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Cheers Wurzel

So for probably my last post before Christmas. Something bright and cheerful......

Orange Tip

I reared Orange tip for the first time during the 2017-2018 season. I retrieved 2 eggs back in April 2017, one laid on BitterCress and the other on Cuckoo Flower. I had intended for each larva to go all the way through on its respective foodplant just to compare development. Needless to say I lost one larva quite early on during a skin change. The remaining larva was on Bittercress, but I struggled to find enough of that particular plant. So it completed its development on Garlic Mustard. I was delighted with at least one positive outcome in April 2018 . Out and about they were as plentiful as ever and always a joy to see. Southwick being one of my best sites for this species. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL ON UKB

Definitely some much needed colour in this post Paul - but also with a slightly Christmas-y feel - whites and greens with the odd Tangerine at the end of the stocking I hope you and your family have a cracking Christmas

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Beautiful images, Paul, and yes...that habitat looks heavenly (for we humans as well as Orange Tips!) Roll on next April when they emerge once more!

All the best for the New Year!

Thanks Wurzel & David . Christmas Wishes to you both

Brown Hairstreak

From 2nd July to 5th August this year I had camera problems. Well to be more precise, I was suffering from camera operator incompetence I had inadvertently changed the resolution setting on my camera which I did not realise until I came to download after quite a few site visits. Nowhere was the disappointment felt more than after my visit to Shipton Bellinger on the 26th July for Brown Hairstreak which was otherwise a very memorable visit. Although I did not come away with any open wing shots, it was perhaps my best ever day at this site for Brown Hairstreak numbers low down. Plenty to go round and all individuals being very accommodating both males and females. Though this was a very hot day and that was having an affect on butterfly behaviour particularly the females which were staying in the shade. There were also plenty of familiar faces there on this particular day. I spent nearly all day on site and experienced Hairstreak activity in a variety of locations from early morning till late afternoon. It has been a pretty encouraging year generally for Brown Hairstreak in Hampshire. It is normally only seen in 2 distinct locations, but this year it has been spotted in several new locations. In fact I am convinced I saw it close to home near Bishops Waltham, but subsequent return visits to that location have so far not provided me with confirmation.

"camera operator incompetence", something you're not alone in suffering, the main symptom for me is inadvertently knocking the AF point selection, leading to much cursing as the camera innocently focuses on leaves and twigs next to the subject until I realise my mistake, invariably when said subject has gone on its way

Good to see you had a good Brown Hairstreak season though, it seems like my nearset BH site at Bookham was almost unique this year in being nearly impossible to pin the little blighters down!

That was a great day at Shipton - it rarely fails to deliver at least some Hairstreak action Your site from Bishops Waltham looks very similar to the hedge at Shipton on the journey up from the Recycling Centre/Car Park so definitely worth a punt next season Speaking of which - have a Happy New Year!
Have a goodun

Wurzel

Fabulous betulae sequence, Paul. I hope your suspicions regarding the new potential site are proved correct later this year.

Thanks Bugboy, Wurzel & David for your comments

The Whites

I should probably give this group more attention. I failed miserably in getting any decent images this year which is probably due to lack of effort on my part. Large White in particular seems to have been a bit of a struggle.
These are from various locations across Hampshire, but all have one thing in common. They all fall into my 'camera operator incompetence' period.

I echo your sentiments about this collection of species Paul - after an initial flourish of the first for the year unfortunately for them there's always something less common, more interesting or easier to photograph Also, as you mentioned, Large White seemed to have a 'bad year' in 2018 - hopefully they can bounce back

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I agree, Paul, that Large Whites were tricky - they were around in very poor numbers in 2018; Green Veined Whites didn’t fare so well either. However, Small Whites bucked the trend for this group, with more seen than usual in south Wales. Hopefully all three will have a productive 2019.

A short detour from my 2018 catch up with some more recent doings:

During the winter months I spend my butterfly time finding, revisiting, recording and assessing new sites for the White-Letter Hairstreak. I am generally disappointed if I don't locate at least one new Elm tree during an average week. Though I have no evidence as yet for White-Letter Hairstreak at any of the following locations. They were all found in the last couple of weeks and all look particularly promising.

Hayling Island - The main road into Hayling Island has one particular stretch between Mill Rythe and the Maypole Pub which is lined in Elm with half a dozen good Wych Elms amongst them. Portsmouth - This tree next to Lake Road Health Centre in Portsmouth is about 500mtrs from the Tree in Church Street which supports a colony of the Butterfly. The Health Centre car park provides a convenient viewpoint.
Basingstoke - Basingstoke looks like it could become quite a good area for White-Letter Hairstreak. Crabtree Plantation on the outskirts is already a well known site together with those I found at Viables last year. This group of seven ornamental (American?) Elms looks very promising and is conveniently equipped with a carpark, perfectly placed for observation.
Otterbourne/Cranbury Park - I headed up to Otterbourne on Sunday close to the venue of the UKB winter Social. I have been aware for a while of a stretch of Elms alongside the M3 I wanted to see if I could get close to them, but unsurprisingly I could not. Whilst in the vicinity I had a look round Cranbury Park and Otterbourne Common. Both areas contained at least one Elm which look good for White-Letter Hairstreak. The Elm in Cranbury Park threw up a possible new sign to look for which I had not encountered or considered before. There were perhaps a dozen small birds high in the tree feeding. I have no idea what birds they were but they were small. None of the other surrounding trees were host to such activity, so what could they be finding there to eat I wonder

Hi Paul, happy new year, slightly jealous to see you're out and about doing your thing, I'd normally be out egg hunting at this time of year but current events unfortunately mean no rummaging through the undergrowth for a few weeks as yet! I can just see enough in that Cropped shot to say those two birds are Goldfinch. Most likely all of them were Goldfinch although they will sometimes form mixed flocks with winter visiting Siskin and Redpoll at this time of year. Not sure what they were eating but there's clearly something of interest to them!

Well done with the Orange-tip Paul, a beautiful sight.

Yup, we've all had our camera snafu's. Worst for me was the flat battery or memory card left plugged in the PC at home, preventing any shots at all.

Good to hear the Brostreaks did well. Funnily enough I saw a female on my lunchbreak walk in Redhill, never seen one around there before.

Great report on your Elm hunting activities.

Cheers

More sterling investigative work Paul Nice to see Elms being planted out - are there DED resistant forms now?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

You sure use the winter months to your advantage, Paul. I sincerely hope a few of these sites provide you with what you're looking for....although I think you'll have to admit defeat with the M3 location!

Thanks all for your comments
Thanks for the bird id Bugboy .
Wurzel, yes there are DED resistant strains of Elm available these days .

Back to my 2018 catch up....

The Golden Skippers (and Chalkhill Blue)

I find that this bunch (the Golden Skippers) are one of the most difficult species to really do justice to in a photo, but maybe that's just my inexperience . I did not catch up with Silver-Spotted Skipper in 2018 and Essex Skippers seem to have avoided my camera lens completely.

22.6.2018 Butts Ash nr Fawley Oil Refinery - This was one of those really hot days last summer (probably too hot really). It was also memorable for me because it was a magical 'all dayer' in the pursuit of the White-Letter Hairstreak. This was late afternoon, the last of 6 separate sites in the general area of Southampton and was one that I had only discovered a few days earlier whilst I was passing. By 4.30pm Hairstreak activity had completely dwindled away so I set to explore the site. I only photographed one butterfly and it was not a White-Letter Hairstreak! 24.7.2018 St Catherines Hill nr Winchester - This visit was memorable for different reasons. It had been a beautiful day and I had planned an early evening visit to capture various species as they settled down to roost. Of course, as I arrived it immediately clouded over and a very gusty wind blew up making it virtually impossible to get any photos. However, this wholly unsuccessful visit resulted in the only Chalkhill Blue shot I took all year. 23.6.2018- 4.8.2018 Southwick - Large and Small Skippers were as plentiful as ever at this, one of my favourite sites.

You may have only gotten one shot Paul but it's a cracker - almost Yin and Yang though I can't work out which is which The site does look interesting as there's quite a mix of habitat there with grasses, gorse and what looks like stony ground - any chance of Wall there?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Those habitat shots look to be good for both skippers AND Hairstreaks, Paul.

Don't be ashamed at how few images you've taken of certain species; every year I have a list of half a dozen or so where I 'must do better' the following year. Trouble is, I then largely ignore a different half dozen....

Never enough time to do justice to everything!

Thanks Wurzel & David for your comments

ERRATUM

For anybody who who pays any attention to the content of my diary please note the following. I recently posted a photo of a tree near Lake Road Health Centre in Portsmouth. I confidently identified this tree as an Elm, it is in fact not an Elm tree at all . Recent Doings:

Thankfully I don't get caught out too often with my tree identification skills. Here are a couple more that I will be checking later in the year. I intend to report back on each one that has featured in my diary recently. These definitely are Elms! The Red Admiral that had taken up residence in my garden has now gone. It spent 3 months amongst plastic foliage in a hanging basket and was joined for a month by a second Red Admiral.

Without anything else of note happening in my butterfly world the only other thing I should mention would be the weather. The snow of recent days down here has I am sure been good for the butterflies, but it caused havoc for me on my journey home form work on Friday. I left Fleet at about 4.15 pm and arrived back home in Hedge End just before 2am!! almost 10 hours later, this would normally be an hour drive! The thing that struck me most was the community spirit amongst members of the public in the Basingstoke area assisting stranded drivers, directing traffic and pushing stuck vehicles out of the way. Many thanks to them