Spring is sprung - butterflies are out

[Joseph_Pestell]

I think that hedgehog numbers may be recovering a bit. Seen a few lately after not seeing any for years. No idea why they should be recovering after such rubbish weather.

 

As with birds, plenty of butterflies about as soon as the weather improved ten days ago. But none at all this weekend, or even today with a bit of sunshine.

[jonny777]

Saw my first holly blue this morning, unsurprisingly fluttering around the holly tree in the corner of the garden. 

[chaz]

This morning I walked to Eastleigh Lakeside to try my luck. Warm and sunny so chances seemed good. I found a patch of Jack-by-the-Hedge so I hung around as I know this is one of the orange tips' favourites. Saw several as they passed by, some even pausing, but none perching. I did however get a snap of this green-veined white while I was waiting.

 

 

I also found a speckled wood (in better condition than the green-veined white).

 

 

And I hope you will excuse this not-a-butterfly shot from a trip yesterday to Pennington Marsh...

 

 

Common tern hovering, kestrel fashion, whilst watching for fish. One of the most elegant of seabirds and a real treat to see - I am always pleased when the terns arrive from the south - a high point of any year.

 

Chaz

Edited May 4, 2018 by chaz

[chaz]

A day spent at Magdalen Hill Down (near Winchester) and two very hard to spot species feature. Firstly green hairstreaks, which are virtually impossible to see unless they move.

 

 

They sit on twigs among the leaves and just blend in.

 

 

And grizzled skippers. very small, quick moving and grey in flight.  You might think that the pattern on their wings would make them an easy spot - but not so -  they seem to disappear when they land.

 

 

Although they are very much easier to get close to and photograph if they are busy...

 

 

Chaz

[Phil Bullock]

Holly Blues seem to be having a good year - have been around the garden every day this weekend, and also at Croome , along with orange tips, brimstones, speckled woods and small and large whites

 

Was explaining how to differentiate between Spanish and native bluebells to SWMBO - they are all native at Croome - when the bluebell police came along, 3 of them! Not sure if they thought I was about to pick then but when I dropped in the native latin name and some friends in Worcestershire Nature Conservation circles I think they realised my bone fides ....phew, the prospect of being forced to remove all the Spanish migrants from roadside verges around here doesn't bear thinking about - they are everywhere!

 

For those with a serious interest in butterflies this is worth a read....http://www.ukbms.org/KeyFindings.aspx ....suspect some on here already contribute

 

Phil

Edited May 7, 2018 by Phil Bullock

[chaz]

Holly Blues seem to be having a good year...

 

 

Yes, they do, I have seen quite a few in the last week or so. I got these two snaps on a brief visit to Southampton Common on Saturday.

 

 

It was so warm that the insects would not open their wings.

 

 

I also managed a shot of a green-veined white.

 

 

Chaz

[chaz]

I went to Noar Hill reserve (near Alton in Hampshire) yesterday to photograph Duke of Burgundys and green hairstreaks. With some steep slopes, cloudless skies and hot, unbroken sunshine it was a challenging day but I got some very satisfying snaps.

 

 

The Dukes are tiny insects and the only way to get these pictures was to lie on the ground.

 

 

The cowslip gives a nice idea of size - these butterflies are definitely N gauge.

 

 

Getting the camera positioned so that the insect is backlit makes the opened wings "light-up".

 

 

The green hairstreaks were harder to find until I got my eye in. Spotting them in flight and following them to a perch gave the best chance of a photo, if they stay still their camouflage makes them virtually invisible.

 

 

As green hairstreaks always perch with their wings closed they are opaque and they don't light up when they are backlit.

 

 

What I need now is a few wet days so that I can get on with some modelling! At the moment I am out all day and I spend my evenings cataloging and processing the results.

 

Chaz

Edited May 8, 2018 by chaz

[Joseph_Pestell]

Hope no one will mind a mention of bees.

 

Sunday we stopped at a pub in Henstridge on our way home, one with a garden as the dog was with us. The lawn was home to thousands of wild bees, mostly black and grey. Looked them up when we got home and apparently they do not live together but each burrow a nest in the ground.

 

A bit disconcerting for the pub customers but apparently these do not sting.

[Phil Bullock]

Was worried about honey bees locally a few days ago as our ceanothus normally literally hums to their music when it flowers - but it was quiet.

 

No need to worry! It was singing again yesterday....loads of honey bees, each with heavily loaded pollen sacs

 

Phil

[jonny777]

I went to Noar Hill reserve (near Alton in Hampshire) yesterday to photograph Duke of Burgundys and green hairstreaks. With some steep slopes, cloudless skies and hot, unbroken sunshine it was a challenging day but I got some very satisfying snaps.

 

850_3406-2.jpg

 

The Dukes are tiny insects and the only way to get these pictures was to lie on the ground.

 

850_3425-2.jpg

 

The cowslip gives a nice idea of size - these butterflies are definitely N gauge.

 

850_3440-2.jpg

 

Getting the camera positioned so that the insect is backlit makes the opened wings "light-up".

 

850_3473-2.jpg

 

The green hairstreaks were harder to find until I got my eye in. Spotting them in flight and following them to a perch gave the best chance of a photo, if they stay still their camouflage makes them virtually invisible.

 

850_3504-2.jpg

 

As green hairstreaks always perch with their wings closed they are opaque and they don't light up when they are backlit.

 

850_3475-2.jpg

 

What I need now is a few wet days so that I can get on with some modelling! At the moment I am out all day and I spend my evenings cataloging and processing the results.

 

Chaz

 

 

 

All I can say is Wow! Wow! and Wow!

 

It is great to know that these rarer species are thriving in certain areas. 

 

However, we need to make sure they can expand their regions back to how they were 100 years ago.  There is no room for complacency. 

[jetmorgan]

Was worried about honey bees locally a few days ago as our ceanothus normally literally hums to their music when it flowers - but it was quiet.

 

No need to worry! It was singing again yesterday....loads of honey bees, each with heavily loaded pollen sacs

 

Phil

I get the same with the Pulmonaria in my garden, not sure what variety it is but when the sun is out and I'm out in the garden you can hear this constant hum of honey, solitary and bumble bees. I do need to dig some of it up though as it's starting to take over the garden.

Edited May 10, 2018 by jetmorgan

[chaz]

Photographed today - conditions not ideal but just warm enough for a time.

 

 

Chaz

[chaz]

I made a trip to Oaken Wood in Surrey (near Chiddingfold) today to see wood whites, which first emerged last week. These delicate little butterflies are pretty rare now and are only seen at a few sites.

 

This is a male - with the prominent white spot on the inside of the antennae.

 

A female on bugle, one of their favourite sources of nectar.

 

Wood whites are quite a challenge to photograph as they fly and perch very close to the ground. To get these photographs I had to lie on the ground which made positioning the camera difficult.

 

I didn't notice the spider until I saw the photo on my computer monitor. A careful crop makes it an good compositional element. I hope the butterfly didn't become an arachnid lunch.

 

Chaz

Edited May 14, 2018 by chaz

[Downendian]

Terrific photos Chaz, thanks for sharing.

Neil

[chaz]

I made a visit yesterday to one of my favourite places, Martin Down - on the Hampshire/Dorset border. Here are a few snaps.

 

 

A dingy skipper, seen within minutes of parking the car. How did such a subtly beautiful insect got such a downbeat name?

 

 

Close up of another dingy.

 

 

And this is the underside of a dingy skipper. I have been waiting for quite a while to see and photograph this view.

 

 

Holly blue, looking rather fine.

 

 

A very fine green hairstreak. I saw these all over the down but this one was the most obliging - count those wing scales!

 

Chaz

 

[chaz]

I didn't want to waste what was promised to be another excellent day so I drove to Bentley Wood to find some pearl-bordered fritillaries. There was a distinct chill in the air when I arrived but as it started to warm up the butterflies appeared.

 

 

This insect is taking nectar from bugle - one of their favourites.

 

 

They really are little stunners!

 

 

The best chance of getting really close views of any species of butterfly and of the wing undersides is to find a mating pair. 

 

Chaz

 

 

[Dave Searle]

This appeared in our garden this morning and hung around for a while:

 

 

A Cinnabar moth I believe - not seen one before.

 

Cheers,

Dave

[chaz]

This appeared in our garden this morning and hung around for a while:

 

Cinnabar-moth.jpg

 

A Cinnabar moth I believe - not seen one before.

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

 

 

Nice shot and yes, definitely a cinnabar. Interesting that the caterpillars' food plant is ragwort and there not about yet. Still the moths have got to mate before the females can start egg laying.

Edited May 19, 2018 by chaz

[chaz]

I spent a good part of yesterday on Magdalen Hill Down and got a few snaps...

 

 

A dingy skipper - not plentiful on the reserve - indeed this is the only one I saw.

 

 

The other "spring skipper" a grizzled skipper - more numerous but some of those I saw were looking a bit ragged and worn.

 

 

A yellow shell moth, just as stunning as many butterflies.

 

 

A brown argus - suddenly out in large numbers.

 

 

Another brown argus. They seem to like buttercups.

 

 

A common blue. I had to be persistent to get this shot, all the blues I saw were flitting busily and perched only briefly. 

 

 

A small heath. One of the species that always perches with wings firmly closed. To get a photo of the upper side you would have to get a shot of it in flight - good luck with that!

 

 

 

Two photos of a small blue. Our smallest butterfly and really difficult to spot let alone photograph.

 

 

And lastly a mating, but are they brown argus or common blue? I'm inclined to the latter but as they never opened their wings I can't be sure. Any thoughts?

 

EDIT - definitely common blues. I have checked with the books and the pattern of dots is definitive.    

 

Chaz

Edited May 21, 2018 by chaz

[Phil Bullock]

More stunning shots Chaz

 

Hoped to see some fritillaries outside the engine house at Highley today but the buddleas not out yet to attract them

 

Plenty of Whites, blues, orange tips and speckled woods up and down the valley however - difficult to type whites and blues accurately when passing by behind a bellowing Warship!

 

Phil

[chaz]

More stunning shots Chaz

 

Hoped to see some fritillaries outside the engine house at Highley today but the buddleas not out yet to attract them

 

Plenty of Whites, blues, orange tips and speckled woods up and down the valley however - difficult to type whites and blues accurately when passing by behind a bellowing Warship!

 

Phil

 

 

Thanks Phil. 

 

That last snap of mine - the mating pair - they are definitely common blues. I have checked the books and the pattern of spots makes it certain. Phew!

 

Chaz

[jonny777]

I have just watched a Silver-Y moth spend 10 minutes on Valerian in my garden. 

Edited June 2, 2018 by jonny777

[Phil Bullock]

Was out at Croft Castle last weekend - just north of Leominster

We went for a long woodland walk, which ended up with two highlights.... 3 or 4 small coppers, wonderful!

 

The other was a large hawk, spooked out of cover by some other walkers. very much a gliding flight along the ride we were on, brownish  grey and about the size of a buzzard - but agile enough to peel off the ride through dense trees

 

Am thinking possibly a goshawk?
 

Phil

 

[Co-tr-Paul]

Saw my first Silver Y Wednesday in the garden. When younger, would only see them in august but now pretty regular from late may both night and day.

[chaz]

Was out at Croft Castle last weekend - just north of Leominster

We went for a long woodland walk, which ended up with two highlights.... 3 or 4 small coppers, wonderful!

 

The other was a large hawk, spooked out of cover by some other walkers. very much a gliding flight along the ride we were on, brownish  grey and about the size of a buzzard - but agile enough to peel off the ride through dense trees

 

Am thinking possibly a goshawk?

 

Phil

 

 

 

 

Behaviour certainly suggests a goshawk, Phil. A buzzard would rise and clear the tree tops. But with so little to go on you might well decide on a "maybe". I have seen all sorts of "maybes" - not very satisfying but inevitable.

 

Chaz