Strawberry Trees. That reminds me. Back in 1972, my friend came down from London to visit us in Gloucester in his car where he had recently fitted an uprated engine into it. Invited me to take a spin round the block which I gladly accepted. My wife joined us ~ no kids back then ~ and that spin round...

The large potted Strawberry Tree [ Arbutus unedo ] in my garden has put on the best display of Blossoms and developing fruit in all the thirty odd years I have had it. It is smothered in Flower Clusters and developing berries from last season's blossoms. They started to appear about two-three weeks ...

I emerged from hibernation a few weeks ago and visited my own personal small Nature Reserve purchased thirty years ago and managed with wildlife and plants in mind ever since. On arrival delighted to flush a couple Hares who quickly legged it away and soon out of sight. When I first got it, it was m...

Females do wander some distance in search of new egg-laying sites. Very true Guy, have seen Wood White females moving along lanes and roadsides presumably seeking new habitat for their offspring far away from any woodlands. My favourite W.Gloucestershire Woodlands never had Wood Whites in it during...

I'll see your Alpine "Exotica" Guy and raise you one freshly emerged male Ringlet, in my garden today. It hung around for several minutes but I did not have my image capturing device handy...... typical. Even so, delighted to see this somewhat rare garden visitor again. Was a frequent sigh...

Having transferred fifteen larger Brimstone Larvae to free growing bushes in my field, I checked the two potted plants of Alder Buckthorn plants in my garden. I counted at least fifteen more larvae of various sizes and I fear for my poor plants. So in total at least thirty larvae on the two potted b...

How come no images? Got me stumped. It looks like you added them as attachments, but never added them to the post! I've reinstated them, but I'm not sure what belongs where. Please edit! Cheers, - Pete Just seen this Pete. Thank you. Will sort it out later. Can hardly keep my eyes open at the momen...

UPDATE:~ Checking my two potted plants for signs of larvae since counting those freshly laid ova, at least twenty probably more unseen both on and under the leaves, proved disappointing. very few signs of any larval activity. Left it a week and follow up checks revealed a few very small larvae. Chec...

Good to see those Guy.

What was the attraction for these insects? Man made or natural?

Superb images in your latest post Guy. You sure know how to get the best out of a camera. Always good to see them. Fifty odd years I bought a pair of Zeiss West 10 x 50 Binoculars. They cost me a month's take home salary back then. It was money well spent. I used them to observe PEs settling down hi...

A tragedy that a site like that should be lost, CC. On the other hand, I believe the species is returning to former strongholds in East Anglia, so the empire is still thriving. Guy "Still thriving" Returning or been there all the time at such a low level, even frequent visits at the right...

Thank you David, Goldie and Andrew. I must confess to being a little obsessed with purple emperor caterpillars. You are not alone with that obsession Guy, it is a worldwide disorder ... :D... and no known cure.... :lol: The giveaway in both cases was the pattern of feeding damage on nearby leaves, ...

Spent a pleasant couple of hours working on the cars in the garden yesterday afternoon. Warm sunshine all day. At least two female Brimstones visited my potted plants. Could tell the difference as one was tatty with chunks missing from wings whilst the other near perfect despite being around ten mon...

Done, Neil. Further to Guy's comments: (WARNING: Lengthy preamble about Brits & cars!) I have a bee in my bonnet about the UK car registration plate - it's fairly uniquely LARGE, and openly advertises, for all who care to notice, the year of manufacture of the vehicle. I've long believed it to ...

From my observations, some species, maybe many, occasionally use alternative foodplants well removed and unrelated to their well known recorded ones. For instance, I observed Holly Blues ovipositing on Virginia Creeper. The ova were left on the plant near the growing tips. Then during a mid-winter s...

Much more amenable and photogenic was this green-underside blue: http://www.guypadfield.com/images2018/alexis5may2018b.jpg Guy Just spent a pleasant half hour catching up on your very interesting posts and images Guy. Many thanks for taking the time. The above image reminds me of my first ever enco...

The cold start to Spring locally meant my two potted Alder Buckthorns have been slow to come into full leaf. A month ago I saw a female Brimstone feeding on a Dandelion Flower... no other nectar sources in this slow start to Spring temperatures. The insect did not stay long. My potted plants had bar...

Regarding w-album ova earlier in Guy's thread, I found one on Prunus spinosa when searching for the other two species you'd expect to find on that shrub. Out of interest I raised it on Blackthorn Flowers mostly which appear before the leaves. It produced a fine female some weeks later. My observatio...

A really positive sign of Spring arriving and a delight to my old minces today.. ;) 2018-03-20 Peacock Post-hibernation Sun Basking in garden. 001.JPG 2018-03-20 Peacock Post-hibernation Sun Basking in garden. 003.JPG Last month on a sunny day, I did briefly see a black butterfly pass quickly across...

Despite several overnight clear skies with three very hard frosts during the past week or so, including a hard frost overnight yesterday, I saw a strong flying Red Admiral in the garden in yesterday's sunshine as I worked on one of my cars. Unlike today, with continuous rain in Gloucester area with ...