Neil Freeman

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the comments David, Nick and Wurzel

An hour around my local spot at Castle hills Solihull yesterday afternoon failed to produce any butterflies despite some glorious sunshine and nice blue skies. I think the rather cool blustery wind was keeping things tucked up as it was blowing directly onto the south facing hedges and corners which are the usual spots where I would normally expect to see something.

Dull and grey this morning with a band of rain heading in for this afternoon so it looks like it will be next weekend before I get another chance, weather permitting.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Sunday 15th March

A fairly dismal weekend with dull grey overcast most of the time and temperatures well down in single figures meant that I spent most of the time doing jobs in the house. I still haven't seen a butterfly yet although last week my son Chris beat me to it by seeing a couple of Brimstones around Stratford where his girlfriend lives.

With the murky weather, the birds in the garden seemed quieter this weekend with less activity going on, although all the usual suspects turned up at some time or other including a dinky little Goldcrest. I am not sure how many of these delightful little birds visit the garden as I only usually see one at a time and they are very quick and never seem to stay still. These don't often come to the feeder but every now and then one will dart across and give me about the only chance I get to get a quick photo, as usual through the back room window.

Goldcrest - Coverdale 15.03.2015

Goldcrest - Coverdale 15.03.2015

By this time last year I had seen Small Tortoiseshells, Peacocks, and Commas in good numbers plus a few Brimstones, so for me this season is starting off slower than last year. The weekend weather would mostly account for this but also by mid March last year I was seeing butterflies in the garden whereas this year, nothing so far.

Bye for now,

Neil

[Wurzel]

Great shots of the Goldcrest Neil If you're not seeing butterflies now hoefully it'll mean all the more when they do start emerging

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Cheers Wurzel, managed to kick off my season this afternoon

Friday 20th March

After a misty start to the morning, most of it had burnt off by 09.30 to leave a thin high overcast for the eclipse. Being at work I had a limited opportunity to watch it but did manage to catch a few minutes as it reached its peak. No photos unfortunately as I didn't have my camera with me, I am on auto pilot a bit at 06.00 when I leave for work and didn't think to take it.

After finishing work at lunchtime I went home and then with Jane we went around for our usual Friday afternoon visit to my Mom, this time making sure I had my camera...just in case A bit later, with a large patch of blue sky heading over, I left the women chatting and went to stretch my legs around the park just down the road.

By now it was feeling pleasantly warm and with very little wind I felt sure that it was looking good to see my first butterfly of 2015 and sure enough it wasn't long before I spotted a bright orange shape flitting back and forth along a stretch of overgrown hedge...a Comma
As is often the way with these butterflies, he kept returning to the same spot to bask which gave me the opportunity to get a few shots,

Comma - Langley Hall 20.03.2015

Comma - Langley Hall 20.03.2015

Continuing on my circuit I soon saw a Peacock, quickly followed by a Small Tortoiseshell, and during the next hour I ended up with a total of 5 Small Tortoiseshells and 3 Peacocks at various spots around the park. these were all quite active and only settled for short periods giving me brief opportunities for record shots.

Small Tortoiseshell - Langley Hall 20.03.2015

Peacock - Langley Hall 20.03.2015

The Small Tortoiseshells included a courting pair that settled for a bit longer before being disturbed by a second male where upon all three took off out of site over the hedges,

Small Tortoiseshells - Langley Hall 20.03.2015

Small Tortoiseshells - Langley Hall 20.03.2015

With all three of the common hibernators around here seen this afternoon I was well chuffed with my little wander Brimstones are often a bit hit and miss for me early in the season as they often only fly for a couple of hours which, with me working in the week and often busy in the mornings at weekends, limits my opportunities to see them. Also I have never yet seen an early Red Admiral around here, but with climate change, maybe I will one day.

Now looking forward to the Specklies and Orange-tips to start emerging.

Bye for now,

Neil

[trevor]

HI Neil,

Three out of the five early spring regulars can't be bad, judging by their condition it could almost be high summer!.
Lovely images too. However my first sighting this year was a Red Admiral on 17th Feb. But the weather round here
has been too cool for much Butterfly activity ever since.

Best wishes,
TREVOR.

[Goldie M]

Lovely images Neil, glad you managed to get them, you've made a great start to the season so far I've only seen them, the weathers gone cold again here worse luck. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Great shots Neil Still need to find my first Comma and Peacock - hopefully I'll make it to Five Rivers tomorrow.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the comments Trevor, Goldie, Wurzel

This weekend seemed very much like one step forward and two back since Friday afternoon with yesterday being cloudy and cold and today being deceptively sunny but with an underlying chill remaining in the air.
Nevertheless, the sun this afternoon tempted me out for a look around my local spot at Castle Hills near Solihull where a circuit of the footpaths that cross the site produced a flypast by a single Small Tortoiseshell.
I noticed that the sallow catkins are still small and some way from flowering yet and likewise the blackthorn buds are still very small, both of which are usually starting to flower before things really get going around here.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Friday 27th March

A cool and breezy Friday with a few spells of warmer sunshine early this afternoon. A short 30 minute wander around the park by my Moms house produced a single Peacock that quickly disappeared into some trees and a single Small Tortoiseshell that lingered for a bit longer before it too flew into some shrubs when it clouded over again.

Small Tortoiseshell - Langley Hall 27.03.2015

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Sunday 5th April - Easter Sunday

A trip up to Nottingham this morning to collect my youngest son who returned yesterday from a week in Spain with some of his mates from the University. By the time we were back home in the early afternoon the temperature was rising nicely and the sun peeked through the cloud cover a few times to make for an afternoon that was much more pleasant than recent days have been.
I decided to spend a couple of hours in the garden and was rewarded with my first butterflies seen there this year, a Brimstone that as usual passed through without stopping, and a Peacock that seemed to be doing a circuit between a couple of neighbours gardens and my own.
The Peacock stopped to settle a few times but every time it did so was during a cloudy spell which meant that it kept its wings firmly closed. Still, this did give me the chance to take a few underside shots which showed off the subtle black shades to nice effect.

Peacock - Coverdale 05.04.2015

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Monday 6th April - Easter Monday

Ahh! that's better

Well today certainly turned out better than forecast with wall to wall blue skies and the temperature reaching the giddy heights of 18 degrees this afternoon. Some family stuff first in the morning but by lunchtime I was in the garden and the butterflies were showing up with at least 4 separate Peacocks identified by photos showing differences in wear and damage.

Peacock - Coverdale 06.04.2015

Peacock - Coverdale 06.04.2015

Peacock - Coverdale 06.04.2015

Peacock - Coverdale 06.04.2015

Peacock - Coverdale 06.04.2015

A couple of Brimstones also showed up, a male that passed through without stopping and a female that investigated the Alder Buckthorn at the bottom of the garden. With the buds on these only just showing some life she didn't seem too interested in laying but she did stop around for a while and settled a couple of times.

Brimstone female - Coverdale 06.04.2015

Brimstone female - Coverdale 06.04.2015

With singles of Comma and Small Tortoiseshell high up on the Sallow, this gave me 4 species in the garden in less than an hour

With the weather being so good I just had to make the most of it so I decided to head round to one of my local spots at Bickenhill near Solihull. Setting off along a public footpath that leads to a field where I had seen loads of Peacocks and small Tortoiseshells last year I felt sure that there would be some about. So it proved to be with something like two dozen Peacocks and half a dozen Small Tortoiseshells seen in a couple of hours during the afternoon.
There was lots of territorial and courtship activity going on, with the Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells particularly, chasing each other about and spiralling up into the air in groups of 3, 4 or even 5 butterflies of both species together.

Small Tortoiseshell - Bickenhill 06.04.2015

Small Tortoiseshell - Bickenhill 06.04.2015

Small Tortoiseshell - Bickenhill 06.04.2015

Peacocks - Bickenhill 06.04.2015

Peacock - Bickenhill 06.04.2015

Peacock - Bickenhill 06.04.2015

Some favoured basking spots were quite popular as shown by these 2 different Peacocks soaking up the sun in the same spot,

Peacock - Bickenhill 06.04.2015

Peacock - Bickenhill 06.04.2015

A couple of Brimstone males were seen patrolling the hedgerows and a couple of Commas were holding territories at opposite ends of the field,

Comma - Bickenhill 06.04.2015

Comma - Bickenhill 06.04.2015

Comma - Bickenhill 06.04.2015

Although I had seen a few butterflies so far this year, the season had felt a bit start, stop, with the past couple of weeks feeling like it was going nowhere fast. Today finally felt like the season was off to a proper start around here with good numbers of hibernators waking up and on the wing

Bye for now,

Neil.

[millerd]

Lovely shots, Neil. Yes - it definitely felt truly like Spring today.

Dave

[trevor]

HI Neil,
Good to know that there was a good emergence of Peacocks in your part of the World as well.
Given the distance from Sussex to your area , it could be that today marked the start of mass emergence
in other parts also. Some would say about time !.

Have a good season,
TREVOR.

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Neil especially those Peacocks:D It seems like your season is finally off with a BANG!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Very nice spring photos, Neil we've waited what seems like a long time for this moment.

Mike

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the comments Dave, Trevor, Wurzel and Mike

Tuesday 7th April

With another day off work and plenty of blue sky and warm sun I rushed through a few little jobs at home this morning and then headed around to Castle Hills at Solihull for the afternoon. As soon as I got out of the car I was 'buzzed' by a Peacock and heading off down the footpaths it soon became apparent that there were loads around again. During the course of a couple of hours wandering the paths around this site I saw them everywhere, I lost count around 30 and gave up counting but there must have been dozens all along the paths and hedgerows.
In the warm afternoon sun they were often settling with wings closed but as I got my eye in I could often pick out the dark triangle of a settled butterfly in the grass. On the occasions when I found one basking with wings open I found getting a photo 'challenging' as, more often as not, as soon as I lined up the shot another one would fly past and they would both spiral off up into the air.

Peacock - Castle Hills 07.04.2015

If not settled down in the grass they were often nectaring on the flowering Sallow or Blackthorn but in these cases they were often high up out of reach although I did manage some shots by stretching up and making full use of the articulated screen on my FZ150.

Peacock - Castle Hills 07.04.2015

Peacock - Castle Hills 07.04.2015

There were also something like a dozen each of Small Tortoiseshells and Commas around the hedges and which would often get involved in the territorial antics with the Peacocks.

The Small Tortoiseshell below looked particularly pale compared to the others seen, not sure if this is caused by fading or if it is a genuine pale individual,

Small Tortoiseshell - Castle Hills 07.04.2015

All the others seen were in varying condition but in colour looked more typical like these,

Small Tortoiseshell - Castle Hills 07.04.2015

Small Tortoiseshell - Castle Hills 07.04.2015

There was also a Comma that almost had a summer 'hutchinsoni' look to it, brighter and with a paler underside than the others...

Comma - Castle Hills 07.04.2015

Comma - Castle Hills 07.04.2015

compared to the more typical ones seen,

Comma - Castle Hills 07.04.2015

Comma - Castle Hills 07.04.2015

Comma - Castle Hills 07.04.2015

Comma - Castle Hills 07.04.2015

With a single Brimstone seen early in the afternoon, this made for the same 4 species seen again. No Orange-tips or Specklies yet but they can't be long now given the recent weather and the fact I have seen that they are out not that far away from me.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[David M]

Neil, I'm sure the warm weather this week will see decent numbers of Pierids/Specklies, etc very soon in your part of the world.

Nice images of the vanessids.

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks David, still no Orange-tip yet but I did get my first Specklie this afternoon

Wednesday 8th April

My last day off work for Easter and it followed the same theme of doing some jobs around the house this morning before heading out this afternoon. Today we went around to see my Mom before she heads off up north to stop for a week with my brother in Newcastle. After chatting for a bit I left Jane and Mom talking and went for a wander around the park just down the road. There was a bit more cloud about today but with plenty of patches of blue sky still and with plenty of warm sun in the breaks.

I was soon seeing butterflies and for once the Peacocks were outnumbered by the Small Tortoiseshells with 3 of the former seen and at least 6 of the latter, including a courting pair that I got some shots of before the female shot off and gave the male the slip,

Small Tortoiseshells - Langley Hall 08.04.2015

Small Tortoiseshells - Langley Hall 08.04.2015

Small Tortoiseshells - Langley Hall 08.04.2015

Small Tortoiseshell - Langley Hall 08.04.2015

At one point my eye was attracted to a butterfly with a more flapping fight pattern which proved to be my first Speckled Wood of the year I followed this with my eye and marked where it settled in the grass and after slowly approaching and taking a couple of photos noticed it was a slightly worn female.

Speckled Wood female - Langley Hall 08.04.2015

This surprised me a bit as I have not seen any males yet but then again, thinking about it, I saw a female in my garden last year before any males.

Back home later in the later in the afternoon, there were a couple of Peacocks and a Comma flitting about. The one Peacock made me smile as the eyespot markings on its hindwings looked like little smiley faces which I thought just summed up the past few days

Peacock - Coverdale 08.04.2015

Back to work tomorrow, still just a couple of days and its the weekend again

Bye for now,

Neil

[bugboy]

Great pics Neil, that smiley faced peacock even has a parting in it's hair!

[David M]

Great images, Neil.

Seems like Peacocks are having an outstanding spring thus far!

Long may it continue.