Pete, I looked through my copy of Morris today (6th ed, 1890), and there are a few leads you might be interested in. I don't know if these are any different to the first edition: Green veined White is referred to as just Green Veined. Heath Fritillary includes the name White May Fritillary in the se...

Dear all, I have two books for sale as I now have other copies of them. Thanks, Alex Henderson. Butterflies by E.B. Ford Facsimile of the first Collins New Naturalist book, published in 1945. This copy was printed in 2008 but is a faithful reproduction of the 1st edition. The dust jacket is in almos...

31st July 2016: Darren Fawr, Brecknockshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve, Merthyr Tydfil: I chanced upon a colony of Grayling butterflies along the western slopes which looked like it was doing well. The area immediately south of Danydarren quarry had most. Other species included Small Heath, Speck...

Hi Kevin,

I visited Lathkill Dale in Derbyshire on Saturday. Orange-tips were more common here than most places I visit. Three Green Hairstreaks were also present.
The other species I noted were Green-veined White, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Speckled Wood.

Regards
Alex

I saw one looking fresh on 7th September 2006 in Sussex. That summer was lovely and long - my last first brood White Admiral was on 2nd August and the last Silver-washed fritillary was on 4th September.
Alex

6th July 2014 : Fermyn Wood, Northants: Arriving under the dark skies, of what I think was the rather uncommon Undulatus Asperatus cloud formation, the day picked up around 11am in Titchmarsh Wood with a male Purple Emperor up in an oak. It wasn't long before he flew down to investigate Kinga's pur...

Hi Neil, Lovely to read of your Mountain Ringlet success. I was above Langdale, not too far east of you on Saturday accompanied mainly by thin clouds and Small Heaths on the high ground... the sun did come out in to make a splendid evening, but not before I was back down in the dale. All the best Al...

Not sure where that came from but I noticed earlier this year that it is written on the reserve sign too. Nice place to watch sunset from : ) Alex

Possibly, the average number of recording on my watch is down by over 50% but on the only perfect week for recording this year, I found that numbers were still down, but only by 25% That is interesting, and it is good to know that the recorded number was not so bad during good conditions. Do you th...

Quite a lot of my casual records are drive-by sightings. Depends where you drive, I guess. On country roads with uncut verges, you can get quite a few in most years. Isn't it rather sad how removed man has become from nature? Has butterfly watching become something which revolves around counting nu...

Hi Jack,
the flowers you saw on the 8th May are Early Forget-me-not by my reckoning - Guy wasn't far off. They have tiny flowers, are very hairy and live in dry places as you describe.

Alex

Today I spotted this little beastie... It was it in a quite a distict heathland habitat, which is quite a rarity in itself around these parts. It stood out to me as the wing shape is different to all the other micro moths I have seen. So, any ideas on the ID? Is it even a moth? Cheers, Alex Location...

Perfectly normal in my eyes. No two are exactly the same and so the extent of the marking is variable.

As an aside, I am not keen on the image stacking. It has made the underside shot look particularly unnatural. Just a personal observation.

12th May 2012 : Sutton Park, Birmingham Green Hairstreaks are now flying. Also present were many Adela reamurella , Brimstones and Peacocks . The two pictures below show the effect of longer lens choice. The telephoto shot was taken with the help of a monopod. Both were at F14. GH 800 1.JPG Green H...

Dunsford used to have all but Heath and Glanville although unfortunately I don't think that's the case now.

Looking at the Devon BC map (http://devon-butterflies.org.uk/Home.htm) for the High Brown Fritillary a huge decline on East Dartmoor can be seen over just the last couple of years. Very sad.

thanks in advance for any help! It certainly is in advance! Anyway, the area around Aish Tor is lovely, and (at least the last time I was there) excellent fritillary country. The Dart Valley is extensive with many tucked away places - it's all about exploring and you'll come across some great spots...

Regardless of this MP's views, I suspect he has broken the rules by publishing a letter that was sent to him by a constituent complete with contact details. Is the ICO the correct group to advise in this instance?

Alex

http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations ... tical.aspx

I am pleased to see investment in railways. HS2 isn't just to make journey times faster it also increases capacity, in particular i believe that this extra capacity will be used by freight. I hope that HS2 prooves more reliable than the ancient system we have in place at the moment - two points fail...

Hi Nick,

doesn't Adela cuprella have more colourful wings? I would have said this is Adela reaumurella but my moth knowledge is fairly limited.

Alex

All far too confusing... perhaps we should just refer to butterflies through anagrams. The small skipper could become lark's pimples, and other species could be the leather wig and the ornate pig