May 2023

[Trev Sawyer]

Spotted a Comma egg on a stinging nettle in the garden before the rain started this morning. Only after taking a macro shot of it did I realise how speckled the surface is.

[Pete Eeles]

Blimey, Trev - what equipment did you use for that?! Love it!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Padfield]

Incredible! Does the same camera (or lens) take normal butterfly shots? That looks as if it was taken through a microscope!

Guy

[Trev Sawyer]

I took it with a Canon MP-E 65 lens with a 2 x extender on a Canon R7 Pete. 13 individual shots focus-stacked (and heavily-cropped). You could probably photograph a micro moth with the lens at its minimum magnification Guy, but nothing any bigger.

[Roger Gibbons]

A morning at Inchcombe Hole on Thursday (the day after millerd) produced the best of the weather as it clouded over at lunchtime. There were several Dukes, all males some fresh and some already showing signs of wear, a male Holly Blue (doing something strange on the ground), Grizzled Skipper or two and a Dingy Skipper, plenty of Orange-tips and Brimstones, though.

The good feature of this location is that it is so deep is is almost totally shielded from the wind which was very gusty above.

A few pics:
A fresh male Duke

The Holly Blue

And a welcome, if somewhat battered, Peacock

Roger

[MrSp0ck]

A good day today at Hutchinsons & Chapel Banks. 4 different Duke of Burgundy pairs at the same time this afternoon when the sun came out, with those 8 busy for an hour, we counted others making at least 13 at the same time.

[Pauline]

That's an incredible image Trev and so informative. Who would've thought .......... have you got any others of different species? I'd love to see them.

[Wurzel]

Two Pearls in the Eastern Clearing at Bentley Wood around lunchtime today. Over the other side at Upper Highwood Copse 2 Painted Lady and a minimum count of 6 Pearls

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

Amazing Image Trev!

Visited Denbies Hillside yesterday and when the sun eventually appeared, around 2pm, I finally managed to catch up with a few Dingy Skippers. Also saw my first Small Heath of the year but it was one of a handful of Grizzled Skippers that was the pick of the bunch. I reckon if this lady could speak it would be with a very husky voice!

[David M]

A good day today at Hutchinsons & Chapel Banks. 4 different Duke of Burgundy pairs at the same time this afternoon when the sun came out, with those 8 busy for an hour, we counted others making at least 13 at the same time.

Love these images, Sp0ck. Must have been something in the air that day.

[MrSp0ck]

Yes plenty of it going on that day.

The Roman Snails at it too.
A great way to spend the coronation Sunday watching Dukes.

The first Dingy photos of the year too later in the Cutting at Hutchinsosn Bank

[Charles Nicol]

i took a risk with the weather this morning and went to Totternhoe Quarry.

fortunately the rain held off & there was an hour or so of enough sunshine to persuade the Dukes to pop out

the first butterfly i saw was a female Orange Tip.

a Dingy Skipper appeared as well.

[Bertl]

Green veined white at Grantown. Orange tip at Ardersier common. Green Hairstreak and Green Tiger Beetle at keiloch Crag near Braemar.

[millerd]

A strange day of weather, with occasional rain and hardly a minute of actual sunshine. It was quite warm though, and often bright - especially around lunchtime. I didn't expect to see much locally today, but was immediately met with a gaggle of Holly Blues, at the bottom of which there was a mating pair. They had obviously attracted the attention of several other males. Considering how many of the species there are here, it is very rare indeed to find pairings.

It was obviously not too dull for Orange Tips either, as they were as numerous and as active as the Holly Blues.

Females were nearly as numerous as the males - almost all the white butterflies seen were this species. A slightly unusual view was given when one landed above me.

One other candidate did turn out to be a nice female GVW...

...but virtually nothing else was flying.

Dave

[Charles Nicol]

a quick trip to Woodwalton Marsh this morning

Grizzled Skippers

Worn Green Hairstreak

Possible Dingy ( might have been a Mother Shipton )

Brown Argus

Small Copper

[Wolfson]

Found these two on a bench in my garden this afternoon. I don’t recall seeing this before. Still together 2 hours after I saw them.

[David M]

Found these two on a bench in my garden this afternoon. I don’t recall seeing this before. Still together 2 hours after I saw them.

I shouldn't need to explain it to the uninitiated, Wolfson, so I won't bother......

....that is stupendous!!!

Hardly a human being alive has ever seen it.

[Wolfson]

The question is, home grown or migrant, I have seen RA in the garden for the last couple of days? My guess is migrant, given SW winds, but who knows?

[Pauline]

Fantastic find Wolfson

[Neil Freeman]

Came down yesterday (Wednesday) to visit our daughter in Emsworth for a few days.
Today turned out much better than the forecast and although we saw some ominous dark clouds further inland we only ended up with some brief light rain this afternoon and enjoyed plenty of nice warm sunny spells.
A visit to Stansted Forest this morning produced half a dozen Pearl-bordered Fritillaries...many thanks to Mark Tutton who gave me the info for the location.

Also seen was a Painted Lady plus a couple of Orange-tips.

A quick return visit this afternoon produced much the same plus a Grizzled Skipper, a couple of GVWs and a Brimstone.

More details and photos in my PD when I am back home next week.

Cheers,

Neil.