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CCulmella.jpg
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More from Horsenden Hill. The Marbled White was lucky shot before it scarpered. The C. Culmella moth was hard too as it was rather hot and they were very easily disturbed. Plus a White Admiral from Park Wood in Ruislip.
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| Marbled White. | Chrysoteuchia culmella moth. | White Admiral. |
More moths again! I set up a blacklight and a tungsten lamp at the bottom of the garden. It was surprisingly successful, especially after 11pm.
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| Unidentified 1cm micro moth. | Udea olivalis. | Eudonia mercurella. | |||
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| Unidentified 2cm moth. | Unidentified 1cm moth. | Riband Wave. | Unidentified 1cm moth. | |||
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| Crambus lathoniellus. | Two unidentified 1 or 1.5cm moths of the same species. | Unidentified 1.5cm - 2cm moth. A bit smaller than Riband Wave. | Bee moth. | |
More moths! Including a number of firsts for my pages. Plus a few more butterflies too.
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| Male Light Brown Apple Moth in Kenton. | Two Green Oak Tortrixes at Horsenden Hill. | Three shots of a Male Nemophora degeerella moth. | |||
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| Two shots of a Willow Beauty found inside Kellogg Tower in Greenford. | Two shots of a Bee moth in Kenton. | Two shots of a White Ermine moth on Horsenden Hill. | |||
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| Speckled Wood. | Two shots of a pair of 5 Spot Burnets feeding on knapweed on Horsenden Hill. | Two mating 5 Spot Burnets on Horsenden Hill. Is the top one an aberrant? Look at those spots... | Peacock Caterpillars in Hanwell. One had unusually pale spines. | ||
I visit to Norfolk to see the Swallowtails proved to be rather frustrating with more cloud than forecast. However a brief spell of sunshine at How Hill did finally tempt one very small Swallowtail out. Shame I failed to get a decent picture. I will have to return for more. 3rd time lucky next time? On the way back there were thousands of Painted Ladies flitting past as the current mega migration is in full swing.
In the evening back in Kenton there were plenty of tortrix type moths on the hedge in the driveway as it started to get dark. And more came to my room light after dark.
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| Green Veined White, Orange Tip and Painted Lady resting in cloud shadow at the garden in Strumpshaw. | Treble Bar and Clouded Silver moths as we depart Strumpshaw. | My only Swallowtail of the day at How Hill. Well atleast it's identifiable! | |||
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| Another Painted Lady back at Strumpshaw as we see if more sunshine will tempt them out there. | 2 Painted Ladies nectaring on sweet rocket. Plenty more of them out of shot! | Unidentified 1cm moths on a privet hedge. Probably all same species. Latter 2 flash assisted as it was getting dark. | ||
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| Male Light Brown Apple Moth. | 2 shots of an unidentified 0.5cm moth. | Unidentified moth. Similar to Brown House Moth??? | Tiny 2-3mm unidentified moth. | |
I returned to Totternhoe to see the Small Blues. I didn't see as many as in 2006 and in the warm sunny conditions they were rather active so far from ideal for photography but I still managed to snap a few.
Then when I got home late in the day a Painted Lady was spotted nectaring on marigolds that had just been bought and waiting to be planted out. This was one of a massive migration, with thousands if not millions coming in from the continent. Some were fairly faded but others were in pretty good condition. They originated from the Atlas mountains in Morocco, where unusually good conditions allowed them to proliferate over the winter. En route they bred and produced new generations which joined the migration, hence the variety of conditions. Last year I saw just one all year, so this is a huge contrast.
Finally a Small Dusty Wave came into my room after dark, followed by a Green Pug the following night.
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| Small Blue resting wings closed. | Two shots of a Small Blue nectaring. | Another Small Blue basking. | Two shots of a Painted Lady nectaring on marigolds. | ||
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| Two shots of a Small Dusty Wave caught in an old Ferrero Rocher box. | Two shots of a Green Pug caught in the same Ferrero Rocher box. | ||
Back at Horsenden Hill, in the same area as last week's dead Orange Tip was found, the same crab spider had caught a bumblebee. Meanwhile its neighbour had a Green Veined White dangling on a thread rotating in the breeze as it fed on it. Plus a moth I've never seen before.
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| 3 shots of a Green Veined White in a web being fed on by a crab spider. | 2 shots of an Ancylis badiana moth. | |||
It was nice to return to Denbies Hillside again. And like last time it was cloudy at times but enough sun to warm things up. The conditions were ideal for photography with butterflies easy to find yet docile enough to get close to. Even mating pairs of Common Blues and Brown Arguses were found. Of course the stars of the show were the glorious Adonis Blues. Then on the way back we dropped by Banstead Downs after a tipoff about Small Blues. However we failed to find the Small Blues. We did find large numbers of Brimstones though, including eggs on the Buckthorn there.
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| 5 Spot Burnet resting. | Male Adonis Blue, including a crop showing the scales. | Female Adonis Blue resting and basking on my finger. | Brown Argus. | ||
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| Male Adonis Blue resting and basking on my finger. | Mating Brown Arguses. | Male Common Blue | Two shots of a Mother Shipton. | ||
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| Two more shots of a Mother Shipton showing its underside and head closeup. | Two shots of a Male Adonis Blue showing its habitat in the background, and a fellow butterflier. | Silly shot of a Male Adonis Blue and a 5 Spot Burnet moth on my finger. | ||
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| Grizzled Skipper resting wings closed and then basking on my finger. | Three shots of a pair of mating Common Blues. I couldn't resist a new version of the 'sex on a fingertip' shot. | |||
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| Brimstone egg on underside of Buckthorn leaf at Banstead Downs. | Unidentified moth on Gorse. | Courting Brimstones. My first half reasonable shot of the top surfaces of a Male Brimstone's wings. | Female Brimstone nectaring. |
More pictures from Horsenden Hill.
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| Small Yellow Underwing. | Burnet Companion feeding on bluebells. | Oh dear! Male Orange Tip caught by a Crab Spider while feeding on bluebells. |
A visit to adjacent Oaken and Tugley Woods proved successful. Didn't spot any Pearl Bordered Fritillaries but plenty of Wood Whites, Grizzled Skippers, a Dingy Skipper and more. Brimstones were particularly abundant. Curiously one Male Orange Tip was tiny, smaller than a Wood White.
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| Grizzled Skipper. | Brown Silver-line moth. | Wood White | Dingy Skipper | Agonopterix arenella moth on oak leaf. | Male Orange Tip feeding on bluebells. |
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| 3 shots of a Wood White, including a closeup of its scales and a backlit shot from the other side. | A Small White butterfly egg on the underside of a small garlic mustard leaf just below the flowers. | ||
Two Brimstone Moths flew into my room after dark. I found it resting on the window. Plus more pictures from Horsenden Hill.
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| Brimstone Moth. | Small Copper. | Speckled Wood. | 3 shots of the same Brimstone Moth. | 2 shots of an unidentified micro moth. | |||
My first trip to Ivinghoe Beacon and Bison Hill this year. The Dukes are back! As are the Grizzled Skippers and Green Hairstreaks. In total I counted over 100 butterflies.
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| Ivinghoe Beacon 24th April 2009 - Green Hairstreak and two different Duke of Burgundys. | Bison Hill 24th April 2009 - Grizzled Skipper, Duke of Burgundy and Green Hairstreak. | ||||
An Angle Shades flew into my room. I found it on the floor at 11pm. Now if only I could get the lighting right for decent after dark moth colours. I think combination of daylight tri-colour bulb and tungsten lamp confused the colour balance sensor...
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| Four shots of an Angle Shades moth. | |||
Horsenden Hill butterflies and Kenton moths.
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| Comma | Peacocks basking on the path. | Amblyptilia Acanthadactyla | Another Comma | Peacock feeding on Dandelion. | ||
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| 2 shots of a Common Quaker moth. | Double-Striped Pug moth. | 2 shots of a Male Holly Blue. | |||
During a walk near Welwyn (/ Welwyn Garden City) I found a couple of orange and black moths. I later discovered that they were Orange Underwings, which apparently aren't so common. Also the first day of the year when butterflies appeared in any numbers, with Brimstones, Commas and Peacocks also around in the spring sushine.
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| Two shots of an Orange Underwing moth. | Comma. | |
I found a caterpillar in a trough that was used to grow carrots in last year. Subsequently I determined it (with help thanks to ukmoths) to be a Large Yellow Underwing. Meanwhile a moth flew into my room. Identified as a Tortricodes alternella. Away from the camera, the butterflies are starting to appear again. Spotted a Peacock at Lasham Airfield a few days ago. And warmer weather to come so hoping they'll be out in numbers again soon.
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| Large Yellow Underwing caterpillar. | Tortricodes alternella moth. | ||||