SpeckledWood.jpg
Click here to return to the main Piccies index.
Click here to view the 2004 butterflies and moths.
Click here to order the butterflies by species.
I suspect this is the last butterfly I will see this year - a lone Speckled Wood. 2 days ago I saw one each of a Speckled Wood and Small White butterflies, plus one Migrant Hawker and a couple of Common Darter dragonflies. However the weather is due to get colder now (especially at night), so I doubt I will see any more of these until next year now. Update 5th November 2003: Today was exceptionally mild. Got a brief glimpse of a Red Admiral during a lunchtime walk!
|
SpeckledWood.jpg |
| A lone Speckled Wood found in a sunlit grass corridor in some woods. |
Remarkable days for butterflies for the time of year. In addition to the Painted Lady and Red Admirals below, I also spotted some small Whites, several Speckled Woods and a few Common Blues. And at last, some decent closeups of a Red Admiral, even if half an antenna is missing on the first one! On 26th I found a swarm of Red Admirals feeding on ivy blossom. I saw atleast 5 or 6 separate individuals. There could have been more. Some were still there on the 29th.
 PaintedLady1.jpg |
 PaintedLady2.jpg |
 RedAdmiral.jpg |
 RedAdmirals.jpg |
 RedAdmiral.jpg |
 RedAdmiral1.jpg |
 RedAdmiral2.jpg |
| Painted Lady feeding on ivy blossom. | Red Admiral resting on same ivy patch. | 3 Red Admirals on same ivy patch next day. | Closeup of one of the Red Admirals. | Red Admiral feeding on same ivy patch 3 days later. | ||
Spotted a single Red Admiral. Otherwise just Whites and Speckled Woods now. Butterfly season is almost over for the year.
 LargeWhite1.jpg |
 LargeWhite2.jpg |
| Large White Butterfly. | |
I've seen huge numbers of Speckled Wood butterflies, and plenty of Whites too. Not much else however. The Speckled Woods seem a lot darker now compared to the Spring broods. I did spot two red admirals on 4th September but the one I tried to photograph got chased away by a very aggressive Speckled Wood, despite the Speckled being significantly smaller! The Large White also evaded the camera once again too.
 SpeckledWood.jpg |
 SmallWhite.jpg |
 LargeWhite.jpg |
 BaskingRedAdmirals.jpg |
 CommonBlueClosed.jpg |
 CommonBlueOpen.jpg |
| Speckled Wood Butterfly. | Small White Butterfly. | Large White Butterfly. | 2 Red Admirals basking in a tree. | Female Common Blue Butterfly. | |
It took me months to get a Large White picture. This butterfly just never seems to stop moving, which is a major problem for my camera because it is rather slow to focus. The Red Admiral is even harder as it is very twitchy, and so very difficult to get close to. And when they scarper they move very fast and often far as well.
 HollyBlue.jpg |
 SpeckledWood.jpg |
 RedAdmiral1.jpg |
 RedAdmiral2.jpg |
 RedAdmiral3.jpg |
| Female Holly Blue butterfly. | Speckled Wood butterfly. | Red Admiral butterfly basking in a willow tree. It spotted me and tried to hide for the third picture. | ||
The Largeand Small White butterflies just never seems to stop moving, which is a major problem for my camera because it is rather slow to focus. At first I thought this was a Large White, but it is actually a Small White. They look very similar if you can't remember the size of the subject afterwards. The Red Admiral is even harder as it is very twitchy, and so very difficult to get close to. And when they scarper they move very fast and often far as well.
 SmallWhite1.jpg |
 SmallWhite2.jpg |
 SmallWhite3.jpg |
| Small White butterfly. | ||
Painted Ladies and swarms.
 PaintedLady1.jpg |
 PaintedLady2.jpg |
 PaintedLady.jpg |
 Swarm.jpg |
| Painted Lady butterfly. | A swarm of butterflies feeding on thistle. I saw 10-20 small tortoiseshells and 2-3 painted ladies in one small patch. | ||
 PaintedLady1.jpg |
 PaintedLady2.jpg |
 PaintedLady3.jpg |
 AmblyptiliaAcanthadactyla.jpg |
 YellowSpottedMoth.jpg |
| Painted Lady feeding on thistle. (One of the swarm). | Amblyptilia Acanthadactyla moth snapped around sunset. | Pyrausta Aurata moth spotted around sunset. | ||
Today's feature was my first sighting of a Comma butterfly since the Spring.
 RedAdmiral.jpg |
 Comma1.jpg |
 Comma2.jpg |
 Comma3.jpg |
 SmallTortoiseshell.jpg |
 Gatekeeper.jpg |
 CinnabarLarvae.jpg |
| Red Admiral butterfly. | Comma butterfly feeding on thistles. | Small Tortoiseshell butterfly. | Female Gatekeeper butterfly. | Cinnabar moth larvae. | ||
Snapped more butterflies. The Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers were everywhere in the meadows and blackberry bushes. Also found some interesting looking daytime moths too. Note how the Essex and Small Skippers look so similar. But it is possible to tell them apart by looking at their antennae tips. The Essex Skipper's are a glossy black colour, while the Small Skipper's are a lighter brown colour.
 Peacock.jpg |
 Gatekeeper1.jpg |
 Gatekeeper2.jpg |
 Gatekeeper3.jpg |
 MeadowBrown.jpg |
 BurnetMoth.jpg |
| Peacock butterfly. | Male Gatekeeper butterflies. | Meadow Brown butterfly. | Six-Spotted Burnet moth. | ||
 SmallSkipper1.jpg |
 SmallSkipper2.jpg |
 EssexSkipper.jpg |
 Moth1.jpg |
 Moth2.jpg |
| Small Skipper butterfly. | Essex Skipper butterfly. | Platyptilia Pallidactyla moth. Looks like vintage fixed wing aircraft! | ||
 SpeckledWoodEscaping.jpg |
 SmallTortoiseshell.jpg |
 Butterfly1.jpg |
 Butterfly2.jpg |
| Just as I pressed the shutter it scarpered. Or is it warping into another dimension? | This was one of a swarm! | Male Gatekeeper butterfly. Unfortunately the first pic was well off focus, but still aided identification. | |
 SmallHeath.jpg |
 CommonBlue.jpg |
 SmallTortoiseshell1.jpg |
 SmallTortoiseshell2.jpg |
 PaintedLadyClosed.jpg |
 PaintedLady.jpg |
| Another shot of a Small Heath butterfly. | Another shot of a male Common Blue butterfly. | Two great closeups of a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly. | Painted Lady butterfly. | ||
 SpeckledWood.jpg |
 RedAdmiral.jpg |
 RedAdmiralFace.jpg |
 CommonBlue.jpg |
 Butterfly1.jpg |
 Butterfly2.jpg |
| Good closeup of Speckled Wood butterfly. | First Red Admiral butterfly of the year feeding on blackberry blossom. | Better shot of the Common Blue butterfly. | Two shots of a female Common Blue. | ||
 Moth1.jpg |
 Moth2.jpg |
 Butterfly1.jpg |
 MaleCommonBlueSide.jpg |
 Butterfly2.jpg |
| Two moths spotted on the way back to the office - Silver Y and Burnet Companion. | A Small Heath Butterfly hanging upside down from spiky leaf. | Side view of Common Blue butterfly. | Small White butterfly feeding on a blackberry flower. | |
 TinyBlue.jpg |
| Very small (approx 2cm) Common Blue butterfly feeding on clover. |
 GreenWhite1.jpg |
 GreenWhite2.jpg |
 OrangeTip1.jpg |
 OrangeTip2.jpg |
 PeacockButterfly.jpg |
 BrownYellow1.jpg |
 BrownYellow2.jpg |
| Green-Veined White butterfly. | Orange Tip butterfly feeding. | A better closeup of a (albeit injured) Peacock butterfly. | Speckled Wood butterfly. | |||
 Butterfly.jpg |
 ButterflyHuge.jpg |
 Butterfly1.jpg |
 Butterfly2.jpg |
| First time I've seen a butterfly in March! (Comma) | 1000x1000 closeup of Comma butterfly. Too good to shrink! | With those circles, WW2 RAF butterfly? (Peacock) | |
 Butterfly.jpg |
 Butterfly1.jpg |
 Butterfly2.jpg |
 Butterfly3.jpg |
 Butterfly4.jpg |
 Butterfly5a.jpg |
 Butterfly5b.jpg |
 Butterfly.jpg |
| Butterfly | Butterfly on the path. | More butterflies. (2nd critter moved!) | The prize! A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly. | Ever get the impression you are being watched? | |||