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Click here to view the 2009 butterflies and moths.
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An unexpected after dark visitor flew into my room during a mild dry cloudy spell of weather. I caught it in an old Fererro Rocher box so I could take pictures and then take it safely back outside.
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| Male Winter Moth resting wings closed. | Lucky shot as the Male Winter Moth started flying again. | Male Winter Moth resting wings open. |
A final instar Ruby Tiger caterpillar on Horsenden Hill.
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| Ruby Tiger caterpillar on grass tuft. | Closeups of Ruby Tiger caterpillar after I let it crawl onto my finger. | ||
Autumn butterflies and moths. The end of the season is nigh now as the temperatures drop and autumnal weather moves in. And the ivy comes into flower. The last great nectar source of the year which hibernators gorge on before going to sleep until the spring.
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| Two shots of a Comma feeding on ivy in the garden in Kenton. | Small Tortoiseshell in Whipsnade. | Two shots of an Amblyptilia acanthadactyla moth in Kenton. | Nettle Tap in Barnhill. | ||
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| Two shots of a Setaceous Hebrew Character moth seen after dark. | Red Admiral basking on Horsenden Hill brambles. | Red Admirals feeding up on Horsenden Hill ivy blossom. | ||
Moth special! All these moths were either in the garden in Kenton or came into my room after dark, except for the moth with the go faster stripe from the 27th, which was on Horsenden Hill.
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| Amblyptilia acanthadactyla. | Double-Striped Pug. | Marbled Beauty. | Yellow Shell. | ||
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| Double-Striped Pug. | Double-Striped Pug. | Male Orange Swift. | White-Shouldered House Moth. | Male Orange Swift. |
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| Crambus perlella. | Tachystola acroxantha. | Mullein Wave. | Marbled Beauty. | Unidentified. |
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| Agriphila tristella. | Marbled Beauty. | ||
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| Square Spot Rustic moth. | Mullein Wave moth. | |||
More shots from Horsenden Hill.
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| Holly Blue. | Mother of Pearl Moth. | Female Common Blue. | Small Copper on dandelion. |
I went back to Aston Rowant on a very windy and fairly cloudy day. The hill between Bald Hill and the M40 was where I found the late Marbled White and the moths. Then I crossed the valley where I found Common Blues. Then up the top of Bald Hill the Silver Spotted Skippers were braving a strong and gusty wind. It was a challenge taking any pictures. Admittedly I accidentally left the ISO at 200, but this actually helped me get some shots I would have failed to get at ISO80. So given the weather conditions, a much better day than I expected.
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| A very late elderly Marbled White. | Worn Pyrausta nigrata. | 3 shots of a Silver Ground Carpet. | Two shots of a Male common Blue feeding. Backlit wings allowed the underside to show through from the top. | |||
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| 4 shots of a Female Silver Spotted Skipper feeding while hanging on for dear life in the strong wind. | Male Silver Spotted Skipper. | Male (bottom) and Female Silver Spotted Skipper courting pair. | Silver Spotted Skipper taking off. | |||
I've been leaving my window open after dark again. ;) Here's a selection of what flew in. Note that I often have problems with the flash being too bright. In these cases putting my finger in front of the flash helped, although it sometimes added a fleshy tint to the colour. (This will be resolved on the 16th August, when I found a simple and effective solution...)
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| Brown House Moth. | Blastobasis adustella Moth. | Trachycera advenella. | Female Light Brown Apple Moth. | Tachystola acroxantha. | |
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| Two shots of a Copper Underwing. | Two shots of a Eudonia mercurella moth. | Brown House Moth. | Brown House Moth. | ||
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| Apple Leaf Miner. | Two shots of an Emmelina monodactyla. | |
I ended up in Oversley Wood in Warwickshire. An excellent woodland butterfly site especially on the road going around the hill. I had fun taking loads of photographs of the butterflies as well as dragonflies, hoverflies, bumblebees and many other insects. Up the hill in the middle of the wood there was also a nice view point. Skippers, Gatekeeprs and Meadow Browns also seen but not photographed.
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| A worn Ringlet. | A fresh Comma. | Two shots of a Purple Hairstreak on a bench. Is it sticking it's tongue out at me in the 1st pic? :O | Female and Male Brimstones. | ||
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| Unidentified moth. | Another Female Brimstone on Thistle. | Two shots of a Male Silver Washed Fritillary on Burdock. | Two shots of a Red Admiral feeding on Burdock. | ||
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| Peacock resting under cloud cover. | Male Brimstone on Burdock. | Another Peacock also on Burdock. | Green Veined White. |
A moth on my car window, parked in the Windsor area.
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| Unidentified 1cm moth. |
I returned to Chobham Common at lunchtime to see the Graylings. The Silver Studded Blues were still around, as were the Skippers, Ringlets and a few Meadow Browns and Whites too. Also saw my first ever Golden Ringed Dragonfly.
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| Purple-bordered Gold moth. | A well camouflaged Grayling. | Male Silver Studded Blue. | Two shots of a Female Silver Studded Blue. | |
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| Another Male Silver Studded Blue. | Another Grayling. | Another Female Silver Studded Blue. |
My best ever Peacock pictures! A freshly emerged and perfect condition Peacock feeding on the Buddleia and then basking on the path in the garden. When it was basking on the path a cloud passign in front of the sun made it less flighty and allowed me to get close enough to fill the camera's frame. It's wings were completely flat so I had 12 megapixels of well focussed Peacock!
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| Three shots of a Peacock in the garden in Kenton. | ||
I went to Sharpenhoe Clappers and saw lots of Dark Green Fritillaries and Marbled Whites. It was one of those days where a strong wind blows over the ridge, and all the butterflies were congregating on the lee side (East slope) and staying low to shelter from the wind. Plenty of Burnets and Skippers also seen. They all seemed to love the flowering Scabious.
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| Small Skipper. | Two Dark Green Fritillaries. One wings closed. | Marbled White. | Two more Dark Green Fritillaries. | ||
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| Another two different Marbled Whites. | One more Dark Green Fritillary. | |
I went to Chobham Common to see the Silver Studded Blues. There were also ringlets and plenty of Skippers too.
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| Male Silver Studded Blue. | Three shots of another Male Silver Studded Blue. | Three shots of another Male Silver Studded Blue. | ||||
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| Another Male Silver Studded Blue. | Two shots of a Ringlet. | Another Male Silver Studded Blue. | Two shots of a Female Silver Studded Blue. | ||
A trip to Park Wood in Ruislip to see the Heath Fritillaries. The cloudy but bright weather actually made for good photographing conditions as they were less lively and easier to get close to. Meanwhile on Horsenden Hill the Five Spot Burnets and Small Skippers are emerging, while a Silver Ground Carpet visited me one evening at home. A Six Spot Burnet also seen on Horsenden Hill.
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| Three shots of the same Heath Fritillary | Another Heath Fritillary. | ||
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| A freshly emerged Five Spot Burnet, still resting on its empty pupa. | Another Five Spot Burnet resting wings open (unusual). | My first Small Skipper of the year. | White Letter Hairstreak high in an elm tree. | |
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| Two shots of mating 5 Spot Burnets. | My best ever Silver Y moth shot. | Straw Dot moth. | Chrysoteuchia culmella moth. | Silver Ground Carpet on my window after dark. | Six Spot Burnet moth. | |
I returned to Barnhill to find my first Red Admiral of the year. Plus other butterflies, moths, damselflies, etc. Plus a Green Oak Tortrix on Horsenden Hill.
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| Two shots of a Red Admiral. | Brown China Mark moth. | Nettle-tap moth on a daisy. | Another Nettle-tap moth on a leaf. | Green Oak Tortrix | |
On the 25th I visited Seven Barrows near Lambourn in West Berkshire. Unfortunately the clearance I had been following ground to a halt just short of Seven Barrows where it stayed cloudy. I did find lots of stripey snails and a greenish moth though. Then on the 31st May I visited Hurst Castle and found 30-40 Glanville Fritillaries. I also saw some Cream Spot Tiger moths which were stunning but impossible to photograph. Then I returned to Silver Barrows and this time successfully found and photographed the Marsh Fritillary.
The Glanvilles look remarkably similar to Heath Fritillaries, except for the row of spots along the hindwings which the Heaths don't have. Like the Heaths the Glanvilles seem quite docile and one happily settled on my finger. Meanwhile the Marsh Fritillary is stunning, like looking at a stained glass window, and unlike any other Fritillary.
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| Two shots of my first Glanville Fritillary feeding on Sea Thrift and basking. | More Glanville Fritillaries basking. | ||
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| Glanville showing its underside while basking. | Glanville settling on my finger! | Glanville Fritillary resting. | |
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| My first Marsh Fritillary. | A second more worn Marsh Fritillary. | A third fresher Marsh Fritillary posing beautifully. | Dingy Skipper. | Common Carpet moth. | Courting pair of Marsh Fritillaries. |
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| Marsh Fritillary feeding on a buttercup. | Crambus lathoniellus moth. | Crambus lathoniellus moth. | Marsh Fritillary and Dingy Skipper close enough to fit in one frame. Shame I couldn't get both in focus simultaneously. | Marsh Fritillary feeding on a buttercup. |
I took a visit to Park Corner Heath in East Sussex. It was fairly cloudy but despite that managed to find and photograph Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries, as well as a Speckled Yellow moth. I also got very close to a female Broad Bodied Chaser dragonfly.
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| 3 shots of Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries. One even rested on my index finger, giving a good idea of their size. | Speckled Yellow moth resting under a leaf. | ||
More from Horsenden Hill, including my first Small Coppers of the year.
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| Unidentified 2cm caterpillar found dangling from an oak tree on a silk thread. | My first 2008 Small Copper. | Three shots of a Small Yellow Underwing restign and feeding on a buttercup. | |||
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| Light Brown Apple Moth. | Small Copper. |
Carnation Tortrix in Kenton, and leps in the Chilterns.The Dukes are back!
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| Carnation Tortrix | Duke of Burgundy butterflies at Ivinghoe Beacon. | Pyrausta purpuralis moth at Totternhoe Knolls. | Duke of Burgundy butterfly at Bison Hill. | ||
A pretty caterpillar spotted on 4th May at Sharpenhoe Clappers, and a Speckled Wood from Horsenden Hill. At Horsenden Hill during the week it was in the 20's and butterflies were warm enough not to bask at lunchtime. So quite hard to take pics of anything as they were all so mobile, or resting wings closed.
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| Caterpillar of The Drinker moth. | Speckled Wood at rest. | Male Orange Tip feeding on Garlic Mustard, it's larval plant. |
My first Grizzled Skipper of the year at Bison Hill was very docile. At one point it crawled onto my finger when I touched it and started sipping salts. Plus Peacock at Totternhoe Knolls while hunting for Duke of Burgundies which weren't quite out yet.
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| 5 shots of the same Grizzled Skipper. Feeding on a dandelion, basking, resting, and sitting on my finger sticking its tongue out and eyeing me. Note the left hindwing looks a bit broken but it otherwise seems healthy. | Closeup of the eye spot of a peacock showing the scales. | ||||
At last some warm weather. And out the Peacocks came in large numbers at Horsenden Hill. A few other new for 2008 butterflies also seen. The Holly Blue and Orange Tip pictures here were my first of each species this year.
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| Peacock. | Pale Speckled Wood. | Both one shot of a Holly Blue, the 2nd picture cropped in to reveal rippled scales. | |
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| Peacock dangling upside down from a bluebell while it feeds from it. | Three shots of a Male Orange Tip feeding from bluebells. | ||
A Small White posed for me. I got so close I almost touched it. You can see individual scales on the wings even in the smaller 640x480 version of the picture.
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| Small White resting. |
Wahay my first ever February butterfly. I already spotted a Peacock (90% sure as it was on the wing but looked like a Peacock rather than a Red Admiral) in January. This Comme beats my earliest Comma by exactly a month, the previous being 11th March 2007. This tallies with spring being a month earlier this year as it's been so mild. This is also my first butterfly shot with the new camera, a shot I wasn't expecting to take until March.
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| Early Comma feeding on similarly early Blackthorn blossom. |