PhilBWright

[Padfield]

In my opinion (and I don't claim to be an expert), all the sexable butterflies shown here are male - but I can't confirm both butterflies in any single picture.

I'm very interested in the fact these were taken with an iPhone 6 plus. That is what I have (a gift from a grateful student) and though I use it occasionally for butterflies it never occurred to me it might actually be better than my Canon bridge/compact for some purposes. But those video stills are better than I can achieve with the Canon (for video stills). I will have to try the iPhone for roding brimstones and territorial Camberwell beauties ...

Guy

[PhilBJohnson]

Thanks Guy, that's helpful.
iPhone 6splus
Just to try and clarify, these video stills were taken at 60 frames a second (1080p -my normal video setting). My chosen slow motion setting was 240 frames a second, played back eight times slower. This is 720p so I think it might be slightly less clear to use as video stills. By practicing, trial & error, I have found it best to take several different shorter clips, rather than risk one long clip, only to find out later that the butterflies did not stay within the automatically chosen focal length set at the beginning of the clip. If the butterflies are too far away to start with, the phones understanding of the chosen subject matter is limited.
Regarding the technology used in the phone for focusing etc, I am naive and have not researched any helpful apps etc.
Also White butterflies need to be close enough so that the phone understands the subject matter, not bleaching out the intended subject:

17/4/17 cropped a little bit

Kind Regards & best wishes with your iPhone.

[PhilBJohnson]

Good Morning,
I am just trying to sort out some butterfly behaviour above a nettle bed. This is:
Small Tortoiseshell & Peacock
Looking at this activity, I am assuming this is a male Small Tortoiseshell & female Peacock but I might well be wrong. The Tortoiseshell looks as if it might be mobbing the Peacock, harassing it a little or looking for a partner? Comments welcome as I am still learning. Here are a couple of screenshots taken from the video:

The Tortoiseshell remains above the Peacock

Not quite as clear as i know i can achieve with my phone, shaky and cropped but the video footage is interesting in trying to understand the butterfly interactions in such locations that take place at high speed and are usually not recorded properly.
The iPhone video clip (slow motion, 120 frames per second, played back 4 X slower 1080p) is also cropped:
I have set the youtube video clip as "unlisted" rather than "public" so you will need to view it from this link:
https://youtu.be/avpYtt0qe80
At this stage, it is worth viewing for the interesting butterfly behaviour rarely recorded in slow motion rather than my recording techniques which I know I can improve on. The Small Tortoiseshell returned to a similar position near the nettles. I think the Peacock moved on.

Thanks for watching. All comments welcome apart from my typos .

[David M]

More great footage, Phil. I have seen Tortoiseshells interact frequently with Peacocks and have come to the conclusion that the pheromones between the two species are rather similar, hence the persistence!

[PhilBJohnson]

Looking forward to the 'expansion' Phil, as David said a great set of shots with a mobile, my iPod ones don't even come close to those The video stills are great too - happiness when the Peacock lands and then sad face when it leaves

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks David & Wurzel.
I have removed a Speckled Wood Duelling video from UK Butterflies which received 120 youtube views. I also removed it from youtube.
I have the raw data now to produce a much better quality video which might take some time as I have so much footage that wont make the cut and it all needs careful analyzing to pick out the best bits.
An Orange Tip video has now also been removed. My plan is to update with better quality material and better edited video clips. If you find one of my broken links in my diary which I have missed, please let me know so that I can change or remove it with an explanation (edit that post). Other videos such as "The Ringlet Chase" & Green-veined White, I have kept the links in my personal diary but deleted them from the Species Specific Page.
As people produce more short video clips, I think there could be a site or habitat specific category for videos which can tell a bigger story than just one picture. I don't know if this has been discussed in another forum?

22nd April, Roadside Verge, Lincolnshire. iPhone 6S plus. Naturalised Honesty Plant

Kind Regards

[PhilBJohnson]

Hi Guys,
My latest Speckled Wood Duelling, dueling, sparring, dog fighting (or butterfly fighting video) has been uploaded to the Species specific video category (and currently sits on the UK Butterflies homepage). My previous Speckled Wood duelling video has been removed from youtube. If you like this kind of "progressive butterflying", one can subscribe to my youtube channel, like or leave a comment.
iPhone 6S plus (mobile phone footage) 1080p at 120 frames a second (slow motion)
If I could constructively criticise the super Apple Inc. technology on this phone, I would like my phone to re-analyse the subject matter every second or so whilst filming to keep the subject matter in sharper focus without me having to:
"stop, start, stop and start the recording. More frames per second (to make a slower motion clearer) would be very helpful for me but I think the high resolution very slow motion used up more storage space”

Warm Regards,

Philip

[PhilBJohnson]

"Watching The Sun Go Down"

iphone 6 plus

[PhilBJohnson]

HI Guys,
If you like looking at my picture properties, I apologize, I noticed that I still needed to turn on "Daylight Saving Time"
My Wife and I worked for Butterfly Conservation on 24th May.
Chambers Farm Wood is owned by the Forestry Commission.
Here are three pictures taken on 23rd May at Chambers Farm Wood. The Marsh Fritillary was roosting on "Ragged-Robin".

Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

Thanks for waiting for my update,

Philip

[Wurzel]

Loving the backlit Marshie shot especially Where about's is Chambers Wood?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[PhilBJohnson]

Thanks Wurzel

[PhilBJohnson]

British Butterfly Conservation Society. 1987

Cinnebar Moth

(could be mistaken for a Six Spot Burnet Moth).

[PhilBJohnson]

Honeysuckle flowering 1st June, Old Wood, Skellingthorpe.
I think it's really good to see Wild Honeysuckle flowering now in Lincolnshire on the woodland edge.
The White Admiral butterfly prefers laying its eggs on that plant in partial shade (dappled sunlight).
From what I have seen, the leaves are lighter green or yellowish on plants in full sun and yellow (less nutritious) on plants in full shade. I think that, that simplicity in thinking can help manage those woodland plants grow to full maturity on the trees they climb.

Bramble blossoms in partial shade, is "nectar rich" during that Butterflies flight period.

Looking back at my diary history, regarding butterfly flight times, I know Rob Hill (a friend of mine) on several occasions might have taken credit for first emergence at a Bookham Common, but instead that data was used to calculate the appearance of that other special butterfly.

Kind Regards,

Philip

[PhilBJohnson]

Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire

Overwintered Female Small Tortoiseshell 2nd June 2017

[David M]

That's exceptionally late, Phil. The summer brood should be emerging any time now! Maybe she'll meet one of her offspring perhaps?

[PhilBJohnson]

New Summer brood Small Tortoiseshell. This picture was taken with my iphone just before it started raining.... I did not get any closer to the butterfly seen centrally when zoomed into the picture but a good habitat record shot on the 2nd June date.
As far as I am aware, the file info. date can be changed after a picture is taken with an iphone, with software updates before this date.

The old Washingborough Railway Station, Washingborough, Lincolnshire. 2nd Brood
(It's raining now)
My theory is, that large (or larger UK butterflies) are more likely to be ‘annually single brooded’, just based upon their ‘evolutionary general size’,alone.
The Small Tortoiseshell, being slightly smaller than the Peacock (but hibernates in a relatively similar way), is first out of it’s pupa, having fully developed, as brooded from an over-wintered adult, raised on nettles.
The Peacock (also raised on nettles, at about the same time of year is a nice comparison species).
It was thought that the Peacock had an approximate one month break (as seen on the wing as an adult in Lincolnshire recently) from a very approximate:
mid June to mid July.

[PhilBJohnson]

The White Admiral in Lincolnshire
The Lincolnshire White Admiral species has been important in recent history (up to 2017) as being in The northern most limit of it's range in the UK.
My colleague Peter Cawdell saw his first White Admiral Butterfly in LIncolnshire on 13th June in Southrey Woods, Bardney (near to where I have worked with him).
"The season was very early this year as also shown by Rob Hill's first sighting of a Purple Emperor butterfly at Bookham Common in Surrey on a date "seasonally earliest" in living memory. Rob has the knowledge to find and record those wild butterflies first, as he has photographically proven year on year".

Peter Cawdell's early Lincolnshire sighting prompted me in some planning, to study the early emergence of The White Admiral butterfly in Old Wood, Skellingthorpe owned and managed by The Woodland Trust.

My presence was noted in Old Wood, Skellingthorpe on 15th June.
Here is an early Lincolnshire Lementis camilla filmed for UKB & BC, also eventually I hope, The Woodland Trust who manage this site):
https://youtu.be/tlZFvQagxyg (listed youtube video clip viewed only from this link).

[PhilBJohnson]

On 17th June 2017 (my birthday),-White Admiral
A short video message: https://youtu.be/KgjMXgKPrZQ
"Melissa and I studied White Admiral Behaviour in Old Wood, Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire.
Collectively we have approx. 140 photos or media clips to edit using our Apple Inc phones and editing software.

Roosting- Exact positions not recorded by me yet but obvious general locations include Oak at about the height of the top of a Honeysuckle. The butterflies then sun themselves high up in the Oak Canopy in the morning where the wood gets its first sunlight in those microclimatic places - One can look before 8:00am
I have observed duelling (or sparing) and probable in-flight courtship. Quite fresh males observed with wing damage on 17th June
Mating-Not seen by me yet but has mating been "imagery recorded" in the wild yet?

If you can find my Purple Emperor videos and Purple Hairstreak videos on previous links, someone might understand the length of time it takes to produce the gathered data with our own new understanding which I think will be a help to those interested in the science of the White Admiral species".

[Wurzel]

Happy belated Birthday Phil I'm in the garden at the mo but I'll have a look at your video later - Philzoid and I watched duelling and courtship of White Admiral in East Blean- the later seemed similar to Silver Washed

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[PhilBJohnson]

17th June 2017 Late Peacock Butterfly

Arable field boundary edge to Old Wood, Skellingthorpe.

20th August. A nice hedge boundary precident near to a Lottery funded Wild Flower Meadow in Navenby, Lincolnshire. #Common Blue

Thanks Wurzel,
This Butterfly was found on the edge of Old Wood, Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire. It is the latest individual from the 2016-2017 generation I have seen.
"It was noted on private land (owned by a good friend's neighbour's family who have allowed access here along the field edge by verbal consent through that good friend)."
#WoodlandParcels
#ArableFieldBoundaries

Kind Regards

[PhilBJohnson]

https://youtu.be/0lT8vH18h8k -Youtube video link (unlisted).
The above video link is from Old Wood, Skellingthorpe and was dedicated to my son and my Wife.
It might well be of interest to some people with Comma life cycle expertise. I apologise for the
out of focus footage, but I kept it, for it's unusual content.
Here is an "edited in" clip (filmed on 17th June, edited on 7th August 2017) of the Territorial White Admiral Butterfly. I have found the males to be most aggressive soon after emerging. A sunny location, often on Hazel (at that height) is preferred to perch and intercept males or paasing females.
Wing damage from duelling. A listed youtube video can be seen from this link:

https://youtu.be/yq6dtTlkzwU

"Melissa and I have started reading - THE BUTTERFLIES OF SUSSEX

Please find me on Facebook.
Search:

Philip Byerley Johnson.

Kind Regards,