Excellent report, Pete. I have all on these days scrambling up hillsides for a closeup of an Adonis Blue, so am rather envious of your adventures and achievements. A thoroughly good read and cracking photos.

9.10.23 An unusual occurrence witnessed in our butterfly garden: on this gorgeous warm and sunny autumn day a female Brimstone being observed feeding from French marigolds, rose up at a passing male and chased him around the garden, in exactly the same way as the males do in the spring.After a few m...

A totally unexpected find just as I was leaving Chambers Farm Wood NNR in Lincolnshire on the 13th July 2023. In the car park, taking minerals from rocks there, was a magnificent almost pristine male Silver-Washed Fritillary aberration, I believe it to be ab. ocellata? DSC00556 (2).JPG DSC00593 (2)....

Despite at long last the WLH finally adapting our butterfly garden as part of their local domain, I missed their main emergence (being on holiday after the High Brown!) but did manage this rather different shot of one nectaring from globe thistle.

Didn't take many White Admiral photos during 2022 despite seeing many more than usual! I rather like this one on the nettles, and think of it as a White Admiral masquerading as a Red Admiral!

Let the demise of the Wall Brown be a wake-up call to one and all. I would never have thought that this lovely, friendly butterfly that used to accompany me along tracks, as well as a regular in our butterfly garden, would become restricted to upland and coastal areas. This photo shows how much the ...

I rather like this photo of a male Speckled Wood in our butterfly garden, perched in a beech hedge above the path, ready to lurch at any potential females passing by.

Small Tortoiseshell numbers were decimated during the summer and autumn broods here in Lincolnshire, hopefully they will make a swift recovery. These two shots I took have become personal favourites. Small Tortoiseshell upp feeding on pussy willow (3) 22-3-22 Windmill Lodge.JPG What a fantastic way ...

I wonder if I could use this favourite photo link to ask a question that has been bugging me about the Small Skipper for over 25 years. We have been visiting this fenland area of Lincolnshire where we now live for 30 years, and moved over and set up our butterfly garden in 1997. Throughout this time...

I took lots of photos of Small Heath in 2022 but this is the one I just have to include, as it is so rare to see this species with wings fully open. Even better that it was photographed in our butterfly garden, finally making a comeback after a ten year hiatus. Rare shot of Small Heath open-winged.J...

2022 was overall not a good season for the Small Copper and numbers were very down in our Lincolnshire butterfly garden. As often is the case, it was the third brood that did the best, this being one of that brood, feeding on fleabane and slightly showing the green iridescence that they sometimes re...

I have chosen this Silver-washed Fritillary shot because it shows off both sides of this male taking minerals from the ground. Photographed just before the ultra heatwave in July in the Lincolnshire Limewoods.

I took quite a few shots of the Silver-Spotted Skipper last August at Aston Rowant. I have chosen this female just for the fun element. Let the force be with her! Silver-spotted Skipper f und feeding from small scabious - may the force be with her 8-8-22 Bald Hill, Aston Rowant NR, Oxfordshire (2).J...

One of each sex from the ones I photo'd in 2022. Even this female looked almost black whilst fresh. Both taken in our butterfly garden in June. Male Female

Lots to choose from this year but I particularly like this Red Admiral underside shot feeding on cotoneaster in our butterfly garden in May.

The advanced season meant that I missed the emergence of the small colony in our butterfly garden, as we were away on a High Brown mission. Then the heatwave struck but needs must - they will find moisture/minerals somewhere in this drought.... this one was taking goodness from an acorn on one of ou...

In my neck of the woods the Purple Emperor was very early, then struck by the super heatwave which brought its flight period to a premature halt. I saw very few worthy of a photograph this year, but this was a nice touch with this male drinking the sweat from my friend's fingers in Chambers Farm Woo...

I found it curious how the Painted Lady never quite followed through from its initial arrivals in May and June, despite the extremely hot weather in July. That extreme heat might well be the reason they didn't become more numerous since its exactly those type of conditions they are escaping from du...

These are my two favourite PBF shots from 2022: an upperside shot of a male feeding from bugle, and an underside shot revealing its micro habitat, where we located it in late May, in the North Yorkshire Moors.

How the mighty have fallen! The numbers of the Peacock in our butterfly garden in 2022 were no more than in our very first year, 25 years ago, when the garden was hardly developed at all. Very frightening. And so, my choice of pic had to be this courtship one, in the hope that they soon bounce back ...