Tuesday 2 July 2019

Butterfly Special

Yesterday was the first butterfly special to a venue in deepest Lincolnshire.  The day started well with our first Lime Hawk-Moth in the garden moth trap.  Unfortunately, the weather didn't quite play ball.  It was overcast for much of the time, and was very gusty.  Despite this we saw a Hummingbird Hawk Moth on the Red Valerian in the car park.  Also present were worn Painted Ladies, a Small Tortoiseshell, a Shield Bug and a few other butterflies.
White Admiral
 Lime Hawk-Moth
 Hummingbird Hawk-Moth
 Painted Lady
 Painted Lady (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
 Red Admiral [on Jenny's bag]
 Small Tortoiseshell
Small Tortoiseshell (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
 ditto
Not Long after we left the car park the sun went in, which made finding butterflies difficult.  We waited at the top spot for quite a long time.  The highlight here was a dark hairstreak fairly high on a leaf.  Photograp[hs revealed it was a White-letter hairstreak.  Unfortunately, a bird had taken a nibble out of it in a vital area.
White-Letter Hairstreak
 White-Letter Hairstreak (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
 ditto
 ditto
 Ringlet
Ringlet (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
Meadow Brown - malformed when emerging
 Silver-Y Moth
 Silver-Y Moth (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
We trekked all the way to a beautiful meadow studded with gorgeous wild flowers.  There were a few very tired Marsh Fritillaries present on some of the thistles and other wild flowers.  They were no longer like pieces of stunning stained glass.  They retained some of their grandeur but were a shadow of their former selves.
Marsh Fritillary
 Marsh Fritillary (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
 ditto
 ditto
ditto
 Marsh Fritillary with Hoverfly Species

 Six-Spot Burnet Moth
Burnet Moths
 ditto
Burnet Moth Larval case
 Common Blue (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
 Large Skipper (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
 ditto
Small White (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
After lunch 4 attendees stayed on, so we went more to the top spot. The weather had improved slightly but the strong sunshine of lunch time had once more became intermittent.  Then my nephew spotted movement, and he discovered a very fresh specimen of a White Admiral.  It performed on a bramble flower for a minute or so before flying away strongly.  We glimpsed it a few times, but it never came down to our level again.  It was the undoubted highlight of the session.
White Admiral
 White Admiral (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
 ditto
 ditto
 ditto
 Ditto 
 ditto
Shield Bug
 Cricket Species 
ditto
Longhorn Beetle Species
 Longhorn Beetle Species (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
Speckled Wood (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
Spiders' Nest (c) 2019 Jane Robinson 
 ditto
 ditto
 Agrimony en masse (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
 Clematis Tangutica
 Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
 Ragged Robin (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
 Tufted Vetch (c) 2019 Jane Robinson
 ZigZag Clover
A week before the butterfly special my nephew and his mother went on a recce.  The results are featured below.  
All photos (c) 2019 Ben Coneyworth
Broad Bordered Bee Hawk Moth
 ditto
 ditto
 ditto
 Female Common Blue
 Large Skipper 
 Longhorn beetle
 Marsh Fritillary
 very worn Marsh Fritillary
 Marsh Fritillary
 ditto
6-Spot Burnet Moths
 ditto 

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