William

[NickMorgan]

Sorry to clog up your diary, but I wanted to say that I love your photos. A little different, but great to see the butterflies in context. I look forward to seeing more.

[William]

Thanks Nick , it's nice to have the butterfly in its habitat to bring back the full experience - helps through the winter months .

[William]

May (Part 2)

With the Butterfly season finally getting going, it meant that, having racked up all the usual common species in my area, it was time to look further afield. I don't get many Butterflying trips away from home, so I have to pick carefully to make the most of my limited 'quota'. With an increasing interest in Orchids, this has been made all the harder, but the trips far more enjoyable. Having a new interest always adds a second dimension to a familar site.
Picking my first trip of the year though, is never difficult, one site always comes out on top. It's a small brownfield site which, behind the likes of Collard Hill, I think is the real jewel in Somerset's butterflying crown. BC lost the lease for the site a couple of years ago, and since, scrub has begun to encroach on the pristine close cropped grassland, and much of the hard work has been lost - a great tragedy.
The impact on the butterfly populations has been visible stratight away, in 2011, I saw 5 beautiful Green Hairstreaks, in 2012 just 1, and this year, none. Nevertheless, my 2013 visit still proved to be thoroughly enjoyable and productive.

I arrived initially, to blazing sun, and as I entered the site through the adjoining woodland (where White Admiral and Pearl - Bordered Fritillary once flew), I was treated to a wonderful display of stitchwort, woodruff and Bluebells. Above and around me, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Garden Warblers were singing.

Sadly though, as I entered the main body of the reserve, it began to cloud over, but not before I had found several Grizzled Skippers, skimming over the Buttercups and Salad Burnet.

Grizzled Skipper

I managed to follow one to roost, and spent a short time playing around with the camera. It was great to be able to inspect this charismatic butterfly up close, previously I've only ever visited in hot sun, and never got any underside photos.

Grizzled Skipper

For the rest of the morning, I enjoyed the kind of intermittent sun that is perfect for photography, and managed to catch up with several Dingy Skippers as well.

Dingy Skipper

I am a huge fan of the two spring skippers, there are few butterflies that are more enjoyable to watch. But it took me the better part of the morning for me to track down my stunning target, undoubtedly one of my favourite species.

Duke of Burgundy

I've never seen more than 5 or 6 Dukes at this site, but they inevitably put on a good show. They normally take some tracking down too, as they fly in discreet hot spots, normally a sheltered indent in the tree line. However, once I've found them, the males will perch happily on grass stems and buttercups - resulting in an enjoyable morning's watching.

Duke of Burgundy

After the Duke activity died down a little during a cloudy spell, I decided to explore the rest of the reserve. It was a real delight to do so, serenaded by the Nightingales which love the dense thickets and woodland at this spot. This location is also good for the commoner spring butterflies, and I was pleased to capture to male Orange Tips sparring as they blasted by.

Orange Tips

I mentioned earlier my growing interest in Orchids, and as such, I was overjoyed to stumble across a small group of Bird's Nest Orchids. These bizzare orchids were mostly still in Bud, but even so, an amazing sight, growing in the deep shade of a stand of hazels.

Bird's Nest Orchids

Finally, having taken my fill of the Orchids, I headed back the way I came (past the Dukes), before heading home, a big smile on my face.

Duke of Burgundy

[Matsukaze]

Hi William,

Excellent photos - it is a few years since I last saw Dukes (on the Poldens) and I must try and catch up with them again next spring.

I didn't see any Green Hairstreaks either this year but they must surely still be on the Quantocks and Exmoor - in east Somerset they are always thin on the ground and I can never count on seeing them anywhere, though occasionally I find the odd one or two. I think they have struggled with the weather the last couple of years and am hoping they will bounce back

[Neil Freeman]

Some really lovely images there William, I love the Orange tips dancing above the meadow

Cheers,

Neil F.

[William]

Thanks Neil, I was very pleased myself, though it was more luck than judgement. If anything flies past I always try a couple of speculative flight shots, and sometimes they come out nicely .

Matsukaze - Thanks for your kind comments. I guess you know the spot I'm talking about, well worth a visit. I tried Haddon Hill for Green Hairstreak, but the spots where I've seen them in the past had all been given a good swailing, and consequently I saw no hairstreaks. I did however see a nice singing Redstart.
A friend tells me the quantocks are the best place for Green Hairstreaks, so I shall try there in 2014, hopefully we will get another nice spring like 2011 to boost their numbers !

[Wurzel]

More great shots William I really like the hiding Duke and the in flight OT's brings back a sense of spring

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Very nice photos William, a refreshing approach to them.

Mike

[William]

Thanks Guys - it was a wonderful day with wonderful butterflies!

[William]

May (Part 3)

Last year, in August and July, we had the best numbers of the 'Cabbage Whites' in the garden for a while (exceeded only by this year), and consequently our Black Kale was on the verge of being utterly destroyed by their offspring. Don't get me wrong, I love Butterflies, but I also love kale on my pasta, so I carefully removed a couple of batches of Small and Large White, and reared them on Nasturtium and some cut kale leaves, with a good degree of sucess, diligently checking any kale leaves for ova or larvae before they went into the cooking pot, and breeding them.

Large White Larva and Ova

Small White Ovum (Mature)

The eggs of both species hatched after about 10 days. The small white Ova changed from white to yellow, whilst the Large Whites began a dark yellow, then a dark yellow punctuated by a tiny black dot before going brown when the shape of the larva could be seen through the shell. In August this year, I was suprised to find several batches of Large White larvae on the upper surfaces of some young Garlic Mustard leaves. Despite their apparent vulnerability, the larvae all survived to shred the Garlic Mustard plants (with the help of some green - veined whites), killing the plants in the process.

Large White Ova on Garlic Mustard (with a Green Veined White Ovum - top right)

Large White Larvae on Garlic Mustard (With a Small White - top right)

I thought the tiny larva were rather sweet with their bowling-ball heads, and they grew fast to form pupae, the large whites all of the greenish form, with the small whites green, a pale grey-white and one very dark one that failed to form a silken girdle (but did hatch sucessfully).

Large White Larvae

Large White Pupa

Dark Small White Pupa

They all hatched on a weekend in mid - may, giving me plenty of time to observe the process, though, frustratingly, my back was always turned when one actually pulled itself out of the pupa. Nevertheless, a wonderful experience, and something I shall definitely do again!

Large White - Close Up

Large White

One of the Small Whites turned out strikingly pale, I thought it could be ab. Alba at the time, it does however, have a small dusting of black scales.

Small White - Possibly ab. Alba?

[David M]

That last rapae is most striking, William. It looks like the colour has been bleached out of it. Definitely an aberration.

Excellent pupae shots too; in fact, all of your images are delightful and interesting.

[Goldie M]

I love your images William, the ones of the eggs etc are great also the one's of the Duke Goldie

[William]

Thanks David , I can only speculate what caused its colouring, I think possibly heat shock, as I kept the pupae in a cool shed over the winter, and then moved them outside ready for them to hatch in a warmer spot.

[William]

Thanks Goldie - Dukes are one of my favourite butterflies - so full of character. My interest in finding eggs in the wild has grown to, it's immensely satisfying to get a decent photo of something so small! I shall have to combine the two and try and find some Duke eggs next season!

[Nick Broomer]

Great photos William. I especially love your Grizzled Skipper, but more so your photos of the early stages. Just brilliant.

All the best, Nick.

[William]

Thank you Hideandseek - much appreaciated . At the end of the day it's a joy just to watch the little caterpillars as they wiggle around .

[Chris Jackson]

I particularly like the series of photos of the Large White stages. That close-up view is good.
Chris

[Pete Eeles]

I particularly like the series of photos of the Large White stages.

Me too - great stuff!

Cheers,

- Pete

[William]

Thanks Guys - I really appreaciate the kind comments. It took me a while to get to grips with extension tubes, but well worth the investment .

[Wurzel]

Great shots William love the close up and the possible alba I'm very interested in

Have a goodun

Wurzel