Steve L

[Steve L]

My name is Steve Lane and I live in North Hertfordshire.

My local patch is Great Ashby District Park, which is close to my home. I have recorded 27 species of butterfly there over the last 14 years - from hundreds of Meadow Browns, to a small colony of White-Letter Hairstreaks and Small Heaths. Some eruption years produced 105 Painted Lady and 15 Clouded Yellow. Over the last few years, single Silver-washed Fritillary have put in an appearance, but the park has lost Brown Argus. Its now under a more wildlife sympathetic management, which I have play a small part in.
I try to encourage butterflies into my garden with the addition of various plants, currently looking for a buckthorn if any one can help.
Love to take photos of butterflies I find (a bit obsessive really) and post many of them on my flickr page.

1st & 2nd July I had a White-Letter Hairstreak in my garden, which posed beautifully, and even stopped for a drink on my garden pond.

[Vince Massimo]

Hi Steve and welcome (although I see that you are a longstanding member).

I think your penultimate image is exceptional and merits comment.

I have never seen an image of any Hairsterak viewed directly from above. Yours shows just how effective the tails and lower wing flares are in mimicking the head of the butterfly, thereby confusing and hopefully misdirecting birds into attacking the wrong end of the insect.

I have taken the liberty of adding the image to the Species-Specific Album on your behalf as I think it merits inclusion.

If you are looking for a Buckthorn, then, unless you intend to grow it in a pot, you need to be aware of your soil conditions before selecting the particular plant. Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) is found on calcareous soils and Alder Buckthorn (Frangula alnus) prefers acid soils.

Vince

[Pete Eeles]

I agree - that is one unusual and amazing image. As well as the tails providing the appearance of the head and antennae, I just love that shadow!

Cheers,

- Pete

[bugboy]

Now that's how you make an entrance!

[Steve L]

Thank you for your kind comments, if you would like a larger/higher res image, I am happy to supply one.

Cheers

Steve

[Pauline]

Welcome from me too Steve. How wonderful to have WLH in the garden - lovely images btw

[Neil Freeman]

Hi and welcome from me too. A cracking start to your diary with some great images of the WLH...and in your garden as well

Cheers,

Neil.

[Andrew555]

Welcome Steve, great stuff, particularly the top view.

[peterc]

When I saw those wonderful images of the White-letters I knew immediately who you were/are .

Anyway, welcome to the forum. As you may gather I live in Stevenage, only a couple of miles away.

Regarding the buckthorn, I bought a Purging Buckthorn sapling from an online website (Beechwood Nurseries I think) about 4-5 years ago. I planted it in an open position in my south-facing back garden. In 2016, it contained 20 Brimstone eggs possibly laid by a single female but no success since. It is probably pot luck.

Look forward to receiving more of your messages.

ATB

Peter

[Steve L]

Hi

Thanks all.

PeterC I think we have met a couple of times, Watery Grove foe SWF, but I missed the PE. Thanks for the Buckthorn info.

[Steve L]

Hi

Thank you all for your kind comment and welcome.

Another local site, (which is in the site guide), I try to visit 4 or 5 times a year is Hexton Chalk Pit HMWT Reserve.
Its quite challenging for me at the moment, but well worth the effort.

First visit this year was on 22nd May. I was amazed to see so many Dingy Skippers, a life times worth in one day, hundreds! Backed up with Common Blues, Small Heaths and a very shy single Green Hairstreak. After about an hour I returned home via Hillbrow, Letchworth a new site for me, for Small Blue. I saw 15+, a single Brown Argos being the highlights. Great little site, just one football pitch size field, with mature hedges, backed by farmland.

My second visit on 2nd July, equally as rewarding, with large numbers of Dark Green Fritillary, Marbled White (one of my favourites), Small Heath and Chalkhill Blue. The first part of the walk, now the vegetation has grown, a little difficult. Lots of Meadow Browns there. The plateau was alive with life butterflies, bees, grasshoppers and spiders all making the most of the morning sun. The butterflies were making to much use of it, rarely settling. But I did manage to get a lifetime ambition shot, open winged Small Heath! The male was trying to mate with an unresponsive female, he kept circling her and bumping her. So I set a fast ISO, closed my f stop down abit to get a shutter speed of 1600. Sounds technical, but I'm sure it was more luck than judgement.

I'm still learning when it comes to spiders, so if anyone could help with the ID of this brute, I'd be grateful. The Chalkhill Blue was fine, didn't get trapped.

And a few other photos from the day.

[Wurzel]

Lush set sequence of shots Steve especially the open winged Small Heath I would have welcomed you sooner but I was having some problems with the website

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[CallumMac]

Hi Steve, welcome from one relative newbie to another! Cracking start to your PD and I look forward to more to come...

[kevling]

Hi Steve, nice to have a new diary to look at. What a start with those cracking WLH too. It's also the first photograph I've seen of an open wing Small Heath, nice one

Kind Regards
Kev

[Steve L]

Thanks all

[Steve L]

I had a Holly Blue laying eggs on the Purple Loosestrife beside my garden pond, even though there was Ivy and Holly, which I thought were the preferred plants, just a few yards away.

I'm quite lucky to have woodland on 2 sides of my garden, so do manage to get a lot of wildlife in my garden.

Anyone point the direction of some good sites in the New Forest, I'm spending a week there at the end of the month.

Cheers

Steve

[jonhd]

Hi Steve, highly recommend that you check Alan Thornbury's website - he provides excellent coverage of some of the New Forest Inclosures, heathland, etc. See http://www.purple-emperor.co.uk/home - you're probably most interested in:

http://www.purple-emperor.co.uk/flight-periods
http://www.purple-emperor.co.uk/sites

And the Blog is worth a read.

Also check http://www.hantsiow-butterflies.org.uk/news.php (sightings 'diary', covers the entire Hants & IOW area).

Good Luck, Jon

[Steve L]

Thanks Johnd

Excellent site and blog. Hopefully Brown Hairstreak site which is on my route will get me a much needed photo. So hopefully catch up with some butterflies, dragonflies and birds, also a trip to Ringwood brewery to celebrate.

Cheers

Steve

[Wurzel]

Cracking Comma Steve
Godshill near Fordingbridge is a great site for Garayling and Dragonflies.
If you're able to venture slightly further North try Shipton Bellinger for Brown Hairstreak

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

That's a great start to a personal diary, Steve. Like others I too have been struck by the remarkable mirror image provided by the hairstreak tails when viewed from above.

I look forward to reading much more on these pages.