www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Lovely images, Reverdin.

I'd absolutely love to see this form of the species.

Thanks David... it is a little gem, worth a trip

Here's another shot from today...

Great stuff Paul. I really need to get north soon

Cheers,

- Pete

Lovely shots Rev Now how can I convince the rest of my family that a trip up North is necessary

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Superb Paul!! I was down there myself today from about 2.30 this afternoon it was quite a spectacle with the Small Copper and Wall Brown now heavily outnumbered . Just glad you had a great day.


Iain.

Thanks chaps.... hey if anyone does the long trek north (east), get in touch, I'm always up for a day out ..... and Ian... sorry I missed you.... hope you enjoyed it as mch as I did

not a butterfly... but my wildflower patch today....

2014
Finally the new season is underway up here. Wall to wall blue sky, and following the Commas, Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells which have been braving things for a while, today bought the first Orange Tips ( 2 males and 2 females) and Green-veined Whites.
So to celebrate....
Canon 7D AE mode 1/800 f9.0 iso125 exp comp -1/3 EF100mm Macro

A trip out for our local rubi provided a couple of decent images, the white spotting being a bit off white in a couple of them this year, no idea why. Also a rather pleasant bird encounter, excuse the poor quality, using a macro lens for bird photos is a bit hopeless

Paul
Impressed with both the GH and the Ring Ouzel. How close did you get? I used to see them on Exmoor, but they seem to have gone now - sad.
Good to see your season has got off to a good start.
I spent the weekend at Marsland and had some excellent PBF encounters.
See you soon.

Roger

That was from about 30 feet away.... never had one let me that close before.... think I dragged myself across every moorland thistle on my way though

PBFs a bit of a way off for me yet. Hope U both well

More Green Hairstreaks today... 2 reasons.. firstly I love them, secondly, there's not much else to see here at the moment.

Just wandered round the garden at dusk, and ended up gazing into the leaves of our two 20 foot Elms, Sapporo Gold, I planted some approx. 7 years ago. Whilst wondering which moth catty was creating all those ragged leaves, my eyes settled on first one, then a second slug like silhouette - low enough down to confirm White-letter Hairstreak has arrived, and all on it's own, no help from me (promise ) - If I can see two, how many more might there be... I just hope they survive the feeding birds. Sort of thing I had hoped for, and indeed planted the trees for... yay!
First Small Copper of the year for me last week.... and on my wild patch..... yay again!
Lastly, a couple of shots of the sort of mundane stuff you are all bored with now this year....

Paul
Brilliant news about the White-letter Hairstreak.
Is it worth while rearing one, protected from predators, in a sleeve?
Just a thought.

Hi Roger
I now see three ! I will just let nature take it's course.... I really would love this to become a regular habitat for them, but if it's going to, it needs to be naturally viable.... imagine sitting back with a cold one in the garden, contemplating WLH's going about their life with the thought they arrived 'cos I provided the trees.
Here's a pic from tonight....
Isn't that camouflage just brilliant !

Incidentally, Sapporo Gold seems to flower very early here, compared to Wych Elm. Mine have been flowering for 4 years now but the last 3 years, all the flowers destroyed by frost... this year has been so mild they were maintained to point of seed. I hope this won't mean the larvae will be wiped out in future years by more normal weather. I have put 2 Wych Elm by their side, as bought as "Bonzai's" at a very local Garden Centre.... They are now 10 foot and growing, but not yet at flowering maturity.

It's a brilliant thing you've done, Paul. And fantastic pictures of the cats, too. The pupae are difficult to find but with a cold thing, a pair of binoculars and a nice sunny evening you should be able to scan every twig and leaf ...

Guy

Cheers Guy, I will be unable to resist looking!!!..... the remains of many of the flowers, husk like now, are really really WLH pupa like, and it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack.... just reminds you how wonderfully the pupa mimics the host.

Oh, and one very lucky WLH larvae to have found you, wasn't he/ she. One more butterfly to grace our planet hopefully

fourth WLH catty now visible, I know it is number 4 'cos it's on the other tree!

One of the others has positioned itself on the upperside of a small leaf, looking like it has loosely pulled in an overhanging leaf, and is turning colour to pupate. So it's not aimed for the old flowerbud husks I thought it might. Will try to photo it tomorrow, too dark this eve.

Hmmm... all disappeared, including the one about to pupate.... I suspected they had been swept up by birds, but today, on scouring the branches yet again, I found this.....
( Blooming difficult to photograph, so forgive the shortcomings!!! )
So all is NOT lost... yay!

I think those are superb photos, Paul! And I agree, yay!

Guy