It’s not just about birds on Scilly. A walk around the South of St Mary’s gave us several sightings of Clouded Yellows that had presumably migrated in from the Continent.
Posts Tagged ‘Butterflies
20
Oct
22
Not so cloudy
19
Jul
22
Butterflies
Just a few of the beautiful butterflies we saw on the Cumbria Butterfly Tour this month. Next years tour is available for booking here
Common Blue, Dark Green Fritillary, Grayling, High Brown Fritillary, Large White, Northern Brown Argus, Small Heath, Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary.
28
Jun
22
Similar
When we went to the Isle of Wight last week we looked for Glanville’s Fritillary. It’s a butterfly that neither I, nor of course Tani, had seen before. It took us quite a while to find our first. Numbers were not in the realm of those conjured up in my imagination by others. Perhaps they are having a subdued year.
We did the Essex Tour this week to see Heath Fritillary. In the books it appears some consider the Glanville’s and the Heath Fritillary easily confused. I’m not too sure about that but take a look at this composite photo I’ve put together and tell me what you think. I think those dark spots towards the rear of the hindwing on the Glanville’s are quite distinct.
23
Aug
21
Adonis in the rain
It’s no coincidence that probably the most stunning butterfly we have in the UK carries the name of the god of desire and beauty.
We were once again up against it with the weather. This time in our search for Adonis Blue Butterflies. A gun metal grey sky and occasional drizzle didn’t put us off taking a small group to Hertfordshire on Saturday. The day was brightened considerably by us finding about 20 males and a few females of this metallic blue beauty.
Here’s Tania showing off the finer points of a male Adonis Blue which took to her hand for the warmth. Even the underside of the wings on this creature go above expectations.
14
Aug
21
A little skip
I’m not sure what species of seaweed or pine cone the BBC are using for forecasting these days but I’ll give them some information for free … it’s not working. When the weather app says sunny all day for several days in advance and with 12 hours to go they change it to cloud with rain something ain’t right. The clue is in the name. It’s supposed to be a ‘fore-cast‘.
Anyways, it’s sufficient to say finding butterflies on the Silver Spotted Skipper day in Buckinghamshire wasn’t as easy as it could have been on Thursday. However, even with the drizzle, even with the cloud and even in the rain we managed to find 18 species of butterfly on one south facing slope. Included in the list were some dazzling Adonis Blues and of course a couple of Silver Spotted Skippers.
06
Aug
21
A few More
A few more butterflies from the last couple of weeks.
12
Jul
21
A butterfly fest
This last weekend saw us firstly taking a group to Gloucestershire on Saturday to see a formerly extinct British butterfly; the Large Blue. An insect inscribed in India ink. A unique upperwing among our blue butterflies makes this insect quite unmistakable. They took a little finding in cloudy weather but as soon as the sun sent a shaft of light our way several showed well.
On Sunday we had no such difficulty with a different group in finding Purple Emperors. In fact they found us. Guest Emma even took to wearing one as a hair slide! This large vibrant butterfly is difficult to find in some years … not so at the weekend. We saw around a dozen and each one was ‘just out of the box’ perfect.
If you would like to join us for another butterfly day around Norfolk this coming Saturday 17th July when we’ll be searching for hairstreaks and fritillaries see the following link and let me know. https://mailchi.mp/e813641f05ca/norfolk-butterfly-day
Large Blue 
Purple Emperor (and Emma) 
Purple Emperor (and Emma) 
Purple Emperor
15
May
21
On the wing
A walk along the coast this week produced a smattering of butterflies where the sun lit up sheltered spots. We came across eight species in all. The most common by far were the Painted Ladies. These migrants leapfrogging their way north from the Nile Valley in Egypt were mostly travelling at some speed; but one or two took breath to give a chance of a photo.
05
May
21
First flight
My first Speckled Wood of the year last week … fresh out of the box.
29
Jul
20
Climbing the Wall
On yesterday’s bespoke Butterfly Tour we saw 21 species; among them about five Wall Browns put in an appearance. Here’s one of them.
Letter From Norfolk 