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Tropical butterflies seen in the tropical house at Kew Gardens.
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Zebra | Lacewing | Tailed Jay |
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Clipper (Thailand) | Blue Morpho | Glasswing |
Dark Green Fritillaries on the Eastern slope of Sharpenhoe Clappers. The weather was overcast but just enough sunshine was filtering through to allow the butterflies to be active. They were already getting tatty! Hard to photograph but managed these shots.
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Four pictures of Dark Green Fritillaries. |
After a failed morning where I failed to get off the ground at the gliding club I left early and went home via Chobham Common and then Esher Common. Chobham Common was disappointing with just one Silver Studded Blue. But at Esher Common by the A3 there were loads of them, including mating pairs. A good consolation for the gliding disappointment earlier in the day.
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2 shots of the only Silver Studded Blue seen at Chobham Common. | 2 shots of a Common Heath moth. | 2 shots of an unknown moth. |
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Male Silver Studded Blue | 2 shots of a Female Silver Studded Blue. | Male Silver Studded Blue | Common Heath moth. | Male Silver Studded Blue |
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2 shots of a Female Silver Studded Blue. | 2 shots of a mating pair of Silver Studded Blues. | 2 shots of a Female Silver Studded Blue. |
A trip to Collard Hill in Somerset to see the Large Blues. It was a hot sunny day so they were very active and not really basking. So only fleeting glimpses of the top wing surfaces were seen. Atleast I was able to get some shots of them feeding and resting though. Their food plant appears to be Thyme. I also saw fresh Small Tortoiseshells and some faded Painted Ladies. Plus some Burnet (possibly 6 spot according to the local warden) pupae and final instar caterpillars ready to pupate. In a nearby meadow there were lots of orchids. See the General 2010 gallery for those pictures.
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3 shots of 3 different Large Blues. The first one appears to be oviposting on Thyme. The second is resting. The third is feeding on Thyme. | Burnet Pupa. I guess the caterpillars like metal fences as much as grass stalks then. | 2 shots of the same Burnet caterpillar on a grass stalk ready to pupate. |
I returned to the private garden next to Strumpshaw Fen in the hope of breaking my bad luck with the Swallowtails. A long wait ensued in the morning with a cloudy start. However one Swallowtail did briefly appear. Eventually the sun broke through properly around 1pm and the Swallowtails appeared in numbers feeding especially on the Sweet Williams in the garden. Yes! At last I have some decent pictures of them. Thanks to the garden's owner for being so friendly and encouraging the public to come and view the Swallowtails. Here are my best pics.
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2 shots of a Male Swallowtail. | 4 shots of a second Male Swallowtail with a distinctive nick in its port wingtip and damaged right tail. Still just as pretty though. |
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Male top, Female bottom. | Female top, Male bottom. | 2 more shots of the female. Tell tale mark is the small black inner dot near the wing tips (absent on the males). | Another male. |
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More shots of the male with the wingtip nick and tail damage. | Two males feeding together. | The other male. |
Trip to Park Corner Heath, East Sussex, to see the Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries. The other noteworthy species was the Speckled Yellow moth, of which there were maybe hundreds. Plus old Grizzled Skippers and a Peacock hanging on, as well as spritely old Brimstones.
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Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries. May or may not be multiple shots of same individuals. They were too lively and fresh to be sure. |
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Cinnabar moth. | Female Brimstone egg laying. | Elderly Peacock that kept landing on me. | Grizzled Skipper. | Speckled Yellow moth. |
Butterflies at Totternhoe Knolls. Small Blues were the main target, and one Male Duke of Burgundy found hanging on. The main note here were the vast numbers of Common Blues. They were everywhere, perhaps by the thousand.
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Three different Small Blues. | Two shots of a Male Duke of Burgundy. |
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Burnet Companion moth. | Mating Common Blues (Male left, Female right). | Two Small Blues basking close to each other. |
Butterflies at Ivinghoe Beacon and Bison Hill. Was nice to see the Dukes and Dingy Skipper at Ivinghoe again, as well as the Grizzled Skippers at Bison Hill.
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Male Duke of Burgundy. | Dingy Skipper. | Female Duke of Burgundy. | Three different Grizzled Skippers. |
First butterflies of the year seen in the Horsenden Hill area.
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Comma | Peacock | Comma and Peacock basking together on dried mud. | My first Horsenden Hill Small Tortoiseshell for years. | Peacock | Elderly Comma posing on young bluebell flowers. | Peacock feeding on dandelion. |