October 2009 Sightings

[Zonda]

Susie, i love the new animated avatar. Where did you make it, or with what did you make it. Always had an interest in animation. Also,, does it depict you and your partner?

[NickB]

Hi Zonda, sorry to muck up your plan, but I'm pretty sure that the Sigma 105 Macro, will not take a converter, not a Sigma one at least. Regards Gruditch

Yes - wrong stick But a valid point - the Kenco Pro TCs seem to work well with most lenses.
Beware own-brand, expensive TC's as not all their own lens are compatible! I include Nikon, Sigma and I believe Canon, tho' Gary will put me right no doubt!
N
(Someone reported seeing a Clouded Yellow here in Cambridge last week!)

[Jack Harrison]

Zonda:

Susie, i love the new animated avatar

Sorry, but I don’t agree – it’s a distraction out of the corner of the eye. There is another one of a flapping butterfly that is even more annoying. Animated avatars in general are not to my liking.

Jack

[Denise]

I was very surprised to see a very fresh Speckled Wood in the garden today, along with 3 red Admiral.

Denise

[Susie]

I will pm you about the vebena, Jack. Do you want me to remove my avatar? I will if it annoys you that much.

I didn't make the avatar myself, I got it from a friend. And no, I don't hit my husband or vice versa, Zonda.

Painted lady and red admiral in the back garden today.

[Zonda]

Susie replied:

And no, I don't hit my husband or vice versa, Zonda.

Gosh,,, that's a relief,,i hate hubby abuse. Painted lady and Red Admiral in my garden also.

[Gruditch]

the Kenco Pro TCs seem to work well with most lenses.
Beware own-brand, expensive TC's as not all their own lens are compatible! I include Nikon, Sigma and I believe Canon, tho' Gary will put me right no doubt!

I think a Sigma converter will work on a Canon lens, but Canon converter won't work on a Sigma lens. Well not on the ones we tried it on anyway.

Saw 3 Painted Lady's today, the fist I've seen in 3 weeks.

Regards Gruditch

[Zonda]

Aah! True,,,,,,,, but a Nikon TC-14E will work on a 105mm micro nikkor, and give me a little more distance. Even tho the larger TCs might not be suitable.....I think. Saw a Red admiral and a Painted Lady in the garden this morning.

[Jack Harrison]

Susie:

Jack. Do you want me to remove my avatar?

No no. It doesn't irritate all that much. But it probably would if everyone had an animated avatar. I suppose I was trying to nip the idea in the bud.

Jack

[Matsukaze]

Six Red Admirals, apparently freshly emerged, together on an ivy bush on Bathampton Down today. The first time I have seen more than one of this species at once this year.

[NickB]

Do you want me to remove my avatar? I will if it annoys you that much.

What an incredibly nice bunch on UKB!
(Surely annoying Jack should be an aim, not an accident )

[Perseus]

Hello,

26 October 2009
My walk along the Pixie Path found the identical Holly Blue Butterfly of the previous day. This was followed by a very pale Clouded Yellow and a bright yellow one. I thought I was going to draw a complete blank on the lower slopes of Mill Hill, when a pure white black lined Clouded Yellow fluttered rapidly past. This was the first time I had seen a completely white one and I have identified this this as a female Clouded Yellow var. Helice, which would be a first for Mill Hill and Shoreham.

Then to my surprise a nearly new male Adonis Blue was spotted on a single Devil's Bit Scabious flower its presence preventing a female Common Blue from landing. The iridescence was quickly noticeable when the Adonis Blue was first spotted. Seven species of butterfly, including another Clouded Yellow, were seen on an overcast day.

Adur Butterfly & Large Moth List
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Butterfly-list2009.html

Cheers

Andy Horton
glaucus@hotmail.com
Adur Valley Nature Notes
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Adur2009.html
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Adur2008.html
Adur Valley Nature Notes: October 2009
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Oct2009.html

[Zonda]

Surely annoying Jack should be an aim, not an accident )

What a wizard wheeze,,,lets all get an animated avatar, and give Jack an epileptic fit.

[Jack Harrison]

Nick:

(Surely annoying Jack should be an aim, not an accident )

I get annoyed very easily so that wouldn’t be much of a challenge. But if you really want to see me in full rant mode, then visit some of the other forums I use. (fora to be really nitpicking). My particular hate is.......

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

Denise wrote a while ago but for some reason I missed it:

The plant is VERBENA BONARIENSIS

Many thanks Denise. Susie gave the same i/d a couple of days ago and she is sending me some seeds.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

The Times has an article today about the Queen of Spain:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/e ... 891280.ece

I would doubt as suggested in the article, that these are all offspring of a single immigrant female. I read somewhere that even butterflies have an inbuilt aversion to incest (sibling matings) so it could well be that more than one female arrived in July. If however, the incipient colony does originate from just one butterfly, then surely in-breeding will mean that it isn’t viable in the longer term? I am not a geneticist so stand to be corrected.

Jack

[m_galathea]

I think Jack, given the rarity of QoS immigrants, that this brood probably were all from one female.

Here's a study into inbreeding in the Glanville Fritillary in Finland:
http://www.sekj.org/PDF/anzf40/anzf40-483.pdf

They found that the effects of inbreeding were most pronounced after the second generation (ie from inbred parents). They also say that females do not discriminate against siblings as mates. Whether this is the case or not for Queen of Spain Fritillaries I do not know.

I presume as you do that this population of QoS would not be viable for long unless new genetic material found its way in. I am not sure how small the chances are of this happening.

Alexander

[Susie]

Painted ladies, comma and peacocks in the garden today.

[Dave McCormick]

Not much about here today, weather was dull, but it was slightly warm. Using 6Watt Heath moth trap last night I found this very well marked, beauitful moth, The Chestnut:


Also found 9 normal chestnuts, 2 Errippa sp (sp?), 8 The Brick, 2 Feathered thorn (1 male and 1 female), 1 Red-Green Carpet and 1 Green Brindled Crescent.

[Mikhail]

My usual walk along the Boscombe & Southbourne cliffs on Tuesday revealed that almost all the Painted Ladies had gone, only 5 being seen. Clouded Yellows were also in reduced numbers, but I might have seen more than 11 if the sun hadn't been weakened by high cloud . Many of my sightings were of roosting butterflies. A handful of Whites, large and small.

Misha