Gary.N

[millerd]

Great Orange Tip eggs, Gary, and the Pearls and Hairstreaks too. Three lots of in fact...

Dave

[Goldie M]

Great shots of the Pearls Gary and the eggs, Goldie

[Gary.N]

Thank you for all your nice comments

Saturday 29th April

I had a couple of first of the year for me while heading up to do my transect on Saturday. With a very cloudy start I did think there was much hope of finding anything. But I found my first Wall of the year within 15 minutes of getting onto the Gallops. I don't know how I saw it. It was just sitting on a Dandelion under a sun less sky. I also saw my first Dingy and Small Heath of the year as well. But the nicest thing I found all day was a Small Copper laying eggs. So I got to see my first ever Small Copper egg and the sun came out too play.

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[David M]

That's quite something for a mainly cloudy day, Gary. I think most of us would be satisfied with that, especially the Small Copper ova.

[Gary.N]

I have just finished blending 9 Photos of Large White eggs I took last August. Photoshop couldn't combine the images so I had to do it manually. I learned a lot about Photoshop while doing it. I hope the 30+ hours for the result speaks for itself.

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[bugboy]

Ahhh, so it was you at Abbots Wood yesterday, yes good to put another face to a name

That large White egg batch is phenomenal, that 30 hours was worth every minute (even though I'm sure you felt like throwing your computer out the window at times ). The detail is amazing, it could almost be an some weird mountain range on some far distant planet!

[Gary.N]

After a Cloudy misty start. I had good trip to see some Pearls Saturday morning. I also saw a Grizzled Skipper, Orange-tip's, Green-Veined Whites and Red Admirals. Later I did my transect at Lullington Heath. On the way up I saw my first Brown Argus of the year and a second brood Speckled Wood.

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Gary

[David M]

Lovely Brown Argus, Gary. You have whetted my appetite for what’s to come soon in my part of the UK.

[Gary.N]

It has been a privilege to be part of the Pearls for the Fritillaries for the Future Project. I got involved in the project by chance during a Rowlands Wood work party in the winter of 2014. Theresa Lux and I asked Mike Mullis if we could see the Small Pearl larvae he was looking after for the Project. We end up helping checking the larvae before there winter hibernation.

In the summer of 2015 we were given a few to look after under the guidance of Mike. Everything was looking good until the winter of 2015/2016. The words for that winter were and still are ‘Heart Breaking’. Normally you don’t have to do too much during mid-winter. Mike was on his normal winter break and the weather was abnormally warm. The larvae decided to come out of hibernation. There was no food in the pots as Violet dies back during the winter due to frost. Mike emailed us asking us to check on them. So we took a pot and started count. Let’s say it wasn’t good. On Boxing Day Theresa and I were looking for Violet, but with the help from others we found enough. We lost a lot that winter. But the team managed to get enough through the breed them on for another year.

2016/17 has been the opposite. The winter was warm but not enough to bring them out of hibernation. It has been a nice warm spring and we have had fantastic weather during the release. All we can do now is wait and see what 2018 bring and we have done all we can for the moment.

Many thanks to Mike Mullis and Neil Hulme for letting us be part of the Project.

I will leave you with a few photos taken of the Pearls during the project.

Spring 2016 the 3rd instar started to come out of hibernation in early March.

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Missed any shots of 4th intar's in 2016, but here is a 5th instar. 4th instar's are hard to catch on the surface.

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By the beginning of May they had started to pupate.

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Our first SPBF hatched on 12th May 2016.

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Then it all starts again.
2016 just as they go into hibernation.

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Spring 2017.

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4th Instar's 2017

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5th Instar's 2017

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Pupae just before hatching 2017

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First SPBF of 2017.

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Couldn't help myself with this one. Got up one morning before a Release and they were just sitting there and warming up.

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Out in the world.

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[bugboy]

Wonderful I look forward to seeing their progeny for many years to come

[badgerbob]

Superb record Gary. Great to see all the stages too.

[Butterflysaurus rex]

A magnificent job, by you personally and the rest of the team Gary! These lovely images were well earned. I know that you made personal sacrifices, foregoing other butterflying activities to help bring the Small Pearls back to Sussex. And on top of that maintaining what must be one of the longest transects in the UK! Hopefully the future of the Small-pearl Bordered Fritillary is now secure and these fabulous butterflies will be enjoyed by future generations.

James

[kevling]

Gary,

Well done on your efforts to conserve the SPBF. It would be a travesty to lose such a magnificent species. Butterflies need more people like you. A great set of photos charting the project too. Very enjoyable.

Regards Kev

[Wurzel]

Fantastic effort Gary and a stunning sequence of shots Any chance the same can be done in Bentley Wood?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Katrina]

A wonderful photo record of the project. Well done on the work and the photos!

[Goldie M]

Well done Gary, looks like a lot of effort, time, as well as pleasure went into your project.Goldie

[Gary.N]

Thank you all for your lovely comments.

It is nice to be able to give something back for all and hopefully future generations, after the many years of enjoy I have gotten from these little bugs. So please enjoy watching and photographing them.

Fantastic effort Gary and a stunning sequence of shots Any chance the same can be done in Bentley Wood?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wurzel, I am willing to help with a project for Bentley, if it's needed. I don't truly know how well Small Pearls are doing there or the reasons for any decline. So I'm a bit in the dark as to what is happening there. But I will help if asked to do so.

Gary

[Maximus]

Great work, Gary and a lovely ab in the middle of your shot of the Fritillaries before release.

[Pete Eeles]

Excellent work, Gary!

Spring 2016 the 3rd instar started to come out of hibernation in early March.

I spoke with Neil a while ago about the SPBF overwintering instar, since I was convinced it was 3rd instar, but Frohawk said 4th ("The larvae hibernate after the 3rd moult"), which is why I placed my images in the wrong album. So thanks for letting Vince and I know about this error in Frohawk!

Cheers,

- Pete

[millerd]

Wow. Extraordinary stuff. Such a hugely rewarding and worthwhile thing to do, and the photos are wonderful. The "tent" full of butterflies patiently waiting to be released is a great image.

Dave