www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Week 18.

Here is the opportunity to post your favourite photo(s) of a particular species taken in 2013 (or the last time you saw one!).

This is part of a series of topics which will grow over 20 weeks throughout the winter, eventually covering all 59 species which are regularly found in the British Isles. The intention is to showcase three species per week (in alphabetical order), so please wait until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos. Our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants.

Details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome and please feel free to contribute observations of behaviour, stories of personal encounters, anecdotes or other interesting points.

Vince

Small Tortoiseshell

I had to make a professional visit to another school and it enabled me to spend an extra bonus hour at Five Rivers on the way there and back. The morning produced my first Marbled White s of the year as well as the usual late spring/early summer butterflies. The return visit in the afternoon saw a similar selection but the numbers were reversed. The tens of Ringlets and Marbled Whites dropped to single figures from the am to the pm whilst the sparse scattering of blues, Skippers and Small Tortoiseshells saw an upturn in numbers as the day wore on. The biggest turn around were the Small Torts, the 2 or 3 in the morning became 16 on one patch of Bramble alone by the afternoon.
One individual stuck out then and indeed over the rest of the year – Stumpy. It wasn’t only the good looks or rather the lack of them and most of his wings that made me remember him fondly but his charisma and vigour. There he was seeing off anything that moved despite his apparent physical limitations, buzzing here and there and never still for very long. A great character, I miss you Stumpy . Have a goodun

Wurzel

It was almost like the old days, seeing Tortoiseshells throughout the season. I bred through a few spring brood caterpillars, and the first couple of photos are of these, recently emerged and beautifully coloured. The last individual was a completely wild one, but just as lovely, seen down the road close to the edge of the airport. The second brood nests of caterpillars I found all disappeared mysteriously before they had got very large, so I hope this hasn't affected the chances of another good year next year.

Dave

Here is one from the Cantal département of the Massif Central in France. I particularly like the contrast with the birch bark.
Chris

My Small Tortoiseshell Photo's were taken once again in my back Garden, the yellow flowers covered in STS is my definate favourite, taken on the 29th Sept.
My other pic taken on the 6th of Oct with my new len's ( after I'd finally got use to it) is also a favourite Goldie

As others have noted, Small Tortoiseshells staged a massive comeback last year in many areas including my patch of the Midlands. At times there were more in my garden together than I had seen in total for the previous few years.
Looking through the many photos that I took I am really struggling to decide which to pick and which to leave out so here is a selection of just some of my favourites...

One from my garden,
a couple of the many seen in Dorset,
and a couple from Castle Hills near Solihull,
Cheers,

Neil.

An underside shot from Frog Firle, Seaford on 7th July.
http://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.com

My Small Tortoiseshell had found its way into the Great Glasshouse at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, where it seemed very happy with the South African flowers. This one was in much better condition than others braving the winds outside!
Mike

That's a magnificent, and very unusual photo Mike - a resourceful Tortoiseshell

Ditto. Excellent photo Mike.

Many thanks for the comments William and hideandseek

The Lumix TZ25 is by far the best compact I have used, so far, and I have a lot of confidence in its capability. For visits to places such as glasshouses (inc. Wisley, recently) I find it a much more practical tool than a large DSLR with interchangeable lenses - not a great idea in hot humid conditions. The TZ25 has full manual exposure control, so that I can manage shutter speed and aperture, just as with a DSLR, though I get much greater depth of field for any given aperture value.

Mike

2013 was a great year for Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks and finding egg-laying females of both species in one day was a particular highlight. The best photographic opportunity presented itself in mid-July at one of my local sites. I first found a female laying just after midday and continued my walk after she had finished. I came back to the same spot 30 minutes later only to find another individual engaged in laying a batch of eggs on the same leaf.
The first batch of eggs can just be seen behind her abdomen.
Although the batches were laid less than 45 minutes apart, they were noticeably different in colour.
Both batches hatched on 21st July.

Vince

Nice to see so many Tortoiseshells in 2013. They were about in excellent numbers well into the autumn, including this specimen in Pontardawe on 14th September:

What fabulous photographs everyone. My very favourite resident butterfly, we were lucky to have numerous visitors to our garden here in Wales last year. None spotted yet so far this year though.