Nick Tanner's diary

[Nick Tanner]

Hello everybody

thought I'd just introduce myself to a group of like-minded people. I've been interested in butterflies for as long as I can remember; I grew up in east London playing on the bombsites which were covered in Wall Browns. In those days we used to dream about seeing a Speckled Wood, how things have changed!. I've only seen 40 species of butterfly in England, 37 of those in London but loads more in Europe (Two-tailed Pashas mobbing Red-rumped Swallows in a castle garden in Extremadura is an image that will stay with me for life). This year I made a resolution to see as many British butterflies as possible and started off by visiting the Glanville Fritillaries at Hutchingsons Bank on May 28th; they were extremely obliging, I think I picked a good day, some photos attached

Nick

[Nick Tanner]

A few images of Silver-studded Blue taken at Fairmile Common in June 2010. I'm not able to get out at the moment so trawling back through some old notebooks and photos is keeping me sane.

[Pete Eeles]

A belated welcome to UKB, Nick!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Wurzel]

At least you've got your shots to look though until you can get out again Nick - great start to the PD

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Nick Tanner]

thanks Pete and Wurzel,

I managed an hour locally (River Hogsmill meadows near Surbiton) after work this evening, plenty of Red Admirals, Commas and Green-veined Whites, a few Ringlets, Gatekeepers and a single Small Tortoiseshell, but where are the Meadow Browns? I had two on 3/4 mile walk today

Nick

[Pauline]

A welcome from me too Nick. friendly bunch on this site but I guess with the change in the weather they're all out looking at butterflies

[Nick Tanner]

The welcome warm weather has lead to an increase of moth activity at my local station, Berrylands in Surrey; this little beauty was resting on a wall at eye level on the downline platform, as oblivious to the hundreds of commuters as they were to him.

[Neil Freeman]

A belated Welcome from me too Nick.

Look forward to seeing more.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Nick Tanner]

I managed to spend most of today at Bookham Common in the hope of seeing Purple Emperor, sadly it was not to be with just a brief glimpse of a possible sailing over the canopy of an Oak the closest I came. Nevertheless it was still an enjoyable excursion with around ten Silver-washed Fritillaries, five or six White Admirals, three Purple Hairstreaks, singles of Brimstone, Marbled White, Holly Blue and Peacock and lots of Gatekeepers, Green-veined Whites, Red Admirals, Ringlets and Meadow Browns but not a single Small Tortoiseshell. I also searched Bookham Station for moths but only managed to find a single Scorched Carpet

Nick

[Nick Tanner]

hello all

I'm planning on going to Bookham Common in search of Brown Hairstreak at the weekend, it's a butterfly I've never seen and I would appreciate some pointers on where the best spots are for it and any tips that could maximise my chances of seeing it, all the best

Nick

[bugboy]

Hi, I saw my first ever Brown Hairstreaks there last year. It's perhaps a week early for them there yet but that's far from certain. I saw my first of three there on the 12th last year. Stick to the open areas on the western side of the site. If you start near Bookham train station, walk along the open blackthorn scrub northwards and you'll eventually come to a kissing gate which takes you onto a main path which leads into the wood itself. There are a couple of mature Ash trees in this area and this is where I saw all of mine last year, all early in the morning, try and get there for 9 at the latest, especially if it's going to be a warm day. Patience is the key and they can potentially pop up anywhere, the females will travel some distance when egg laying. I plan to go there looking for them myself in the coming days/weks (I was there yesterday in fact but didn't find any) so we may bump into each other! Hope that helps

[Nick Tanner]

thanks Bugboy, I know exactly where you mean, will try this weekend and next if I need to

Nick