Heath Fritillaries and White Admirals of June.

Way back on the 4th of June, I was traveling within 10 miles of Blean Woods, and since i had never been there, i thought it would be rude not to! especially since my fellow bloggers had reported on having a great time seeing/photographing the Heath Fritillary. I had both my wife and son with me, so i knew i couldnt stay there that long(the wife gets bored, and wonders why i have to take more than one photo!!!) We arrived at 3.00pm and left at approx. 3.30pm, the sun was shining, so the light was perfect for photos. After a short walk, and without searching too hard, we soon found some fantastic looking butterflies.

Some photos then, please click on an image to enlarge, cheers.

There were of course, some potential mating activities too!

This last photo is one of my favourites, it shows the pair in mating mode, but whilst most of the photo/butterflies are in focus, the female(I would presume) must have fluttered her wings as i took the shot, which left a motion blur/effect to her wings. It could be a long time before i get a shot like that again?!

Fast forward to this last Sunday, the 26th of June. 

I went for a late evening trek to my patch in search of a White Admiral, and saw my 1st one at approx. 7.30pm, unfortunately it was once again playing hard to get, it didnt land at all, but just flew off out of sight.

The sun was getting low, so I had one last idea, and that was to go to higher ground.

A 10 minute walk and i was there, I stood up high on "Butterfly Hill"(this hill/area was named by my young son) because its where we have found a few butterflies these last few months. It was getting close to 8.00pm and despite me searching the area, i couldnt see anything at all. At the bottom of the hill, there is a very large Buddleia bush, and as I walked past that to make my way home, what should fly past me and land in the bush? A White Admiral!!!

I took some nice shots, and I saw 2 to 3 other White Admirals flying high over the rear of the bush, they were way out of range though, I didnt care, I was happy with just the one White Admiral.

Larkfield Lakes Part 2.

I returned to Larkfield lakes on the 19th of June, but still couldnt manage a Cuckoo photo! I did however catch a Jay(up very close) preening itself, after clearly having a "full on" bath. The Jay appeared soaking wet, and allowed me several shots before it took flight. Ive always admired the Jay, and this is the closest Ive managed to get to one, and been able to capture some nice shots.

As usual,  please click on an image to enlarge.

Reptiles at the lakes are not that easily seen, but with a bit of searching, I noted 9 Slow worms, 3 Common Lizards, and a very small juv. Grass snake.

Possible male Common Lizard?

Possible Female Common Lizard? which could have been showing signs of being gravid too? If you check out the 2nd pic down of her, she looks gravid to me?

1st time for me to see a Ringlet Butterfly too.

Long tailed Tits were nice to see, there were also Green, and Gold Finches, Song Thrushes, Whitethroats, and a couple of Nightingales.

Long Tails.

Another(out of focus) shot of a Nightingale!

And lastly a Whitethroat.

So, another good session was had down the Lakes, the Cuckoo still eludes me though!

Larkfield Lakes Part 1.

The 11th of June saw me take a trip to good old Larkfield lakes. Birds were a bit thin on the ground on my patch, so i fancied a change of scenery, and i also wanted to try to photograph both Cuckoo and Nightingale.

Painted Lady, Both male and female Banded Demoiselle, and Slow worms were also seen. I also bumped into that man Phil Sharp too, we both spotted the same 2 cuckoos in flight, and whilst we chatted for awhile, we also took some shots of a very vocal male Blackcap, all be it in poor light. Its always a pleasure Phil.

Some photos then, all taken on the 11th of June.

Both young and adult Nightingales were seen, although since it was the 1st time Ive seen a young/juvenile Nightingale, i wasnt too sure at first, but it appears so.

Adult Nightingale(missed the focus!)

Then 2 different young/juv. Nightingales, found a fair distance from each other.

Ist one.

And the 2nd one.

On to the Whitethroats, they seemed to be in good numbers too.

Young/Juv. Whitethroats.

Adult feeding young/juv.

Another nice Whitethroat shot.

Would this be a (long distance/heavily cropped) shot of a Reed Warbler?

Also some(poor light)shots of young Little Grebes, I saw four chicks.

All in all, a very good session was had, which prompted me to go back the following weekend. I didnt capture any Cuckoo shots, but you cant win them all. Part 2. to follow.

Stop the press. I went in search of photos of a White Admiral Butterfly this Sunday evening, and at approx. 8.00pm, my luck and patience paid off!!! I saw 3, possibly 4 of them

More flaming(or rather windy) June adventures.

7th of June and I found that wonderful juvenile female Adder for the 2nd time, this snake is very nervous, and i doubt i will ever see it out in the open, i have to really sneak up on this one, grab a couple of shots, then its gone.
It shows beautiful colouration though.

A large Skipper showing well. Just as i was taking a pic of this Skipper, 2 Bullfinches landed on a fence nearby, but as soon as i pointed the camera in their direction, they flew off!

I came across a Grass snake basking right next to this fresh full shed/slough, missed the snake shot, but this shows the length of said snake.

9th of June and i met a Fox head on, down one of the trails i travel. I saw the fox before it saw me, so i crouched down low, and took a couple of shots before the fox got wind of me and fled.

That same day, i saw my 1st ever Painted Lady, what a beauty.

Birds are thin on the ground on my patch at the moment, so on my next blog i did a sneaky couple of sessions, and gave Larkfield Lakes some early morning raids. I wasn't disappointed either, I saw/photographed Whitethroats(adult and Juv.) Nightingale(adult and Juv.) Little Grebe(baby/juv.)

This is the possible Purple Hairstreak? I saw on the 21st of June, its a poor shot, but its the only chance i had! And today i saw a large brown and white butterfly that i can only assume was a White Admiral? I watched it in flight, and really hoped it would land for a photo, but no such luck. This butterfly was big, larger than a Red Admiral.

Great Spotted Woodpeckers fledged.

Once again, I have took time off from blogging and the net, but I still stock piled some interesting photos.

Just a note to thank the people who left a message on my last blog about the WL Hairstreaks that I found in my garden. Unfortunately the day i took those photos, was the last day i saw them! We had some heavy rain, and I found the remains of one wing, and several limbs, stuck to the roof and door of my car, so Im guessing that they all perished in the rough weather? Its seems such a shame, Im just hoping that they might return one day.

Going back to the end of May here, I stumbled on a GS Woodpecker nest, so took some photos, then returned the next day with my son, so that he could see what all the fuss was about. It was a lot quieter the following day though, and good reason too, because we found 2 sitting in a nearby tree, that had probably fledged earlier that day. There was still a 3rd in the nest/tree, but who knows exactly how many young GS woodpeckers were in that nest?

Some photos then, I struggled to capture good clear shots, I was standing at the bottom of the tree, camera outstretched in one hand whilst holding a branch back with the other hand, its all good fun though!

Then the following day, one of the two young seen in a nearby tree.

There was still one(or more?) in the nest though.

This was the 1st time that i had found a Woodpecker nest, and after following "Greenies" GS Woodpecker nest/site with much interest, Im really glad to have witnessed this fantastic event myself. My young son also found the experience a treat too.

Just a note to say that i think I may have found(and captured a rough shot) of a Purple Hairstreak Butterfly today? That would be another 1st for me, cheers.

Possible White-letter hairstreak Butterfly?

Over the last few days, Ive been watching several small dark Butterflies in action in my back garden. The only problem being, is that they are high in the tree tops, so its been very very difficult to get any type of clear photos of them. The most Ive seen is 4 at once, and they like to bask in the sun, and most of the time they are tight against a leaf. Frustrated by very poor long distance shots, i decided to climb onto the roof of my summer house this morning to see if i could manage some better shots for a positive ID. I still had to use all of the 18X optical zoom lens on my camera, and the photos are heavily cropped too, but Im pretty sure these are White-letter Hairstreaks? If they are not, then Im happy to be corrected.
Im hoping that the "Butterfly Man" Greenie can confirm their ID :-)

Some photos then, as usual click on an image to enlarge, cheers.

There are 2 in this shot, which i was lucky to capture for sure!!

For the most part, the sun/light source was back/side lite, which was not ideal for a positive ID, but on this last shot, the light direction was better.

I visited my Church patch(late afternoon)on the 31st of May, and am pretty sure that this is a Spotted Flycatcher too. It landed under a tree briefly,so the light was poor, then it flew out of sight, so i only had the one chance to take a quick pic.

Also at the Church, these large Roman Snails have returned.

Also on the 31st of May, two good finds in my garden once more, firstly the Lesser Stag Beetle.

And later on that day, my son found a male Stag Beetle on his trampoline!