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Click here to view the 2006 butterflies and moths.
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The last pics of the year. Another after-dark moth in September, and the last Red Admiral in late October.
SmallBloodVein.jpg |
RedAdmiral.jpg |
Small Blood-Vein moth. | Red Admiral feeding on the last of the ivy nectar before winter hibernation. |
I was at Bicester airfield this weekend. When not helping out in the competition there I was exploring the wild edges and found a number of butterflies and moths.
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Moth1.jpg |
MaleCommonBlue1.jpg |
MaleCommonBlue2.jpg |
SmallHeath1.jpg |
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Silver Y moth | As yet unidentified moth. | Male Common Blue | Small Heath | As yet unidentified moth. |
SmallCopper1.jpg |
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FemaleCommonBlue1a.jpg |
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Small Copper. | Two shots each of two Female Common Blues. |
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Moth.jpg |
Another Female Common Blue. | As yet unidentified moth. |
The Butterfly season is winding down now. But still some arty shots to be had.
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LargeWhite.jpg |
A Comma butterfly casting a near perfect shadow. | Large White feeding on Buddlheia. |
Another moth in my room, and butterflies up Barnhill. The Small Copper was the catch of the day on Barnhill. I also had never seen Common Blues up there before either. The Gatekeepers were still around, but getting rather elderly. They were almost entirely females, with only one or two males spotted. The males do emerge earlier, so it doesn't surprise me they have gone first too.
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CommonBlue1.jpg |
SmallCopper1.jpg |
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Amblyptilia Acanthadactyla moth in my room. | Male Common Blue feeding on thistle. | 2 shots of a Small Copper resting and basking. |
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Elderly female Gatekeeper basking. | 3 shots of the same male Common Blue. |
Found a Riband Wave on my windowsill morning of the 20th. There were plenty of 6 Spotted Burnets at Lasham on the 22nd, and plenty of other moths too at Lasham during the following days.
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Blue.jpg |
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MothSide.jpg |
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Riband Wave moth on my windowsill. | Less common, more beautiful variant of the female Common Blue butterfly. | 2 shots of a 6 Spotted Burnet feeding on thistle flowers. | 2 shots of Male Yellow Tail moth on a wall. | Darker form of the Riband Wave moth on a wall. |
During a ride in the country I stopped at a couple more nature reserves. At Sharpenhoe Clappers the prizes were my first pics of a Chalkhill Blue and Dark Green Fritillary. The Marbled White and the second Ringlet were seen at the other nature reserve, Bison Hill near Whipsnade. Unfortunately it clouded over as I arrived at Bison Hill so I didn't see as much activity there. So I went home after this stop as a cold front was moving in.
Click here for a map of Sharpenhoe Clappers Nature Reserve.
Click here for a map of Bison Hill nature reserve.
Ringlet1.jpg |
DarkGreenFritillary1.jpg |
DarkGreenFritillary2.jpg |
6SpotBurnet.jpg |
ChalkhillBlue1.jpg |
Ringlet basking. | 2 shots of a Dark Green Fritillary. | 6 Spot Burnet resting. | Chalk Hill Blue basking. |
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ChalkhillBlue2.jpg |
MarbledWhite.jpg |
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A pair of mating 6 Spot Burnets. | Chalk Hill Blue resting. | Marbled White. | Ringlet. |
I met Jack Harrison at Broxbourne Wood Nature Reserve today. Almost straight away I was presented with a Male Purple Emperor drinking salts on the path - very lucky! Also spotted White Admirals, Purple Hairstreaks and Ringlets too, as well as butterflies I have seen before. Then we moved on to a place called Crooked Mile, where along a bridle track off the main road the brambles were swarming with Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns. Also saw Holly Blues, Commas, Common Blue damselflies and White Letter Hairstreaks in the trees above.
Click here for a map of Broxbourne Wood Nature Reserve.
Click here for a map of Crooked Mile.
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PurpleEmperor2.jpg |
PurpleEmperor3.jpg |
PurpleEmperor4.jpg |
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Six relatively distant shots of a Male Purple Emperor drinking salts on a path. |
WhiteAdmiral1.jpg |
WhiteAdmiral2.jpg |
DistantPurpleHairstreak.jpg |
Moth.jpg |
Ringlet.jpg |
FemaleMeadowBrown.jpg |
Two shots of a White Admiral. | This is the closest I could get to a Purple Hairstreak. | 2-3cm Shaded Broad-Bar Moth. | Ringlet feeding on brambles. | Female Meadow Brown basking. |
FemaleGatekeeper.jpg |
MaleGatekeeper.jpg |
MeadowBrownsMating.jpg |
HollyBlue.jpg |
Comma.jpg |
Female Gatekeeper. | Male Gatekeeper. | Meadow Browns mating. | Holly Blue. | Comma. |
I wandered up Barnhill when the sun came out in the afternoon to find the place swarming with Meadow Browns and Skippers. Lots of Commas too, and great to see the Gatekeepers once again. I also spotted an unusally large Green Veined White - about the size of a Large White!
Comma.jpg |
LargeSkipper1.jpg |
SmallSkipper1.jpg |
SmallSkipper2.jpg |
EssexSkipper1.jpg |
EssexSkipper2.jpg |
Gatekeeper.jpg |
Comma. | Large Skipper. | Small Skippers. | Essex Skippers. | Male Gatekeeper. |
GreenVeinedWhite.jpg |
5SpotBurnet1.jpg |
5SpotBurnet2.jpg |
LargeSkipper2.jpg |
CinnabarMoth.jpg |
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Huge Green Veined White. | 5 Spot Burnet feeding on brambles. | Large Skipper. | Cinnabar Moth on Ragweed. | Cinnabar larvae on Ragweed. |
A Red Admiral was flying around me. At one point I lost it, looked left and saw a big red black and white thing perched on my shoulder! If only I'd managed to get a picture before it flew off... Plus a couple of moths. On the 27th a number of moths flew into my room after dark. As previously I took pictures while capturing them in a clear perspex box in order to let them back outside safely without hurting them. On the 28th I saw my first 2005 Small skipper at Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve, and another moth outside on the 4th.
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Moth.jpg |
Moth.jpg |
SmallSkipper.jpg |
Moth.jpg |
Red Admiral butterfly. | Large Yellow Underwing moth. | 6cm Mottled Beauty moth. | My first 2005 Small Skipper. | 2cm Least Carpet moth on a hedge leaf. |
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Moth2.jpg |
Moth3.jpg |
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Moths that flew into my room after dark on 27th June. Moth 4 was a 3cm Riband Wave. The others maybe 1cm. |
Today I spotted and photographed my first ever Green Hairstreak at Lasham airfield. There were loads of Cinnabar Moths around, as well as Small Heaths, including an albino one.
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SmallHeath1.jpg |
SmallHeath2.jpg |
AlbinoSmallHeath.jpg |
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Cinnabar moth. | 2 shots of a Small Heath. | Albino Small Heath. | 2 shots of a Green Hairstreak. |
The first after dark moth collection of 2005. As with last year's after dark moths I had to use my flash, and try not to overexpose the images. The closeup filter also produced a shadow to the bottom right of the images. For those wondering about the moths in the perspex box, I used the box to capture them so that I could let them outside safely once I switched the light off (so they don't fly back in). So no moths were harmed here.
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MaleLightBrownAppleUnderside.jpg |
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A White-Shouldered House Moth on my wall. | Male Light Brown Apple moth on a red bag and seen from inside a perspex box (albeit slightly underexposed). | 6cm Pale Oak Beauty moth resting on a sofa and on my hand! Look at those antennae! |
Moth1.jpg |
Moth2Top.jpg |
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A small unidentified moth with a yellow fringe at the back of its wings. | 3cm female Bee Moth resting in a clear perspex box. |
More Gunnersbury Park butterflies.
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RedAdmiral1.jpg |
RedAdmiral2.jpg |
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A Peacock basking in the sun. | 2 shots of Red Admiral. | 3 shots of a Peacock feeding on flowering laurel bush. |
MaleHollyBlue.jpg |
RedAdmiral.jpg |
LargeWhite1.jpg |
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Male Holly Blue. | Battle scarred Red Admiral. | 2 shots of a Large White. |
A Female Holly Blue in my garden.
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FemaleHollyBlue2.jpg |
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3 shots of a Female Holly Blue playing on the ivy in the garden. |
More butterflies in Gunnersbury Park and a Speckled Wood on Barnhill.
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SpeckledWood2.jpg |
MaleHollyBlue1.jpg |
MaleHollyBlue2.jpg |
SpeckledWood.jpg |
SmallWhite.jpg |
Speckled Woods. | 2 shots of a very small Male Holly Blue. | Speckled Wood. | Small White. |
A moth landed on my window. Will update if / when I identify it. Same goes for the Gunnersbury Triangle nature reserve moth. Speckled Woods were in abundance at the reserve. On the 21st I caught a Small Tortoiseshell (not many of them this year) and a Speckled Wood end on. It's proboscis shows up nicely all coiled up.
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MothSide.jpg |
Moth.jpg |
SpeckledWoodClosed.jpg |
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SmallTortoiseshell.jpg |
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Top and side views of an Esperia Sulphurella moth on my window. | Another unidentified moth spotted in Gunnersbury Triangle nature reserve. | Speckled Wood. | Another Speckled Wood. | Small tortoiseshell. | Speckled Wood end on. |
There won't be that many butterfly pictures this year as I no longer work in an area that is good for butterflies. I saw a Red Admiral back in January basking during a mild spell. But now the spring 2005 butterflies are out in force with Small Tortoiseshells and Commas spotted, and large numbers of Peacocks.
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Comma1.jpg |
Comma2.jpg |
Comma3.jpg |
Comma4.jpg |
Peacock.jpg |
My first Small Tortoiseshell of the year. Shame about the slight camera shake. | Comma butterfly in pristine condition using my bicycle as a basking platform in between aggressively attacking a nearby Peacock. | The Peacock victim with a damaged back end. |