Thanks Guy.

Of course I was secretly hoping it might be a pale clouded yellow, but I'll gladly take a helice!

Simon

Can anyone confirm the id of this, please. Am I right with helice?

Thanks.

Simon

Hi Chris, Do Chalkhill Blues really occur there? I know they used to be just along the ridge at Bannerdown but have never heard of them on Solsbury Hill. Not as far as I know, although I admit I haven't been up there for a couple of years. I'm not sure if they are still at Bannerdown either - there ...

Whilst trying to confirm a vague memory I had for a forum posting elsewhere , a google search through up this random link, which has a startling revelation in the fourth paragraph: http://www.btcv.org.uk/cgi-bin/office_opps_ind_task.cgi?region=sw&office=113&task=1285946641.3907728&shared...

Hi Rob, My pleasure! I was slightly disappointed with the photos I got given the number of SSS around, although the main aim of the day was the walk. The Surrey Wildlife Trust information board states the site is good for silver spotted skipper's because the quarry walls reflect heat and mean the te...

The reference to the Apollo on Silbury Hill is from Emmet and Heath. I just checked. It was in 1920 and coincided with other unusual records of migrants in the UK. CJB, where near Warminster is that? I did a very enjoyable walk in July, Warminster Station - Battlesbury Hill - Middle Hill - Scratchbu...

This is a description of a walk I did in North Wiltshire on Tuesday, which took in several good sites for butterflies. There are a few photos at the end. I started at Cherhill [train to Chippenham, bus to Calne, walk just past Quemerford and then into the countryside heading up towards the Cherhill/...

Which is, of course, what the percentage is. I would much rather know that the percentage chance of rain is 25%, then have a forecaster make a judgement that it is not going to rain and say that. I am perfectly relaxed about the idea that different models give different predictions, and would be sur...

Excellent. I'll bookmark that. Will be useful next time I am heading that way. Maybe if I am after this:

http://cintos.org/SaginawManifold/Obliq ... age65.html

Simon

Hi Jack, I agree entirely about the benefits of percentages. Why don't they get used here? I spent 12 days walking and sightseeing in Switzerland earlier this summer, at a time when the weather as a whole was rather unsettled and changeable. However, by using the meteonews.ch web site I was able to ...

I visited this site last Saturday, whilst walking the North Downs Way from Dorking towards Reigate [if anyone heads that way by train from Bath, ticket-splitting at Didcot saves ~£25 :?]. It is an industrial heritage site now managed for wildlife by Surrey Wildlife Trust, about 20 minutes walk from ...

padfield wrote:As I said a couple of posts ago, Simon...

Guy

Brilliant!

Simon

padfield wrote: When the accelerator's up and running that central pipe carries two beams of proton pulses travelling in opposite directions at almost the speed of light.

Hi Guy,

You say that as those we are supposed to be impressed. Now, if they travelled at almost the speed of neutrinos....

Simon

The Grayling is not a butterfly I am that familiar with. They do not occur in my local patch, and the occasional sighting near the north Somerset coast such as Brean Down always left me with the impression that the butterfly was not at home in the environment - maybe because sightings were invariabl...

These species-specific forums have been a great reason to go through last years photos, and have brought back many a happy memory. I can't wait for things to get underway in 2012. This one's from Bentley Wood. I am a sucker for a butterfly posing on a sculptural piece of vegetation, and the emergenc...

Years back I remember a very well known gardening magazine illustrating an article on gardening for butterflies with - of all things- a photo of a Large Copper! I did not write to them at the time but I intend as I find these non-butterflies or aliens to gently point out that there are British mode...

padfield wrote:

Simon C wrote:Also, is this the first ever record of a butterfly using a walking stick?

I believe His Imperial Majesty holds a sceptre, not a walking stick!

Guy

Of course he does! How stupid of me!

Simon

I have never seen a Purple Emperor in the UK, but I have been fortunate enough to chance across them regularly, if infrequently, on holidays in Switzerland. The individual below was sighted during a holiday last July. Sarah was feeling unwell so I spent the day out alone, and took the opportunity to...

2011 was a good year for Orange Tips locally, and our efforts in the local Millenium wood to get Jack-by-the-Hedge established in significant amounts are starting to pay off, with a good increase in sightings of the species at all stages of the life-cycle. Previously we have been rather reliant on s...

This is a favourite of mine for a few reasons. It is a photo I actually planned, rather than one taken when the opportunity arose, and (unusually, for me ) it actually came out something like I had in mind. I also think as an image it wouldn't work nearly as well if it were any other UK species - ce...