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It's always a nice bonus to find moths in the winter. This one was found on a wall in Kenton.
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Rusty Dot Pearl moth. |
A Red Admiral in the garden in Kenton.
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Red Admiral. |
Two moths found after dark in Kenton.
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Brown House-Moth. | Marbled Beauty moth. |
After a failed attempt to get a glider in the ballot at Lasham at 8AM, I decided to execute a plan B. I left Lasham after breakfast and headed Westwards to a place called Shipton Bellinger. After parking at a car park in the village, I followed a gravel track until I reached large stands of high bushes and trees. This was where I found Brown Hairstreaks as well as other butterflies and other people who were also here to see the Brown Hairstreak. Conditions were partly to mostly cloudy and a little cool before midday (it wasn't that great for gliding though so I felt a little smug there) but there was enough brightness and some sunshine for the Brown Hairstreaks to be pretty active. The Males were mostly hyperactive in the canopy and hard to see. But I lucked out when during a cloudy spell I found a Female at chest height in great condition and happy to let me take pictures of her. She soon went higher up as others gathered but as the sun returned she started basking and I got my only decent pictures of a basking Brown Hairstreak. By lunchtime I was ready to cruise home. Plan B mission accomplished!
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Male Brown Hairstreak basking high up early in the day. Long range shot. | Holly Blue on the ground. | Another long range shot of a Male Brown Hairstreak. | Large White on a lilly. | Female Brown Hairstreak resting. | Unidentified caterpillar on the same stalk as the Female Brown Hairstreak. |
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Shots of the same Female Brown Hairstreak higher up as she starts to bask when the sun comes out. | Another Holly Blue on brambles. | Comma on brambles. | Basking Male Common Blue. |
iPhone shots of a Red Admiral on Buddleia at the Hill Garden above Golders Hill Park, on Hampstead Heath.
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Red Admiral. |
Photos from a trip to Scotland to see the Scotch Argus. Plenty more was also seen, including moths from a Skinner trap in Lethen. It was a very successful trip with hundreds of Scotch Argus seen. The scenery was of course amazing too. See the Scotland 2016 photo diary for the full trip diary.
Shaw Hill | |||||
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Ringlet. | My first ever Scotch Argus picture! | Silver Ground Carpet moth. | Two shots of a Scotch Argus as I chased it though the bracken. | Basking Scotch Argus. |
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Basking Scotch Argus. | Another Scotch Argus at rest. | Three shots of a Scotch Argus feeding on Hawkweed, and caught in the act of taking off. | Speckled Wood. |
Lethen Moth Trap | |||||
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Common Wainscot. | Two shots of a Lesser Swallow Prominent. | Large Yellow Underwing scrum. Dotted Clay on right. Possible Common Rustic in the background.. | Two shots of an Antler moth. |
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Snout. | Common Rustic or Lesser Common Rustic (apparently needs dissection to be sure which one). | Burnished Brass. | Lesser Broad Bordered Yellow Underwing and Burnished Brass. | TODO: Is this Smoky Wainscot? | Dark Arches. |
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Riband Wave. | Silver Ground Carpet. | Dotted Clay. | Two shots of a Lesser Broad Bordered Yellow Underwing. | Another Antler moth. |
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Burnished Brass. | Common Footman. | Dotted Clay and TODO. | Small Fanfoot Wave. | Common Rustic or Lesser Common Rustic (apparently needs dissection to be sure which one). | Large Yellow Underwing. |
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Large Yellow Underwing. | Common Carpet. | Dotted Clay. | Double Square-spot. | Dotted Clay. | TODO: Unidentified. |
Shaw Hill Part 2 | |
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Two shots of a basking Scotch Argus. |
Findhorn Dunes | |||
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Six Spot Burnet moth. | Two shots of a Grayling. | Tatty female Common Blue. |
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Three shots of a Male Common Blue. | Small Copper. | Six Spot Burnet moth in the grass. |
Burghead | |||||
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The pretty blue form of the Female Common Blue. | This ragwort plant had many Six Spot Burnet moths on it. | Small Tortoiseshell on another Ragwort plant. | A more regular Female Common Blue. | Meadow Brown in the harbour. | Small Tortoiseshell back up on the headland on a fort wall. |
Lethen |
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Speckled Wood. |
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Small Heath. | Two shots of a Scotch Argus. | Another Scotch Argus. | Udea lutealis moth. | Scotch Argus on heather. |
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Silver Ground Carpet moth. | One more Scotch Argus shot. |
Fornighty | ||
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Three shots of a Green Veined White and a Speckled Wood on bramble. |
Bridge of Bantrach |
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Ringlet. |
Lethen Moth Trap Part 2 | |||||
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Two Large Yellow Underwings. | Four shots of two Common Wainscots. | Udea lutealis moth. |
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Two shots of a Lesser Swallow Prominent. | Burnished Brass. | Light Arches. | Worn Double Square-spot. |
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Two shots of a Large Yellow Underwing. | Eudonia mercurella. | Dotted Clay. | A worn Eudonia mercurella. | Common Rustic or Lesser Common Rustic (apparently needs dissection to be sure which one). |
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Lots of hiding moths. | Large Yellow Underwing. | Dotted Clay and Large Yellow Underwing. | Antler. | Two different Common Rustic or Lesser Common Rustic (apparently needs dissection to be sure which one). |
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Another Common Rustic or Lesser Common Rustic (apparently needs dissection to be sure which one). | Lesser Broad Bordered Yellow Underwing (despite being significantly shorter than the others). | Two shots of a Large Yellow Underwing. | Agriphila tristella. | Antler. |
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Lesser Broad Bordered Yellow Underwing. | Two different Common Wainscots. | One more Common Rustic or Lesser Common Rustic (apparently needs dissection to be sure which one). |
Lethen Part 2 | ||
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Two shots of a Ringlet. | Speckled Wood. |
Fornighty Part 2 | ||
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Green Veined Whites. |
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Two shots of a Scotch Argus just round the corner from the bridge. | Speckled Wood. | Scotch Argus on Thistle. |
Speybridge | |||||
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Common Carpet moth on Hawkweed. | Scotch Argus. | The Common Carpet moth is still on the Hawkweed. |
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Three shots of an elderly Dark Green Fritillary. The first time I've seen one as late as August. |
Castle Grant | |||
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Scotch Argus. | Female Meadow Brown. | Scotch Argus. | Ringlet. |
On a breezy day it looked nice early on but clouding over. So I got over to Bald Hill as early as I could. Mid morning it still seemed a bit cold but fortunately the Silver Spotted Skippers were out and I found 10-20 of them, both Male and Female. By midday it was overcast and time to head off again. A good morning that was.
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Female and Male Silver Spotter Skippers. | Common Carpet moth. | Male Silver Spotted Skipper. | Elderly Dark Green Fritillary on Knapweed. | Male Silver Spotted Skipper on Field Scabious. |
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Six Spot Burnet moth on Knapweed. | Female Silver Spotted Skipper on Carmine Thistle. | Six Spot Burnet moth on Field Scabious. | Male Meadow Brown. | Male Brimstone. |
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Female Gatekeeper with red mites. | Pyrausta purpuralis moth. | Female Marbled White. | Silver Y moth. |
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Mating pair of Gatekeepers (Female top/left). | Male Gatekeeper. | Chalk Carpet moth. | Female Small Skipper. |
Butterflies and moths at Lasham Airfield.
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Small Blood-vein moth. | Black Arches moth. | Female Essex Skipper. | Two shots of a Large White. |
I saw butterflies in the Frankfurt area during a trip to visit a friend. A Male Brimstone was seen at the Frankfurt Botanical Gardens, a Summer Brood Map butterfly was seen in a garden in Stockhausen, near Frankfurt, and butterflies seen between Stockhausen and Biskirchen during a short walk.
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Male Brimstone at Palmen Garten, Frankfurt. | Views of 2 different Summer Brood Map butterflies in Stockhausen. |
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Ringlet near Biskirchen. | Green Veined White near Biskirchen. | Summer Brood Map near Biskirchen. |
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Essex Skipper butterfly near Biskirchen. |
Hendon moths that had flown in through an open window in the hallway overnight.
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Carcina quercana. | Riband Wave. | Emmelina monodactyla. |
A few butterflies and moths seen despite cloudy breezy conditions at Incombe Hole. A few Meadow Browns were also seen along the path between Incombe Hole and Pitstone Hill.
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Male Common Blue. | Chimney Sweeper moth. | Six Spot Burnet moth on Thistle flower. |
Butterflies from a very soggy (for the time of year) Park Wood, Ruislip. Alas I failed to find any White Admirals and only saw a couple of brief large orange blurs (presumably fast moving Silver Washed Fritillaries). But the Ringlets are having an amazing year. They were by far the most numerous of all the butterflies. I've never seen so many here before. Meanwhile I saw my first Gatekeeper of the year, a Male at rest on bracken.
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Male Large Skipper. | Marbled White Spot moth. | Ringlet basking. | Speckled Wood at rest. |
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Male Gatekeeper resting on bracken. | Ringlet at rest. | Green Veined White. |
Silver Studded Blues at Fairmile Common, Esher. I went at 6pm on the way home from the gliding club as the weather was gorgeous. Although in the warm sunshine they were pretty twitchy and hard to get near enough for photos. But I managed a few atleast. The courting pair was quite a coup. They seemed quite fresh too which again shows how late the season is this year.
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Two shots of a Female Silver Studded Blue. | Two Male Silver Studded Blues. |
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Two shots of a courting pair of Silver Studded Blues, Female top, Male bottom. | The Female after the Male flew off. |
Unlike 19th June, the summer butterflies, although late, are finally out. The Marbled Whites appeared to be having a very good year with large numbers. I only saw a few Dark Green Fritillaries, and only one stopped long enough for me to get a picture through long grass. It was a nice walk.
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Dark Green Fritillary on clover. | Ringlet at rest. | Female (top) and Male Marbled Whites on Knapweed. | Male Marbled White on Large Wild Thyme. | Small Skipper on Horseshoe Vetch. | Male Marbled White on Knapweed. |
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Courting pair (Female top, Male bottom) of Marbled Whites on Field Scabious. | Large Skipper at rest. | Male Marbled White on Field Scabious. | Small Skipper. |
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Marbled White on Knapweed. | Large Skipper on Blackberry (bramble) flower. | Ringlet. | Speckled Wood. | Silver Ground Carpet moth. | Small Tortoiseshell on Blackberry (bramble) flower. |
A Large Yellow Underwing moth disturbed from a Privet Hedge in Kenton while trimming it.
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Large Yellow Underwing moth. |
June has been a soaking wet month. As a result butterflies in the Chilterns were staying late. It was still an interesting trip to Sharpenhoe Clappers and Bison Hill. I've never seen an overwintered Peacock this late in the year before. A Female Brimstone was hanging on too. The Marbled Whites and Dark Green Fritillaries weren't out yet. Nice to see my first Chimney Sweeper moth too.
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Three shots of a Burnet Companion moth at Sharpenhoe Clappers. | The largest Speckled Wood I have ever seen. | Male Common Blue. | Female Brimstone. |
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Female Common Blue. | Small Heath. | Nemophora degeerella moths. | Nettle-tap moth. |
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Two shots of my first ever Chimney Sweeper moth at Bison Hill. | My latest overwintering Peacock record. | Female Holly Blue. |
A trip to Totternhow Knolls to see the Small Blue butterflies. I last saw them 6 years ago so nice to see them again. Especially their behaviour around the puddles on a hot day gathering to sip salts and water.
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Small Blue. | Male Orange Tip. | Two shots of a Small Blue. | Female Holly Blue. | Duke of Burgundy. |
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Dingy Skipper. | Small Blue. | Green Hairstreak. | Two shots of a Female Holly Blue. | 4 of many Small Blues gathered at a damp patch on the edge of a puddle. |
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Two Small Blues mating. | A Dingy Skipper also sipping. | Two shots of Tufted Vetch flowers with eggs laid on them. | Another Dingy Skipper. | Green Veined White. |
I wasn't too sure about the weather as bad weather was incoming, but it looked like it might be good enough in the morning. So I got up early and drove out to Bentley Wood to look for Pearl Bordered Fritillaries. It's 10 years since I last saw this butterfly, and my first visit to Bentley Wood, with a much better camera than 10 years ago. See for yourself the result! A dark burnt coloured Aberrant was also spotted here a few days ago but alas I wasn't lucky enough to find it. But I was glad to see good numbers of regular Pearl Bordered Fritillaries before it clouded over at lunchtime.
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My first one of the day at 9:15AM. | Two shots of a nearly pristine individual. | One of many Speckled Yellow moths. | Another Pearl Bordered Fritillary. | My only Dingy Skipper of the day. |
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Some nice poses as I try to photograph the undersides of the wings. | Feeding on Bugle. The lighting shows the underside nicely including all the hairs. | More Bugle feeding. |
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As one Pearl Bordered Fritillary fed on Bugle, two others came and buzzed it all in front of my lens. | One more Bugle feeding shot. | This Pearl Bordered Fritillary looked darker than the rest with more prominent spots. | Another Speckled Yellow moth. |
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Two shots of one more Pearl Bordered Fritillary. | Two shots of an Argent and Sable moth when it finally settled nervously for short periods after crossing a meadow. |
In the end the first sightings of Dukes at Ivinghoe and Bison Hill were the day after I went. So close! What a difference 4 days makes. The temperature has rocketed over 10C to 27C. I returned to Ivinghoe and saw two fresh Dukes as well as my first Dingy Skippers. Then after being told about it on the 4th by a fellow Butterflyer I decided to explore Incombe Hole from the Ivinghoe Beacon car park. A spectacular gash in the landscape with deep slopes down into a microclimate below. Down at the bottom scores of Dingy and Grizzled Skippers and some Green Hairstreaks were whizzing about in the heat. After a long sweaty climb back up the hill an ice cream at the car park was most welcome!
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3 photos of a Duke of Burgundy at Ivinghoe Beacon. | Speckled Wood. | Male Brimstone on a Cowslip flower. | Dingy Skipper. |
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Dingy Skipper at Incombe Hole. | These Incombe Hole Dingy Skippers seem to have more vivid markings than the comparably drab ones at Ivinghoe Beacon. |
I went to the Chilterns to look for the spring butterflies. Spring is late and the Dukes are not out yet. Atleast at Ivinghoe Beacon I spotted my first Green Hairstreak and Grizzled Skipper of the year. Most remarkable was the large number of Brimstones. They were everywhere in large numbers.
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Female Brimstone nectaring on a dog violet at Ivinghoe Beacon. | Two shots of my first Green Hairstreak of the year at Ivinghoe Beacon. | My first Grizzled Skipper of the year at Ivinghoe Beacon. | Peacock with unsavoury tastes at Bison Hill. |
At last the spring butterflies are emerging in significant numbers. Was nice to see spring time favourites like the Orange Tip as well as the hibernators enjoying spring too.
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Two shots of a Green Veined White nectaring. | Two shots of a Speckled Wood resting. |
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Two different Commas basking. | Two shots of a Male Orange Tip basking while it nectars. |
Peacocks at Bison Hill enjoying the Spring sunshine.
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Two Peacocks nectaring on a dandelion and basking. |
A second foray onto Barnhill. Again I braved the extremely muddy conditions and saw the other three hibernators all coming out (I didn't see the Small Tortoiseshell). An excellent early spring day. Everything is a bit late this year as despite the mild winter, spring has been cold and held everything back a few weeks.
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Long range shot of Peacock on blossom. | Comma. | Male Brimstone at rest. I was ankle deep in a swamp when I took this! |
My first butterfly of the year this afternoon on Barnhill. A rather intellectual Small Tortoiseshell choosing a discarded newspaper to bask on. Sunny, 11C on the ground which was extremely muddy (thank goodness for wellies). I initially spotted it in flight and tracked it until it landed on the newspaper Then I used my 600mm max zoom in macro mode to get good closeups without disturbing it. It kindly closed its wings after I had got the basking shots to allow me to get the underside shot too.
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Three shots of a Small Tortoiseshell as it basked on a discarded newspaper. |