RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 2, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 2, 2017 Pipistrelles are out this evening at home - always a welcome sight - but not if you are a lepidopteran I guess.... Phil 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Pipistrelles are out this evening at home - always a welcome sight - but not if you are a lepidopteran I guess.... Phil All part of a diverse ecology, Phil. As we have discussed before our malign effect on the natural world is the big problem - the number of moths that bats predate will be a small effect compared with that. Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Spring was well under way yesterday and I walked south along the Itchen. Chiffchaffs, blackcaps, sedge warblers etc were all singing along the river. Also cetti's warblers, although I wouldn't call that a song - more a shout. Butterflies I saw were (in no particular order) - brimstone (lots), small white, orange tip (lots), red admiral, holly blue, small tortoiseshell, speckled woods (lots) and comma. Some snaps, starting with a chiffchaff... Chaz 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Lovely sight for my wife today just as she got home, a pair of Nuthatches using the bird bath together. I only saw them fly off. Don't usually see a breeding pair in such close company, very much 'alternaters': NH1 comes to feeder, departs to preferred perch to eat seed, NH2 comes to feeder, departs to (different) preferred perch. And so on. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Co-tr-Paul Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Have now seen first non hibernating adult (sw) and Swallows, both a month early. Is it going to be a good year - finally ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Have now seen first non hibernating adult (sw) and Swallows, both a month early. Is it going to be a good year - finally ? Oh, do let's hope so. But good years (and very bad years) are a matter of chance. What is fairly sure is that as we pump more energy into the atmosphere the weather will become more extreme and wildlife (and humans) don't like extremes. We're all doomed.... Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted April 6, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 6, 2017 Agree that this is so far an early Spring. Vines are probably about two weeks ahead of where they are usually and some of the early variety cider apple trees starting to blossom. Not seen many butterflies yet (don't know the name but they are all lemon yellow) but an unusually high number of bumble bees. To judge from the amount of noise in the early morning, more birds than usual too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 (edited) Agree that this is so far an early Spring. Vines are probably about two weeks ahead of where they are usually and some of the early variety cider apple trees starting to blossom. Not seen many butterflies yet (don't know the name but they are all lemon yellow) but an unusually high number of bumble bees. To judge from the amount of noise in the early morning, more birds than usual too. The lemon yellow butterflies are male brimstones. The females are a greenish white but are easy to tell, as they have the same slightly hooked shape wings. I walked down to Eastleigh Lakeside yesterday. I took some photos - more signs of spring. I also heard a distant willow warbler singing (my first of the year) - my favourite bird song, which I am always pleased to hear. If you don't know it you could play the audio file on this page... http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/w/willowwarbler/index.aspx Chaz Edited April 7, 2017 by chaz 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 7, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 7, 2017 Wonderful phots Chaz A male orange tip and also a Holly Blue in Sandford Park Cheltenham yesterday - heres hoping for a good year, nothing at either extreme please.... Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mezzoman253 Posted April 7, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 7, 2017 My little helper. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 My little helper. 100_0989.JPG Did you see that the RSPB have reported that the number of robins in the UK (judged on the last Garden Birdwatch) has increased? Hoorah. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 7, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 7, 2017 Did you see that the RSPB have reported that the number of robins in the UK (judged on the last Garden Birdwatch) has increased? Hoorah. Very noticeable around here! Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 A real spring day today with the temperature on Magdalen Down (near Winchester) reaching 18 degrees this afternoon. I did a couple of transects and after I had finished I spent some time wandering about with my DSLR. I was very lucky - a male orange tip was spending a lot of time on a patch of Jack by the Hedge (Alliaria petiolata) and I was able to get some snaps... Anybody who has watched male orange tips will know just how lucky I was to find one so obliging! Magdalen Down is covered in a carpet of cowslips at the moment so I took some pictures of these - another sign of spring. Chaz 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 (edited) 18 degrees? Hmm! 22 this afternoon up on Magdalen Down. Butterflies? Holly blue, grizzled skipper, green hairstreak (pictures of these three species below), orange tip, small tortoiseshell, peacock, brimstone, red admiral. Also, kestrel, buzzard and red kite. Trouble is with these riches only a few miles away railway modelling is on hold. Chaz PS - the sad fact is that yet again the compression necessary to get the picture files onto the net has taken the edge off these snaps. That last one, of a green hairstreak, is quite stunning even though it's an extreme crop. On the original you can see the individual scales on the wings and all those body hairs. I use Lightroom to edit my photographs and to convert them to JPEG format and Pixresizer to compress 'em. Edited April 8, 2017 by chaz 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetmorgan Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Saw my first butterflies on Friday, a couple of small whites possibly and one very small all blue butterfly. Unfortunately they would stay still so identifying them was impossible and I didn't have a camera with me at the time so no chance of a photo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Saw my first butterflies on Friday, a couple of small whites possibly and one very small all blue butterfly. Unfortunately they would stay still so identifying them was impossible and I didn't have a camera with me at the time so no chance of a photo. Small whites are certainly a possibility (see my post #353 above). Your "very small all blue butterfly" was almost certainly a holly blue - fits your description perfectly and is the only blue likely to be on the wing this early in the year. HTH Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 8, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 8, 2017 A couple of Holly Blues passed through the garden today - along with something else small and brown that was too quick to be indentified.... Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 A couple of Holly Blues passed through the garden today - along with something else small and brown that was too quick to be indentified.... Phil "something else small and brown that was too quick to be indentified...." Yes, Phil, I have seen a few of those... The holly blues seem to be having a good year, judging by the numbers I saw yesterday. They are a species that suffers population crashes and subsequent revivals. Chaz 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted April 10, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 10, 2017 We had two of those orange tips yesterday in the orchard. Had never seen one before. Very noticeable with that blue body. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 10, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 10, 2017 We had two of those orange tips yesterday in the orchard. Had never seen one before. Very noticeable with that blue body. Joseph - that's spooky, I had exactly the same conversation with SWMBO when we saw one at Berrington Hall yesterday....both the blue body and never seen one before! Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 (edited) Joseph - that's spooky, I had exactly the same conversation with SWMBO when we saw one at Berrington Hall yesterday....both the blue body and never seen one before! Phil Orange tips are one of my favourite butterflies but for years I had failed to get a photograph of one. The moss green patterned underwing is a lovely feature, and getting both it and that gorgeous splash of orange in a photo' has long been an ambition of mine - so I was really pleased to get the recent shots on Magdalen Hill. The males spend most of their time searching for a mate and fly along hedgerows and scrub in their quest. If you watch one you may well see them drop down to investigate a patch of white, be it another species of white butterfly, a white flower or even a piece of paper. The females are harder to find, especially for us humans who can't smell their pheromones. Chaz Edited April 11, 2017 by chaz 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetmorgan Posted April 12, 2017 Share Posted April 12, 2017 The males spend most of their time searching for a mate and fly along hedgerows and scrub in their quest. If you watch one you may well see them drop down to investigate a patch of white, be it another species of white butterfly, a white flower or even a piece of paper. The females are harder to find, especially for us humans who can't smell their pheromones. Chaz Sounds like a Friday night in Croydon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lurker Posted April 12, 2017 Share Posted April 12, 2017 I saw a fair few brown butterflies along with what looked like a tortoiseshell.. I also heard and saw a number of skylarks in a patch of land near Bexley which I had never been to before. I haven't heard skylarks for a few years so that was good. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 12, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 12, 2017 I saw a fair few brown butterflies along with what looked like a tortoiseshell.. I also heard and saw a number of skylarks in a patch of land near Bexley which I had never been to before. I haven't heard skylarks for a few years so that was good. A wonderful sound - great you enjoyed! Was the background theme to long summer days spent at Abbotswood Junction - and they are still there thanks goodness Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Co-tr-Paul Posted April 12, 2017 Share Posted April 12, 2017 I hear plenty of Skylarks. I'll be darned is I can see the blighters now though.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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