Pauline

[Art Frames]

Just catching up Pauline. A lovely set of pictures. I saw Waxwings for the first time this year and had some great times taking pictures but yours are so nice because of the sense of calmness. I suppose the frantic feeding is done and they will be returning homewards. Such a beautiful creature.

The purple hairstreak larva is wonderful and I'm glad you shared it as it would have escaped my increasingly poor eyesight. Thank you. Peter

[Pauline]

You probably know by now David that camouflage like that is one of the things that fascinates me. Thank you for your comment.

I'm really pleased you like some of my shots Peter. Your comment is much appreciated.

In coolish, changeable conditions this morning I was only able to locate 4 Dukes at Noar Hill - far short of the 17 reported yesterday along with several mating pairs! Perhaps more showed themselves after I left. I hope you like my 'stained glass' shot Wurzel which was taken just for you and I dread to think how many ticks might be on me now

I also came across this little moth which I don't think I have ever seen in this location:

The best sighting of the day however was when I returned home. The Green Hairstreaks which I reared last year have begun to emerge - and I feel like doing cartwheels . I am so used to getting things through early I had convinced myself they had all died!

[Allan.W.]

Hi Pauline,
Reckon your moth is "Small purple barred" phytometra viridaria, and flying quite early ! regards Allan.W.

[Goldie M]

Lovely shots pauline I hope the Dukes will still be there when I come South Goldie

[Pauline]

Thanks for that Allen - I was going to look it up but you've saved me the bother

Thank you Goldie - I am sure they will be.

The weather this morning didn't look great for going out so I decided to paint a little bistro table and 2 chairs which live by the back door. They were white (old paint), black (rust) and green (mould) so I decided to paint them pink! Although it was early on (about 7.00am) I was keeping half an eye on the Green Hairstreak pupa when possible but with the chilly temperatures I thought any emergence was unlikely. About 9.00am I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I realised one had emerged.

As I grabbed my camera and started taking shots I wondered why he was just sitting on the moss and had not climbed up the branch I had left for him. That was when I realised another had already emerged and was on the branch . Well, I didn't know where to point the camera and tried to alternate between the two.

Looking at the youngest of the two it seemed that he was taking a great deal of time to inflate his wings in comparison with the other one:

After several minutes I thought that perhaps I should grab another twig and place it beside him but just as I picked one up his wings started to inflate:

The depth of field which I have had so much trouble with in the past, combined with a sudden breeze which came from nowhere did nothing to help my subsequent shots so just the one to post although it was fascinating to watch:

.... and the final result for both individuals:

And the painting ..... well, that got done too

[millerd]

What lovely creatures those fresh Green Hairstreaks are, Pauline. The caramel wing borders around the leaf green are a delightfully subtle contrast. A wonderful sequence of shots.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Lovely Hair Streaks Pauline, you've certainly got the garden for Butterflies and the know how , I think the Hair Streaks or so cute and you've captured that Goldie

[Pauline]

They're gorgeous aren't they Dave. Thank you for the compliment. I missed the initial emergence but still have a few chances!

Thank you too Goldie - my favourite group.

After a long, a very long, dental appointment this morning I didn't expect to feel like doing much. However, after an hour or so, I decided that some fresh air was exactly what I needed, and despite the cool cloudy conditions, I pulled on a thick jumper with a hood and set off for a walk around Noar Hill. I hoped I wouldn't meet anyone that I would need to talk to as half my face was still paralysed and I felt a little self-conscious. Unsurprisingly there weren't many butterflies (or people) around so I headed for one of my favourite Duke hot spots. Just as I approached a little bit of sun appeared and temperatures warmed up so I was able to stand and watch 4 Dukes, one of which was clearly a fresh female. As I watched she approached one of the males who immediately pursued her. The rest is history

[David M]

Impressive sequence, Pauline. You can't see a fresher specimen than that. It's absolutely mint!

[Wurzel]

Cracking emergence sequence Pauline, it must be nice to get some shots of the fore wings which not a lot of people get to see You stained glass Duke was simply stunning

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

So glad you liked my stained glass effort Wurzel - made all the ticks worthwhile I'm still amazed at that Green Hairstreak sequence myself Just wish I'd managed to get the emergence shot - but there's still time.

Thank you so much David. Now here's the thing - 2 weeks ago those pupa 'coloured up' and in certain light became the most amazing green, just like a shimmering green velvet; truly gorgeous, but try as I might I could not capture it and ended up with many shots like this:

They were also moving, indicating that they were very much alive, despite the fact that I almost drowned them over the winter when the container they were in flooded and I found them floating the next day (won't make that mistake again!). Anyway, that day, confident that they were about to emerge, I watched them for 12 hours . The next day I watched them for only 6 hours Then it all went quiet The pupa stopped moving, much of the green disappeared and a few of them started to look a little black and shrivelled. That's when I began to think I'd killed them and I agonised about what I might have done wrong - perhaps they had been kept in too much shade, perhaps they had been exposed to too much sun..... and so it went on. This period coincided with a spell of chilly weather and I recalled something that MO had told me some years ago. We were in the Straits and following a period of prolonged poor weather there were few PE's around. Matthew suggested that if the weather was poor then butterflies which were about to emerge could 'hang on' until the weather improved - but only for a certain time after which they would perish in the pupa. I wondered if this was the case with the Green Hairstreaks and so I considered bringing them into the warmth with a view to getting them to emerge. They could then be held until the weather improved. In the event, that wasn't necessary but it did take me by surprise when 4 emerged within 2 hours. Six butterflies have now been released on Noar Hill and today the release was shared with Maurice, Roger, Hazel and Nick - great to see you all again and a few shots from this morning, once the butterflies were free and before they flew off:

I saw my first Dingy Skippers of the year but having seen the one just posted by Brex - well, all I can say is there is no comparison (Note to self: TRY HARDER!)

[Wurzel]

Great Greenstreaks Pauline Dingies can be right pains - they're just the wrong size, they need to be bigger to make them easier to photograph

Have a goodun
Wurzel

[David M]

Nice to see you got an early audience with Dingy Skipper, Pauline. I expect I'm at least a week away from doing likewise.

[Goldie M]

It's great to see Hair Streaks on flowers Pauline, unusual too, great shots. Goldie

[Pauline]

Cheers Wurzel - not only do they need to be bigger but they need to land higher up! Their saving grace is that each one has slightly different markings making each one unique.

Ah, but you got a Grizzlie David and if the forecast is right for once it might be a while before I do

Thank you Goldie - not doing so bad yourself with the lovely Speckled Wood shots.

The other night I put the moth trap out for the first time since last year. TBH I was a bit disappointed with my 'haul' of a couple of dozen moths, half of which were made up of Brindled Beauties:

Several Great Prominent, a Nut-tree Tussock, Bright-line Brown-eye and a couple of Clouded Drab made up most of the remainder (apologies if I have remembered any of these wrongly Maurice)

Great Prominent

Nut-tree Tussock

B-l B-e?

Oh yeah, and this little Hebrew Character that needed a little help getting more comfortable:

[bailey1409]

Hi Pauline

The last moth, one we didn't see, looks like a Scarce Prominent moth.

Cheers

Maurice

[MikeOxon]

Amazing pics of the GH drying their wings and on Bluebells as well! Now, you are completely losing me with all those moths

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline,

Superb sequences of the Green Hairstreaks...great stuff

...The other night I put the moth trap out for the first time since last year. TBH I was a bit disappointed with my 'haul' of a couple of dozen moths, half of which were made up of Brindled Beauties...

I would have been very happy with your haul of moths, things have been very slow here lately with cold breezy nights. I haven't seen a Brindled Beauty yet this year and am not likely to see a Great Prominent in my garden, they are very local here in Warwickshire.

I believe Maurice is correct with his ID of Scarce Prominent although this is a species not found in Warwickshire and I have never seen one in the flesh.

All the best,

Neil.

[Pauline]

Good job there's folk keeping me on the right track Thank you M.

Thank you Mike. I think those shots of the GH just emerged are pretty special too -everything seems to be happening at once now!

I appreciate your comment on the GH Neil and confirmation of ID. I guess because there are so many varieties of moths flying right now I just assumed there would be more - and more variety. Never satisfied eh?!

It has been a wee while since I found the PBF cats looking ready to pupate so I figured it was about time for them to emerge at that site. Today was perfect conditions for taking shots of this butterfly - a total of 4 seen:

Showing the pearls very nicely

.... and last but not least, this lovely little moth, Adela something or other, I believe:

[trevor]

Good to see that you saw some Pearls as well today.
We must the only two people daft enough to go out in that biting wind looking for Butterflies.
I'm not at all expert when it comes to Moths, but I think yours is a Green Longhorn.

Best wishes,
Trevor.