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Week 13 - Welcome to 2015!

So continues sequence of posts giving one and all the opportunity to showcase their favourite shots of 2014 (or the last time you saw one)!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As like last year 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

Although easily outnumbered by Small Tortoiseshells, there were good numbers of Peacocks in our garden this spring.

This is mine, for the simple reason it just sat there in the sun without a care in the world, the 2nd time this had happened to me this year.

This is mine, 26 July In Epping Forest. It allowed me to move around it to get various angles so I decided to go for something a bit different with the sun coming through the wings.

Peacocks always seem more satisfying in spring.

They're never as common as Small Tortoiseshells, but they can turn up in decent numbers nonetheless.

On 9th March 2014, I experienced a wonderful early spring day with Torties, Peacocks, Commas and even a Brimstone making their presence felt in Linda Vista Gardens, Abergavenny:

David M wrote:They're never as common as Small Tortoiseshells...

Even with the recent revival in the fortunes of the Small Tortoiseshell, it would still be true to say that around my local patch Peacocks outnumber their smaller cousins by 2 or 3 to one. Clearly there are still differences in abundance around the country.

When I visited my sister in Yorkshire around the first week of August, the ratio was more like ten or twenty to one! It is immensely hard to choose a favourite from amongst them all, so here are a few. The first is actually from Allerthorpe, a nearby Yorkshire location visited in April. There were lots of Peacocks fresh from hibernation, universally taking minerals from the mud rather than nectaring. The others are from late July, in Wilberfoss. There was even an early hibernator. Dave

Peacock's I must admit are one of my favourite Butterflies so I do tend to take loads of photo's so picking one out is impossible

I've picked two from Spring and one from Summer. One of the Spring Photo's was taken at Hall-Lee-Brook near my home on the 1st of April and the other was taken in my back garden on the same day.

The Summer photo was also taken in my back garden on the 4th of August, the Summer photo is the middle picture, it was a great Summer Goldie

millerd wrote: Even with the recent revival in the fortunes of the Small Tortoiseshell, it would still be true to say that around my local patch Peacocks outnumber their smaller cousins by 2 or 3 to one. Clearly there are still differences in abundance around the country.
Dave

That is also true around my part of the world. Even with the impressive numbers of Small Tortoiseshells coming out of hibernation last spring, there were even more Peacocks, and this continued with the summer broods.

Some of the ex-hibernators were still in remarkably good condition...
while others were less so. I quite like this shot taken in my back garden of a male trying it on with a female. After a short while she took off over next door with the male in pursuit. I have seen this behaviour a few times now but still haven't seen a successful pairing result from it.
As usual, I took loads of photos of this species, here are a couple of local summer brood examples,
Cheers,

Neil.

Peacock

This was taken on one of my many walks at work during a lunch break once a revision session was completed. These 10 minute strolls generally produced the goods and sometimes I would stop by the garages instead of continuing on round the normal route. There is a little bank here with the fence along the top marking the boundary between the garages and my place of work. It used to be frequented by the smokers until I changed duties and incorporated it into my rounds but it’s still used outside of school hours and at weekends hence the unusual pieces of litter that occasionally intermingle the flowers on the banks. One of these pieces of litter – an old, torn football – offered a nice and unusual roosting spot for a Peacock and hence it’s my favourite.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

millerd wrote:
Even with the recent revival in the fortunes of the Small Tortoiseshell, it would still be true to say that around my local patch Peacocks outnumber their smaller cousins by 2 or 3 to one. Clearly there are still differences in abundance around the country.

My apologies, Dave.

I've obviously got my 'western UK' hat on when making such comments.

Yes, I acknowledge that there are some parts of the country where Small Tortoiseshells are still (lamentably) fairly scarce.

Although the photo quality isn’t good this is mine as this was the first time I’ve observed a peacock ovipositing . This was taken at Hutchinson’s Bank on a quest to see Glanville Fritillary. Unfortunately didn’t see any glannies but plenty of other species including Small Blues Green Hairstreak and a Privet Hawkmoth

It's difficult to choose a favourite of this butterfly, which always seems to pose well for photographs. I always enjoy a late-season visit to Waterperry gardens, to watch the Vanessids enjoying the herbaceous border. This year, there were fewer butterflies than on previous visits, but the Peacocks did not disappoint.
Mike

One of those occasions when there is a butterfly in the garden and you hope you can grab the camera before it leaves. Fortunately it landed on the ivy I've grown up a dead tree trunk in the garden, all sorts of things nest and hibernate in there and I think the peacock was thinking about doing the same.