Thursday 24 April 2014

STERF Butterfly Atlas April 2014

We've had a recent run of decent weather and last week in particular proved ideal for doing our April butterfly survey.

Last year's cold spring got us off to a slow start but this year we're on track.

Whilst we didn't see anything out of the ordinary, the tally of more common species was pleasing. First up were the orange tip, notoriously difficult to photograph. The following photos were taken a couple of years ago in the garden after a chase lasting the best part of the afternoon and taking as much out of me as running the marathon... ( in fact, I probably covered more mileage!)

The speckled wood came a very close second..
Along with the Map...

There were a couple of elusive Wall Brown, too...

But for us the most delightful display came courtesy of a pair of Brimstone butterflies. Their balletic dance lasted for quite some time and wasn't easy to capture on camera but I think Colin made a very good effort...

So, as always on these survey afternoons, we came back home eager to look at our photographs and not too disappointed with the results overall!

3 comments:

Tim said...

Those Brimstones are lovely! P.

GaynorB said...

Super pics, especially as they move so quickly!

Susan said...

It took me years to get a decent photo of an orange tip. All your photos are great, and the Brimstones especially nice.