again we made the most of it and went out for a lovely walk around the village. The ducky.


This house used to be the kennels for the manor house. Every time I go passed I check to see if the wonky chimney has fallen off yet.

Unfortunately due to the cold my camera kept "freezing up" quite literally so I only managed a few shots.

Friday was spent sledging. Such fun!

It's now raining and the snow is rapidly disappearing but we really enjoyed it while it was here. After all that time with the family I feel like I've already done Christmas.

I hear that January could be the coldest one on record EVER so am getting prepared to do this all over again ....

Hey, what happened to my suggestion a while ago about a Miss UK Butterflies contest and a UKB Beefcake competition. (Come on Neil. You could strike the pose )

And to keep things fair for those of us who wouldn't conveniently fit either category , we would need a UKB Beer Belly.

Jack