William

[William]

Hi All,

Having just joined UK Butterflies, I thought I'd start a personal diary to share some of my Butterfly sightings and photos. With 2013's season fast drawing to a close, I decided that I, like others would start a retrospective diary, looking back over the highlights of what has been a truly exciting year for me...

[David M]

Welcome, William.

Feel free to post whatever you wish. You can be assured of an interested audience.

[Nick Broomer]

Welcome to the forum William. Looking forward to your future posts.

All the best Nick.

[Wurzel]

Welcome William - looking forward to reading your reports and eying your photos

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pete Eeles]

And a welcome from me too - look forward to seeing your photos!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Pauline]

A big welcome from me too William.

[William]

April

Thanks for all the kind words guys, with them in mind, I shall begin...

For me and many others, April was a frustrating Butterflying month, and I found it bereft of the ususal first Orange Tips and Holly Blues that make it so exciting. Despite this, I had clocked up Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Brimstone, Small White and Large White by the end of the month by which point the cold spell had released its grip, and the exciting possibility of a warm spell in May began to take shape...

Peacock with a Passenger

The other highlight of the month was the hatching of a Brown Hairstreak Egg I had found, sadly I lost track of the charming little larva after a week. Brown Hairstreaks aren't common in Somerset, ranging long distances over hedgerows, and being very difficult to track down. Last year I managed to find 3 males, all feeding in an Ash near my home, and in 2011 we actually had an egg on our Blackthorn hedge, but more of that later..

Brown Hairstreak Ovum

Hatching....

The Larva

[Vince Massimo]

That's a good start William

The Brown Hairstreak images are excellent and would be a welcome addition to the Species-Specific Album. They would be used in the Identification http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species. ... es=betulae and Species pages http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species_ ... &stage=all of this website and would remain your copyright.

If you are agreeable you can add them here gallery/album.php?album_id=160. Just scroll down to the species and then select the category within the species (ie ovum or larva). It would be helpful if you could add site and date information in the "imagename" box.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of your images for the year.

Regards,

Vince

[Nick Broomer]

Thats a brilliant start to your diary William. The photos of the Brown Hairstreak ovum and larva are just excellent.

All the best, Nick.

[David M]

I've a feeling this is going to be a particularly good personal diary!

[Chris Jackson]

Hi William,
Welcome to UK BFs. My name is Chris, I'm a recent overseas member and I monitor what's going on in the Marseilles region.
Nice photos so far.
Bienvenue !!
CJ

[Paul Harfield]

Hi William

Welcome It is always good to see a new diary. That is a superb opener, I look forward seeing more

[Susie]

Welcome William. Brown hairstreak is my favourite butterfly and those are lovely photos.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi William,

Great start to your diary, looking forward to seeing some more

Cheers,

Neil F.

[William]

May (Part 1)

Thank you for the comments everyone - much appreaciated !

May was the month that things finally got going, and it started well when I found a pristine Green - Veined White roosting in the garden, my first of the year. Following this, I made a mental note to search for larvae and ova later in the season. The immature stages of Orange Tips have always been something that I look out for, but despite them using many of the same foodplants, Green - Veined Whites have slipped under the radar somewhat.

Green - Veined White

This was followed swiftly by my first Orange tips (at last!), two beautiful males patrolling on a bridleway near my home. They're always a joy to watch, flying up and down at great speed when the sun is out, and roosting when it's not - very accommodating!

Orange Tip - warming up!

Over the rest of the month, Orange Tips turned up frequently in the garden, roosting, like the Green Veined Whites, on Bluebells. I'm not sure why they do this, as it makes them stick out far more than they might on an unobtrusive grass stem.

Orange Tip (Male)

It was a real joy to start finding their eggs on the Garlic Mustard which I lovingly grew for them - all the hard work paid off!

A mature Orange Tip egg

I was delighted to have some larvae to watch over - providing ample entertainment, as Orange Tips seemed to have a rather short flight season in my neck of the woods, over by early June, nevertheless, it was, as always a joy to watch them...

Orange Tip (Male)

I thought I'd do one instalment per week in my diary, which will tide me over until early February, when hopefully things will pick up again.

Once again, thanks for the kind comments

[Butterflysaurus rex]

An amazing start to your diary William, your photos are so good I can't pick a favourite. I'm really looking froward to seeing the next instalment, no doubt you have many more stunning images to share with us.
It'll be a real treat over the winter months.

Best wishes,

B'saurus

[William]

Thank you very much B' Saurus, at the end of the day, it's a pleasure to just be out taking them. I'm very lucky too, as I do most of my photography walking from home, so it's all on my doorstep!

BWs

William

[Wurzel]

Lovely shots William especially the Green Veined White cracking

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Lovely start to your diary William, looking forward to the next instalment

Mike

[William]

Thanks Guys - I really appreaciate the kind comments .