Rob Seago

I still wonder if our small patches of dog violet are enough.

Steve phoned me yesterday teatime saying he didn't think it was SWF as he never saw the silver. This one was in a different part this morning. It is always possible to miss even these showy ones by luck and females are less obvious browner and more understated, who knows?

29th species of 2025 at Great Holland Pits. Still a chance of a Wall, please!

2025 so far is a good year for the Southern Small White (P mannii, scheefbloemwitje) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects. With the next generation just starting we hope numbers will peak in September.

Oak Bushcricket today at GHP. That y are thought to be declining around here.

It has arrived and not too far from home.

Does anyone know whether CY migrate south in autumn?

So near and yet so far. I am still looking this year on my patch.

Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly (Argynnis paphia), Sanguisorba hakusanensisseen at Beth Chatto Garden

A 3 hour wander around Beth Chatto Garden today.
I was very surprised to come across this female Silver-washed Fritillary. I had no idea these butterflies were to be found here.

@chrismothman.bsky.social
@bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social
#savebutterflies
#silverwashedfritillary

I visited Elmstead Wood this afternoon and saw another Clouded Yellow. Also lots of Gatekeepers and Common Blues. Other species lower numbers.

When the grasses a d flowers have peaked and even the Gatekeepers have had a few days of wear and tear, what joy to get a Clouded Yellow of such vibrant colour, on your own patch.

Great Holland Pits. .

Lesser Stagbeetle

I thought Skippers were over, particularly the Large Skipper.

A large number of Painted Ladies have emerged. 50 today probably at Great Holland pits. & each very fresh.

I cut these nettles in May, as usual to provide fresh growth for Small Tortoiseshells, but these look like Peacocks. They ought to be yellow for ST by now I think.

So second Peacock brood?

Cinnabar on garden groundsel

What a year for plums. These are old fashioned green gauges guages

Goats

Goat

Goats browsing scrub at Martins Farm Country Park where I do butterfly my transect.

Earlier today at the allotment.

How many Gatekeepers? There were many more.

A heavy thunderstorm. The rain gauge may overflow!

The garden butterfly recording project has just started. Download the app, to get started.

Female Pantaloon Bee

Female Pantaloon Bee

Male Pantaloon Bee

I hoped to see Brown Hairstreaks today at Pipers Vale, but the Pantaloon Bees were enough.

Common Emerald damselfly.

The dangers of sitting: why sitting is the new smoking The less sitting or lying down you do during the day, the better your chances for living a healthy life.

At school, we were repeatedly instructed to "sit still", and this became embedded in our lives as a cardinal virtue. We now know that sitting still is highly damaging to our health. Perhaps it's time we told children to do the opposite.
www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healt...

'destroy'. A bit emotive I think.

How wonderful a few vagrants would be. It was about 1996 or so I had a Camberwell Beauty in my Clacton-On-Sea urban garden.

I visited Stour Wood. Not many SW Fritillaries. 1 male and 2 females egg laying.

I took a trip to Elmstead Wood today and saw at least 2 Marbled Whites, and up to 6.

Another male down to the track today. White Admirals were doing the same.